Category: Versions, versions

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Kraftwerk – ‘Tour de France’ MusikExpress magazine German 7″ single (Kling Klang/Parlophone, 2023)

The fourth example in a series of exclusive 7″ Kraftwerk singles made available from the German ‘MusikExpress’ magazine has just been released for the August 2023 issue. Celebrating 20 years since the release of Kraftwerk’s most recent album, ‘Tour de France Soundtracks’, the 7″ is a one-sided single with an exclusive edit of the album’s closing track, ‘Tour de France’.

Kraftwerk – ‘Tour de France’ MusikExpress magazine August 2023 issue German 7? single - front cover design
^ Kraftwerk – ‘Tour de France’ MusikExpress magazine August 2023 issue German 7″ single – front cover design

Of course, the detail there is that the closing track to the album was a 2003 re-recording of the version of ‘Tour de France’ first issued back in 1983, not the new 2003 album track Etape 1 / 2 /3 versions. UPDATE: And, thanks to a comment courtesy of Staggboy, to be more precise, the edit is derived from the 2017 3-D The Catalogue/Der Katalog version, rather than the 2003 ‘Tour de France Soundtracks’ album version. Continue reading “Kraftwerk – ‘Tour de France’ MusikExpress magazine German 7″ single (Kling Klang/Parlophone, 2023)”

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Scritti Politti – ‘The “Sweetest Girl”’ version craziness

‘The “Sweetest Girl”’ never provided Scritti Politti with the full-on pop chart hit that might have ambitiously been hoped for, but the impact it made with its sea-change in style ensured its high profile all the same. What I had not quite appreciated until more recent years was just how many versions of the song there are and it’s curiously stop/start release history.

Scritti Politti - The "Sweetest Girl" versions
^ Scritti Politti – The “Sweetest Girl” versions

Continue reading “Scritti Politti – ‘The “Sweetest Girl”’ version craziness”

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New Musik ‘From A To B – The Sony Years’ 2023 CD box set (Lemon Recordings, CDLEMBOX249, 2023)

New Musik will always be a favourite of mine and there has been no shortage of previous VersionCrazy coverage, what with ‘The Planet Doesn’t Mind’ version craziness, ‘Greatest Hits’ Promo 7″ EP (GTO, XP112, 1981) and New Musik ‘Anywhere’ UK cassette (GTO, GTMC044, 1981) posts. They have also been relatively fortunate in that their back catalogue has been re-issued fairly regularly since the 1990s onwards, so they have never been left behind and forgotten about. My slightly sanguine ‘relatively fortunate’ is because over the years the re-issues have had a tendency to play a little fast and loose when compiling extra tracks as bonuses to the standard album track  lists.

New Musik 2023 CD box set - front box design
^ New Musik 2023 CD box set – front box design

Continue reading “New Musik ‘From A To B – The Sony Years’ 2023 CD box set (Lemon Recordings, CDLEMBOX249, 2023)”

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Side by side: Xmal Deutschland ‘Sickle Moon’ UK singles (Xile/Phonogram XMAL2 / XMAL212, 1987)

Another post of mine that holds a torch for Xmal Deutschland, who I was seriously into in the 1980s and was fortunate to see play live a few times. This time around, the final single release by the five-piece version of the band, ‘Sickle Moon’, the second single from the ‘Viva’ album of 1987.

Xmal Deutschland - Sickle Moon UK 7" single front cover design
^ Xmal Deutschland – Sickle Moon UK 7″ single front cover design

Released in 7″ and 12″ formats in the UK, it managed to contain two versions of the A side, ‘Sickle’ Moon’, and two versions of the shared B-side, ‘Illusion’, as well as 12″-only track, ‘In Onyx’. Continue reading “Side by side: Xmal Deutschland ‘Sickle Moon’ UK singles (Xile/Phonogram XMAL2 / XMAL212, 1987)”

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Kraftwerk ‘Radioactivity’ US 12″ single (Elektra, 0-66486, 1991)

The sleekly re-engineered and re-envisioned ‘Radioactivity’ was a particular standout track from Kraftwerk’s 1991 album ‘The Mix’ and so it was an obvious choice for a single release. In the band’s homeland of Germany and European territories 7”, 12” and CD single editions were issued with mixes by François Kevorkian on the A side and William Orbit on the reverse. (The UK and France also got cassette single formats too.) In both cases, 7” and longer 12” remixes were produced. In the case of the 7” mixes, German language and English language mixes were issued. The 12” mixes were only in English language variations however.

Kraftwerk 'Radioactivity' 1991 US 12" single, front cover design
^ Kraftwerk ‘Radioactivity’ 1991 US 12″ single, front cover design

There was one more mix that managed to see light of day though and that is the ‘William Orbit Hardcore’ Mix’ that was only ever issued at the time on this US 12” single, making it an attractive item to track down on import on my side of the ocean.
Continue reading “Kraftwerk ‘Radioactivity’ US 12″ single (Elektra, 0-66486, 1991)”