Legendary Remixer, Steve Thompson Is Here...

[djatya]

Hi Dayna,
Thank you for liking my work. Being on this site has brought back a lot of fond memories
all the best,
steve
I'm a fan of your work..
Great to have you here.........
Dayna[/quote]

[djatya]

Hi all,
Just wanted to wish everyone a great 2008
Keep the music alive
all the best,
steve

[Videoskooter]

Same to you Steve, may it be a very creative and happy year!

[remicks]

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Originally Posted by djatya

Hi all,
Just wanted to wish everyone a great 2008
Keep the music alive
all the best,
steve

Cheers !!!


And , here's a fine one , absent from your website's list Steve!!










*******

[remicks]

******

We can have a bit more fun with this one

WAR OF THE WORLDS
THE EVE OF THE WAR

BEFORE
Steve Thompson :



WAR OF THE WORLDS
THE EVE OF THE WAR

AFTER
Steve Thompson:





******

[djatya]

[quote=remicks;132460]******

We can have a bit more fun with this one

WAR OF THE WORLDS
THE EVE OF THE WAR

BEFORE
Steve Thompson :



WAR OF THE WORLDS
THE EVE OF THE WAR

AFTER
Steve Thompson:


Nice
Leave it up to you!!
Its been a long time since i listened to this
I did the work in England in the late 70s
It was recorded on one of the first 48 track systems
I remember it took a long time to sync up the 2 tape machines
we brought in some of the band to do overdubs to dance it up a little
GOOD JOB REMICK!!!!!
all the best,
steve

[markydefad]

remicks, that is a GREAT DEMONSTRATION OF THE ART OF THE REMIX!!!

Fascinating to hear the original source material and then the final product...and notice all the changes and additions and subtractions...great work.

"The Eve Of The War" by Jeff Wayne (featuring Justin HAYWARD--misspelled HAYWOOD on that clip--lead singer of The Moody Blues) was a big fave at Trocadero--a staple of the "space disco" sets...but I'm just now realizing this is probably not that well known outside certain circles. Checking the Billboard stats it peaked @ #77 on the Billboard Disco/Dance chart, charting for 8 weeks, debuting 2/16/80....But at Trocadero this was a BIG HIT...played for a long time.

Lastly, it is so great that Steve is commenting and participating on this thread. Thanks guys.

[SandraDee]

Originally Posted by markydefad

I'm just now realizing this is probably not that well known outside certain circles. Checking the Billboard stats it peaked @ #77 on the Billboard Disco/Dance chart, charting for 8 weeks, debuting 2/16/80

Eve Of The War was a top 40 pop hit in the UK twice, once in '78 & again as a Ben Liebrand remix in '89. I think Steve's mix sounds quite Patrick Cowley-ish to me; I wonder if he was infuenced by it?

[djatya]

steve here
I haven't heard Bens version
I was influenced by Georgio M.
I wish i had use of the technology back in the day to get more of an" I feel Love" vibe. Patrick did a great remix of that back in the day
lost in music,
steve

[markydefad]

"Eve Of The War" summons up memories of trippy Trocadero Transfer "space disco" sets with titles like:

"Space Invaders" - Playback
"Tryouts For The Human Race" - Sparks
"The Visitors" - Gino Soccio
"Ultimate Warlord" - Immortals

and other trippy "lost in space"/"mad scientist"/ futuristic" records like:

"Evolution" - Giorgio Moroder
"Follow Me" - Amanda Lear
"Save Your Love For Me" - Space
"Over And Over" - Disco Circus
"Fear/I Strip You" - Easy Going
"Supernature" - Cerrone
"The Night They Invented Love" - Noel

I'm surprised to hear that "The Eve Of The War" was a pop hit in the U.K.... So that was Steve's remixed dance version and not the original LP mix, I'm assuming?

I'd never heard the LP version before...was always told nothing else is "dancey" on it ....so I never really sought it out...but now I think I should..

from AMG: Jeff Wayne

"Jeff Wayne was already a well-known figure in British rock circles when he created The War of the Worlds, the piece for which he would remain known to the public for more than a quarter century after. He was born in New York, the son of actor Jerry Wayne, but he ended up being raised for four years in England, when his father was cast in the role of Sky Masterson in the original London production of Guys and Dolls.

.....Among the attributes that made Wayne so popular with these musicians, the most notable were his precise (and very demanding) musical sensibilities, which sometimes meant running into a large number of takes but also held his artists — singers and musicians alike — to a very high standard, akin to that of classical music, with very impressive results on record, and he had a great ability to work with what were then very primitive synthesizers, generating unique sounds that crossed freely between classical and pop.Wayne spent a big chunk of 1977 and a piece of 1978 working on War of the Worlds, for which he recruited some of the top musical and acting talent of the era, including Richard Burton (as narrator), singers Justin Hayward and Phil Lynott (and David Essex), and actress/singer Julie Covington. Based on various accounts of the sessions, one reason that resulting album worked as well as it did was that overdubbing on the instrumental tracks was held to a minimum — when Wayne and Spedding or Partridge crossed swords, as it were, on synthesizer and guitar, respectively, or Wayne spun an elaborate electronic keyboard line over a Herbie Flowers bass part, everyone was actually playing at once, generating the music live in the studio. The elaborately produced and packaged double-album, a strangely compelling mix of progressive rock, hard rock, classical, and literary influences, was a huge hit in England, where it rode the charts for six years and became the biggest selling English "soundtrack" (it wasn't a soundtrack, of course, or a cast album, but it usually got classified as one or the other, based on its dramatic content) in a quarter of a century. It sold well throughout Europe and most of the rest of the world — a specific German-language adaptation, narrated by Curt Jurgens, was also prepared for that market.

Ironically, it had the chance to be much bigger than that in America when the single extracted from the first LP, "Forever Autumn," sung by Justin Hayward, began getting major airplay — based on radio play alone, the 45 nudged into the top 40, but the record company was so slow getting actual copies of the single into stores so that people could buy it, that by the time the record was available for purchase, it had already started down the charts and was being returned from many retailers. As a result, the album never found more than a wide cult following in the United States.

The experience of working with Wayne was so good for Justin Hayward that he chose the producer to work on his next solo LP, Night Flight, and Wayne was also the producer of the music for the movie MacVicar, starring Roger Daltrey. Following a brace of television-related projects, in 1992 he unveiled his next conceptual project, the musical version of Spartacus, which included Anthony Hopkins and singer (and future star actress) Catherine Zeta-Jones in its cast. He has also appeared as a guest conductor with the London Symphony Orchestra, leading them in the performance of highlights from his War of the Worlds score. In the mid- '90s, that album was remastered for the European market, and he also did a remixed and remastered version of highlights from the album with new vocals and other embellishments."

[conor l]

I went hunting for this off the back of hearing it in a Bobby Viteritti tape and was massively disappointed with it. Then I realised what I had was the original and what I was looking for was the Steve Thompson mix

Similar thing happened to me with the Richie Rivera midnight mix of Liquid Gold, but I managed to get it in the end. Still stuck with a 4 minutes 12" of the original though that Ill never play

[SandraDee]

[quote=markydefad;132491
I'm surprised to hear that "The Eve Of The War" was a pop hit in the U.K.... So that was Steve's remixed dance version and not the original LP mix, I'm assuming?

I'd never heard the LP version before...was always told nothing else is "dancey" on it ....so I never really sought it out...but now I think I should..

[/quote]


It was the original LP mix that was the UK pop hit in '78 & this is the first time I've heard Steve's brilliant remix. That War Of The Worlds LP was huge here in the UK; I've never actually heard the rest of it.

[remicks]

Originally Posted by SandraDee

Eve Of The War was a top 40 pop hit in the UK ..... I think Steve's mix sounds quite Patrick Cowley-ish to me; I wonder if he was influenced by it?

I agree.... there's a Cowley-ish feel to it . But the overall sound I hear brings more to mind .... Tantra's HILLS OF KATMANDU .
Spacey as Marky says .... .

I'm surprised how Arabic/disco the original is too ... although its much more guitar driven but still with a prominent ongoing beat and plenty of zig zagging echoey strings plus the special sound of the flute (pan flute?) . I'm trying to determine what all was added in the remix : of course additional layers of synths , but what I'm also most aware of in addition to them are the congas and a tambourine . Seems like some aspects of the guitars are gone or at least pulled back. And of course no Richard!

I'm curious as to who wanted a more disco oriented remix?? Jeff Wayne? Columbia records? And how Steve you were specifically chosen? Were you already in England ? Or did they have to fly you over? I wonder how receptive Jeff was to this makeover?
And ....
was there any attempt to try to incorporate Richard Burton's voice into the remix??


*****


Follow up :

I''m confused ......

Markydefad : Checking the Billboard stats it peaked @ #77 on the Billboard Disco/Dance chart, charting for 8 weeks, debuting 2/16/80

SandraDee: Eve Of The War was a top 40 pop hit in the UK twice, once in '78 .....

September 8 , 1978 (#36) to be exact .

The remix comes a year and a half later ?????


*****

[djatya]

Hi All,
Just wanted to thank everyone for the warm response on my work
I have a question for everyone
What song that I worked on is your favorite and why?
It can be dance , rock or pop
I cant wait to hear your reply
all the best,
steve:sm ile::smi le::smil e::smile :

[TheLordOfFlatbush]

Originally Posted by djatya

Hi All,
Just wanted to thank everyone for the warm response on my work
I have a question for everyone
What song that I worked on is your favorite and why?
It can be dance , rock or pop
I cant wait to hear your reply
all the best,
steve:sm ile::smi le::smil e::smile :

Take A Chance - Queen Samantha - One of the best songs released in 1979

The Break - Kat Mandu - A Classic from my days on the KTU Studio 54 Clubhouse with Brooklyn's Own Joe Causi

Honorable Mention - Dance, Freak and Boogie - Nightlife Unlimited

As a supporter of your work in the past, I wish you continued success now and beyond.

It's About The Music and The Connection!™

All The Best,

Delmar Browne