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Betty Boo / GRRR! It’s Betty Boo two-CD deluxe edition

By Paul Sinclair

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51

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Betty Boo‘s second album,  GRRR! It’s Betty Boo (released in 1992), is to be expanded and reissued as a two-CD deluxe edition next month.

Alison Clarkson’s alter ego Betty Boo first came to prominence when she guested as a vocalist on the Beatmasters’ Hey DJ – I Can’t Dance (To That Music You’re Playing) – a UK top ten hit in 1989. Solo singles Doin’ the Do and Where Are You Baby? followed (both reached the top 10 in Britain) and featured on her debut album, the platinum selling Boomania.

letmetakeyouthereWith a new record deal inked for WEA, GRRR! It’s Betty Boo ultimately failed to build on the success of her first record. There were many singles (including the Lady Madonna sampling I’m On My Way) but only Let Me Take You There saw a modicum of success, reaching number 12 in August 1992.

GRRR! would be the second and last studio album as Betty Boo, but Clarkson has built a successful career for herself writing for other artists. She composed Pure and Simple, which became the biggest selling single of  2001 when recorded by Popstars winners Hear’Say – she collected an Ivor Novello award for her trouble – and has written for Girls Aloud and Sophie Ellis-Bextor.

This new edition of GRRR! features 20 bonus tracks including an enormous amount of remixes. Although it’s only a two-CD set, for some reason (at the time of writing) Amazon in the UK have listed a rather inflated price of £19. This is highly likely to drop more in line with the Amazon Germany (£13 at the moment) and of course, the usual pre-order price guarantee applies (where you pay the lowest published price before shipping).

GRRR! It’s Betty Boo is released on 27 March 2016 (by Cherry Red).

pre-order

track_listing

Disc: 1
1. I’m On My Way
2. Thing Goin’ On
3. Hangover
4. Curly & Girly
5. Wish You Were Here
6. Let Me Take You There
7. Gave You The Boo
8. Skin Tight
9. Catch Me
10. Close The Door
11. Jet Sex (7” Version)
12. Platform Shoe Shuffle (Edit)
13. I’m On My Way (Thumpin’ Dub)
14. Let Me Take You There (Ubiquity Mix)
15. Hangover (Sunday Morning Remix)
16. Thing Goin’ On (MK Radio Remix)
17. Catch Me (12” Version)

Disc: 2
1. Let Me Take You There (12” Mix)
2. I’m On My Way (The Batman And Robin Mix))
3. Hangover (12” Mix)
4. Thing Goin’ On (MK Club Mix)
5. Catch Me
6. Jet Sex (12” Version)
7. Platform Shoe Shuffle
8. Let Me Take You There (Away Mix)
9. I’m On My Way (Boo Choons)
10. Hangover (Saturday Night Remix)
11. Catch Me (London Underground Mix)
12. Thing Goin’ On (MK Underground Mix)
13. Let Me Take You There (Take U There Mix)

pre-order

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51 Comments

51 thoughts on “Betty Boo / GRRR! It’s Betty Boo two-CD deluxe edition”

  1. Pingback: Betty Boo / Boomania 2CD Deluxe | superdeluxeedition

  2. Okay, so not EVERY track is a gem-and this was an EXPENSIVE product-but the re-mastering is kinda nice; with that said I think they left I’m On My Way flat. And the last remix of “Let Me Take You There” was a SNOORE. With that said:Thank You for the 7″‘s of PSS & Jet Sex. Best re-mastering work here…Close The Door-respectfully.

  3. Okay, so no one ever mentioned the alt/ version of “Hangover” is also not listed…I am going to enjoy this collection (and be happier about the less vinyl-hunting since having a large previous collection by her). Does anyone remember seeing a listing for “The Boomin’ Vids” release DVD from Canada 5 or so years ago??? It was $29.99 and featured a fragment of “GRRR!” publicity spots. Also, I once saw a listing for “GRRR!” as a ‘patent-leather pouch, with other goodies’. Oh but mates this was back in ’92 or so. Asking price then $25. Any comments or knowledge over these two mentioned items. By the way, “GRRR!” was housed originally in a longbox presentation here in the states; same with “BOOMANIA”.

    1. …Hear ever (???), any of you…Skin Tight was cataloged with numbers; I’m guessing a 12″ in 1994! (deleated) but had the sale price of $18 US money. Cheers and does anyone remember “rock-a-doodle-doo” by Wigwam? Or “Rock me non Stop”? Love Betty Boo.

  5. Yeah I’m similarly disappointed the Catch Me (Def Version) isn’t on there as it’s on the expensive import CD maxi – Morales’ Def mixes tend to be more experimental and dubby than his standard house vocals so that’s a shame

  6. Great to see this being released, have pre-ordered. As Paul says a very talented lady compared to the manufactured pop of today.

    There definitely seem to be rights issues with the first album as the videos on YouTube are blocked in much of mainland Europe outside UK. Comes up with their standard the copyright holder will not allow in your country. This is with fan uploaded videos as does not appear to be anything official from her record companies.

  7. I just came accross your topic and thought – great. And then I saw tracklisting. OK, few unreleased on CD mixes. But…
    Is this some kind of mistake? Or early draft? Where are following remixes for Betty Boo fans – buying target of this re-release:
    I’m On My Way (Commercial Twelve Inch)
    I’m On My Way (Club Mix)
    I’m On My Way (Ooeeooh Mix)
    I’m On My Way (Underground Mix 145 Bpm) – Ben Liebrand remix
    I’m On My Way (Boo Choons Edit)
    Thing Goin’ On (MK Underground Dub)
    Thing Goin On (Hip Hop 12″)
    Thing Goin On (Radio Remix)
    Catch Me (Def Version) – David Morales remix
    Catch Me (U.K. Mix) – David Morales remix
    Catch Me (David’s Instrumental) – David Morales remix
    Catch Me (Original Version) – maybe this is wrongly credited on tracklist
    Platform Shoe Shuffle (Dub)

    This is nice idea – but I am not even going to consider of buying this now. Maybe when it drops to 3 UKP for 3 mixes I would like to get from here.

  9. I bought the poster 7″ of the first two singles from this album, but never got around to the album (as a 17 / 18 year old then, I was the’ right age’, in many respects). The singles never matched up to anything off Boomania for me…
    …Which I bought second had on CD for a quid a couple of years ago, and was very surprised just how good it still sounded. Especially the album tracks – a surprisingly strong release, back in the day. Does Grrr…(singles aside) compare?

  11. I remember dipping into my grocery money for the week to buy this CD in November 1992, which may be a key point in how the business model works. The reissues often allow me to go back and collect albums and remixes from artists I could not afford at the time of their release. I’m certain there are other fans out there in a better financial position now than at the time of the initial release, so it would seem the market is there. If the tracks are just sitting in the vault not making money, why not invest a bit into rereleasing them and allowing them to earn some money?

    I am disappointed the commercial 12″ of I’m on My Way isn’t included, as I don’t care for the remixes. It was about this time that record companies quit releasing extended versions and focused on remixes that began to strip the song of anything recognizable and creating something new. Hangover is a fantastic song!

    I’ve often wondered why I prefer Boomania more than Grrr! It’s Betty Boo. I think the first album was more cohesive in attitude, style, artwork, and theme. The second album seemed to struggle like a middle child to find its own identity, although there are some great tracks on it. I wonder what would have happened if Betty Boo had released something that was a hybrid of the two albums.

  12. I’ve been a SDE-reader for three or four years now and while many of the re-releases don’t particularly tempt me, being generally more of a rock fan than a pop fan, it is interesting to see what’s being reissued, particularly as many of them from the 80s and 90s are from my youth.

    Ignoring the negative comments about the worthiness or otherwise of this or any other reissue, the financial viability of these things are interesting. If the suggested 1500 people (worldwide?) buy a CD at £20 or equivalent, that’s a gross income of £30,000 to cover all costs, from Betty Boo’s earnings to the people involved in the tracking down, compiling, remastering, artwork and all other technical and admin/legal aspects (which would presumably have taken several people several months to do) to the packaging, distribution, and of course the record company’s and the retailers’ profits. That doesn’t sound to me like anybody is going to make much money from projects like these. Paul, when you speak to people about these projects, do you ever get any indication of whether it is actually financially worthwhile for them, or is it more that, as long as it doesn’t lose money, it’s more driven by a love for the artists and music?

    1. It’s definitely a business, but these companies tend to use external consultants who are often passionate, enthusiastic fans who probably aren’t doing this kind of work to earn a living, necessarily. Also, Cherry Red specifically, put out a massive amount of material, so their model is about lots of releases that may not sell loads of copies individually, but there is a certain scale in the operation. If you release 50 titles a month then even if you only make a few grand profit on each, that’s going to add up.

      1. Hi Paul – thanks for the info, it’s interesting, I hadn’t thought of it in terms of small scale but numerous releases. And thanks for SDE too, it’s an intrinsic part of my everyday internet catch up now!

  14. Clearly people are entitled to their own opinions here, I am baffled at the negative comments about this release. Betty boo deserves a reissue as much as anyone else and I, for one, am clamoring for more from her era: baby ford and the beatmasters for example.

    Is there a market for this release? Clearly – yes. How many units? Remains to be seen – I have no idea but my guess would be 2-3,000 units maybe. I live in the U.S. and I imagine her fan base is predominantly in the UK – she had a few dance hits here but globally I think it could move several thousand units.

    I never bought this album. I also saw it in the $1.99 bin here, and I didn’t buy it. I did buy boomania though. This release is intended for people who didn’t buy the original album when it came out as well, like me. Remixes are the sole reason I will buy this release – whatever I heard from this album was good. Morales, Vince Clarke and others did a good job remixing this.

    Cherry pop is releasing this because they know – pop music from this era does sell. Surprise – people actually want those remixes from the 12″ singles but can’t be bothered to buy the 12″s now. Plus the remastering is a big bonus.

    Why do you think pwl reissues continue to be released? They’re selling across the world :-)

    I wouldn’t have paid $1.99 for the original album. But I would pay $20 for this because I enjoy the era of remixes and value them much more. That’s their target market (me) and they know we will buy it even if we never bought the album in the first place.

  15. Despite the impression my first comment might give, I’m actually excited about this. And I certainly disagree with the ‘garbage’ comment. It just seemed like an odd/left-field choice of artist (then again, I once contacted Cherry Red/Pop to suggest Paula Abdul re-issues, so who am I to judge, LOL)

  16. Wow. Given how many (or perhaps I should say how few) copies this is likely to shift, I would LOVE to know what the economics are for such a release. Just how many copies do Cherry Red actually have to shift in order for this title to break even, or actually turn a profit?

    How cheap must it actually be to license this material? To press the CDs and get them into the distribution channels?

    Same goes for the Leo Sayer singles box!

  17. And yet again, whoever compiles these things has zero aptitude for the best mixes out there – in this case, the David Morales 12″ instrumental of Catch Me, which is a string-laden, thumping disco masterpiece.

  18. The failure of Hangover as a single continues to mystify me to this day – it’s a bloody amazing little single and it had a great video too. Betty may not be everybody’s cup of darjeeling but she is someone worth remembering and celebrating a little I think.

  20. The three singles are excellent, cant remember the rest and have aversion to post 1990 remixes, as they all seem to be different songs. But three cheers to CR for thinking of someone else to release.

  22. I remember seeing about a dozen copies of this album in a cut out bin in the early ’90s. I wasn’t curious enough at the time t0 spend $1.99 for it though. It wasn’t long after that Betty Boo’s name was mentioned as a punch line on “Absolutely Fabulous” and I made the connection. To this day, that is the only reason I remember this album.

  23. **shakes head at yet another mystifying Cherry Red choice…..**

    Do they pick these with a blindfold, a pin and a copy of Music Week from the late eighties?

  24. I will probably get this as I love the album (the Lady Madonna lift in I’m on my way make me smile every time I hear it).
    two things though
    1 – I am surprised that it is getting the 2-Cd treatment (I’d love to know the sales figures)
    2 – I won’t be buying it at £19 that’s for sure.

  26. I thinks it great the more obscure albums get re-issued. After all, why should just the big hits be released. I am sure many people will like this and as such I can imagine they thought this would never happen.

  28. This is not garbage at all. Betty Boo sold a lot of records and was a major figure in the transition from hip house to 90s era house music. Not a surprise that Madonna wanted to sign her. She proved her songwriting creds with a few major songs recorded by girls aloud and others in the early 2000s.

    Your suspicions about Boomania are correct – I read from the person who compiled this release that licensing was the problem. More than likely, the issue is that she was signed to multiple labels and all labels need to grant permission for a reissue to happen.

    This one was WEA across the world so easier to get the rights, I am assuming. Looks good I will buy it.

    One omission here is the standard I’m on my way commercial 12″ mix – apparently also a licensing issue….oh well. Vinyl rip never bothered me all that much.

    1. Like I agree about the 12″ commercial version of “I’m on my way”. Also a Boo FAN here in the U. of S.A. please write back! :) Brian

  29. definitely getting this.
    loved Let Me Take You There and Hangover at the time.
    really liked the progression of her music.
    great pop songs. great pop star.

  30. Still waiting on further China Crisis remasters for example and they reissue garbage like this that totally bombed in the first place only getting to number 64.

    2. You seem to think there is some governing body over all works of music making the decision as to what gets reissued. It’s all about the label and rights owners and their willingness to reissue something they own based on a potential profit from doing so. It’s what holds up seemingly obvious albums from being re-released and other, more obscure offerings being released in the above manner. It’s a strangely silly situation but it is what it is.

    3. harsh. just because it’s not something you’d want, does not make it garbage. even if I was ever disappointed something was getting re-released when something I was waiting for still hadn’t. I would just keep it to myself. hate seeing comments like this on here. nothing is more valid than anything else for a re-release.

    1. Her first album sold over 300,000 when first issued, which is probably better than a lot of artists who get reissued on Cherry Red. If half-a-percent of those people buy this then that’s 1500 copies

  34. I am lost for words – I am a HUUUUUGE BB fan, but REALLY? Someone actually thought BB was worth this effort? And to pick the #62 album over the #4 album?

    *mystified silence*

    1. If both albums had been on WEA they’d have probably done the first one, er, first. I guess there must be some issues with licensing it.

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