Thursday 22 November 2007

New York, ice cream, TV, travel, good times...

...Norman Wisdom, Johnny, Joey, Dee Dee, good times.

Good songs never die, they go on to have a long and healthy existence way beyond the expectations of the writers. The Human League's Things That Dreams Are Made Of from the classic pop album Dare! is to be given another shape in the form of an updated version by the fashionista's DJ choice Kissy Sell Out (left). Hooj Choons, a dance label with an impressive pedigree, is releasing Kissy's remix along with millions more (well, probably about eight in total, a little excessive in my view, but hey). Tiga gets a look in (doesn't he always) as does the original producer of the track, Martin Rushent. But confusingly, four of them are already on iTunes, where you can buy Rushent's urgent Moroder-ified version. Clicky here.

This song is ingrained in my mind. Every word, syllable, Linn drum handclap and synth brass chord stab. "Like fun and money and food and love" Phil sings and it could sum up the track and what was to follow, the rest of the Dare! album. I have posted before about what the whole album meant to me as a child. Philip Adrian Wright (the strawberry blonde one) penned these glossy pop lyrics in a list-like manner, perfectly fitting the dance backing track and they still sound a la mode today.

Hooj Choons stick-man dresses up as Phil Oakey and his famous lop-sided do.

Until the Kissy and Tiga remixes, here's a mix de glamour from early this year by Manhattan Clique - the NY producers who've done a fantastic job with Soft Cell's Bedsitter (Clicky here for a listen) for the forthcoming album of remixes. There's also the League and Martin Rushent's 1982 dub version below, originally produced for the Love and Dancing album.

The Things That Dreams Are Made Of (Manhattan Clique Mix) - The Human League (zShare)

The Things That Dreams Are Made Of (Love and Dancing Dub) - The Human League (zShare)

And for the full pack (I've gone all trainspotterish in this post, I KNOW!):
The Things That Dreams Are Made Of (Original Mix) - The Human League (zShare)

Thanks to Electronically Yours for the news. My source for all things League dontcha know!

3 comments:

D'luv said...

Nice. For me, perfect League is "Life On Your Own." And has anyone else noticed all the posts/talk of HL lately? I think they might be on the precipice of some kind of comeback. How hot would a PSB-produced Human League album be!?

Phil said...

They've never really been away. They tour every winter and the shows are sell-outs. I'm going to see them in a couple of weeks. There's a lot of love out there for the League.

But a comeback record would be good. For the proper League sound it needs all the elements, ie, the Dare/Hysteria band members and that ain't going to happen anytime soon. To have the PSB produce it is a fantastic idea though!

kinobo said...

Love it! Saw the Human League last summer on the isle of wight. hilarious!