Data were a tight, Mid-80s synthpop project of Ex-Sailor Georg Kajanus done concurrently with his fine productions of Peter Godwin. They would slot in congruently with a group like Vicious Pink very well. Way back in 2016 I was reviewing a USP 12″ I had bought of Data’s “Blow” single and I said at the time, “join us in seven years [?] when it all comes together in the service of a REVO DLX RM.” Well, it’s not even five years later but I think the time is nigh and have finally decided on a title that will be the 100th CD I have made since starting in the late 90s.

While the first two Data albums are on the silver disc courtesy of Angel Air, their possibly higher profile third album [the one released in America on Sire, which you may have seen] is still a CD M.I.A. title. It now looks like I have everything that I would need to throw into the pot for this one. What will it consist of?

Data: Elegant Machinery – US – LP [1985]

1. Stop 3:43
2. Ricocheted Love 3:36
3. Burning 3:21
4. Over 21 2:55
5. Hooked Up 3:27
6. Playing 3:02
7. In Blue 3:24
8. Cubismo 3:44
9. D.J. 3:33
10. Blow 4:48

Data: Blow – US Promo – 12″ [1985]

1. Blow [The Blow Out Version] 6:20
2. Blow [The Blow Out Version single edit] 3:32
3. D.J. [The Club D.J. Version] 5:32

Data: Blow – UK – 12″ [1984]

1. Blow 4:49
2. Blow Back 6:12

Data: Ricocheted Love – UK – 12″ [1986]

1. Ricocheted Love [Extended Dance Mix] 7:32
2. In Blue/D.J. [Extended Dance Remix] 11:43

Data: Stop – US – 12″ [1985]

1. Stop [Remix] 6:07
2. Blow [Remix] 6:18 [By Scott Blackwell – possibly the same as Blow Out Version, also by Blackwell]

Various: Razormaid A.2 – US – LP 1 ONLY! [1986]

1. Data: Over 21 [Razormaid Mix – Joseph Watt] 7:44
2. Data: Living Inside Me [Razormaid Mix – Joseph Watt] 7:17
3. Anne Clarke: Red Sands [Razormaid Mix – Joseph Wat] 6:37
4. Fatima: Hassan [Razormaid Mix – Joseph Watt] 6:10

Adding up all of the times leaves the original album a brief 35+ minutes, so I’m likely to produce a separate 2nd disc jam packed with the remixes. If the two 6:18/6:20 mixes of “Blow” across the US promo and UK commercial 12″ers are identical, then the remixes will be 66:50. Tidy. I have the four Razormaid remixes as well from the US commercial “Stop” 12″ as well as disc one, purchased alone, of Razormaid A.2, I bought it when I ran into it because the generic sleeve at the record store said Anne Clarke “Red Sands” [as co-written/produced by john Foxx!] and that was a must buy. Then when I looked at the disc at home, I saw that the rest of the disc was Data remixes! Come for the Anne Clarke and stay for the Data!

Taking it even further down the Kajanus-centric rabbit hole was the presence of Fatima’s “Hassan” Razormaid mix. Fatima […And The Mamluks] was another Kajanus side project that has also been released on CD, so I might not bother digitizing this copy. At first, because of the Kajanus involvement I’d thought about adding this to the Data project, but why blur the outlines? If I like the cut on the Razormaid I’ll add the full CD to the endless want list. The whole Data “Elegant Machinery” period looks to be a nice, tidy album + remix disc with the copious mixes all fitting nicely. All I need to do is make it happen.

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