Wednesday, July 8, 2009

Jesse Rae - three 12-inch singles


Look! There's Jesse Rae before he had his steel helmet and five-foot Claymore (sword)! 1985 was the year of Jesse Rae's career-defining single, "Over the Sea", the extravagant video for which established the helmeted, kilted, sword-wielding image he maintains to this day. But he must not have had the helmet and sword yet in 1982, as that is the year of the record pictured above, the Columbia release of the double-A-side 12" single of "Rusha" b/w "Desire" (the first of the 12-inch three-pack offered here). This is a different version of "Rusha" than the one on The Thistle; it's about a minute and a half longer, and is an earlier recording, though both of them feature Bernie Worrell on keyboards. "Desire" was a single for Rae in 1979 on Bold Records; I have never seen or heard that record, so I don't know if this is the same recording or not. It is a bizarre electro piece with funny sampled voices providing much of the rhythm track and goofy lyrics; its seven-minute length may be excessive, but once you hear it you will never forget it.

Next up is the 12-inch single of "Over the Sea", again signficantly different than the album version. In addition to the hotter mix (which my PC recording setup can just barely handle, sorry for the distortion on the sibilants), there is a more active rhythm synth, no instrumental indtroduction, and an additional 30 seconds of music. The real gem on this record is the first track on the B side, "Party Crackers", a wicked eight-minute funk jam. Closing the B side is an instrumental verion of "Over the Sea", with an extended Bernie Worrell synth intro in his distinctive freaky style.


Rounding out the 3-pack is the 12-inch single of "Hou-di-ni" b/w "Idio-syn-crazy", both of which appear on The Thistle in more or less the same versions (though "Idio-syn-crazy" is decoupled here from the album's "Scotland the Brave" instrumental intro). I've packaged all three 12-inch vinyl rips in separate folders in a single archive file; get it here or here.

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

Thanks for these - I've always liked "Over The Sea" and its memorable video, which looks like it was sponsored by the Scottish Tourist Board. I have the 12" of this and the CD reissue of the album - sadly they didn't include the 12" versions on the CD so it's good to hear them. (It does include a DVD with three of the videos though - OTS, Chainsaw and The Thistle).

Anonymous said...

PS to the above - have just listened to your vinyl rip of the album and OTS on the CD version is the 12" version rather than the original album version (which I hadn't heard before - that's why I was confused).

Go here for an interview, a download, and some rather bizarre live footage... http://exileonmoanstreet.blogspot.com/2009/04/repost-who-is-that-masked-man.html

...and here is Jesse Rae's Youtube channel...
http://www.youtube.com/user/jesserae1

Fantod said...

Thanks for the links! I've been after Compression for quite a while, it's great to finally get a rip. Tackhead are old favorites of mine, too.

F

Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
NOISEBOX said...

great blog! please check out or maybe add this to your links:
http://noiseboxmusiccollection.blogspot.com/

we share same interest in music. thanks and keep up the good work!

Anonymous said...

jesse rae and the thistles are playing new soul city live at the ironworks in inverness on friday the 26th of march. everybody welcome.

DJ PIGG said...

The video for Rusha is nothing short of brilliant: http://youtu.be/68skia4veC0

Thanks for the d/l btw!

Anonymous said...

'The Thistle' album is being reissued as a double CD set that includes ALL the 12" versions, "Party Crackers" and many unreleased mixes. Due out in March 2014.

connor said...

late to the party but would love a re-up of this, particularly d.e.s.i.r.e..

Movers and Packers in Hyderabad said...

Packers and Movers in Vanasthalipuram
Packers and Movers in Cherlapally
Packers and Movers in Maula ali
Packers and Movers in Kushaiguda
Packers and Movers in Tirumalagiri