No rabbit in a hat tricks...

Walter Pico - My Alter Ego (Remix)
Walter Pico -Bad Guys
Walter Pico - Don't Ask
Walter Pico - Flash in the Pan

If I had an ounce of musical talent in my bones I think I would have ended up making music like Walter Pico. We've been leading parallel lives. As a kid, he saved up the money from two paper rounds to feed his desire to acquire hip-hop classics on wax. Me too! Then he became obsessed with gangsta rap - "If an album didn't feature a Parental Advisory sticker it wasn't worth the time of play," he says in his biography. Yep, I went through that phase too - the ultimate teen wigga, wandering the mean streets of Dorchy in my bomber jacket with the rest of the DTP (Dorchester Town Posse), NWA lyrics running through our brains every time a cop car cruised by. Me and Walter even became disillusioned with hip-hop at the same time, when it "started to resemble one of those scandalous, but colourful, glossy gossip magazines. Peeps recording in the booth were talking about whose necklace is the biggest and sparkles the most, who gets to date the 'model chicks' and who has the most cars parked up in front of mum's house." Couldn't have put it better myself. Plus we both rock a fat beatbox... So, yeah, we got a lot in common, me and Mr Pico. But the BIG BIG BIG difference is that he channeled his disillusionment into producing beats and rhymes of his very own. I got into techno and lost it in the bass bins...

With these impeccable credentials and bonafide old school influences, it's not surprising that Walter Pico makes brilliant music. He's a bit like Money Mark, playing wicked little keyboard riffs with awesome beats, snatches of vocal samples and the odd dose of old school "wiggy wiggy scratching". You can tell he's into Jurassic 5, and it's not just the fact that he's sporting one of their tees in the photo above. His music is a throw back to the good ol' days of hip-hop: "Original beats and real live MCs"... And he's a funny guy - occasionally I've found myself giggling away on public transport at some of his two-liners. Imagine Kid Acne if he came from the Home Counties. There's also a bit of the Flight of the Conchords in there. Sometimes you know he's taking the piss - it can almost verge on a pastiche of old school hip-hop - but he's doing it with intelligence and the quality never drops.

They obviously work better in context (ie wit da music), but here's a few examples of his lyrical flows. Little bit of politics + nifty wordplay = the win...

I dreamed of me, possibly, as an MC, but then thought just how nice it might be,
With life being high-speed and expensive, to change the ‘C’ to a ‘P’ and claim expenses.

Emcees with beef I eat like Black Eyed Peas, I used to slurp a lot until I caught Brain Freeze, now I wear a Parker with a pocket on the sleeve, with luminescent markers in the dark to write ideas.



Available to purchase now is My Alter Ego - an 11-track concept EP that introduces Walter Pico to the record buying public. It's the precursor to his first full-length LP, which should be out later on this year. And Mr Pico very kindly hooked me up with some exclusives that don't feature on the EP. There are four tracks up there for your downloading pleasure that actually make up a quality EP in their own right. When the outtakes are this good, you know you need to hook yourself up with some of the real shit. Link to buy below.

The talented Mr P even makes his own videos. Check this one for early single, Let's Get It Together - a crude but charming take on Aardman's stop-motion plasticine shizzle -



Buy My Alter Ego by Walter Pico from Norman Records
Walter Pico MySpace
Walter Pico at Crazy Worm Records- loads of good content here - tunes, videos and the like...

You're a Piece of Shit...

Scott 4 - Aspirins

Recorded in State LP, the debut album from Scott 4, is another one to file under "lost classics"... Along with the Beta Band, Scott Blixen's merry trio of electronic cowpunks soundtracked the end of Nineties for me. They were slightly different to the Betas - a bit more country, a bit more krauty - but they had a similar schtick, blending lo-fi country rock with hip-hop beats. If I was being lazy, I'd say they sound a bit like Beck. But Beck if he was into Neu!

Aspirins is probably a weird choice for posting. I should have gone for something a bit more upbeat but this lovely, anguished slice of the blues is as bittersweet as chewing a handful of the titular analgesic and Maltesers at the same time. And I like pictures of pills. It has played in the background during many an angst-ridden moment in my life. What a beauty.

They ended up signing to V2 for half a million squids, recorded one more album and then disappeared. The flip side of their first single for V2 was 23 minutes and 15 seconds long so they were never really cut out for mainstream success. Still much missed in this neck of the woods.

Note to new bands: naming yourself after a seminal album by Scott Walker doesn't help much with the web searches.

Buy Scott 4 Recorded in State LP from Soul Jazz
Scott 4 discography
Search eBay for Scott 4

The Freddy Adu of Music

Echoboy - Broken Hearts

I read a brilliant feature on goal.com about the Top 10 Lost Talents of the Decade in the world of football and it got me thinking about who were the great lost musical talents of the decade? Who was the Freddy Adu of music in the Noughties? I kept coming back to one person - Rich Warren. Now that's not to say that he didn't make some absolutely incredible music throughout the decade, but in terms of the size of his talent and potential, you'd have to say that his story is one of no hits and near misses.

Rich Warren was a prodigy; a fantastically talented songwriter and guitarist who had been in various bands since he was a teenager. He signed his first deal with Heavenly as one-third of the Hybirds in 1996, when Britpop was at its peak. Like most bands at that time there was a huge buzz of anticipation surrounding the Hybirds - retro-rockers carved in the image of the Jam and the Who, with Rich's inspired riffing elevating it above the dross - but they only released one album in 1997, and split at the end of the decade.

Following this false start, Rich holed up with an 8-track and a Casio and set about creating new worlds from above his mum's hair salon in Nottingham under the Echoboy moniker. He signed to Mute at the start of the Noughties and his debut album (Volume 1) was critically acclaimed and adored by me. I've posted Broken Hearts above - the point at which a supergroup featuring members of Neu!, Kraftwerk and Spiritualized come together to make some of the most affecting instrumental music you are ever likely to hear. The whole album is a belter. He made two more albums for Mute, including the brilliant Giraffe, which was produced by Flood. His last outing as Echoboy was Elektrik Soul Psymphonie in 2006.

In 2003, Noel Gallagher asked Rich to join Oasis. He declined, leading to The Sun headline: "He's not mad for it - he's just mad!" (Andy Bell eventually got the nod but it's a decision Rich doesn't regret). He played bass for Spiritualized for a while and also played guitar for Starsailor and Soulsavers, co-writing two songs on the latter's acclaimed 2009 album Broken. All extremely noteworthy achievements for any jobbing guitarist but a man of Rich's talents should be centre stage - the midfield playmaker, not in the holding role. Zidane, not Makelele. But unlike footballers, the careers of musicians don't necessarily fade with age so there's still hope that Rich's talent will be truly realised - and appreciated. In 2010, he's releasing an album under his own name for the first time - step forward mate, the spotlight awaits...

Buy Echoboy from Norman Records - Volume 1 is availble for the ludicrously cheap price of £4.99!
Echoboy website
Echoboy MySpace

[PS Haloscan have started charging for their comments service and I can't import the old comments into Blogger (or work out how to switch it back to Blogger's basic comment service. So until I work this out (any help much appreciated), all feedback or requests can be directed to me at joeclay23 [at] hotmail.com. Ta!]

His beats my rhymes are a perfect blend

I was planning to end the year with a monster Best of the Decade post but I've read so many of them now across the blogosphere that I'm sure the world doesn't need another. What the world can never have enough of is old school hip-hop, so instead I'm rounding off the year with a corking ten track selection - Can't Stop Won't Stop Volume II - a follow-up to the one that accompanied my post about Jeff Chang's amazing book, Can't Stop Won't Stop (definitely my book of the decade) that you can read here. Happy New Year! See you all in 2010...



1. M.C. Craig "G" - Shout (Rap Version)

The man like Marley Marl is at the controls of this magnificent cacophony from 1985. Clattering beats, jittery edits, a cheeky Tears for Fears sample and the teenage Craig Curry belting out his rhymes. And who is credited for the brilliant, chopped-up edits? None other than techno legend Jeff Mills.

Find it on Beat Classics LP (DC Recordings)



2. MC Shan - Down By Law

Another masterly Marley Marl joint here, this time in tandem with his cousin MC Shan with whom he fought the Bridge Wars in the mid-Eighties. Down By Law was the title track of Shan's debut album and makes great use of the keyboard riff from 7th Wonder's Daisy Lady. Traffic released an awesome 2CD special edition of 'Down By Law' a couple of years ago (packed with rarities) that is well worth hunting down.

Find it on MC Shan - Down By Law LP



3. The Classical II - New Generation

This funksome underground classic was produced by Teddy Riley, the "King of New Jack Swing", when he was just 15 years old. Riley would go on to work with Bobby Brown and Jacko, but here his bumpin' New Jack beats underpin rhymes from The Lord K Born & L.A. Bru, a pair of rappers from the Bronx.

Find it on Word Vol. 1 (Jive Records) LP



4. True Mathematics - After Dark

A nifty companion piece to Whodini's Freaks Come Out At Night, After Dark was credited to True Mathematics, a mysterious rap act generally thought to be a collaboration between Public Enemy's Chuck D and the producer Hank Shocklee, with raps by Eric Sadler who, along with Chuck D and Shocklee, formed the devastating production unit The Bomb Squad. The laidback funk and smooth raps of After Dark couldn't be farther away from the incendiary beats and rhymes of Public Enemy - could it really have been created by the same people?

Find it on Champion 12"



5. Three Times Dope - Once More (You Hear The Dope Stuff)

Philly hip-hop trio and once part of the Hilltop Hustlers crew along with Steady B and Cool C, Three Times Dope (3XD) made one brilliant album (1989's Original Stylin'), from which this awesome song is lifted) and two less good efforts, before main rapper EST went on to become an award-winning songwriter, penning ditties for RnB royalty like Destiny's Child. This is classic late-Eighties hip-hop fare - packed full of funk samples, fat beats and EST's rasping flow. Quality - or as 3XD would put it, "acknickulous".

Find it on Three Times Dope - Original Stylin' LP



6. Schoolly D - Gangster Boogie

For his fourth album, Am I Black Enough For You, Schoolly D eased back on the posturing and consigned the thug-raps about gangsta life to the trash, opting instead to convey a fairly positive, pro-black message (if you ignore the lamentable Pussy Ain't Nothin'), while musing on the difficulties of life in the ghetto. It wasn't a huge critical or commercial success, but it's my favourite album of his. Notable for using extremely long, largely unaccompanied, samples of well-known material, including chunks of spoken word and loads of James Brown and old funk tracks. Gangster Boogie is the bomb - uptempo and insanely funky. The Chemical Brothers got their Block Rockin' Beats sample from Gucci Again, another killer cut on this album.

Find it on Schoolly D - Am I Black Enough For You LP



7. Marley Marl Allstars - The Symphony

Marley Marl again, showing modern hip-hop producers how it should be done. Cue up a dope beat and get a group of quality MCs to drop science all over it - simples.

Find it on Marley Marl - In Control Vol. 1 LP



8. EPMD - So What Cha Sayin'

Ranked seventh by Chris Rock in Rolling Stones list of the Top 25 Hip-Hop Records of All Time, Unfinished Business is about as good as it gets, and opener So What Cha Sayin' is the album's stand-out track. You can even let them off for murdering Luther Vandross's So Amazing - stick to the rapping guys. I don't think anyone used samples better then EPMD - this one appropriates If It Don't Turn You On (You Outta Leave It Alone) by B.T. Express, One Nation Under a Groove by Funkadelic and Impeach the President by The Honey Drippers to totally devastating effect.

Find it on EPMD - Unfinished Business LP



9. Ultramagnetic MCs - Poppa Large (East Coast Mix)

Everyone bangs on about Ultramagnetic MCs debut album Critical Beatdown (and with good reason - it is one of the greatest), but when it comes to individual tracks, Poppa Large is up there. Taken from their second album Funk Your Head Up, the East Coast Mix by the mighty Beatminerz is a party-starting chunka killer funk and a guaranteed dancefloor filler. Kool Keith is on fire, as per usual.

Find it on Ultramagnetic MCs - Funk Your Head Up LP



10. Eric B & Rakim - Juice (Know The Ledge)

There are very few songs that could follow Poppa Large but this is one of them - the title track of the 1992 film 'Juice' (which starred the late 2-Pac) is Eric B & Rakim's finest hour (or four minutes) by a country mile. Its inclusion on the Chemical Brothers' Live At The Social Volume 1 - one of the finest mix albums - seals its place in my affections.

Find it on Juice - The Original Soundtrack

Let Me Upgrade You: Electromix Volume II

Another monster electro selection from the vaults. I'm posting the full length versions, but I've ordered the tracks with a sweet ten track mix in mind. Enjoy...



1. The Micronawtz - (I Can Do It...You Can Do It) Letzmurph Acrossdasurf (Club Mix Dub Version)

The second 12" release on the seminal New York label Tuff City, this primitive slice of electro was written by Barry Michael Cooper, who would go on to achieve fame as the screenwriter of New Jack City (which starred Ice-T). It's truly notable for being mixed by Afrika Bambaataa, credited on the flip as "The Peacemaker" for the role he played in bringing together warring gangs in NYC in late 1970s. It's a curious track but very influential - the cartoon voices would later be all the rage on the electro scene - and I love the simple, childlike melody.

Find it on Old School Rarities: The Electro Jams



2. Warp 9 - Light Years Away

I'd only really heard 'Nunk' by Warp 9, but I've really been getting into them lately. Blending synth-pop, smooth soul and galactic funk together they made some of the catchiest, poppiest electro around. Their first album, 'It's a Beat Wave', was released in 1983 by Prism Records. 'Light Years Away' was the third single from the album and was produced by John 'Jellybean' Benitez, who ended up working with Madonna.

Find it on Warp 9: It's a Beat Wave



3. Xena - On the Upside (Dub Version)

Electro-heads like myself will know the original version of this corker from 'Electro 2' - a properly uplifting number, bursting with lyrical positivity from Lisa Fischer (a Grammy award-winning vocalist who worked with Luther Vandross). It was produced by the same team behind Shannon's 'Let the Music Play' (another fave of mine). I'm posting the 'Dub Version' so you can check the production work in all its glory. As the dude on discogs says: "If you happen to be playing a gay Italo party this will set your mix on fire." Exactly.

Find it on Emergency Records 12"



4. Debbie Deb - When I Hear Music (12" Club Mix)

Debbie Deb was discovered by the mighty Pretty Tony (best-known for his production work as Freestyle - his track 'Don't Stop the Rock' was recently used by Cadbury's on that ad where the kids waggled their eyebrows). She co-wrote the catchy electro-pop smash 'When I Hear Music' with Tony and it was a massive club hit that still endures to this day (both Diplo and Craze put it on their Fabric.Live mix albums). Her story is a sad one - on the chubby side, the record company would often hire imposters, Milli Vanilli-style, to pose as her for live PAs and wouldn't put her on the cover of her records. Her confidence crushed, she faded into obscurity. It's not all bad though - Gwen Stafani often bigs up Deb, Janet Jackson covered another of her hits, 'Lookout Weekend', and she is part of a freestyle revival show with artists like Lisa Lisa, The Cover Girls and Shannon.

Find it on Street Jams: Electric Funk Volume 2



5. World Class Wreckin' Cru - Juice

It's common knowledge now that Dr Dre (NWA, Eminen) was once a member of this rap ensemble, who enjoyed dressing up in shiny gold suits and wearing make-up. They also made some pretty decent music, including this pioneering West Coast electro thumper with some industrial-strength heavy breathing, vocodered vocals, a melody reminscient of the Airwolf theme tune and some nifty scratching. Pure Eighties gold.

Find it on Street Jams: Electric Funk Volume 4



6. Jamie Jupitor - Computer Power

A protégé of the Egyptian Lover (see below), Jamie Jupitor has traded off this one track for his entire career, which perhaps gives an indication of how good it is. But it was written, produced and arranged by the Egyptian one, who also did the artwork, so I'm not quite where Jupitor fits in. I'm guessing his is the distopian voice that proclaims: "Computers are the future world, we program for the boys and girls, there's nothing we don't understand, we're smarter than the normal man...Computer power!"

Find it on Street Jams: Electric Funk Volume 4



7. Newcleus - Jam On It (Instrumental)

As much as I love the original of this, I've listened to it to death. So to avoid overkill, here's the 9-minute instrumental mix with that awesome keyboard line that Nightmares on Wax sampled on 'I'm For Real' in all its glory. Newcleus were skilled producers - a fact often overshadowed by their penchant for outlandish costumes and helium vocal gimmicks. To me, this is one of the best pieces of music to come out of the era.

Find it on Sunnyview Records 12"



8. Egyptian Lover - Dubb Girls (The Ultimate Mix)

The Barry White of electro works himself into a reet lather over all the "pretty, pretty girls" (are those sirens at the beginning the sound of an ambulance come to cart EL off to hospital after panting himself towards a coronary?) in this outstanding dub mix of one of his finest tracks. He overdoes it a bit on the old sampler but I'd let him off anything - his beat production skills are out of this world. A legend.

Find it on Egyptian Empire Records 12"



9. 19th Fleet - Star Raid (Dub Version)

I don't know a huge amount about this track. The vocal mix was on 'Electro 10', which was one of the best in the series so that probably explains why I'm so fond of it. Electro artists of the Eighties were completely obsessed with space travel and the future (as this ten track selection amply demonstrates), though it all seems rather quaint now. It changes hands for silly amounts of money these days so is obviously well regarded and extremely rare.

Find it on Midnight Sun Records 12"



10. Cli-N-Tel - 2030

Another future-predictin' slice of electro greatness, this time from Cli-N-Tel who was a cohort of Dre's in the World Class Wreckin' Cru. This banger was released on the Unknown DJ's Techno Hop label in 1986 and imagines a futuristic world where alien computers rule over human beings.

Find it on The Best of Techno Hop Volume One

Der Geruch auf dem Polizei

Principal Participant - Fragrance Polizei

I first wrote about the mysterious Principal Participant on this blog back in 2007 when his identity was still being kept under wraps. I think I made some quip about it being "the side project of a mythical electronic artist". Well, now the cat is out of the bag, or rather, the minotaur is out of the maze - ahem - as it is now common knowledge that the man behind these gloriously funky techno sounds is none other than that "sad electronic hero" David Edwards aka Minotaur Shock.

David released two twelves as PP on the Part One imprint in 2007, as well as remixing Bloc Party, The Cribs and Blitzen Trapper. Things were all quiet on the PP front until September when he gave away a three-track Principal Participant download EP via the Minotaur Shock mailing list, featuring the three original PP tracks to be released so far - 'Wonderful', 'Principles' and 'Fragrance Polizei'.

It's absolutely top-notch gear - I'm posting 'Fragrance Polizei', a wonderful hybrid of early-Human League synthpop and Harthouse techno circa 1992 - gorgeous, twitchy, melodic, bleepy, banging, jackin' techno music. And as with everything David does, the more time you spend with it, the more you get back. I love the little drum fills and that hands in the air moment when the melody first drops. My only complaint (which is a common one from me) is that it should go on for another three minutes at least. It builds up such a wicked groove that I'm always disappointed when it's over so soon - then again, I usually just head back to the beginning again.

According to the PP website, David is working on a debut album, which is very exciting news indeed. He has also said that he may make some more of the unreleased PP material available for download soon, so if you dig it, best to join the mailing list here (scroll to the bottom of the page and enter your email).

Principal Participant website
Principal Participant MySpace
Minotaur Shock website

Angry Andrea

Andrea - Temper Tantrum

I can't remember the last time I bought a record on the strength of the cover alone, but while killing time in the record shops of Soho before meeting a friend earlier on this summer, I was immediately drawn to this striking cartoon image of a girl. I think it was the green eyes that sold me. Anyway, minimal label information intrigued me further. I'd never heard of Millie or Andrea before - turns out that's just a pseudonym for high profile dubstep/techno producers MLZ (aka Pendle Coven) and Andy Stott. Both also make brilliant records for Modern Love, the techno label of which Daphne (home to Millie & Andrea) is an offshoot.

Anyway, geeky shit out of the way - what about da muziks? Well, 'Temper Tantrum' (credited to Andrea) is obscenely good. The main problem I've always had with the majority of dubstep is that it is, well, a bit dull. And yes, I'm fully aware that this is as a result of my ignorance of the music itself. I've not heard nearly enough and have never been to a proper dubstep club night (where I'm reliably informed, people smile a lot and go mental) to form a considered opinion. But 'Temper Tantrum' is seriously banging gear, like a much better produced and less busy version of early hardcore rave music. I'm thinking particularly of stuff on Strictly Hardcore, one of the proto-jungle labels, or even early Prodigy. The deep, dark basslines and chopped-up breaks also put me in mind of really early Meat Beat Manifesto.

The flip side, 'Vigilance' (credited to Millie) is even darker - sparse, dubbed-out rimshots and clattering drums and the sort of bowel-loosening low-end bass that makes my cat freeze wherever he is and his eyes bulge even further out of his head than usual. Reminds me a bit of dub techno pioneers Bandulu - remember them?

And the moral of the story is - do judge a book by its cover if the cover is really good. Or something.

Millie & Andrea at Boomkat - all three 12's sold out now - try eBay.
Mille & Andrea on Last FM
Andy Stott MySpace
Pendle Coven MySpace

Some Greedy Ass Fake Bullshit...

Tusken Raiders - The Motorbike Track

Apologies for the massive break in transmission... I suddenly realised that if I didn't slap something down it would be the first month I hadn't posted since I started this blog back in 2006. A sorry state of affairs for sure... If anyone stilll cares, there's loads of music I'd love to post. I just need to get back in the blogging habit.

So let's have some mad love for Mike P and this phenomenal slab of insanecore from 1999 under his Tusken Raiders moniker. I can remember being at the Reading Festival in the same year and stumbling across the man himself tearing the crowd a new asshole in a packed tent in mid-afternoon with this absolutely banging tune - judicious use of the amen break, brutal nu-school dnb breaks, a fat, filthy bassline and a quality hip-hop sample (not sure where it's from). I don't think Mike P has ever got the respect he deserves, purely by dint of not being the Aphex Twin. But he was and is a true pioneer and this tune still sounds different class, ten years on. "Y'all need to knock that shit off...."

Tusken Raiders at bleep.com
Tusken Raiders discography
Planet µ website
Mike P/µ-ziq My Space

I Switch On I Switch Off I Switch On

Eddy Current Suppression Ring - Colour Television

I've got a new favourite band! Eddy Current Suppression Ring fucking rule. I am completely and utterly addicted, hooked, smitten - call it what you want - to 'Primary Colours' the second album by the Melbourne-based Aussie post punkers. When the album was released in Australia it reached # 6 in the national charts and recently won the Australian Music Prize (their equivalent of the Mercury Music Prize). I'm not surprised - it's brilliant, combining the primal, raw intensity of the Stooges ('Sunday's Coming'; 'Memory Lane'), the slipshod nonchalance and genius of early Fall ('Which Way to Go'; 'Colour Television'), metronomic Krauty grooves ('I Admit My Faults'; the instrumental 'That's Inside of Me') and simple, catchy singalong tunes ('Wrapped Up'). There's even a bit of the Stranglers going on when they bust out the melodic synths on 'We'll Be Turned On'. It comes across as being totally effortless, with songs seemingly flicked out with the same ease you or I would reserve for picking our noses, which just makes it even cooler. If there's any justice they'll be massive in the UK too, though with the Ashes going on, British love for our Antipodean mates perhaps isn't at it's highest... But that's cricket, and this is music!

Those very nice people at Melodic in Manchester are releasing 'Primary Colours' in a special edition with the band's eponymous debut (which I haven't got around to listening to yet as I can't stop listening to 'Primary Colours', but the band reckon sounds more 1976 than 1982) as a double CD package for the bargain price of £11 (or £8 for the download) which is an absolute bargain. The download is available now, the CD due on August 17th 2009.

Buy 'Primary Colours' from the Melodic website
There's loads of great clips of the band playing live, videos, free downloads etc on the band's official website
Eddy Current Suppression Ring MySpace
Ignore my inane gibberings and head straight for this far more cultured, considered and contextual review from Melbourne website Beat

Go Take That California Trip...

Depeche Mode - Route 66 (Beatmasters Mix)

Depeche Mode must be one of the most covered bands in history. There's an entire website devoted to all the different bands who've reinterpreted their songs. According to that website, 'Enjoy the Silence' has been covered a staggering 176 times - although admittedly the bands on that list whose names I recognise I could count on one hand. But for a band who have been covered so many times, they have only actually covered two songs themselves - 'Dirt' by the Stooges (which featured on the b-side of the 2001 single 'I Feel Loved') and 'Route 66' (on the flip of 'Behind the Wheel', released in 1987).

'Route 66' was written by Bobby Troup, originally recorded by the King Cole Trio in 1946 (as '(Get Your Kicks On) Route 66'), popularised by Chuck Berry and the Rolling Stones in the 1960s, before the Basildon boys got their hands on it. It was when I was writing this piece that I found out that it was Martin Gore who sang it. I still can't quite believe that, it sounds so much like Gahany. Anyway, the Beatmasters version is a classic late-1980s flavoured remix, packed with snatches of film and TV dialogue and is also a megamix of sorts as it features elements of 'Behind the Wheel'. There is also an awesome bongo breakdown halfway through and a little drum break at about 4m 15s that I used to love so much when I was a teenager that I did a little re-edit of my own on a double cassette deck, looping it over and over again and extending the mix by about two minutes. A fledgling Beatmaster in the making? Not quite...

I'm going old school Mode crazy at the moment so keep an eye on my Twitter page as I'll definitely be lobbing a few tracks up on there - twitter.com/joewhitenoise

Search eBay for 'Behind the Wheel'
Official Depeche Mode website
Depeche Mode MySpace
Beatmasters MySpace