Saturday Deluxe / 1 August 2015
Kate Bush in control
It was Kate Bush‘s birthday on Thursday. Happy Birthday to her! Unfortunately for fans around the globe, no David Bowie-style birthday product announcement was forthcoming. We are all waiting patiently for last year’s incredible Before The Dawn show to come out on blu-ray, hopefully in some kind of lavish box set. It was filmed for a few nights and the audio for every single show was meticulously recorded. If it was any other artist you could virtually guarantee the product would be ready for Autumn 2015 but hey, it’s Kate. It is quite conceivable that it will NEVER be released if she’s unhappy with some element. Let’s hope that’s not the case.
Talking of Kate Bush, back in June I reported that a new song or new version of a Kate song would be included with The Art of Peace’s Songs For Tibet II compilation which was being brought to market via PledgeMusic. Well they’ve rather reneged on that promise and instead the KB contribution is Wildman from 50 Words For Snow. Boring!
On the PledgeMusic site Rupert Hine (who has been pulling the music together) provided an update and ensured fans that “Kate had really wanted to come up with something unique” for the project (really?) but that “time was slipping away”. What has happened, apparently, is that mixer and recording engineer Stephen Tayler (who has worked with Kate quite a bit) has created a ‘treatment’ of the song that – and I quote – “relies more on psychoacoustics and sonic-processing releasing fresh harmonic information in an ear-tingly and subtle way”. Er, what?!
With the greatest respect to Mr Hine, I’ve never heard so much mumbo jumbo. On iTunes it is labelled as “Wild Man (Remastered Shimmer)” but – call me cloth ears – from the clip I’ve listened to I can’t hear any difference at all. The sheer desperation to convince Kate Bush fans that this is something unique is palpable. Regular SDE readers will know I love Kate, but despite clocking up almost 40-years of recorded music, she apparently wasn’t willing to dig out an “unreleased version of previously released song” or a “new recording” which is what Art of Peace told Rolling Stone they would be delivering. I did put some questions to The Art of Peace about all these shenanigans but presumably ‘time was slipping away’ for them too, and they’ve not responded about why they haven’t delivered what was originally promised.
Paul says ‘no’ to Say Say Say remix
It may have one of the naffest sleeves of all time (portraying an anatomically incorrect Paul and Michael holding hands) but Paul McCartney and Michael Jackson‘s Say Say Say was an enormous hit in 1983. The single stayed on the top of the US charts for six weeks and remarkably, despite all his other successes, Billboard rank the 45 as Michael Jackson’s biggest Billboard hit. The song reached number two in the UK and topped the charts elsewhere and played no small part in the success of its parent album Pipes of Peace.
It was Macca’s first single where an outside remixer had been brought in, and so for the 12-inch single John “Jellybean” Benitez created a 5.40 Say Say Say remix and a 7.00 minute instrumental remix version. Apart from the song’s B-side Ode to a Koala Bear these remixes are the only non-album material issued at the time Pipes of Peace, but…wait for it… neither remix is included on ANY format of the new Pipes of Peace reissue. Not that McCartney has forgotten about the single, he has prepared a brand new remix of the song which features on all the new editions, but the old mixes are absent. What you can say (say say)? Did I also mention that the bonus CD of Pipes of Peace has 44 minutes of free space on it. Someone please direct me to the nearest wall so I can bang my head against it. Actually, don’t bother. I’ll go to the same wall I used for Peter Gabriel’s So and Cyndi Lauper’s She’s So Unusual deluxe editions.
This doesn’t bode well for fans of Paul’s 1986 album Press To Play where literally every single had a remixed A and B-side. If and when that album gets the archive collection treatment PM may well think a handful of acoustic demos will suffice for bonus material.
You can read more about the new Paul McCartney reissues here, but have a listen to the groovy 12-inch of Say Say Say below!
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46 Comments
46 thoughts on “Saturday Deluxe / 1 August 2015”
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On the subject of non appearing Kate Bush material whatever happened to the remastered vinyl version of The Red Shoes originally due this April??
Hi Darren, point taken it was indeed a seller issue. I guess what I meant was that I would be careful just because of the age of these box sets now.
I’ve got a copy of TWW and it’s fine – No more susceptible to deterioration than any other boxset!
I echo the sentiments above. I honestly thought I would’ve flogged TWW long ago to replace it with 2 disc sets of all the albums within and a comprehensive rarities collection as well. Having said that I’ve often daydreamed of the same thing from Kraftwerk so I’m resigned to a long wait. In their case I think the catalogue won’t be properly exploited until after Ralf’s no longer with us so perhaps…..
Beware buyers of This Womans Work from Ebay. I got one last year ahead of seeing KB to complete my collection, obviously for the two discs of extras. The copy I got had been stored in a loft or something and was well shoddy. I kept it for the two discs, but was well dissapointed, the picture and description looked great. I suppose I had ‘yt really thought about how old these are……..
Dave, why are you warning buyers about something that has only happened to the box set you bought? You could say that about any second hand item. I’ve bought tons of stuff off eBay older than that box set and usually without any issues, but every now and again you get someone who presents something in a deceptive manner. In that case you complain and get your money refunded.
Your complaint is about the person on eBay, not about all Kate Bush box sets from this era.
Crackers Macca! Whatever the fact that it should be included anyway, its a damn fine mix and worthy of reissue in own right. Will pass on this and seriously worried for Press to Play and Flowers in the Dirt…
I’m not suggesting Kate should follow the example of Fripp or FGtH by oversaturating the market. But, really, is a timely release of the BtD shows too much to ask? Or a nice multi-disc set of B-sides and rarities? Or properly remastered CDs/SACDs/Blu-rays of the albums? Apparently it is.
Brought back great memories seeing the image of the 12″ Say Say Say Paul. I had it and played it dozens of times which makes the omission of it from the POP reissue seem even more crazy to me. I wonder sometimes if the team that compiles the Macca Archive is competent. Yes I will buy the deluxes as I have all the others but really feel short changed this time. Why don’t they get someone who knows what they are doing to compile these, maybe someone like yourself:)
Josh makes a fair point about the 1990 Kate Bush boxed set. It’s long since been deleted, so you have to pay eBay prices for a box with six of eight albums you probably already own.
The promo videos are all on Kate’s YouTube channel so I imagine at some point they will get a DVD release. In the meantime they can be viewed on there.
I think the split with the record company doesn’t help. Her first three albums were owned by EMI (now Parlophone / Warner Music) and the remainder merely licenced to EMI and she took those licences back four years ago. Any new issues now would involve her having to work with Parlophone (though to be fair, she does so now as they still distribute and produce all her CDs).
As for the absence of certain remixed 7″ & 12″ mixes from the McCartney expanded editions, remember that one criteria that the bonus tracks for the McCartney sets must meet, is that they must not be inherently “locked in” to 44.1Khz/16-bit. They must be (or be remixable to be) 96Khz/24-bit. Yes, given that the 24-track tapes for the songs were analogue, new 7″ or 12″ mixes could be created that would be edited and mixed to be ALMOST the same as the original 7″ & 12″ mixes, but they would be just that, ALMOST THE SAME…….and some fans would cry foul, without fully understanding the reason for creating those new approximations of the original 7″ and 12″ mixes.
Kate Bush is absurdly, unreasonably restrictive with CD & DVD product. after all these years, she still won’t permit any of her video programs to appear on DVD, so these programs will only live on via bootlegs taken from old VHS tapes or Laserdiscs. She seems , at best, oblivious to her fans.(Maybe O’blivious is a better term!)
As for her music, her best music was on her first seven albums. Her reclusive 10 year hiatus did nothing good for her music. Her albums since her return to recording have been so sedate, quiet, undynamic and boring that they (literally) put me to sleep. I have never been able to get through “Aerial” without falling asleep.
Sorry Phil, if you are unable to remain awake while experiencing ‘Aerial’, you may be just be a very tired man.
We’d all love more Kate in our lives, but as Alan has said, she’s one of the few artists who hasn’t exploited her audience with endless re-issues and re-packaging.
When the work is still as strong as ‘Aerial’ (a bona-fide masterwork) and ’50 Words…’ (very strong, apart from two miscalculations with the guest stars), let alone the live shows, we should be very thankful.
Sorry James – I’m a huge Kate Bush fan but I have to agree with Phil. I can’t take Aerial in one sitting.
For me (and I’m sure your mileage differs) there is a superb single album buried in there somewhere…
Darren, going back to what you said about Kate Bush, she isn’t asking you to “pay attention”. It can be argued that she’s one of the very few acts not out to exploit anyone. By not reissuing her albums, she’s not making anyone buy again what they already own. As you say, you have that boxed set, This Woman’s Work, and that remains the only place to find those b-sides, 12″ mixes and live tracks on CD. She hasn’t made you buy them again, repackaged.
I know this website celebrates re-issues, and that’s great, but acts that choose not to do that shouldn’t be criticised as being self-absorbed. They should be applauded for the fact that you only have to buy their work the once!
Perhaps. But I, as a young, newer fan, have to pay out over $200 if I want her box set. I would really love some affordable reissues of her material.
Alan, you’ve interpreted my words in your own way so what you think I’ve said isn’t what I intended at all. So your response has no bearing on what I said.
Oh, your frustration is palpable this time Paul. I love it…Because I think we all agree!!!
Someone suggested that the so-called new “2015 remix” of Say say say might very well be a composite of the two 12” versions (extended and instrumental). It seems the 2015 remix has the exact same duration as one of the two remixes of 1983.
As for the forthcoming reissue of Press To Play, considering the vast quantity of material published on all the variant of the singles at the time, I was thinking that perhaps the bonus CD will contain all the ‘songs’ (such as Hanglide, 7” version of Pretty little head, 7” version of Only love remains, etc….), and that all the remixes will be confined on a CD3 which will only be available for the die-hard fans on the Deluxe edition. Does that make sense or not ?
What ‘makes sense’ and what Macca does, appear to be two different things. That is what is worrying. He hasn’t put the 7″ versions of Take It Away and Tug of War on this reissue so who’s to say he’ll put the seven-inch versions of the singles from Press to Play on that reissue?
Agreed. But “Take it away” and “Tug of war” where minor edits, whereas “Pretty little head” and “Only love remains” are quite different from the album versions.
And he did include the 7” version of “Letting go”.
I guess only time will tell, anyway.
Tug of War is a different mix for the single. I haven’t detected much difference with Take It Away other than it has a clean intro on the 7″ version. (I’m not a massive fan of that one.)
And what ever happened to The Red Shoes re-release on vinyl???
The label insist it is still happening, but no evidence of that yet! On the other hand they are dealing with Kate “speedy” Bush ;)
The annoying thing about the Kate track is that you can’t buy it individually. You have to buy the whole album, and it isn’t available physically. I’m therefore not bothering.
The new version does sound a bit different though. Paul, the preview you possibly heard was the original version (I made that mistake too, I’d assumed it was the new version)
Actually I could buy the track individually from iTunes France on the day of the album’s release. But it looks like it was a one-off !
About six years ago, it was possible to buy on ebay a 3″ cd single from France of Say, Say, Say, presumably bootleg, containing 7″, 12″ and instrumental versions. Luckily I got hold of one.
Both of Jellybean’s “Say Say Say”-mixes were at one point released as bonus tracks on the iTunes-version of Pipes of peace. But for some reason they were withdrawn after a year or so (as were the other exclusive iTunes bonus tracks (“Goodnight Tonight”‘s Long Version, Instrumental “Give Ireland Back To The Irish” and a couple more).
And yes – of course they should be on the new Archive-version!
I managed to buy both the Say Say Say and Goodnight Tonight 12″ remixes from itunes several years ago, luckily! I bet the same thing will happen with Back to the Egg when that comes out in 2029… What with the free downloads from McCartney’s website, Ill make my own CD – the Archive Archive Collection Ill call it…
What a bunch of whiners!
Love the art, not the artist.
How many artists can you name who are releasing their best work 30 or 40 years into their career? Aerial and 50 Words For Snow are among the finest work Kate Bush has produced.
I applaud her for not allowing EMI to re-issue her work ad nauseum to maximize returns.
As for McCartney remixes, the above link (which I managed to listen to almost a minute of) reminded me yet again how tedious 99.7% of remixes are. People seem to lose sight of the fact that the artist’s recording of their song is the last word on that song. Handing off to some producer to tinker with and rework seldom sheds any new light on the music.
It’s as true now as it was back in the 80s when I would buy 12″ or CD singles by my favourite artists, only to see the two most dreaded words in music on the back cover: Shep Pettibone.
Just because you don’t like this or that remix doesn’t mean those who like it should be not given the chance to buy it on a remastered version of the respective album. Especially when the bonus material is skimpy anway.
Yet another disappointment from Kate, who really doesn’t seem to respect or appreciate her fans.
How can you say that ? Did you see the show ? Do you really think she did it for the money ? The DVD will come, sooner or later ! “Patience” is a key word with Kate, everyone knows that !
What a total shame for sure, wondering where’s Macca head for omit a great remixes like those, i own the Spanish edition of original 12″ and is one of my favs and not sure if would think same of the “new” coming around.
BTW when the clip ends one of the windows appearing goes directly to tte “Ultrasound Extended Versión” a 12:32 mix like the original one but still extended and sound truly great, no idea of where cames from but deserves a listening.
Other great chance to do something great lost in the way…
Dammit. Logged on to the site, saw the picture of Kate, and thought “Ooh 10 disk deluxe edition of The Dreaming out soon” :D.
Sadly not !
Paul – can we have The Seeds of Love deluxe box soon please ? I’ve got a credit card and I wanna use it :)
All these artists give us all the peripheral stuff and drip feed it as if we’re all waiting at the nipple for milk.
It may work for a while, but people are becoming more savvy these days. This isn’t 1980. We’ve all got the internet and are wiser to the marketing tricks.
All of the shenanigans can be summed up as follows:
1) Kate is going to give you something new, so start to get excited
2) It’s going to be something unique, so get really excited
3) Actually it might be something old reworked, but that’s still exciting
4) It’s really just the same song tinkered with a bit, but we’ll tell you it’s “psychoacoustics and sonic-processing releasing fresh harmonic information in an ear-tingly and subtle way”
So what really happened? Not a lot. But you were all taken along a journey of “follow the carrot”.
It’s a great way to turn the fans OFF.
I lost interest in people like Kate Bush years ago. She is so aloof and gives so little, why would I waste my time? I love the old stuff, got the “This Woman’s Work” box set and I’ve moved on. I’ve done the same with all the self-absorbed artists. I simply pay them no attention now.
It’s getting harder and harder to remain a fan of Kate Bush and her Music. Sorry to say that, but for me it’s a fact.
Yes, I was thinking it didn’t bode well for Press to Play, which in my opinion pretty much hangs on the remixes.
The 12″ version of “Say Say Say” is on a Spanish various artists compilation CD called “I Love Black And White 80’s” released in 2013, which you can get on Amazon or eBay.
Interesting… the 12″ mix of Spies Like Us was also on The Art of the 12-inch volume one.
At the risk of being pedantic *a* 12″ mix of Spies Like Us was released on The Art of the 12″. The Party Mix is still to get a CD release?
This is true.
You’re fired up today, Paul. But I agree with you about both Kate Bush and Paul McCartney.
Has that mix of Say Say Say been released on CD? I can’t understand why a comprehensive series of Michael Jackson remixes haven’t been released on CD. I have a whole lot of the CD singles, but would love a new collection of the remixes.