Word.
Look, sometimes I don’t have much to say.
Tears For Fears
Pale Shelter (You Don’t Give Me Love) (Extended Version)
Pale Shelter (You Don’t Give Me Love)
Saxophones as Opiates
I never noticed this until now, but between the title track, “Mad World,” “Ideas as Opiates” and “Pale Shelter,” The Hurting is probably one of the most bleak and depressing albums of all time. It’s amazing what you can get away with when you throw some catchy dance beats in there. The Hurting came out when I was all of three years old, so I missed it. I did, however, rock out heavily to Songs From The Big Chair, which came out when I was a much more mature five years old. I seriously have a very vivid memory of three kids in my first grade class running across the playground singing their own version of “Shout” which went “Fart! Fart! Let it all out!” over and over again. I don’t think there’s a better sign of a song permiating the American culture than a bunch of six-year-olds in Ohio creating their own scatological remake of it.
“Pale Shelter” has an odd release history. It was actually the group’s second single (originally released under the longer name you see above), but it failed to catch on in the UK. After “Mad World” blew up the band’s label re-released the song, but in a different mix (and shorter title). That later mix is the version that appears on the album. It too has its own extended mix, which weas included on later editions of the album on CD. No version of this original mix has ever been included on CD as far as I can tell.  To be honest it’s not that different, the biggest difference  in the beginning; the older versions starts off with a  backmasked lyric, while the album version does not. Still, it’s an awesome song, and any mix of it is worth a listen. “Saxophones As Opiates” is a b-side from the “Mad World” single.
In case you’re wondering, the backmasked lyric in the beginning of “Pale Shelter” is  “the sickness in the system is an amplification of the sickness in the individual.” That’s totally deep, yo.
Whale
Crying At Airports (Remix by Shawn J. Period featuring Mos Def)
Crying At Airports (Friend’s Wigga-No-No Remake)
I know next to nothing about this group. I bought the single because it had cool art and Mos Def is on it. It’s groovy little trip-hop/dance tune and worth a listen. I really dig the “Wigga-No-No Remake” with it’s drum-n-bass inspired breakbeats. Curious after hearing the tune, I did some research and found of that Whale had a pretty big hit in Europe with their first single “Hobo Humpin’ Slobo Babe.” I went to YouTube to check out that track and…I think I’m done checking out Whale. Yikes.
I was about 13 when ‘The Hurting’ came out & i learn something new about ‘Tears For Fears’-thanx for that! Personally i think ‘Pale Shelter’ is my fave from that album. I think this band were very underated(not just coz one of the group came from my city!)! Have u got the ‘Urban Mix’ of ‘Everybody Wants To Rule The World’?
Keep up the good work!
I just decided i’d ‘listen’ 2 ur version of ‘Pale Shelter’. All i can say is i’ve never heard it & i like it(& i must have the later version on my mp3 player!). Thank’s 4 this post,but now i’ll also have 2 dig in the loft 2 c if i still have the vinyl!
This post was so hilarious!Awesome.
I’ve never heard of Whale,now I’m tempted to check out that video on YouTube…but I think I better not..!
Also,I don’t know if the comments section is the place to post this,so,sorry if it’s irrelevant!
I can’t find a way to go back to your mainpage after reading a post.It’s just the previous/next post.I think it’d be pretty convenient to click on “The Lost Turntable” and go back to the main page…?
I was also about 5 when …Big Chair was released and I remember having a strong love of ‘Everybody Wants to Rule the World’. There was a movie that had the song in it staring Val Kilmer that ended with a house full of popcorn so I called this the ‘Popcorn House song’. Anyway, ‘Pale Shelter’ & ‘Change’ are my favorites from The Hurting. I think I like this album so much especially because it seemed so moody.
Yeah, I’m working on that. My HTML is shit.
LOL love your wittiness and sarcasm! been reading the blog for a month now! Whale WAS indeed an interesting band, out of Sweden, i think. I first heard Hobo Humpin Slobo Babe around 1994/95, bought the single & loved the video. I think Tricky did some production work for them on half of the album. I was oddly attracted to the gal in the band at the time, musta been the licking of the giant lollipop, or was it her braces haha kind of a 1990s version of Bow Wow Wow it looks like
broken kneecaps, severed spine fo’ sho!! 🙂
oh and it was featured on Beavis n Butthead, which their comments to, were classic!
sorry,i just remembered seeing Whale open for Blur in Chicago for the Great Escape Tour ’95…not too memorable if i JUST remembered that 🙂
I have Whale’s CD with the track Hobo Humpin Slobo Babe…I thought it was catchy back in the 90’s. The rest of the album was blaaaahhhh.
Whale’s first song “Homo-slo-mo” was featured on Bevis and Butthead back in the day….
Which 12” is your mix taken from (if you know)? I am wondering if it is the one with the green sleeve or the one with the yellow sleeve. Thx.
Greenish. It’s faded.
Whale are an acquired taste, but I swear they’re well worth the effort (well, maybe half of their output is) if you can get past Hobo Humpin’ Slobo Babe. Four Big Speakers off the second album was fun http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_blLHLUQyNQ
And on the Pay for Me single is a pretty good trip-hop cover of Darling Nikki, produced by Tricky if memory serves (he produced two songs on their first album as well)
The “Friends remix” is damned good. Thanks for that.
Came here looking to play a clip of DJ Shadow’s Dark Days, stumbled upon the Friends remix… gonna have to return for a while.
The Hurting bleak? Definitely. But, at the time, the combo of production, polish, and musicianship amidst a sea of bullshit was pretty unique. Context is everything.
Whale… I know it all, well almost.
They were a Stockholm, Sweden based band and formed sometime in 1987 under the name The Southern Whale Cult. Their single Hobo etc etc came out in 93 and got som decent rotation on Swedish radio. The album, produced by Christian Falk a very well known and highly regarded swedis producer (check out his solo stuff. 2 great albums “Quel Bordel” and “People Say”) who has later worked with the likes of Robyn and Jevetta Steele, came ou in 95.
Always had the feeling that this was a funny side project and nothing they took extremly serious. All the people in the band had careers in other areas of music, entertainment, tv and so on.
The members were:
Henrik Schyffert – Tv-presenter, tv host, stand up comedian, lecturer, producer and so on. Nowadays regarded as one of swedens most influential media persons. Several TV hit shows, plays, films.
Cia Berg (Now Cia Soro) РStarted out at a sex cabar̩ called Chat Noir in Stockholm. Moved on to be the presenter of swedens first music video tv show, called Bagen (The Bag). Before Whale she was in a group called Ubangi. Also released an album under the name Thereisno Orchestra. She also appeared in a movie called Lust. Which has since been deemed to be the worst swedish movie ever. Now lives in Sardinia where she sells books in her own bookstore and exports italian food to sweden.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vk0ltZPHGKA&feature=BF&list=QL&index=4
Jon Jefferson Klingberg – Rock musician, author and journalist.
Gordon Cyrus – Music producer, record label owner (Breakin Bread), music video director. Still active.
Discography:
1995 – We Care
“Kickin'” – 3:47
“That’s Where It’s At” – 4:15
“Pay for Me” – 4:24
“Eurodog” – 3:36
“I’ll Do Ya” – 8:26
“Electricity” – 4:13
“Hobo Humpin’ Slobo Babe” – 3:59
“Tryzasnice” – 4:45
“Happy in You” – 4:58
“I Miss Me” – 4:11
“Young, Dumb N’ Full of Cum” – 5:13
“I’m Cold” – 8:26
“Born to Raise Hell” – 1:15
1995 – Pay For Me (minialbum)
“Pay For Me”
“I Think No”
“Darling Nikki” (Prince-cover)
“Buzzbox Babe”
“Trying”
1998 – All Disco Dance Must End In Broken Bones
“Crying at Airports – 5:22
“Deliver the Juice” – 5:11
“Roadkill” – 4:17
“Smoke” – 5:25
“Losing CTRL” – 4:12
“Four Big Speakers” – 3:52
“Go Where You’re Feeling Free” – 5:09
“Into the Strobe” – 6:09
“Puma Gym” – 2:51
“No Better” – 4:19
“2 Cord Song” – 7:19