As we have been deep diving into the canon of Cabaret Voltaire in the wake of Richard Kirk’s surprising death last week, one record still on the racks in the Record Cell stands out to me for its relative scarcity on the silver disc. While most of my Cab Volt 12″ single collection is present and accounted for on CD format, there are still sins of omission. One of these was the second remix 12″ of “Here To Go” which was released in a pair of different mixes to the UK CD5 which I already had, so this was duly purchased in 1987. Even though I was barely buying any new 12″ single vinyl owing to the availability of much of the material on the silver disc by that period in time. When it came to Cab Volt, I needed it all.

Cabaret Voltaire: Here To Go [Live Drum Jacknife Remix] – UK – 12″ remix [1987]

1. Here To Go [Live Drum Jacknife Remix] 5:40
2. Here To Go [Eleven Eleven Mix] 11:18

The second 12″ remix that was now mandatory in the wake of Frankie Goes To Hollywood. François Kevorkian had remixed the standard 12″ mix and this time, Adrian Sherwood, who had helmed the album it came from was given the honor of remix. He made the surprising choice to include actual drummer Diarmuid Boyle [of Sheffield’s Chakk] to play live drums, it must be said, along with the drum machine track for a mensch maschine hybrid approach that got a tougher sound out of the track.

The first thing anyone might notice about the dark, funky jam was that it featured copious samples [probably uncleared during sampling’s “Wild West” era then prevalent] of Dennis Hopper’s most famous line from “Blue Velvet.” Along with foley tire squeals of Frank roaring off in his car to issue further mayhem.

Stephen Mallinder [and his bass guitar] were still present in the mix but the funky rhythm guitar of Richard H. Kirk was tweaked in the mix for additional Funk irony next to the brutal double drumming from Linn and Boyle, And the most egregiously brutal element of all, Frank Booth’s ID. As CV remixes of the period go, it’s earthier and shorter than the norm at under six minutes. But it can’t fail to be noticed. That such a scabrous mix was released on the posh Parlophone label [home to The Beatles!] was probably seen as a throw of the EMI gauntlet back in the day.

I’ve seen that the mix was withdrawn shortly afterward for the uncleared sample but who knows the facts now? The record seems to be out there and is not a king’s ransom in price [to put it mildly]. This A-side remix did appear on a single CD; one of the many post-breakup mopping up sets that CV issued in the last 20+ years. But the “Remixed” CD is the one such disc that I’ve not managed to buy a copy of. The painful sting was that I had seen a single copy in 2017, but I balked at the $16.99 price. Currently the two US dealers selling this on Discogs are asking over twice that. Ooops. My cheapness did me in again.

The 11:11 mix [actually 11:18 according to my wave editor] was basically a dub mix by the band’s own hand, and it’s just superb. My interest never flags even though its largely just that hip hop beat colossus given every bit of loving attention to swirls and eddies of percussion fills and effects over the course of its not brief running time. With dubbed out melodic and further rhythmic elements sparingly used by a master to keep the movement flowing. It’s a shame that this one has not been out on a CD at some point. It’s a magnificent symphony of funky rhythm and constant, inventive breakdowns that delight for its entire running time. That this track is still out in the wilderness of vinyl is a real shame! I’ve got probably at least a 2 x CD of loose Cab Volt remixes in need of making a REVO CD of once I round them all up. Memo to self: compile that list one day… soon.

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