Sock Free Hideaway

BEATS OF LOVE 

141. Blue – 80s Extended Unreleased Vocal Mix by Wham!

ORIGINALLY, A b-side track, the result of the eleven spare studio hours left after recording the mighty debut album Fantastic, and an obsession of mine in 2018. 

Its echoey, underground synthesisers, capture a raw indie energy rather than a calculated, chart-topping pop formula. Video of George wearing his Fila Borg Elite trainers on The Russell Harty Show captures him in a sharper, more captivating light.

  

You easily forget the track’s skeletal resemblance to Nothing Looks the Same in the Light. Instead, its melodic charm and hushed, tentative vocals seduce you. It captures a fragile performance by a frontman who had already silenced his partner’s creative input in a ruthless bid for stadium-sized stardom. These were their last songs that felt only mine; I surrendered subsequent releases to my sister's cassette collection for family car rides.

Its release coincided with the last time I felt naturally happy, so when I play their earliest records, it touches me personally. I can taste the fresh orange I drank before leaving the kitchen and picture my father's outstretched arms as I ruffled his neatly combed hair on my way to school. Life felt warm and playful, and I loved going to school and church. When their sophomore Make it Big album came out, I didn't. 

This edit works wonders with the vocals and turns this notion I have of it being a DIY tune on its head. It sounds crisp and not unlike a smash. I love the tactile cover and the Lovevinyl bullshit that accompanies the release on their website. Especially the lie about it being a hundred only pressing. After two failed attempts, I've finally got a copy. 

There's nothing bullshit about ECLA, their mighty edit rocks, and like a nice pair of heavy duty velvet curtains, it shuts out the world today brilliantly.