Swing Out Sister / Blue Mood, Breakout and Beyond

News20 May 2022

8CD box set

By Paul Sinclair

Comments 65

Ratings

Swing Out Sister / Blue Mood, Breakout and Beyond – SuperDeluxeEdition (2)

Blue Mood, Breakout and Beyond / Swing Out Sister 8CD box set

SDE Reader Rating

4.4

Swing Out Sister / Blue Mood, Breakout and Beyond – SuperDeluxeEdition (3)

A Swing Out Sister 8CD box set will be released in July called Blue Mood, Breakout and Beyond.

The box set will feature the group’s first three studio albums, It’s Better To Travel (1987), Kaleidoscope World (1989) and Get In Touch With Yourself (1992) and the Japan-only live album Live at the Jazz Café (1993).

Additionally, there will be four discs of bonus content: three CDs of remixes and a final disc collecting B-sides.

I spoke to band members Corinne Drewery and Andy Connell along with producer Paul O’Duffy about this era, and my interviews with them feature in the included booklet as they talk through the various albums (and the B-sides!).

The box set will be presented in the style of the recent Level 42 packages, although it should be noted that the artwork displayed above is only a temporary front cover and will change.

Blue Mood, Breakout and Beyond will be released on 19 August 2022 (was 29 July), via Cherry Red.

Swing Out Sister

Blue Mood, Breakout and Beyond - 8CD box

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Amazon de	45.07	Order
Amazon usa	51.19	Order
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Rough Trade uk	46.99	pre-order

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Tracklisting

Swing Out Sister / Blue Mood, Breakout and Beyond – SuperDeluxeEdition (6)

Blue Mood, Breakout and Beyond Swing Out Sister / 8CD box set

- 1. It’s Better To Travel
  1. Breakout
  2. Twilight World (Superb, Superb, Mix)
  3. After Hours
  4. Blue Mood
  5. Surrender
  6. Fooled By A Smile
  7. Communion
  8. It’s Not Enough
  9. Theme (From – “It’s Better To Travel”)
- 2. Kaleidoscope World
  1. You On My Mind
  2. Where In The World?
  3. Forever Blue
  4. Heart For Hire
  5. Tainted
  6. Waiting Game
  7. Precious Words
  8. Masquerade
  9. Between Strangers
  10. The Kaleidoscope Affair
  11. Precious Words
  12. Forever Blue
  13. Masquerade
- 3. Get In Touch With Yourself
  1. Get In Touch With Yourself
  2. Am I The Same Girl
  3. Incomplete Without You
  4. Everyday Crime
  5. Circulate
  6. Who Let The Love Out
  7. Understand
  8. Notgonnachange
  9. Don’t Say The Word
  10. Love Child
  11. Everyday Crime (Inst.)
- 4. Live at the Jazz Café
  1. Get In Touch With Yourself
  2. You On My Mind
  3. Surrender
  4. Everyday Crime
  5. Twilight World
  6. Circulate
  7. Am I The Same Girl
  8. Breakout
  9. Notgonnachange
  10. Who Let The Love Out / Expansions / Coney Island Man / Wives & Lovers
- 5. Remixes
  1. Blue Mood Dubbed-Up Version
  2. Blue Mood Growler Mix
  3. Breakout A New Rockin’ Version
  4. Breakout N.A.D. Mix
  5. Breakout Horny Version
  6. Breakout Carnival MIx
  7. Fooled By A Smile Ralph Mix
  8. Fooled By A Smile TV Mix
  9. Breakout American Instrumental Mix
  10. Communion Instrumental
  11. Fooled By A Smile Phi Phi Mix
  12. Twilight World Remix
- 6. Remixes
  1. Twilight World – The World Travel Mix
  2. Twilight World – Vocal Dub
  3. Twilight World – Classical Dub
  4. Twilight World – Instrumental Dub
  5. Twilight World – Beat Your Sister Dub
  6. Surrender – Stuff Gun Mix
  7. Surrender Pop – Stand Remix
  8. Surrender – Roadrunner Mix
  9. Precious Words – Orchestral Mix
  10. Waiting Game – Extended Version
  11. Waiting Game – Remix Edit
  12. Waiting Game – Ulti Mix
  13. Waiting Game – Dub
- 7. Remixes
  1. Where In The World – Bongo Fury Mix
  2. Where In The World – Radical Mix
  3. You On My Mind – Extended Version
  4. Precious Words – Earth Bound Mix
  5. Am I The Same Girl – Bubba’s Version
  6. Notgonnachange – Classic Club Version (Mix)
  7. Notgonnachange – Classic Song Mix
  8. Notgonnachange – Mix Of Drama
  9. Notgonnachange – Dashi I Mix
  10. Notgonnachange – O’Duffy’s 7″ Mix
  11. Notgonnachange – New Jack Swing Out Mix
  12. Am I The Same Girl – Instrumental
- 8. B-sides
  1. Wake Me When It’s Over (B-Side – Blue Mood)
  2. Dirty Money (B-Side – Breakout)
  3. Who’s To Blame (B-Side – Surrender)
  4. Another Lost Weekend – Long Version (B-Side Twilight World)
  5. Fever (B-Side Fooled By A Smile)
  6. Coney Island Man (B-Side – You On My Mind)
  7. Taxi Town (B-Side – Where In The World)
  8. Windmills Of Your Mind (Where In The World Bonus Track)
  9. Spirit Moves (B-Side – Am I The Same Girl)
  10. I Can Hear You But I Can’t See You Am (I The Same Girl – Bonus Track)
  11. Alone (Notgonnachange Bonus Track)
  12. Surrender 7″ Version
  13. Twilight World (Single Edit)
  14. Notgonnachange (Edit)
  15. Circulate Live Version (Japanese single version)

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65 Comments

Why is this being released again on the 2nd December ?
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1. Because it sold out and they have repressed it.
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What s lovely way to celebrate the amazing career and discography of my favorite band!
The presentation, the new artwork teinterpreted by Corinne Drewery (the gorgeous handwriting on the cover is also hers!) at a very affordable price and great quality & package.
I wouldn’t mind having this box set on vinyl but if that’s not a possibility, how about releasing all the catalogue on limited edition vinyl? I’d buy every one of them again and all the ones that were not released on vinyl.
Would that be a possibility, Paul?
You did an amazing job on this box set!
X
Walter
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1. Thanks Walter. I should make clear that while I obviously did the notes and offered a bit of advice here and there this wasn’t a project driven by me! Steve Hammonds did most of the actual hard work!
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I just received this in the States from Cherry Red, including the very cool but slightly bent autographed postcard that was just slipped into the jiffy pack with it, but oh well. I’ve always loved this “Shapes & Patterns” era image (used for SDE’s original posting about the box I believe) so don’t mind that it doesn’t quite match the right era of the music in the box, but small point I guess. Another small complaint, but I wish that someone (like a record company intern perhaps?) would label things correctly so when the disc is put into iTunes/Music, one didn’t have to correct it. Each disc was different when inserted and it wasn’t until the mixes (discs 5, 6 & 7) that the master album (“Blue Mood, Breakout & Beyond”) was credited but not consistently (one vs 1, how many discs in the box, etc.) I never mind adding the artwork, but wish Apple wouldn’t let so many cooks into their digital kitchen. I forget that the US track listing for “Get In Touch With Yourself” is different than this UK one, but like with the b-sides and mixes, the fun is re-arranging them as desired in a playlist. That live “Circulate” on disc eight is completely different than the “Jazz Cafe” version and it all sounds great thus far! Viva Corinne and Andy!
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1. I compared the two live “Circulate” and while they’re not the same, they must be closely related. The arrangement is exactly the same but there are differences in the instruments, vocals and the overall mix. The Japanese single version also doesn’t have any audience noise. Maybe it’s from a rehearsal?
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2. My understanding is that iTunes uses Gracenote for album titles, track listings, etc and that these are often uploaded by fans – not the labels themselves. Perhaps I’m wrong?
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Anyone ordered from Amazon and actually recieved it?
I just got a message saying that they are having problems with delivery dates which I assume means they have no stock…
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1. Still waiting for mine. Price dropped to around £43 so cancelled my pre-order after they told me about the delay and got the lower price. They do have an issue with cherry red and getting stock as this is happening quite a lot lately.
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Very good. CDs 6 &7 have tracks mastered from vinyl as stated in booklet. Mustn’t grumble…
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You On My Mind – what a great song!
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This is splendid news! May I ask, in your interviews with Corinne and Andy (and O’Duffy), did they mention any involvement in the mastering for this box set, and/or if a new transfer was made from the tapes?
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Great cover. I hope they carry this over for the permanent art as well.
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If you’d told me 35 years ago that SOS would still be around, and still be making great records I’m not sure I’d have believed you. When their first album came out, VH1 played them a lot, when the channel was an alternate musical universe of sophisticated adult pop – but SOS didn’t seem like they’d have any more longevity than other British bands with full-sentence names like Curiosity Killed The Cat or Johnny Hates Jazz. But here they are with a large catalog that sounds great and timeless. Shame that they didn’t retain a mass following here though, because they deserve it.
This looks like a great, thorough package that pretty much covers the years America was listening to them, and it’s another one I’ll have to pick up. If the interviews are anything like the ones Paul had included on his site previously, the liner notes will be one of the things I’m looking forward to.
One thing I’ve always wondered: are Corrine and Andy a couple? I’ve never heard it mentioned anywhere that they are, so I’ve always just assumed they were just band mates.
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1. Hi Charles. Yes indeed, they are a couple and have been for many decades! P
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Ordered my copy. Thank you, Paul! Love SOS
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I was 20 years old when “It’s Better To Travel” was released. SOS have been a good company for all my adult life. I was really happy when I read in one of the latest Cherry Red newsletters that this box was coming out, curated by Paul, and this is a guarantee. I expect the “Early Years” boxes to cover until the year 2000. Hopefully we will have more boxes for the later period. I am particularly impatient for the treatment which will be reserved for their 1997 album, “Shapes and Patterns”, which I think was a pinnacle in their production. The live album “Live at the Jazz Cafe”, a real musical gem, was released (in a shortened form) in Europe as a bonus disc for the European edition of their fourth album; I am happy that it is included here in its full form. I am also happy to have good boxes like the ones which were made last year for Level 42, although it must be said that the SOS Japanese CDs (which probably many of the readers here have in their possession) were impeccably produced, as usual. Many fans probably remember (or own) a Japanese boxed set released in 1991 (“The Splendid Collection”), which included the first 2 studio albums, plus “Another Non Stop Sister” and 4th CD with remixes. I still have to verify if that box includes material not included in the upcoming box. Maybe some fellow reader has already looked into this….
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1. Cheers Max! I haven’t really ‘curated’ this box although I’ve helped out a bit. Mainly, I talked to the band for the sleeve notes.
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2. Everything in the box set is covered here although there a few omissions which a few of us have pointed out. Agree Shapes & Patterns is a great album, remember ba ba ba-ing to ‘We Can Make It Happen’ on the M4 coming into London. I was so hooked on their Filth & Dreams album which was so different, almost like a sister to The Living Return. Then of course Somewhere Deep In The Night. Just beautiful.
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I loved those first two albums, getting this is a no-brainer for me. Excited to hear the third album, which somehow passed me by as well as the live album and B-sides – I will probably listen to the remixes piecemeal, but it’ll be nice to have them
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This looks amazing, and as has been said the Level 42 boxsets are the gold standard, and if this is anything like those it will be pure pleasure to listen to, except for the little bit too much of the same song with multiple mixes on the same CD. That’s what shuffle is for!
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A huge SOS fan for years. KW is just a beautiful album.
Would loved to have seen included ‘You On My Mind’ (alternate 7″ mix) ‘Forever Blue’ (Orchestral mix) which was on the limited piano edition and the whole Live at the Royalty album which was a great live show. There is a long and edited version of ‘I Can’t See You…’ so not sure which mix is featured here.
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1. I had no idea there was an Orchestral Mix of “Forever Blue” on that disc. Would love to hear it and compare it to the Strings Mix. The box set is also missing a few mixes of “Notgonnachange,” such as the Larry Robinson Mix and the Classic Club Radio Edit, both of which are located on a promo-only CD single.
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Mine is ordered and i can’t wait to read your interviews Paul. It was definitely a selling point for me.
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No La La Means I Love You? License issue?
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1. It’s not a licensing issue. It’s on their fourth album, The Living Return, which is 1994 and doesn’t form part of this set.
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  1. The old ‘devil in the detail’! Apols Paul, my eyes didn’t see “first three”. Thank you for Rick Astley whilst I’m here, all arrived perfectly.
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    1. No worries! Glad Rick arrived safely :)
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Paul – will you be running an exclusive on this box set considering your involvement?! Would be great!
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1. I was hoping for that too, @Paul Sinclair. Secretly, I was hoping for a Breakout CD single with all the rest of the mixes that aren’t on this boxset!
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Can’t wait for this!
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For those curious about missing remixes on this set, yes there are a few… I am a massive SOS collector and was hoping this would be a complete set but a few vinyl only mixes didn’t make it. They are:
Another Lost Weekend (7”) – looks like the 12” mix is on there
Where in the world (edit) – this was on the uk 12” and 10” but never released on cd
The cherry red site lists Twilight world (gas distress mix) but it’s not on Paul’s set list. It is the same as “remix” but just doesn’t have the spoken word outro so not a big deal if it’s missing.
They left off the US instrumental of “twilight world” but they did get all the promo dubs on here.
Most disappointingly, they left off the Michael Hutchinson US promo 12” mixes of Breakout. There were three mixes exclusive to that 12”: “12” mix,” “Hornamental” and “7” mix.” The other mix (carnival mix) is available on this set.
The other mixes they left off (no surprise) are the Bob Jones mixes of “am I the same girl.” Fontana issued them on a promo 12” because SOS refused to approve them. They were credited to “SOS” on the promo, and were fairly good.
They did get one unreleased track on here – “am I the same girl” (instrumental), I don’t think that has been released anywhere AFAIK.
Hope that helps.
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1. Thank you for this. And for someone who doesn’t know their music, only by name, what are the big names of remixers whose work is included (adide from Michael Hutchinson)?
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  1. Several remixers were involved in this set, Shane.
    The ones that come to mind are Frank Heller (US mixes of Twilight World), Justin Strauss (US mixes of Surrender) and of course Frankie knuckles (Not Gonna Change). I think a lot of the remixes were done by the band and producer, Paul Stavely o’Duffy. I guess that’s why they may not favor the US mixes since they were directly involved with the UK mixes.
    Still, the US-only mixes were outstanding IMO, too bad they didn’t like them.
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2. Thanks for this rundown! I don’t think I’ll miss any of those mixes but it’s fun to discuss them and speculate why they were omitted in favor of other ones.
  There was yet another remix of “Breakout,” O’Duffy’s ’92 Mix, on the U.S. cassette single for “Am I the Same Girl?” I don’t recall how different it was from the original, but maybe not different enough to merit inclusion here. Seeing as it was done by their long-time producer, I don’t imagine it was as hated by the band as some of their other U.S.-only mixes.
  This set was an instant pre-order for me. The current artwork is lovely.
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  1. I had heard about that Breakout ’92 mix, but I have never heard it (I don’t buy cassettes!)
    Has anyone here heard that mix? Any different? I imagine it’s probably similar given that it was O’Duffy who did it.
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    1. It was the NAD mix but for some reason the mix name was not featured.
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3. The Where In The World edit – presume you are referring to the 7″ mix which runs for 4:12?
  If so, it’s on this – you can always rely on old West German compilations for single mixes.
  https://www.discogs.com/release/2229978-Various-Batman-Pr%C3%A4sentiert-Powerhits
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4. @jonm The Bob Jones mixes are pure sh¡TE, so no loss; a vocal mix and an instrumental.
  @pauls Make sure they finally give credit to the male toaster on Am I The Same Girl?
  His toast was severely truncated on the single / album version, but his toast appears in full on Bubba’s Mix, which only appears on the Japanese EP Swing Out Singles. But said toaster remains uncredited to this day.
  Am I The Same Girl
  Vocal Remix by Dr. Bob Jones:
  https://youtu.be/sD_IgJb5S9s
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Ultimate Swing Out Sister fan here. This was definitely on my order list. Being here in the US, I completed a preorder through Amazon. I have ordered directly from Cherry Red in the past and it wasn’t a great experience. The Level 42 boxes were awesome when they came out and should Swing Out Sister choose to go the same route by releasing all their output through boxes, this first one is successfully on its way. 8 discs over three actual albums is awesome and what makes this stand out is disc 8 with the B-sides. Swing Out Sister’s B-sides were just as awesome as their regular output. Another Lost Weekend, Spirit Moves, and Alone were hits as far as I am concerned. I thank and appreciate Corinne and Andy for taking us on this journey with this wonderful box that will hopefully be the beginning of more down the road. And Paul, thank you for recognizing this most underrated group that I feel should be at the top for their creativity and musicality.
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Yes, yes, yes! Love SOS and this collection is flawless. An excellent selection and a more than reasonable price. Will most definitely purchase this and looking forward to your interview with them, Paul.
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All I say is FINALLY…because you, Paul, did the liner notes/interview/etc, and I found out about this set over 2 weeks ago from an email from Cherry Red, and I thought you would have mentioned this box around that time, since you were involved with it…yes I know about the signed postcard, but I had to go with Amazon US Prime because they don’t charge upfront & I am a member so free shipping…another thing is this box is The Early Years Part 1 (1985-1992)…so I wonder, Paul, how far along in the catalogue is this boxset series going up to?? At what album are they going to stop?? I know Cherry Red/Robinsongs did Level 42 just the Polydor Years in 2 parts…same with SOS?? Looking forward to this…a fave obscure gem on this set is the 11-minute bonus track “Alone”, which I first heard on that 3CD Universal Holland, 32-bit remastered “The Ultimate Collection”…
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i’m in!
any missing remixes or edits?
curious question # 2:
will there be a second volume with the next 3 90s albums?
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Have to hope they reprise the design style of “It’s better to travel” with those fonts, as i dont think they bettered that run of singles (and some of the remixes were pretty spot on too). i only recently realised corinne also sang a bit on A Certain Ratio’s 1985 album “Force” on the track “Bootsy”.
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1. That is a great ACR album especially the contemporaneous single ‘Mickey Way’ (featuring the track ‘Insides’).
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For those in the US, importcds.com has a very good price on this right now.
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1. Thanks so much! Only $49.36 total from ImportCDs.com , Can’t pass at that price. I’ve never had any problems with this company in the past either.
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2. $43.14 as of right now – I’ve ordered from them before, but never pre-ordered. Are they really that reliable? Seems like a deep discount for being so early in the process of this release.
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  1. They are reliable. Same company as Deep Discount or Popmarket. Their prices on Cherry Red products are always very low.
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3. I pre-ordered it from there as well. Paid $42.35
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I still enjoy their debut very much, breezy jazzy pop. Their second album, not so much; they started to sound like something my parents would listen to.
Still, I may pick this up. Looks fairly comprehensive, although why is the 7″ version of Another Lost Weekend missing (or did I miss it)?
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‘ello Paul. I’m a huge SOS fan and so have a lot of special and Japan releases. First – are the original albums remastered or anything and is any of this actually ‘unreleased’ — Thanks!
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Interesting. I might spring for this. I do wish the compilers wouldn’t sequence umpty-thrumpty different versions of the same track together, though.
Do the bonus discs cover everything released during the period, or are some mixes missing in action?
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1. Sadly compilers of these cd collections still cannot grasp that many folk like to listen to each whole cd in one sitting and not just dip in and out.It is always a better listening experience if the same songs in different remixes are just spread out with different songs between each appearance and not consecutively sequenced.I fear these compilers of these physical releases never listen to cd’s in their entirety so just do not get it that 6 consecutive versions of the same song without a different dong break is just too much and the wrong way to sequence the material.
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  1. I normally agree with this, but when you get to the point where you have 5,6,7 remixes of one song it’s not really practical to do that and becomes more logical to group singles/eras together on the discs. So for example, having Twilight World followed by notgonnachange followed by Twilight World followed by notgonnachange followed by Twilight World… doesn’t transform the listening experience, it’s just as repetitive!
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No brainer. I was keeping my fingers crossed and it appears that this indeed has all the mixes on the Japan-only CD Another Non-Stop Sister.
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Instant preorder for me!
I am really pleased that these first three albums are getting a re-release. Loved Breakout when it was released but Get In touch With Yourself is my all time favourite album as it pulled me through a really tough time when it was released. It was quite different to their previous recordings but I loved it and always fantasised about a companion/follow-up album.
Is there any information if the material will be remastered?
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1. I strongly prefer the US track listing of Get in Touch with Yourself, as I think “Notgonnachange” fits it much better as the second track instead of being buried later on in the album. That being said, I love “Spirit Moves,” which is available on the Japanese release as well as the CD single of “Am I the Same Girl.” I bought the Japanese release but basically created my own CD-R of the tracks in this order:
  1. get in touch with yourself
  2. notgonnachange
  3. am i the same girl
  4. everyday crime
  5. who let the love out
  6. i can hear you but i can’t see you (instrumental) (full-length version)
  7. understand
  8. circulate
  9. love child
  10. spirit moves (bonus track)
  11. incomplete without you
  12. don’t say the word
  13. everyday crime (instrumental)
  14. notgonnachange (classic club mix) (bonus track)
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  1. think “Notgonnachange” fits it much better as the second track
    fits in, not fits it.
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Any news on the remastering process? I know that It’s Better To Travel was remastered/expanded some years ago as was Kaleidoscope World (Japan only). I hope everything is sourced from the original master tapes although there’s bound to be vinyl rips for some of the remixes.
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1. Yes, that’s something I’d like to know before purchasing.
  Cherry Red have been a bit hit and miss when it comes to using original tapes, meaning not always they have access to them and not always they state so… Paul can surely shed some insight on this given his involvement…
  Thanks in advance!
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I actually like the temporary cover. No brainer, ordered.
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1. Oh me too…really cool & stylish, the B&W setup is great…and this set is only Part 1 (1985-1992) so I wonder how far along this boxset series is going & at what album they are going to stop?? They did move on from Universal like when, 10 years ago?? I know Cherry Red sets many times combine labels, so it would be nice to know…
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2. Was about to post the same thing! Great picture and in sych with the stylish band :-)
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Signed card included when bought via Cherry Red store
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Swing Out Sister / Blue Mood, Breakout and Beyond – SuperDeluxeEdition (2024)