in hot cop drag, in leatherman's stag

howdy pop pickers

more vibes, then. and in, this instance, more of more of more, look you see, for here under consideration, or discussion, is the second volume of the much fabled 12" remixes of the 80s off of them what do all those Now compilations. which, in respect of the latter, appear to be getting to be all too familiar purchases for me these days. and why not if they are good. 

and yet i am reluctant (or reticent) to discuss the degree to which this particular set, called in full Now That's What I Call 12" 80s Extended, is "good". sure, as well documented, there was precisely one (1) song which appears which meant that this was an instant purchase, but it would be nice of at the very least most of the rest of the set was of interest. in some instances, yes it is, but for the majority of it, well, no, not quite so good as the first (here you go, link to it). but, that said, presumably there are some vibes here what others are as excited about as i am that one in particular. 

so as to get to the point (or purpose) of my particular purchase of this set, yes, indeed, this has on it a 12" remix of Male Stripper off of Man 2 Man Meet Man Parish. which is an absolute banging tune, one of my all time favourite things, and i care not how homoerotic or such it is, many thanks. for some reason this has not ever turned up on a CD (except a variant, i think, on a variation of a Queer As Folk soundtrack disc), so i was delighted to be able to get it in this format, my original 12" single all tucked away and not played for a bit. 

on the one side, so to speak, the remix here is not the one i own. instead, this is the "other" 12" which came out at the time (multiple releases were a good way to spike the charts), that runs slightly longer than what i had, and does not have the "we shall behold him" bit at the end. no, no disappointment at all, for it is quite class i, at last, have the other version. 

yet that is where all good of this inclusion ends. sadly, and if i am honest annoyingly, the sound of the tune that is Male Stripper here is muted, as point of fact subdued, compared to the rest of the sound heard across the discs. whilst i lack any technical blessings, everything about the version here says it is all compressed, as if someone had simply downloaded an mp3 of it and shoved it on a disc. strangely, then, i have (ahem) more better quality CD copies of this that i have made myself, either via downloading a better mp3, or flac file, or by simply taping my 12", transferring my tape to a PC and recording from there. oh, what a pity. 

i concede the chance to own any variation of Male Stripper on CD was always to be an autopilot purchase, but faced with such disappointment as what they have delivered, perhaps it was possible for me to extract coin value from the rest of the set. oh, provenance? considering i went and bought the original off of HMV, so too i went there to buy this. and was satisfied to see they had it at £9.99, which is one pence (new) south of supermarkets, and appears to abandon the extra £1 or sometimes £2 what HMV like to add to prices, so as to remind you (and your wallet) of the prestige of using them. 

roughly, or about, five or six (maybe seven) are tunes here i would actually wish to have, or are ones that i have no objection to all of a sudden being in my collection. which is ever so slightly problematic, or questionable, faced with north of forty (40) entire. pretty much all of them reside on disc one (of a total of 4), although yes it is quite difficult to tell with the "challenging" (as in idiotic) colour scheme what they elected to use. 

to disc one, then, and specifically the first two tracks. it remains so that A Kind Of Magic, off of Queen, is a brilliant tune, and any such longer (or extended) listening experience of it is welcome. a combination of the bass on it, and of course the Freddie factor, make this totes excellent. my suspicion was that this would probably turn out to be the same, or slightly different, to the A Kind Of A Kind Of Magic off of the one CD issue of the album of same (singular name), but no, quite different. right after that, bewilderingly credited to the band and the two members of the band, is Sexcrime from the 1984 soundtrack. this was a 12" i always wished to own, but alas the art department decided that 'sex crime' in big letters on the cover was a good idea, so i had no wish to have it in my collection and have to explain why, in the context of the Orwell novel, the term made sense. one of my favourite albums is the soundtrack entire, and the "main" theme song (although i am not certain it featured in the film, but yet i recall the music video featured on the rental tape) is a highlight. 

elsewhere, or also (if you like) on disc one are things what are nice to have, but i wouldn't call any of them glaring omissions. Duran Duran are always welcome, and this is a decent enough mix of Wild Boys. the Adam Ant is a great tune, but alas stems from the time when he got f****d over by Geldof and Live Aid, so is possibly not as fondly remembered as it should be. from the Thompson Twins i would have much rather had Doctor! Doctor! but presumably somewhere someone likes this, the Human League one is a trifle tinny for my tastes, a proper mix of Tainted Love off of Soft Cell rather than a "medley" (the same is true of Bronski's I Feel Love cover over on three) would have been nice, great inclusions off of a-Ha and Tears For Fears, and any Spandau Ballet in my collection is far, far too much Spandau Ballet, cheers for that. 

biggest disappointment resides on disc four, in the form of the Shep Pettibone remix of True Faith by New Order. taking thoughts back to the 80s, i recall fondly, when musicians, producers, etc were elusive and held in esteem, we all had an unspoken idea that this Shep Pettibone was all prestige, and he selected only the finest to mix. in the cold light of north of thirty years later, no. all he appears to have done, looking (or rather listening) back, was fiddle with the treble and add the same "effects" to each mix what he gone done. alarmingly here he goes ahead and accentuates the hidden secret of this song, which makes it as clear as day that it effectively "borrows" highly heavily off of In The Night from Pet Shop Boys. 

speaking of which, dance disco pop chart remix kings Pet Shop Boys remain the most significant absence from both of these sets. one can only assume they were refused use of any of their fantastic eighties remixes, or licensing would cost too much. rather than any songs off of the one that stands there and sings and the one that stands there looking bored, we get a trilogy on disc three of songs which it was so they had a firm hand in. oh. 

it would indeed be criminal for me not to reference one inclusion here, seeing as it comes from one of my all time favourite bands of all time. yes, Frankie Goes To Hollywood. here they are represented by the 'Freddie Bastone' mix of Rage Hard. this is a mix i have absolutely no recollection of even existing in 1986, but perhaps i do have the 12" shoved away. no matter, it is not all that good. oh. and on a similar note, what seemed to excite a few was the coming together of two bona fide mega stars, Paul McCartney and Michael Jackson, on this set with the 12" of Say, Say, Say, which isn't a good song. 

no, this set, as one that you would wish to play again and again, is nowhere near as good as the first, or if you will initial, set. but yet, reasonably quite worthwhile due to the relative obscurity of some of the things here. i have every confidence, for instance, that someone out there fondly remembers, say, Aztec Camera for some reason, and shall be delighted to have them here. ever since i have bought this set, i have played the original one more frequently, so i guess that's the comment or review. 

be excellent to each other!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!