Different Frenzy Track Lists

It's been talked about on other topics, but basically the A&M one was given away free with the release of Time & Tide in North America. The different songs on this one are from the Rootin' Tootin' Luton tapes and a few of the others were remixed.

OK, so they were given away from free on Record only or were they also released on CD? and perhaps more importantly, were the new songs any good?

THe A&M version, remixed by Eddie in 1981, has never been released on CD, although "Semi Detached" and "Hermit McDermitt" made it to the "Spellbound" CD.

There was actually a third "Frenzy" line-up on vinyl. The initial Australasian pressings of "Frenzy" didn't include "I See Red":


"Frenzy" is due to be remixed again by Eddie sometime soon for reissue on CD, along with most of, if not all, the Rootin' Tootin' Luton demos, some of which appeared on side 2 of the A&M vinyl release.

Heart pounding...

So the Frenzy remaster is going to be a general release?! This is great news. Do I get my sleeping bag out now and tell the wife I'll see her after release day!!! :-)

Bit of a bombshell to drop there Jaffa! Are you basing this on more than just the rumours that have been floating around for the last 10 years or so?

I certainly didn't get Frenzy free with my Time and Tide when they came out here (in the US). It was a budget LP upon its release, but I absolutely don't remember seeing a 2 for 1 deal anywhere. I LOVE FRENZY!

You mean my side two is all the Luton Demos? I have the A&M one.

The 1981 remix issue of "Frenzy" was supported by A&M in Canada, I think. I know it came out there and in the UK, and possibly not just as a bonus album with "Time and Tide". My vinyl copy, bought secondhand, seems to be a stand alone Canadian release.

Eddie is eager to remaster - and in some cases, remix - all the Split Enz albums. "Frenzy"/Luton is first on his wishlist but the start date for this project will depend on his other commitments and, I guess, a commitment from the record company. I would predict a mid-late 2006 release.

This is great news Jaffa that he's eager to REMIX some of the albums. Can't wait

As I understand it the A&M Frenzy was released commercially in the US/Canada. A free copy was given away with the first UK/European pressings of Time & Tide, but Frenzy didn't receive a stand-alone release in Europe.

Time & Tide charted for one week in the UK at #71, maybe it was the "free album" bribe that caused this ripple.

That's excellent news Jaffa, thanks for sharing it.

Painaporo wrote:

quote:

but I also found this:

Frenzy (81 US A&M SP-3153) LP
1. Side One: I See Red (3:15)
2. Give It a Whirl (2:52)
3. Master Plan (3:00)
4. Betty (4:42)
5. Frenzy (2:15)
6. Stuff and Nonsense (4:30)
7. Marooned (2:15)
8. Hermit McDermitt (4:19)
9. Holy Smoke (3:15)
10. Semi Detached (5:05)
11. Carried Away (4:34)
12. She Got Body (2:55)
13. Mind Over Matter (2:52)
14. Livin' It Up (1:15)

Jaffa, are you aware of this album floating around out there anywhere, and therefore being available second hand?

Once again, this variation is completely news to me, and I'm rather floored by it. I also love Frenzy and would love to have the chance to listen to 11. and 14. above. I visit second hand stores when I get the chance, but I don't do it often, and the results are usually disappointing.

Otherwise, fantastic news about Frenzy, and even more fantastic news about Luton Would Luton be released as a CD, or would the songs be mixed onto compilations as sweeteners? It may be too early to tell, but its a very exciting prospect

The A&M version turns up on vinyl secondhand occasionally. I see them in NZ from time to time. Try eBay, too. "Carried Away" and "Livin' it Up" both appeared as B-sides to the remix of "I Hope I Never" in Australia, so you might come across a copy of that. I found one or two in Melbourne last year. These songs and a whole lotta others from Luton were featured in "Enzology", which I'm hoping might get played on ABC Radio sometime.

The aim for the Luton Tapes is to have it all (or, at the very least, the best of it) collected together on CD for the first time ever. There's always been an audio problem with one of the Luton tape reels, so it remains to be seen whether Eddie's found a better copy yet or can do something clever to fix the glitch.

I have heard the Enzology and it is good and it is what has peaked my interest in these Frenzy tracks. I went home last night and looked through my Enz record collection, which I've never listened to since I don't own a record player, and wouldn't you know it, I actually own a copy of the A&M version with the additional Luton tracks! So now that I know I have them, all I have to do is figure out how to get them to a record player and on to my PC for iPod listening.

I'd love to have a re-ish of Frenzy but I suppose it's not likely that the original album version will ever get remastered etc. as it was. It's unfortunate since that's the only way (well, most of us) have ever heard it and since it's my favourite Enz album besides Mental Notes it would be slightly jarring to hear a new re-tooled version, although I'm sure Eddie will work sonic magic on it... I've always thought Frenzy would be ideal for a re-ish, a two disc set collecting all the Luton tracks and such, although Eddie's re-mixed A&M versions obviously complicates matters.

That said though, this is the perspectvie of someone who's never heard the A&M Frenzy or any of the Luton tracks, so to the people that DO have it, how do you find Eddie's remixed versions compare to Mallory Earl's mixes? I know it's fairly universal that Mallory did an all round crap job, so excuse me if this is a stupid question but keep in mind I haven't had the opportunity to hear the other versions.

I've never noticed a huge difference between the remixed tracks and the original versions, except for the missing cymbal crashes in Stuff & Nonsense (which I actually quite liked about the original...). I've heard the more technically-minded forum members say that it wasn't the best job on Eddie's part, but I guess there were limitations to what he could do at that time.

What's surprising me about this thread is that so many people haven't heard (or even heard of) the A&M Frenzy! No disrespect intended, but I guess I always took it for granted, with all the interest in the Luton sessions over the years, that people had it one way or the other.

I was late off the blocks myself, getting all my Enz stuff on vinyl around '86, just after they'd all been deleted in the UK ( ), but luckily my brother had all the albums, including the free Frenzy that came with Time & Tide. It was a tough one to find in the UK because it was a free extra, not always labelled as such on T&T. I found a copy myself later by luck in a second hand store - for some reason I thought to ask if the copy of T&T came with an extra disc. It did )

Now, with all this renewed upsurge in interest, I'm feeling very guilty for just giving away all my Enz vinyl to a charity shop when I left the UK (having already converted the rarer stuff to mp3).

It is worth tracking down a copy though if you can, especially since I've learned to take any rumours of a CD release of this material with a grain of salt. It would be fantastic beyond belief if it actually happened this time, but I'm not holding my breath...

Given that I've held Frenzy in such high regard for a while now I'm a bit disappointed in myself for not tracking down the A&M version sooner. I'll be getting onto it ASAP though!

And I agree about missing the cymbal crash in Stuff & Nonsense... in fact, I'm not really a fan of Eddie's remixed version in general, even though the volumne on the Frenzy CD is diabolically low during that particular song.

The A&M re-mix of S&N is not the one that showed up on Spellbound (which I can't stand either) - it's got Tim's little All-Blacks dedication before it (as heard in Enzology before Roughest Toughest Game) and is pretty much identical to the original, though perhaps a tad louder and missing the dramatic cymbal crashes.

well I like the remix !!!

quote:

Originally posted by Jaffaman.:
[qb] The A&M version turns up on vinyl secondhand occasionally. I see them in NZ from time to time. Try eBay, too.[/qb]

Also ...
Vinyl Solution (Australia)
Musicstack
Gemm

Wow, there are copies of the A&M album floating about all over the place. Here's the current eBay one.

Also, if anyone in Auckland is wanting the original LP without "I See Red" (for completists only), there are at least two copies downstairs at Real Groovy.

For those of you yet to experience it, the A&M remix of Frenzy isn't necessarily better or worse than the original version. The plus side is definitely the addition of the Luton tracks. The remixes just end up sounding as if a little bit more studio tinkering would have turned them into dub! - all that echo...

Refer to Enzology 5 for more info on how the original Frenzy album sessions promised so much, but (largely due to producer Mallory Earl), yielded such underwhelming results...

Anyway, bring on Eddie's much-hoped-for rehash!

Flicker, I think I owe you big time

Thank you very much for that link to Vinyl Solutions. I logged on there, and I've just purchased their 1 copy of Frenzy with the alternative song list to mine

I'm really thrilled with this.

Aka o miru wrote:

quote:

What's surprising me about this thread is that so many people haven't heard (or even heard of) the A&M Frenzy! No disrespect intended, but I guess I always took it for granted, with all the interest in the Luton sessions over the years, that people had it one way or the other.

Guilty as charged.

I had absolutely no idea that this other album existed. There were quite a lot of years there where information would have been flowing, but I just wasn't in its way - doing a lot of catching up via this forum

I'm scared to think about what else exists, that I, in my ignorance, don't even know about

Very grateful for this thread Painaporo

Very happy to hear about frenzy / luton,
but please remove the spanish guitar from stuff and nonsense, it really jars.
Apart from that, eddie keep up the good work

I liked the acoustic solo on the 1997 remix of Stuff and Nonsense. I'm surprised so many didn't like it, I thought it blew away both the original and the A&M remix.

I'm going to agree with Camus on this one. I prefer the 1997 remix of Stuff and Nonsense (then again, it was the first *studio* version of the song I heard, so that may be something to do with it).

The original mix although it has those really neat cymbal crashes, is absolutely terrible!

And I love the acoustic guitar part... it's really lovely *pouts*

Come on guys. Does it really matter which is better? Let's just hope Eddie can remix the whole thing and add ALL the Luton stuff. Once it's out you can critic it until you're blue in the face.
And just going on a bit of history. Didn't Eddie do Aniversary badly, and has is now capable of doing better! So if the Spellbound version wasn't up to scratch for you maybe he'll do even better again.
Eddie, ignore them. Carry on doing the remasters until we have all 10 in our hot little hands.

Eddie, the fact that this project is being undertaken at all is a great gift to the devoted fans, and a tribute to the terrific music that the Enz greated. Go you good thing. And thank you. I don't know about anyone else, but I have all the faith and confidence in the world that you'll find a way to improve on perfection. *LOL*

I'm really delighted with this alternative Frenzy album

The cost came of out the housekeeping but of course I can always go without the essentials for a week - food, petrol etc

Vinyl Solutions is a fantastic store, down in Cheltenham. Flicker very kindly provided a link and that's where I purchased Frenzy from.

If you're looking for other vinyl records, this crowd probably has them. There were quite a few Split Enz vinyls in stock and I even saw two Split Enz tour posters - one from the reunion tour back in 1993, and the other one advertising Dizrythmia (I think - I could be wrong about that, its that German cover I think and although I stood gazing at it, now that its not in front of me, I can't be certain).

Both posters were framed and one was around the $60 mark; the other a bit dearer, about $80 I think Probably worth it if you're a collector.

I can't compare the two Frenzy albums. Some of the songs on my new one are different from my original, some are the same but recorded differently. I'm really loving it

Thanks again Flicker

Have never heard the A&M Frenzy, though am aware of some of it's track names. Always considered "I See Red" to be the best song on the album, primarily for technical reasons; it sounds better quality wise than any of the others, but I understand that is because it had a different producer than Mallory Earl (can't remember right now and am not about to go looking). Though I loved (mostly) the songs on Frenzy, I was very dissapointed when I heard the "cotton wool" sound of the production when I got the album several years ago and still am. It sounds so muffled. Some of the words are uttelry unintelligable (especially "mind over matter and "abu dhabi"). I was kind of excited to hear that Eddie might be doing a remix.

as for true colours...well, it's always been my least favourite album. Apart from "I hope I never," which is truly a work of art, I can leave pretty much the rest of the album.

quote:

Originally posted by Parallelexism:
[qb]Always considered "I See Red" to be the best song on the album, primarily for technical reasons; it sounds better quality wise than any of the others, but I understand that is because it had a different producer than Mallory Earl (can't remember right now and am not about to go looking).[/qb]

That would be Dave Tickle, he of True Colours fame. According to Enzology, they also recorded a version of Next Exit during the same session at Startling Studios (with production assistance from Sham 69... ).

Jaffa - were those the only 2 tracks Tickle recorded with them in that session?

Umm, so could someone list (with numbers) the Luton tracks? I'm slightly dyslexic today and can't pick it out of the posts.

Here's the officially released Luton tracks in order...

Hermit McDermitt (1978 B-side)
Message Boy (1978 B-side)
Semi-Detached (1979 B-side)
Hypnotised (1980 B-side)
Carried Away (1980 B-side)
Holy Smoke (1981 B-side)
Next Exit (1981 various artists compilation)
Livin' It Up (1982 B-side + A&M Frenzy)
Mind Over Matter (1982 A&M Frenzy)

"I See Red" and "Next Exit" were the only two songs recorded at Startling.

The "Rootin' Tootin' Luton Tapes" recorded at Quest Studios contain (not quite in this order):
Hermit McDermitt
I See Red
Next Exit
Semi-Detached
Hypnotised
Marooned
Carried Away
Serge (Late In Rome)
Frenzy
Evelyn
Betty
Message Boy (with a long jam at the end)
She Got Body
Mind Over Matter
Hollow Victory
Famous People
Holy Smoke
Mishaps
Straight Talk
Home Comforts
Animal Lover
Remember When
Abu Dhabi
another jam

and possibly Livin' It Up.

quote:

Originally posted by Jaffaman.:
[qb]and possibly Livin' It Up. [/qb]

Are you saying that there is no documentary evidence that "Livin' It Up" is a Luton track?

What did the producer do wrong with the Frenzy album? I know something's 'wrong', but it's got a charming, 'underproduced' kinda sound to it, clearly inspired by the whole punk thing...

Can someone explain?

Thank!

Good question BWIG.

I think Mallory Earl has just become the whipping boy for "Frenzy"! Everyone points the finger at him, but Hugh Padgham was the Tape Operator (ie, Assistant Engineer) for "Frenzy" (in fact on "Spellbound" he's actually credited as "Engineer" on the Frenzy tracks) so if it was a problem with the people in the control room... It seems to me from the information I've managed to glean lately (Jaffa's comments are always valuable) that there were technical problems with the recording that may not have been apparent at the time - I suspect that when the album was mixed it probably sounded fine but when the master tape was played back (on different machines) later (like when it was being transferred to vinyl) it didn't sound right. In other words there was a problem on the machine used to make the master tape - this wouldn't have been obvious until the tape was played back on another machine. As the Enz were pretty well broke at the time I guess this was just something they couldn't afford to fix (plus there would have been deadlines etc). After all, they would have had to either: remix the album, or hire someone with the expertise to attempt to rescue the master tape. I can think of a number of albums by other artists that were plagued by problems with tape machines (eg, Rolling Stones 'Exile on Main St') but those acts had the money to fix the problems. I could also mention the horror story of the Beatles' "Hey Jude" - this was recorded at Olympic Studios (the Beatles wanted to try out their fancy new 8 track machine) but when the tape was brought back to Abbey Road it sounded like crap. It took all the expertise of the Abbey Road engineers to get the recording into some kind of fit state for release.

The other side of the coin is that the performances are not as lively as on the Luton tapes. Certainly the producer's job is to get the best performances possible so I guess this is the area that Mallory Earl is most vulnerable to criticism. One thing that struck me last time I listened to Frenzy is just how good the songs are.

Thanks Jaffaman. So do all of the Luton tapes still exist? (One last question )

All the Luton tapes still exist in some form, though I don't know for sure if the original stereo masters and multi-track tapes are still around.

My question mark over "Livin' It Up" is due to it not turning up on any of the Luton tape copies I've sourced from the Enz over the years. When remixing Frenzy/Luton in 1981, Eddie would have found it either on the Quest/Luton multi-track or the Manor/Frenzy multi-track tape. One day I'll remember to ask him, though he might not recall where it came from.

For Frenzy, Mallory Earl insisted on doing the engineering as well as producing. Hugh Padgham was a staff engineer at Virgin and, when Mallory and the Enz were booked into the Virgin's Manor Studios, Hugh became Mallory's assistant - which basically meant feeding Mallory tea and sandwiches. He was worried at the time that Mallory was not all together and thinks that the audio quality of "Frenzy" is dreadful.

It's not just the technical audio quality of "Frenzy" but the arrangements and band performance. According to all the band, Mallory did nothing more than tell the band they were all wonderful and everything was hunky dory. They needed more direction than that. Nigel remembers listening with Eddie to rough mixes at the time and knowing that things weren't good, but not wanting to admit it in the studio because they didn't want a bad vibe.