Curiosity Killed the Cat - 4 CD Boxed set compilation Mercury Years 1986-1990

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Curiosity Killed The Cat / Misfits: The Mercury Years 1986-1990 | superdeluxeedition



Misfits: The Mercury Years 1986-1990 is a new four-CD box set featuring eighties British pop band Curiosity Killed The Cat. Two and a half years in the making, this set has been compiled by SDE Editor Paul Sinclair and has been put together with the cooperation of the band. It will be released in September.

Curiosity Killed The Cat were fronted by the charismatic Ben Volpeliere-Pierrot and they enjoyed a number one album and a string of hits in the late 1980s, including Down To Earth, Ordinary Day, Name and Number and Misfit. The promo video for the latter was memorably filmed by – and co-starred – Andy Warhol, who took a shine to the band and invited them over to New York in 1986.

Misfits: The Mercury Years 1986-1990
CD 1: Keep Your Distance + bonus tracks
1. Misfit
2. Down To Earth
3. Free
4. Know What You Know
5. Curiosity Killed The Cat
6. Ordinary Day
7.Mile High
8. Red Lights
9. Shallow Memory
10. Misfit (extended mix)
11. Man*
12. Corruption (dub)*
13. Down To Earth (extended mix)
14. Ordinary Day (extraordinary mix)
15. Bullet
16. Free (dub master)*
* Previously unreleased on CD

CD 2: Getahead + bonus tracks
1. Name and Number
2. Do Your Believin’
3. Cascade
4. First Place
5. We Just Gotta Do it (For Us)
6. Go Go Ahead
7. Trees Don’t Grown On Money
8. Treat You So Well
9. Who Are You
10. Security Lady
11. Something New, Something Blue
12. Keep On Trying
13. Name and Number (extended mix)*
14. Ball and Chain
15. Name and Number (club sandwich mix)*
16. Misfit (Jazzy Dub Remix ‘89)
17. Name and Number (a schizo version)*
18. Name and Number (jazzy dub version)*
* Previously unreleased on CD

CD 3: Remixes, Edits & Dubs
1. Down To Earth (7” version)
2. Ordinary Day (ordinary version)*
3. Misfit (extended mix)*
4. Ordinary Day (extended version)*
5. Mile High (mile long mix)
6. Name and Number (version)*
7. Ordinary Day (version)
8. Misfit (dub)*
9. Down To Earth (instrumental)*
10. Ordinary Day (dub mix)*
11. Misfit (morales extended mix)*
12. Free (instrumental)*
13. Misfit (dub mix)*
14. Cascade (dub mix)**
* Previously unreleased on CD
** Previously unreleased

CD 4: Remixes, Demos & Outtakes
1. Free (free style )
2. Name and Number (hanging on person to person)
3. Free (free form)*
4. Misfit (club mix)*
5. Free (solo style)*
6. Misfit (demo)**
7. Wag (Know What You Know) (demo)**
8. Curiosity Killed The Cat (demo)**
9. Ordinary Day (demo)**
10. Mile High (demo)**
11. Red Lights (demo)**
12. Shallow Memory (demo)**
13. Easy (demo)**
14. Now That You’ve Gone (demo)**
15. Why (demo)**
16. Out Of Curiosity (demo)**
17. Hidden Informer (demo)**
18. Down To Earth (remix)**
19. Down To Earth (instrumental remix)**
** Previously unreleased
* Previously unreleased on CD

I only like the first album, the second one is terrible.

But i'm a collector, so i'll be getting it anyways, and just listen to the
other tracks once or so.

later
-1

 

If Paul is involved in this project then it will be top notch for sure.

 

Curiosity KTC are in my opinion an act worthy of discussion on this site. Their first album, Keep Your Distance, is absolutely brilliant; it was on of those rare occurrences were the notoriously elitist UK music critics and the pop record buying masses were perfectly aligned. Every single lifted from it was excellent and for a short 18 months or so, they really were the hottest band in the UK. The reasons I think they've been forgotten is a combination of a sub-par second album (which has no more than 2 - 3 average tracks at best tracks) and also more likely because they were good looking and had a huge teenage girl following, meaning they were taken less seriously despite the very high quality of their musical output. Ironically their third album, Back to Front, which was scrapped in the UK and only released in Japan, is excellent-- despite a Simon Cowell connection I believe and which includes their Top 3 charting cover of Johnny Bristol's "Hang On In There Baby". I'll probably buy this re-release even though I have the originals in pristine condition and play them often. I would recommend anyone not familiar with this band to check them out.

 

i skipped this before. boy what a mistake.

i have been listening to this (japanese version) for the last 3 weeks, solid, almost every day, or every other day.
there was a european release though, along with all the singles.

also, i hunted down the 3 singles, and the relax one too..

it's easily as good as their first album, matching it i think.

it's a shame it never got more exposure, and a more universal release.

oh well, i'm enjoying it greatly now.

later
-1

 

Good to see a fellow Curiosity Killed The Cat fan here.

We all hear things differently, but I am honestly surprised anyone favors the 3rd album over the 2nd! I think the 2nd album is one of the greatest sophisto-pop/blue-eyed soul albums of the era while the 3rd, to me at least, sounds like a hodgepodge of covers and b-side level original material - with bad early 90's production values, to boot. The 3rd is improved by adding the energetic non-LP single "I Need Your Loving" (Teena Marie cover), but not by much.

So many great songs on the 2nd, IMO (First Place, Name and Number, Cascade, Treat You So Well, etc.). The album should have been a bigger hit, but too much time passed between it and the first, and the pop charts moved on to other styles of music. It had a more mature sound which could have found favor with adult contemporary/smooth jazz fans if it was marketed differently. The cover art probably did the album no favors:



I am eagerly waiting to receive the box set to check out the unreleased tracks from this underrated group.