|
|
|
|
new gold dream (81,82,83,84): information
|
- "Empires And Dance and
Sons And Fascination were so crammed, the sound was so heavy, the way it feels before a storm breaks.
When the storm is over, the air is clear and clean. That's what New Gold Dream felt like." - Jim
- The band had a head start:
they'd already recorded and released Promised You A Miracle
as a single and both Hunter And The Hunter
(aka The Low Song)
and King Is White And In The Crowd were demoed. (All
these recordings were made during a 10 day rehearsal period at Rockfield Studios in January 1982).
- Just before the second leg of the Sons And Fascination tour,
Simple Minds recorded a
Kid Jensen session, during which they
exclusively premiered King Is White And In The Crowd.
- As the second leg of the Sons And Fascination tour continued,
Promised You A Miracle, King Is White And In The Crowd and
Someone Somewhere (In Summertime) became new songs in the set-list.
- After the tour, and plans turned to the new album Steve Lillywhite was first choice for producer but he was unavailable.
Virgin also suggested Martin Rushnet.
- However the band had other ideas. Impressed with
his work on the Sweat In Bullet remix and
Promised You A Miracle,
Simple Minds pushed for nineteen year old Pete Walsh
as producer for the album.
- With Walsh onboard, Virgin told him that they
wanted the magic and atmosphere of the band's live sound. So Walsh
decided to record as a live studio album.
- The band retreated to an old farmhouse in Fife (which they called the 'Vibe Factory') where they started work on the new album.
- Pete Walsh travelled up to Fife to listen to the tapes and make some suggestions.
"They would jam for two hours on the same song, and then we would listen to it back on cassette, pick the good bits and make the
song around that. A lot of it was what they'd call pure shit, or not very good anyway, and there were some magic bits that maybe were
never captured on the album." - Pete Walsh
- By the end of the Fife sessions, the band had assembled several demo tapes. These included the
Arpeggio Song (later to become
Colours Fly And Catherine Wheel),
Festival Riff (later to become
New Gold Dream (81,82,83,84) and
Summer Song (which became
Someone Somewhere (In Summertime)).
- They then relocated to Townhouse Studios in London to record the basic tracks.
- "As always, the music came first, and there was something of beauty about it. It suggested that sort of lyric. And the fact that such
ideas came up - things of light - rang a bell in me, that was the first sign." - Jim.
- It quickly became apparent that Mike Ogletree's style wasn't
suited to the album. Walsh brought in a session drummer,
Mel Gaynor, to add extra power to the backing tracks.
- Multiple takes of the same songs were recorded to multi-track. Walsh then assembled the
best parts of each take for the master. This would have profound consequences later when the DVD-Audio album was produced.
- Herbie Hancock was recording in the studio next door. Grabbing the opportunity, the band asked if he'd
like to play a solo on the album. Hence his synth solo during Hunter And The Hunted.
- The dates in the title of the album were added at the last moment: "After an album obsessed by fear we'd made an album looking
to the future." - Jim.
- "I think we definitely had Walshy right off his nut. He was supposed to have stopped smoking and drinking, he was saying to
us 'I very rarely drink' and all that. At the end of the album he was chain smoking with fucking bottles everywhere" -
Charlie.
- With the backing tracks completed, the band moved onto The Manor,
Virgin's recording studio in the lush Oxfordshire countryside, to complete the
album. It was renamed The Leisure Centre: "Whenever we came up against a
problem we'd go and have a game of table tennis or a swim or go fishing, and just have some fun and
go back in" - Pete Walsh
- "I remember phoning up Bruce Findlay and saying 'We've really kinda surpassed what we
should be.' He was going, 'It's two o'clock in the morning, what are you rabbiting on about?'." - Jim.
- With the album reaching completion, the band were invited back for another Kid Jensen session. They
recorded three exclusive tracks from the album: Someone Somewhere (In Summertime) (logged at the BBC
under its original name of Summer Song),
Glittering Prize and
Hunter And The Hunter.
- "[During the writing of the album] we often went for walks. Around Perth you find a lot of Celtic crosses, crosses that seem to spring up from the earth. We thought it
was a very powerful symbol. They were in the ground which produced the water we drank, so why not?" - Jim.
- Malcolm Garrett had already used the symbol on the sleeve of Promised You A Miracle
and so they decided to continue the idea, using a cross for the cover of New Gold Dream. The 'flaming heart' design was influenced particularly
by crosses found in France.
- "We knew what we were doing when we used that cross. It created a lot of controversy and some people even got angry, but when a hard rock
band puts devils and creatures from the depths of hell on its cover, no one blinks an eye. But when you want to use something of beauty, everyone
starts wondering whether it's the right thing. Hang on, this is kind of heavy, isn't it? A born again Christian! Why born again? I've never been
away." - Jim
- The first LPs pressed in the UK had gold inner sleeves; for subsequent pressings, purple inner
sleeves were used.
- The purple of the album titles and inner sleeves (second pressings) was based on the colour of a
cardinal's habit. Malcolm Garrett came up with the idea when the Pope visited Scotland (and, incidentally,
used Simple Minds' sound system to address the Glasgow crowd).
- Gold and purple inner sleeves were also used in other countries except these included the lyrics, printed
around a simple cross. As this artwork is stylised and repeated for each country, it's assumed this
was Malcolm Garrett's original design. In the UK, the lyrics were
omitted, leaving just a book logo.
- The UK CD featured unique artwork. The booklet included new graphics and different pictures of
the band, whilst the sleeve featured a compacted version of LP cover. The CD cover used
white instead of gold, giving it a cold, frosy appearance (it isn't known if this was intented or
a mistake by the printers).
- For the USA, A&M pressed up a special
limited edition picture disc; this became known as the
"purple splashed gold" version of the album. (It's actually transparent vinyl in which
a small amount of purple and gold colours have been added). A large number of these were "gold stamped" and sent
out as promotional issues. A cassette and CD were also available.
- All the A&M pressings featured the edited version of the title track (which isn't noted on
the sleeve). The original
German CD featured an extended version of the title track (which isn't indicated on the sleeve either) which became known as
the German 12" Remix.
- In Canada, Virgin pressed up a limited edition gold version of the LP. Again,
this was transparent vinyl with a small amount of yellow colouring added.
- The Yugoslavian version of the album is highly prized by the collectors for its unique sleeve
which removed all the religious images. Like all Yugosalvian releases, it was delayed, not appearing until April 1983.
- "That's why I called it a coffee-table album. Not to be nasty, but that's what it is: a coffee-table album. They should have
sold New Gold Dream in furniture stores, because it can brighten a room." - Jim
- The remasters of 2002 greatly improved the quality, but no bonus material was added.
- The Super-Audio CD version of the album was sonically created from the stereo master and again added nothing special.
- However, for the DVD-Audio, Ronald Prent returned to the original multi-tracks to create a true 5:1 Surround Sound
recording. Prent and Charlie discovered a host of unused takes and extra
instrumentation. So rather than recreate Pete Walsh's original arrangements, they decided to
extended the songs and add the missing effects. The take of King Is White And In The Crowd is
especially interesting as it features the studio cues and banter.
- Unfortunately the multi-tracks Colours Fly And Catherine Wheel and
Promised You A Miracle were missing, so the original stereo versions of these songs were included.
- Also discovered were the sessions for Soundtrack For Every Heaven, a choppy instrumental based
around one of Mike Ogletree's drum rhythms, but left unfinished (and relegated to B-side status on
the 12" of Someone Somewhere (In Summertime)). Amazingly they found a take with vocals, and so as a bonus, the newly
discovered In Every Heaven was added to the album as a bonus track.
- Everyone who loves New Gold Dream (81,82,83,84) should absolutely seek out this version of the album.
|
new gold dream: quick reference
|
| LP |
New Gold Dream (81,82,83,84) |
Virgin V 2230 |
|
A1. Someone Somewhere (In Summertime) | | (4:37) |
|
A2. Colours Fly And Catherine Wheel | | (3:48) |
|
A3. Promised You A Miracle | | (4:25) |
|
A4. Big Sleep | | (4:58) |
|
A5. Somebody Up There Likes You | | (4:56) |
|
B1. New Gold Dream (81,82,83,84) | | (5:56) |
|
B2. Glittering Prize | | (4:33) |
|
B3. Hunter And The Hunted | | (5:53) |
|
B4. King Is White And In The Crowd | | (6:59)
|
| MC |
New Gold Dream (81,82,83,84) |
Virgin TCV 2230 |
|
1-1. Someone Somewhere (In Summertime) | | (4:37) |
|
1-2. Colours Fly And Catherine Wheel | | (3:48) |
|
1-3. Promised You A Miracle | | (4:25) |
|
1-4. Big Sleep | | (4:58) |
|
1-5. Somebody Up There Likes You | | (4:56) |
|
2-1. New Gold Dream (81,82,83,84) | | (5:56) |
|
2-2. Glittering Prize | | (4:33) |
|
2-3. Hunter And The Hunted | | (5:53) |
|
2-4. King Is White And In The Crowd | | (6:59)
|
| CD |
New Gold Dream (81,82,83,84) |
Virgin CDV 2230 |
|
1. Someone Somewhere (In Summertime) | | (4:37) |
|
2. Colours Fly And Catherine Wheel | | (3:48) |
|
3. Promised You A Miracle | | (4:25) |
|
4. Big Sleep | | (4:58) |
|
5. Somebody Up There Likes You | | (4:56) |
|
6. New Gold Dream (81,82,83,84) | | (5:56) |
|
7. Glittering Prize | | (4:33) |
|
8. Hunter And The Hunted | | (5:53) |
|
9. King Is White And In The Crowd | | (6:59)
|
|
|
|
| |
