New Wave Outpost Forum

<B><a href="http://www.slicingupeyeballs.com/2010/05/22/squeeze-spot-the-difference-tour-dates/">Squeeze re-records old hits for new ‘Spot the Difference’ best-of; touring U.S., U.K.</a>[/b]

This sounds like a ridiculous plan-- a tour in support of a re-recorded greatest hits album?

Maybe others on this board have some examples of artists who re-record their classic songs with improved results. I don't. (Brian Wilson's SMiLE comes to mind)

[quote][i]Originally posted by SallyLightfoot[/i]
<br>This sounds like a ridiculous plan-- a tour in support of a re-recorded greatest hits album?

Maybe others on this board have some examples of artists who re-record their classic songs with improved results. I don't. (Brian Wilson's SMiLE comes to mind)
[/quote]

SMiLE is not a collection of rerecorded hits though. It's an unfinished album. In a perfect world, Brian could've used the original backing tracks he recorded in 1966-67, had Mike, Al and Bruce dub new vocals on top of them, composed new music to link those sections together, etc. but that's not realistic. Mike Love, primarily, hated that music back in 66-67 so I doubt he'd participate, plus you'd have to get a battalion of lawyers involved meaning separate deals cut for everybody since The Beach Boys are no longer a unit. Locating original master tapes would be a bitch as well (Capitol famously lost the multitrack masters for "Good Vibrations").
It was just easier and more financially viable for Brian to rerecord everything from scratch. Considering his completed and sequenced SMiLE album is widely regarded as a pop masterpiece in it's own right, I'd say he made a good show of it under the circumstances.

Good points, Ghosty! Can you think of any re-recorded albums (let alone greatest hits packages) that are as good as the originals?

Never mind about re-recordings when are they going to get their arses in gear and remaster the rest of their back catalogue.

[quote][i]Originally posted by SallyLightfoot[/i]
<br>Good points, Ghosty! Can you think of any re-recorded albums (let alone greatest hits packages) that are as good as the originals?
[/quote]

Actually I can't think of any rerecorded original albums other than maybe situations where a band had a falling out with another member and wiped that member's contributions, replacing the tracks with studio musicians (Ozzy Ozzbourne, Judas Priest).

Rerecorded greatest hits packages are plentiful but generally awful with rare exception.

Roy Orbison rerecorded his greatest hits in 1986 and most people only know those versions rather than his original Sun recordings (David Lynch used the rerecorded version of "In Dreams" in Blue Velvet).

Kiss recently rerecorded a bonus "Best Of" CD packaged with their latest "Sonic Boom" album that's so close to the originals that it's pointless (I suspect they wanted to own the rights to the new versions so they could license their hits to ad agencies without dealing with UMG....I think Squeeze may be attempting something similar).

Most people these days are familiar with Bill Haley's "Rock Around The Clock" from seeing it used as the original opening theme to Happy Days, but that was a rerecording from the late 60's and not the 1955 original.

The most famous rerecorded hit song is Bing Crosby's "White Christmas", originally cut in 1942 but the master was so badly damaged that he had to recut in 1947 and that's the version we all know today.

Thanks for letting me geek out. I love this kind of stuff! [:D]

Nice history lesson ghosty!

I usually cringe when I hear a band mention the word "rerecord...".

[quote][i]Originally posted by ghosty[/i]

Kiss recently rerecorded a bonus "Best Of" CD packaged with their latest "Sonic Boom" album that's so close to the originals that it's pointless (I suspect they wanted to own the rights to the new versions so they could license their hits to ad agencies without dealing with UMG....I think Squeeze may be attempting something similar).

[/quote]

Yes, I'm sure this is exactly what they're doing. They can make more money by licensing these "sound-alike" versions on their own.

Joan Jett put out a greatest hits in the '90s; the versions of "I Hate Myself For Loving You" and "Little Liar" are both re-records, but sound very similar to the originals.

On the flipside of this: The Fixx own the rights to their first album, [i]Shuttered Room[/i]; MCA licensed it for release in the '80s. When they came to the end of their contract, they owed MCA a live album, so MCA had the band record a new studio version of "Red Skies" to release as a single. But the real story is that they did this so that they (MCA) could have a version of "Red Skies" that they would own and not have to license from the band for any greatest hits packages (which is what they used for the '89 best of, along with a live version of "Stand Or Fall" from that live album, [i]React[/i]). Pretty sneaky. Luckily we were able to license the original tracks from the band for the [i]Ultimate Collection[/i], but the later [i]Millennium Collection[/i] uses those same re-records since it makes for a better P&L statement for the label.

"Words like conviction can turn into a sentence"

Cleopatra Record's entire catalogue these days seems to be 80s bands re-recording their old songs. See: Berlin, Information Society, Missing Persons, Flock of Seagulls, Real Life...not a single one worth a nickel.

I'd never thought of the licensing thing, and that makes sense (also, Prince did that note-for-note remake of 1999.) But what excuse did Gang of Four have for that awful [i]Return the Gift[/i] thing?

As I was commenting on this topic, I realized that I've been listening to Roky Erickson's new album of [i]re-recorded[/i] songs (with backing & arrangements from Okkervil River), [i]True Love Cast Out All Evil[/i]. I know it's far from New Wave, but think that's a terrific record from an old legend who's trying to recover from a lost life of prison and mental institutions. Anyone who's familiar with Roky's original output knows that it's usually a low-fi affair, with acid-drenched figments of his schizophrenia.

Roky's original "Goodbye Sweet Dreams"
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The new one with Okkervil River
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Good stuff from a true legend.