The Psychedelic Furs produced by Martin Hannett

In 1980, after their first album, The Psychedelic Furs got together with Martin Hannett and recorded four tracks for a planned EP release: Susan's Strange, Soap Commercial, Dumb Waiters, and So Run Down. The EP was cancelled, but some of the tracks appeared on B-sides and then were included as bonus tracks in the remaster series. However, the Martin Hannett version of Dumb Waiters has never been released in any format.

Or has it? At the end of the two-disc compilation Should God Forget: A Retrospective, after "There's a World," there is a hidden bonus track. The bonus track is an alternate version of Dumb Waiters. I can't find any information on this hidden track - could it be the previously unreleased Martin Hannett version? Or is it something else? Does anybody know the source of this track?

 

Never knew of this. Good info

 

Wow, I had no idea.

If you find out the definitive source on that bonus track, please post!

 

So, where does this MH-produced version of "So Run Down" reside?

It's one of my favorite SF tunes.

 

Sorry to veer off topic, I lost my P-Furs LPs last year (ugh, don't ask), and the only CD I picked up over the years is the All of This and Nothing comp. I'd really like to upgrade and get best possible CD versions of the first three albums, preferably with bonus tracks. Any suggestions? It's a little confusing with their stuff, at least for me, because there appears to be multiple CD releases for each.

 

The Martin Hannett version of "So Run Down" is a bonus track on the 2002 remaster of Talk Talk Talk. The first three albums were all remastered and reissued with bonus tracks in 2002. Sadly, the rest of their albums did not receive the same treatment. I also posted my question about "Dumb Waiters" on the fan site BurnedDownDays about three years ago(!), but never received an answer. This morning I reposted the question, so we'll see if I have any more luck this time around.

 

Martin Hannett is credited as producer for Susan's Strange and Soap Commercial on the regular released version of the 1st LP.

As for the best CD versions, I found the remasters to be terrible (too bright and loud/compressed). The original CDs are not great but they sound much better than the remasters

 

Besides Susan's strange and soap commercial at their s/t album, I own also the by Martin Hannett produced Pretty in Pink. It's to find at the compilation 'Zero- a Martin Hannett Story 1977-1999' with 21 great punk and post-punk songs he produced.

 

I always assumed that compilation included the Steve Lillywhite version of "Pretty in Pink," from Talk Talk Talk? Strange, but to my knowledge, Martin Hannett never produced a version of "Pretty in Pink."

 

One of the B-sides to the original (Steve Lillywhite-produced) Pretty in Pink 12" single was Soap Commercial, which was produced by Martin Hannett. So it would seem that the compilers of that compilation didn't research the recordings very well. They obviously included Pretty in Pink because they incorrectly assumed that all of the tracks on the single were produced by Martin Hannett.

 

That would be odd, but it's possible. Here's a quote from the booklet:

"In may 1980 the Psychedelic Furs recorded four tracks with Hannett for a proposed EP: Soap Commercial, Susan's Strange, Dumb Waiters and So Run Down.(...) Singer Richard Butler told later: 'We tried out Martin Hannett because I really liked that the John Cooper Clark album sounded. But we didn't like it. It was too murky.' (...) Despite this initial hiccup, the band went on to record one further track with Hannett, the memorable Pretty in Pink, which reached #43 on the national chart in June 1981 and became their signature tone when used in the John Hughes movie of the same name a few years later."

I read here there's just one version of the song Pretty in Pink and, indeed, I never heard there was another one. Does anyone has the "45 or the soundtrack? And what does it say about the producer?

 

That's interesting, I think the booklet must be incorrect. Discogs.com has scans of the 7" and 12" releases, sleeves and record labels. The original 1981 release is consistently credited to Steve Lillywhite. The 1986 soundtrack version is a different recording, and is consistently credited to producer Chris Kimsey.

 

Some potentially disappointing news here. According to this site, the hidden "Dumb Waiters" is a BBC session recorded on April 9, 1981 for the John Peel Show:

http://www.oocities.org/sunsetstrip/palms/3625/comp.htm

Don't know if it's accurate or not, but it seems reasonable enough. It certainly sounds less "produced" than the three known Martin Hannett tracks.

 

Here's an update on this one. I've been told that Dumb Waiters was never actually recorded for John Peel, so that information is probably inaccurate. There was another radio session in circulation, but that's a different recording. So, the mystery continues. Spotify lists it as a "demo," which could just be another way of saying that it's an early recording....

 

Well, there's one way to nail this - listening to the alternate version. Martin Hannett's production sound is quite easy to discern...

 

Sorry for being off topic, but I used to have Mirror Moves on cassette when I was a bit younger, would love to get it again on cd pref SACD ....anyway my two cents worth

 

I will say that it doesn't sound particularly "Hannettized" to me, even in comparison with the three known Martin Hannett tracks. But it would be nice to have a definitive answer as to the source of this track, regardless.

 

If it does not sound like Hannett, then it probably is not. There is NO way he could have resisted putting his sound all over the tune.

 

It looks very much like those sessions are up for grabs (along with some other slightly desirable tapes):

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?...a.94894917441.104860.613177441&type=1&theater

Better pic here: http://invisiblegirl.co.uk/images/photos/reels.jpg

Check the yellow tapes!

 

I noticed this too - and I'm really hoping these tapes don't disappear! This could be the only place the unreleased Martin Hannett-produced version of "Dumb Waiters" still exists.

 

I read the story yesterday and am still nervous about the possibility in either using these or, in the worst case, the coming lost of those tapes...I mean, these tapes are forming my most beloved music, the heart of my music passion...

I hope to hear more news about these soon.

 

I think the version of Dumb Waiters at the end of the last track on the Should God Forget compilation is indeed from the sessions with Martin Hannett in 1980. For one thing, the arrangement and lyrics match the performances of the song at their live shows in 1980 up to Spring 1981 by which time they had rearranged it like it ended up on Talk Talk Talk. Production wise it fits right in with the other three songs as well.