Production Notes:

DONT YOU (Forget About Me) - Simple Minds:
Oh come on, we all know when you hear this song you throw your fist in the air Judd Nelson-style and think about what it's like to be an athlete, a basket case, a princess and a criminal. Admit it. And while you're at it, admit that this is one of THE most iconic tunes of the 80's (even if Jim Kerr hates it). As such, we approached this one with extra care and a lighter touch. We dug out our 12 inch with the long version and took our musical scalpel to it. We even researched the original synthesizer used in this one (an Oberheim*, thank you very much) and re-created some of the synth line. The result is a faithful re-introduction to this classic tune. 111 BPM.

PRIDE (In The Name of Love) - U2:
Few have attempted this one. Probably because U2's pre-93 catalog is considered a sort of musical holy ground. You don't dare tread there unless you know what you're doing. But hey - this is the CS Crew we're talking about. We dare go where no one else will. With that in mind, we didn't want to recreate the wheel here, just give the track a new life for a new audience. That primarily involved tempo-mapping for a nice, even beat, with special attention given to keeping Larry's original drum sound. Add to that an extended intro & outro for mixing, and you have a track that any U2 fan would be proud of. 106 BPM.

BE NEAR ME - ABC:
Speaking of The Breakfast Club, 'Be Near Me' was another iconic track that appeared in that Brat Pack flick (though not on the official soundtrack, for some reason). Many from the 80's will remember the Munich Disco Mix being the definitive version for DJ's & dancefloors, so we took that and added a few CS refinements. We gave it a more easily mixable intro & outro, as well as adding back a few extra vocal elements & pieces from the instrumental version. In the end you get the ultimate tribute to ABC at a clean 125 BPM.

WHAT'S ON YOUR MIND (Pure Energy) - Information Society:
The Culture Shock crew prides itself on having a bit of nerd blood flowing through our veins. Not enough to dress up as a Cylon for Halloween, but certainly enough to know what a Cylon is. That inner nerd always became a wee bit giddy when we'd hear this track, what with that sample of Leonard Nimoy's voice saying 'Pure Energy' over and over again. Regular dancefloor dwellers love this baby because it's yet another iconic stomper that just celebrated its 20th birthday, and is none the worse for wear. DJ's that were around clubs at the time know that the original 12 inch had some pretty solid remixes already, so we incorporated the strongest elements of those here. Our nerd blood also compelled us to incorporate a few more Mr Spock moments. In the end you've got a track that will satisfy both beauty and the geek. 118 BPM.

Production Notes:

GENIUS OF LOVE – Tom Tom Club: Once again, the Rhythm Scholar comes here and turns this Tina Weymouth track into a "Bits and Pieces" pseudo-medley. His edits are sharp, and timing impeccable. What you get is a mix that works particularly well in today's Ritalin-addled clientele. Which leads us to:

ONCE IN A LIFETIME – Talking Heads: It's funny that we did a Tom Tom Club track, because we also ended up doing a Talking Heads track as well. (The LCD Soundsystem of the late-70's thru mid-80's). A lot of attention is paid to "Burning Down the House", but people forget that Talking Heads had MANY hits during their long career, before David Byrne went nuts. (No disrespect meant to Dave and/or Nonesuch Records – we love you guys…). But one would HAVE to be nuts to come up with the concept of this funky stomper! We suppose that's why people stayed away from this track for so long – it's kinda a pain in the ass to mix because it swings so much. However, our vision was "Same as it ever was" and we knocked it out. What you get in the end is a mix that stays true to the original, but yet ads just enough added percussion to make it a bit more defined. Perfect for any "Retro Night". 122 BPM.

THE REFLEX – Duran Duran: Quick quiz:

The Reflex is:

A)A Lonely Child

B)In Charge Of Finding Treasure in the Dark

C)A Game

D)All of the above

If you answered "D", then there's no excuse for you to not own a legit copy of Retro Shock 4. Anyhow about this remix:

We considered putting The Rhythm Scholar and DJ Perry in a cagematch to see who would get the "honor" of remixing this mess of a song, but in the end, DJ Perry had preliminary mix already done, so we used it as a basis to start. If any of you DD fans out there know, aside from the lyrics to this song making no sense, this song is choppy and can be potentially devastating to a dancefloor. No more. We fixed this mess of a track and now you can play it and let even the most hardcore Duran squared fan appreciate that we still stayed true to the original yet extended it enough to make it work. 127 BPM. Why-e-eye-e-eye-don't you playyyy it?

JUST LIKE HEAVEN – The Cure: Another one of those songs that is truly an anthem of emotional goodness; a tribute to the moody yet poppy side of the 80's. Kiss Me Kiss Me Kiss Me was one of The Cure's most memorable albums. That said, this song never really got the remix deserved. We mean, yeah, the label did a remix where they brought the drums out a bit, and then later did a half-time version in the "Mixed Up" series, but there was never a DJ-Friendly version that stayed true to the original. Can you find a more tempting target for the CS Crew?

We knew we needed to find a way to re-create the drums. Ok – 3 of us were drummers in bands back in the 80's, so that'd be easy…we also needed to bring the synths out – check. We also wanted add a "lil' sumpin; sumpin'" – so when you get the final DJ mix, you end up with something familiar yet new. Play it and kiss your girlfriend/boyfriend/wife/husband. I assure you, it'll get the floor going….

Production Notes:

DO YOU REALLY WANT TO HURT ME? - Culture Club
When one thinks of this track, if they aren't imagining Boy George crooning, 'The Wedding Singer' might come to mind. No worries: The island-influenced rhythms of this track gave us the idea of changing it up to erase such memories for you. What we did was combine some parts from rare and unreleased versions of this song with a new rhythm track. Add some clever editing and effects and you end up with a perfect example of a ballad-turned-dance track. 101 BPM.

KISS THEM FOR ME - Siouxie & The Banshees
The last time we saw Siouxsie grace our decks was on Culture Shock Vol.5: Halloween, with the song 'Peek-A-Boo'. To be truthful, we missed her. Knowing that other services concentrated on 'Cities in Dust', we decided to take the route less traveled and do another one of her hits, 'Kiss Them For Me'. Back in 1990, it was a hit, receiving both club and domestic radio airtime in the United States, finally giving her a bit of a 'mainstream' push. The thing is, the song is kinda klunky, and the remixes even more so, with their sitar and tabla-laced polyrhythms flying everywhere. (Damn you, Talvin Sing!!!!) It's no wonder that no one has tried to tackle this since the song came out oh-so-long ago. What we did was re-sequence many of the parts to make them feel more at home with your average DJ. Then we took the finer parts of the remixes and combined them a-la Voltron to make one cohesive mix that still keeps the life of the original intact. If you play it to even a mildly-sophisticated retro crowd, it should work. 99 BPM for your DJing needs.

ONE NIGHT IN BANGKOK - Murray Head
This song is one of those odd, novelty songs from the 80's that helps define the genre. That is to say, who would have thought that a song derived from the play 'Chess' with a guy narrarating with a voice that sounds more than a little like 'K.i.T.T.' from Knight Rider would be such a hit. Well, it was. And hence, 12' versions were released. The thing is, many 12' versions were just extended versions of the album cuts back in the day, and so we had to step in and use our various research methods and techniques to 're-create' and extrapolate stems to use in a proper extended version. We also took the opportunity to correct some of the sonic maladies that plagued the song from the get-go. In the end, you have a straightforward mix that sounds better than the original whilst staying true to the original. A true collectors item. Play it and watch your floor love it. 109 BPM.

WHITE WEDDING - Billy Idol
Other remix services have tried, but none have come even close to such a solid version as ours. We re-created and re-sequenced the intro, and re-mixed vocals with some new instrumentation to make a cohesive mix that more than works. A mix that any 'true' Billy Idol fan would appreciate. That said, this mix is long, strong and most certainly down to get the friction on. It's an uptempo stomper with long intros and breaks to give you a wide variety of mixing options. 147 BPM's of pure joy!!!

Production Notes:

POLICY OF TRUTH - Depeche Mode
A great song you DJ's that were around in 1990 remember, this track had so many different versions for the DJ to choose from that were all good, solid remixes. Given that fact, we simply decided to combine parts from almost ALL of them into one simple, yet somewhat updated version. (For you hardcore fans, check it out - you will hear parts form all the versions!) In the typical Culture Shock style, we made them all flow together seamlessly into a mix that wouldn't stand out in a current or non-retro set. A solid mix worth playing.

HOW SOON IS NOW? - The Smiths
Many have tried, all have failed. This song is single-handedly one of the biggest anthems of 80's alternative. In fact, many of us here at Culture Shock were DJing when this song was current! Because of the emotional/professional attachment to this track, we decided that it needed the once-over it deserved....we searched high and low for the correct sounds, snippets and beats to make this work correctly. Due to the import of this song, we decided to leave it pretty much alone at it's original length - so you may need to plan ahead when programming this into your set/show. However, take our word for it - this version is single-handedly the first and last word on this song. There are no better versions that stay true to the feel of the song yet still make it mix friendly. I'm sure Morrissey would agree...

LIPS LIKE SUGAR - Echo & The Bunneymen
This song took us years to do, literally. As we hate to do remixes for the sake of "doing" them, we thought "What can we do to this song that the 12" doesn't already offer?". After all, the original Extended Mix was already pretty good for it's time. However, we did remember how we had to "ride the pitch" a lot when mixing this track (you vinyl jocks from back then know what I am referring to). So, we fixed the 'floating" intro, and adjusted the way the song built into it. We then managed to get a hold of some outtakes and incorporate them into a version that will make Ian McCulloch proud. Play this rocker! It works.

KIDS IN AMERICA - Kim Wilde
Why no one has done this mix yet is beyond us. Too bad. Their loss is your gain, because again, this version will be the only version you will ever want to play of this track. In typical Culture Shock style, we made this song mix friendly (we researched the hell out of the instruments they used at the time) and modernized it just enough to give a 22+ year-old song new life in the age of electroclash hype. It's uptempo though, so be mindful of what you are mixing it with.