NewsCuriosity Killed The Cat / Misfits: The Mercury Years 1986-1990
Pre-order an exclusive SIGNED edition of the new SDE-curated box
Misfits: The Mercury Years 1986-1990 is a new four-CD box set featuring eighties British pop band Curiosity Killed The Cat. Two and a half years in the making, this set has been compiled by SDE Editor Paul Sinclair and has been put together with the cooperation of the band. It will be released in September.
Curiosity Killed The Cat were fronted by the charismatic Ben Volpeliere-Pierrot and they enjoyed a number one album and a string of hits in the late 1980s, including Down To Earth, Ordinary Day, Name and Number and Misfit. The promo video for the latter was memorably filmed by – and co-starred – Andy Warhol, who took a shine to the band and invited them over to New York in 1986.
This new box set is a comprehensive exploration of the band’s classic era with Mercury Records and includes newly expanded versions of both 1987’s Keep Your Distance and Getahead (from 1989), with two further CDs of rare/unreleased remixes along with unheard songs and demos.
In total, 20 tracks are issued on CD for the very first time and amongst the 12 previously unheard demos are five songs never officially released. To top things off, this set includes two unheard mixes of the band’s biggest hit Down To Earth that were discovered in the archive while putting this set together!
The Mercury Years features newly mastered audio. All the demos were from the original quarter inch tapes, and the audio from the rest of this box set comes from various sources, including more quarter-inch reels, half-inch tapes, Umatics and similar. Most of the tapes were baked and transferred at Abbey Road Studios.
This package includes a 24-page booklet with notes by Record Collector Editor, Paul Lester, featuring a new interview with the band’s Mig Drummond.
You won’t be disappointed with this project, which has been put together with the same care and attention of previous SDE-curated reissues from the last few years such as the Sam Brown The A&M Years 1988-1990 five-disc box, the two-CD deluxe of It’s Immaterial‘s Life’s Hard And Then You Die and Paul Young‘s Tomb of Memories: The CBS Years 1982-1994 (four CD set).
A limited edition (1000 only) of this new box set will come with an art card SIGNED by frontman Ben Volpeliere-Pierrot. These are exclusive to the SDE shop and will not be available anywhere else. Once they are gone, that’s it!!
Curiosity Killed The Cat’s Misfits: The Mercury Years 1986-1990 will be released on 21 September 2018 via Caroline International. Secure your SIGNED edition by pre-ordering via the SDE shop, or even easier, you can simply checkout and buy using the button below!
Misfits: The Mercury Years 1986-1990
CD 1: Keep Your Distance + bonus tracks
1. Misfit
2. Down To Earth
3. Free
4. Know What You Know
5. Curiosity Killed The Cat
6. Ordinary Day
7.Mile High
8. Red Lights
9. Shallow Memory
10. Misfit (extended mix)
11. Man*
12. Corruption (dub)*
13. Down To Earth (extended mix)
14. Ordinary Day (extraordinary mix)
15. Bullet
16. Free (dub master)*
* Previously unreleased on CD
CD 2: Getahead + bonus tracks
1. Name and Number
2. Do Your Believin’
3. Cascade
4. First Place
5. We Just Gotta Do it (For Us)
6. Go Go Ahead
7. Trees Don’t Grown On Money
8. Treat You So Well
9. Who Are You
10. Security Lady
11. Something New, Something Blue
12. Keep On Trying
13. Name and Number (extended mix)*
14. Ball and Chain
15. Name and Number (club sandwich mix)*
16. Misfit (Jazzy Dub Remix ‘89)
17. Name and Number (a schizo version)*
18. Name and Number (jazzy dub version)*
* Previously unreleased on CD
CD 3: Remixes, Edits & Dubs
1. Down To Earth (7” version)
2. Ordinary Day (ordinary version)*
3. Misfit (extended mix)*
4. Ordinary Day (extended version)*
5. Mile High (mile long mix)
6. Name and Number (version)*
7. Ordinary Day (version)
8. Misfit (dub)*
9. Down To Earth (instrumental)*
10. Ordinary Day (dub mix)*
11. Misfit (morales extended mix)*
12. Free (instrumental)*
13. Misfit (dub mix)*
14. Cascade (dub mix)**
* Previously unreleased on CD
** Previously unreleased
CD 4: Remixes, Demos & Outtakes
1. Free (free style )
2. Name and Number (hanging on person to person)
3. Free (free form)*
4. Misfit (club mix)*
5. Free (solo style)*
6. Misfit (demo)**
7. Wag (Know What You Know) (demo)**
8. Curiosity Killed The Cat (demo)**
9. Ordinary Day (demo)**
10. Mile High (demo)**
11. Red Lights (demo)**
12. Shallow Memory (demo)**
13. Easy (demo)**
14. Now That You’ve Gone (demo)**
15. Why (demo)**
16. Out Of Curiosity (demo)**
17. Hidden Informer (demo)**
18. Down To Earth (remix)**
19. Down To Earth (instrumental remix)**
** Previously unreleased
* Previously unreleased on CD
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Got my copy today – a fantastic collection. Being born in the late 90s I wasn’t actually around for the band’s heyday – or for any of the 80s at all sadly – but I absolutely adore music from that era and CKTC are one of my favourite bands. I sorely wish I had been born 30 years earlier! But I am so pleased that this expanded CD compilation exists given that the band didn’t release much in the way of material and also because their entire back catalogue isn’t terribly accessible online or on Spotify! Thanks again and keep up the good work!
Thank you.
Received mine today and am very well impressed. Only had the Cherry Pop reissue of First Album which I was well happy with so is a giant step up and seeing that it is done in the same spirit as Its Immaterial and Paul Young sets it is bound to be sublime. More later when I have given it a listen.
Many thanks :)
Ok, well I’ve had to time to try and enjoy this cracking box set so here are some more specific comments…
Sound quality – absolutely brilliant. It’s obvious this has been remastered with love, care and attention. Listening on my (admittedly not my best quality headphones) Apple AirPods streamed from my 320kb AAC rips through my iPhone, the sound detail is deep and sumptuous. I can easily pick out different instruments through layers of music. My preferred listening method is through the Rock EQ which always gives music some rounded bass as opposed to any other EQ setting and I can really appreciate CKtC’s light drums and percussions, picked out by my ear with Ben’s vocals smoothly singing over the lush synths and instruments.
I would hardly call myself CKtC’s biggest fan but like a lot of people who grew up in the 80s, it’s only now I’m beginning to take for granted some of the acts I felt were just ‘wallpapering’ the charts around and about the groups and artists I was more interested in. Sets like this and the upcoming expanded Turn Back the Clock by Johnny Hates Jazz gives a whole new insight and appreciation for some of the more talented acts that were happening in the amazing 80s.
I wouldn’t be able to differentiate between original album tracks and the previously unreleased tracks but it’s certainly a great collection from a band who seemed to genuinely combine funky soul with pop and jazz to be quite unique amongst their peers.
I will certainly be interested in any further sets on groups I would say I only had a passing interest in, back the day of their popularity if they’re going to be as well curated and remastered to the quality of this box set. Nicely priced and has to be a Gold Standard for the acceptable quality for further future purchases for me.
*oops!
I meant to say ‘…it’s only now I’m beginning to appreciate some of these acts I previously took for granted…’
This Australian only knew the brilliant ” misfit ” so this was amazing.
I got the box set from Amazon as i’m not really interested in signatures and it was very well priced unlike some box sets coming out for instance Howard Jones. Anyway it’s a great set Paul and i know now that anything you have been involved in creating that we aren’t going to end up with mistakes or brickwalled mastering. I know this was discussed further down this thread but i wish the likes of Go West or even Living In A Box could get the same treatment.
Thanks Neil.
Received on Saturday and really impressed with the whole package. Unfortunately I haven’t really had time to listen to it yet as I eagerly ripped the 4 discs into Apple Music to listen to it when I was out and about. But I was cursed and discs 3 and 4 somehow or other managed to knacker up in transference resulting in a frozen and crashing iPhone app. After 2 hours of uninstalling and reinstalling the app I finally contacted Apple Support who advised me to make a complete backup of my phone before wiping the entire device. He also suggested that if this didn’t work then I should traipse across the Firth of Forth to Edinburgh to an Apple Store as it sounded more like a hardware issue than a software one!???!
I didn’t have time to do that as I had family commitments so just made the backup and grabbed the phone. Whilst shopping with my elderly mother, I continually tried my phone app, uninstalled it and reinstalled it until about the 5th time, I finally got the app to work but now it didn’t seem to like most of the tracks from Keep Your Distance and Getahead either.
When I got home I decided just to delete my new cd tracks from Apple Music and rerip them. Although the cloud seemed to struggle with discs 3 and 4, I finally finally got all of the tracks eventually streaming from my iPhone app including the cover art which I had to photograph myself for discs 3 and 4 as iTunes was having none of it.
Success! I know this doesn’t have anything to do with the actual music in this fantastic box sect but it’s maybe a little advice for generations of music lovers who use streaming and cloud technologies who may run into trouble with niche reissues rather than mass produced big hitters and Apple’s servers (which I am putting my misery down to, I may be wrong).
If rips to clouds don’t initially work then try try again – it may not be a broken phone as an Apple Technician may have you believe!
Brilliant collection Paul, hope you have more projects like this in the future!
What a palaver! But glad you got there in the end and thanks for the positive feedback. Would love some more detailed thoughts from you when you’ve had more of a chance to digest everything (that goes for anyone who has bought this set). Cheers, P
Received the set today. Listened to a few tracks in the car on the way home and great to hear the demos. Need to sit down and fully absorb the whole set.
First time owning Getahead so will be good to hear it alongside Keep Your Distance and see the differences in approach, songwriting and production.
Interesting that Mig said the two Down To Earth remixes were from 1998. Wonder why they went to the effort of remixing those tracks then? Didn’t seem to be any Curiosity activity in the late 90s.
Received today – fantastic job Mr. Sinclair. Love it and the signed card is of a great quality – very impressed overall, thanks.
Thank you very much. Means a lot. It was painful getting this one past the finishing line and the whole project took the best part of three years. Would be very interested to hear what you think of the unreleased stuff… demos, etc.
Need time to absorb all of these tracks but what i’ve heard so far is incredible. Now, I never owned all of their material at all just Keep Your Distance so this brought back many memories of high school, so I had a lot to take in with this box set. I was missing out on so much. The demos to me sound ready for the album already and I love, as well as the soul influence, the jazz elements. These tracks would not be out of place on an Incognito album such as 100 and Rising, which was released short of 10 years later. That’s what I always admired with Curiosity, the sound was fresh and classic and this unreleased material shows this. On first listen I actually prefer the more ‘raw’ sound as opposed to what was released. I’m just thrilled to have bought this and have my eyes (and ears) opened to all of this material I never knew of. Matt packaging, spot varnish, great pics – all sold this to me….one flaw on the Keep Your Distance artwork that mis-lables track 10 – 16 as 11-17 (misses 10), but i’ll set that aside. Thanks Paul, I know this was a labour of love over many years but so happy it paid off.
Also received today – thanks so much Paul for all your hard work, it really has payed off, what a beautiful package and the demo disc sounds absolutely amazing – in fact i’m enjoying these jazz funky, live-sounding tracks even more than the officially released mixes !! I’m totally engrossed in them. Well done !!
Thank you! Yes, they’re great, aren’t they?
i just ordered it.
When is the real
ease/ship date?
21 September. Thanks for the order!
Can this be shipped to the US?
YES! :)
@Paul, thank you very much. Excellent job. This is one of my favourite band of the time. I played the tape of their debut album to death. Then I bought the CD to replace it. Also played a lot. There are many demo’s here. But I look pass that because there many more mixes I haven’t got yet. I guess I don’t have to check on discogs this time. Since you have done excellent jobs on other projects like this.
Hello, since this is remastered from the original tapes will it sounds good not too loud or brickwalled?
Thanks
It will sound good, I promise…
Signed edition ordered!!!! Looks great Paul! Your work on the Paul Young set was fantastic!
Thank you! :)
Looks good Paul. Great to see all those hard to find remixes on this, there is plenty. I think some of them were vinyl only. Would have been nice to have their third album too but assume that is with a different label. Maybe we will get a separate Deluxe of that.
I have to say I never thought this would happen after the Cherry Pop release, so it’s a good surprise.
A great set that would be finished off to perfection with a dvd of videos and TOTP performances
Order placed! What a great price for this set, I was also lucky enough to get the signed Paul Young set which is excellent. I love SDE, keep up the good work.
Will ‘non-signed’ editions be available? I would pre-order but only signed available on the buying page.
The page on the SDE shop has both signed and non-signed. Thanks for your interest!
https://www.shopsuperdeluxe.com/collections/all/curiosity-killed-the-cat
It’s funny…I always confused this band with another Mercury-signed 80s UK band Love Or Money… But this set looks nice… If it’s as good as the Paul Young box, I’m in…with preorders, do you collect funds upfront or when dispatched like Amazon?? One quibble about the PY set tho, Paul, with each track, you list every one copyright 2015 and not the original sources or release years, so that gets confusing… Got my copy signed by Paul himself recently when i saw a double bill i my town of him and Midge Ure…killer gig…and just saw this gig called Retro Futura with ABC, Belinda Carlisle, Modern English, Tony Lewis from the Outfield, Limahl and Annabella from Bow Wow Wow…
With Paul Young, there got to a point where I just had to let Sony get on with it, in terms of notes and design etc.
Well, now you have mentioned Love and Money… their first album deffo needs a reissue with all of the 12″ mixes and b sides.
The band you are thinking of is Love And Money and I had the pleasure of meeting a member of the band on Friday night – Paul McGeechan. They hailed from Glasgow and were very different to Curiosity Killed The Cat.
What are Caroline like to work for?
This is now my third project with Caroline, which should speak volumes. A fourth project is already under way and with a bit of luck should come out next year (Curiosity took more than two years!)
Never heard of them. That being said, I have discovered a few really cool U.K. based bands through SDE that I had never heard of. Need to check this out quick and make a decision. Looks to be comprehensive and at a nice price.
Hi Paul,
Thank u very much for this great work! Already ordered! One of my favorite band! Just need to know why no sign of “relax (take it slow)”, for me one of the best singles of cktc and why not having the fifth cd with cktc live from the Camden palace (issued on dvd)? One more time, thank u so much for this box set.
Ordered! Interested to know if the original album tracks are remastered from quarter inch reels.
Paul, how will the packaging be on the boxset? digipak,casebound book or jewelcase?
Clamshell box set, with four discs in card sleeves plus 24-page booklet. The limited signed set includes the signed card which will be separate from the sealed box.
excellent work paul,
i’ve always thought this band was underrated.
i have all the early singles, and remixes from the first album,
and its nice to see them coming to cd.
i just got the 2nd album a few months ago, and it’s terrible compared
to the first one. and even the singles and mixes are quite subpar
compared to the ones from the first album. quite gimmicky and
poorly made. (name and number especially).
since i’m a fan of the band, i’ll be getting it anyways, and will probably
listen to the second set of tracks once, and file it away.
i know the first album and mixes will get a lot more playtime.
later
-1
Give it a bit more of a chance – I was originally disappointed with it when it come out but now I find I play it a lot more than I play their first.
HI Paul- I can’t get the Bananarama page. Even if the set isn’t available in North America could we please see the page? I have friends in England who sometimes get things for me that I can’t purchase over here. (Lots of T.Rex goodies!) Thank you!
Sorry… what page are you referring to? P
The new Bananarama set that you wrote about today. Thanks
Ah, yes. Sorry… there were a few technical issues, which is why that post came and went. But back now :)
Thanks.
Hi Paul. I still can’t find the Bananarama page you’re referring to. Any chance of a link to the page please?
Cheers,
Fady
I didn’t refer to a ‘Bananarama page’… but I think it is a reference to the Bananarama coverage on this week’s ‘out this week’ post.
Ordered myself a copy. Looks like a really interesting collection, plus autograph … perfect! :)
Any chance for an interview with Ben VP? I would love to know what he did all these years and if there is a chance for some new material.
Thanks! I have interviewed Ben actually. That will be published on SDE probably in early Sep.
@musicfan: A thorough Go West reissue or compilation is needed. Such as complete 12″ mixes (why release these without the intros, for example) and the great track “Let’s Build a Boat”. Now wondering if Paul thinks there may be sufficient interest in curating the Sony-owned Curiosity material? In the meantime, let’s make sure SDE’s growing catalogue receives impressive support.
Looks great! I wrote the sleeve notes a few years ago when the debut was reissued on Cherry Red. That reissue didn’t offer much in terms of extras than the original CD issue though. Underrated band. Lots of cool songs. Would love to see similar SDE work on bands like Simply Red and/or Prefab Sprout.
The demos and unheard songs are really good! Very enjoyable, and ‘playable’
Nothing from when they were just known as Curiosity?
No… this is just the Universal-owned material (Mercury). That other music was issued on BMG.
So happy to see this. If CKTC merit a 4 disc set, maybe there is still hope that all those personal favourite but unsuccessful bands may get a re-release.
My request is for the Piranhas album (Sire) to finally get a modern release on cd. With extra tracks like the unreleased Two Time Sally please.
Personally I think this is a bit desperate as I only know a handful of Curiosity Killed The Cat records. A single compilation would have been enough for me.
There is a single disc compilation available… obviously this has been created for people who *would* like more than that! It’s not an either/or situation.
Is Ordinary Day (Version) the one from the Beat Runs Wild Comp? This is not a deal breaker, just a nerdy question.
No, it’s from the 2015 greatest hits which accidentally used some weird alternate and not the single version. Ben pointed out to me that the version from the Beats Run Wild Comp is actually the demo on CD 4… so I guess technically that has been released before!
This is great, but I really wanted to hear that Super Deluxe Edition had been working for two years on a Wham! Box set :-(
However this will do for starters……
Congrats, Paul!
Many thanks Jeff…
Was never much in to Curiosity, but for those that were this looks like a fantastic release….
Go West next, please, Paul :)
I asked Go West about releasing expanded / deluxe editions and they said there wasn’t anything they would want to release.
However, I feel their first album could do with a remaster and there are many remixes from that era not on CD.
So if they could be persuaded perhaps that would be a good start.
Back to Curiosity now…
On the subject of Go West. Were there just the two remixes of “We close our eyes” (Bangs and Crashes and the 12″version) on its original release? I may be mistaken but I was convinced that there was a ltd edition remix on 12″ available at the time (as with a lot of singles of the era).
I have a feeling there is more from the Dancing on the Couch sessions, For example why did it take 7 years for another version of Masque Of Love to appear. not to mention the King is Dead live EP could do with a release. Bet there are other mixes of the singles too.
Dancing on the Couch is a brilliant album and much more mature sounding than their debut album which i do look like as well. In response to Branny there were only two original 12 inch mixes of “We close our eyes” Total Overhang Mix and the Complete Underhang Mix and trying to find the latter mix on CD was rigorous indeed. The mixes that haven’t appeared on CD before are of Don’t Look Down and Eye To Eye i believe it would be nice if we could get remasters and how brilliant a guitar player was Alan Murphy sadly missed.
I thought Vinny Vero was working with Go West on possible reissues… not sure if is still happening and/or what the status is.
I read that somewhere about Vinny Vero doing Go West as well. Looks like he is working on Wang Chung reissues which is great news.
Re Go West:- if they can’t see the benefit in an expanded remaster of their first album at least, then they are missing a trick – their debut could *easily* be expanded to a four disc set….
On my iPod I have enough remixes from the first album alone to put together a great two disc set. True, a number of these are from the Bangs and Crashes remix comp, but there are a number of seven inch and promo (re)mixes (and a missing b-side) that could/should be included.
Add in the full live concert from which the Bangs and Crashes live tracks are culled and you have a three disc set.
Add a DVD with the promo videos, plus a 96/24 HD version of the track (and a 5.1 mix if they’re feeling flush) and – voila! – a four disc set.
See? Easy :)
Congratulations Paul!! This is outstanding!! Very, very well done. So glad that the output of bands like Curiosity Killed The Cat are not lost. Can’t wait to hear all the remixes and even the instrumental “Down To earth”. We all know “Keep Your Distance” but “Getahead” is a great record as well. Thank you!!
Another great release ably curated by Paul – SDE is my ‘go to’ site these days. looking forward to this big stylie!
Loved this band. They were mentioned in a recent Sophisti-pop article in Classic Pop magazine which prompted me to pick up their albums again on Vinyl (having got rid of them ages ago). Very glad I did as both albums feature some real gems.
Looking forward to the box set.
I’d love to order from the SDE shop Paul but I have a problem with delivery addresses as I am living between London and Paris. Ordering from Amazon allows me to change delivery addresses right up to the wire depending on where I am going to be.
Hi Paul, great job!
Just ordered from Italy and looking forward to receiving it!
Hello, Paul,
Does the “tracked & signed” shipping method afford the package any additional protection?
Not clear on this, other than the signature requirement. Nice choice, Curiosity. And thank you. Missed out on the signed Paul Young, so not gonna delay on this one. Great job on the most excellent It’s Immaterial also.
Not really, but they will all well packed anyway. Thanks for positive vibes!
Just a FYI, I ordered the Sam Brown box from SDE to the States and it was incredibly well packed and arrived in pristine condition. I think you can order with confidence from Paul!
Thanks Bryan… good to hear!
Was always on the fence with this band, but with Paul curating and for this price, I’m in! Just placed my order ^^
Just got Tom Bailey’s Science Fiction special edition, a great blast from the eighties past, and no product issues for me, although there seem to have been some problems.
Matt Bianco’s Indigo 3CD set should be coming soon, too, I’m certainly doing well on the music stakes!!
Then there’s Claudia Brucken and Jerome Froese’s Beginn and the new Hipsway album from Pledgemusic…..
So good to be able to keep in touch with these musicians from “my age”
Thanks Paul, too, for helping to make it possible
Nice work…. especially considering it’s only two albums. I would kill for this type of work to happen for TinTin Duffy the Virgin years….. especially if they could cross license the earlier WEA material.
Some groups have all the luck…..hope it’s a smash for you Paul
Looks a must buy Paul!
Absolutely great and complete work for one of my favourite albums from 80s! I will buy it for sure, can’t wait… Paul, is there only that 1000 signed copies for the whole sale ever or amazon will sales more unsigned copies later? Thanks!
thanks!! You can buy an UNSIGNED copy from SDE if you wish :) https://www.shopsuperdeluxe.com/collections/all/products/curiosity-killed-the-cat-the-mercury-years-1986-1990-4cd-box-set
And standard editions will be available elsewhere at some point during August, I think.
I only hope, that ORIGINAL DYNAMICS are preserved! so no clipping no brickwalling, please!
Mastering done by Fluid Mastering who have done all of my previous releases…so that won’t be an issue.
Original album tracks from quarter inch reels?
One definitely was… the other may have been Umatic…can’t remember off the top of my head… it’s been a while. Everything sounds great though.
Great, thanks. An excellent set!
The John Cale, Tones on Tail, and Sparks catalogues could do with your fine work, to name but three!
…and Adam and the Ants / Adam Ant!
25 quid for a signed 4 disc edition????
SOLD!!!
What a great sounding set. One thing I always wonder about sets like this is why there isn’t a DVD included of the artist’s videos. Is it a case of it being just too expensive to include or is there just no consumer demand/interest anymore?
I did do that for Sam Brown, but it adds a surprising amount of cost and throws a few ‘unknowns’ into the mix and I think there needs to be a super-compelling reason. Getting this Curiosity box set to the point of completion without it was hard enough!!
Hi Paul, Are there full musician credits on this box set. I am always interested to know who played on recordings and, often on re-issues, this info is still not presented. Do you know if there are any previously unreleased tracks which feature drummer Jeff Porcaro? I beleive he played on ‘Cascade’, ‘Trees Don’t Grow On Money’ and ‘Who Are You’ on Getahead. Thanks.
Not a fan theirs, but this is amazing.
Well done, Paul!
Cheers from Italy.
WOW, this is off the scale! I’m really very excited about this!
The track list is simply mind blowing!!
It’s awesome to see a mix from the aborted Cascade single and it’s great to see Wag on here – their reference to the Wag club they played at in their very early days!
It would be amazing to hear about anything you didn’t use, as this would complete the musical story!
THANK YOU!
I ask you this from time to time. Will you please add South Korea to the list of countries where you send stuff? This is an OECD country with an advanced delivery system in place.
Will take a look at expanding shipping to a few other countries, so bear with me..