Peter Godwin: Correspondence – STR – DL [2022]
- Baby’s In The Mountains 4:11
- The Art Of Love 4:54
- Window Shopping 3:10
- Soul To Soul 5:36
- Young Pleasure 4:25
- The Dancer 3:43
- Correspondence 3:34
- Over Twenty One 3:08
- Soul Of Love 4:19
Last Friday, while I was working hard on my home improvement-slash-vacation, a small miracle happened. The 1983 Peter Godwin album “Correspondence” was able to reach ears once again on digital platforms for streaming or DL purchase. I’ve written about the album in the early days of the blog, but only the experience of wanting to make a CD from my US LP and the history of Godwin in general. Curse me for the novice, I’ve never actually reviewed the album! Seeing as how I’ve had a REVO edition of it for a dozen years, perhaps now’s the time to actually review it, but currently the contents of my Record Cell are sitting in a neighbor’s home as we have new flooring installed this week. So there’s no telling how long it will take to have the bespoke disc in my hands again.
But for those of you who are of an immaterial persuasion, the album was released last Friday to the usual streaming services and if you’d rather have something to “hold onto,” it’s also available for purchase as a more desirable DL. As ever, the devil is in the details. My copy was the standard US LP of 1983, which had the following contents:
- Baby’s In The Mountains [John Luongo remix] 4:07
- The Art Of Love [John Luongo remix] 4:50
- Window Shopping 3:10
- Soul To Soul 5:36
- Young Pleasure 4:25
- The Dancer 3:43
- Correspondence 3:34
- Over Twenty One 3:08
- Soul Of Love 4:19
US Polydor fiddled a bit with the mixes of the two singles that opened the album; opting for John Luongo’s touch. Compare to the standard UK [and presumably Euro] edition:
- Baby’s In The Mountains 4:14
- The Art Of Love 5:31
- Window Shopping 3:12
- Soul To Soul 5:33
- Young Pleasure 4:24
- The Dancer 4:2
- Correspondence 3:35
- Over Twenty-One 3:09
- Soul Of Love 4:45
The original UK edition had a slightly longer, original mix of “Baby’s In The Mountains” and a 40 second longer version of “The Art of Love.” For this reason the original UK LP has been in my want list for a couple of years. Curious about what the version on offer now was, I went to iTunes to sample the wares. Wouldn’t you know that it’s not quite so cut and dried. Anyone listening to the digital “Correspondence” currently will get a hybrid approach with the original Georg Kajanus mix of “Baby’s In The Mountains” but the John Luongo remix of “The Art of Love.” Since I still don’t have the UK LP, I will probably grab a DL of “Baby’s In The Mountains” at some point just to have something in house until I get the UK LP. Which might take years.
That’s Not All…
Of further interest is the news that Godwin’s complementary “Dance Emotions” EP of remixes and non-LP singles from the fertile [but album-free] period just prior to that of “Correspondence” will also follow suit on Friday, July 8th, 2022.
Peter Godwin: Dance Emotions – NETHERLANDS – EP [1982]
- Emotional Disguise [Extended Version] 4:15
- Torch Songs [Extended Version] 5:35
- French Emotions 2:30
- Images Of Heaven [Dance Mix] 5:00
- Cruel Heart 3:12
- Luxury [Extended Version] 5:26
I don’t actually have a copy of this EP that was only released in The Netherlands 40 years ago, but I have all of the other releases that it was compiled from. Here are the songs from the height of the New Romantic era that saw Godwin rubbing shoulder pads with producer/buddy Midge Ure and the Blitz crew. The centerpiece of which was the sumptuous full length dance mix of perhaps the finest single of the 80s; “Images Of Heaven.”
Do we want these tracks on the silver disc? Of course we do! We’ve had Oglio’s “Images Of Heaven” compilation since its release. And we’ve been rocking our bespoke copies of “Correspondence” and “Torch Songs + Heroics” for over a dozen years. But until the day comes [and it may never at the rate the CD is shriveling up] when everything by Peter Godwin in on the silver disc, these releases will at least have the glories of Peter Godwin reaching fresh new ears. Which can only be fantastic.
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Post-Punk Monk 
I am so thrilled for Peter that this superb album is now more easily available to those not fortunate enough to own the original LP or your deluxe edition CD. I know that he has been hoping for some sort of reissue for years,so hopefully this is the start of more releases in the future.
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Gavin – Every further note of Peter Godwins’ in the ether is a win for our ears! I’m still all-in on an expansive CD reissue program that will go beyond the first Metro CD [widely in print over the years] and the three Oglio discs. As well as my handmade efforts!
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This is delightful news that could only be made more superlative by an announcement that Rubellan Remasters is teaming up with the Monk for exhaustive reissues on CD including liner notes from our esteemed host! As the kids say, shut up and take my money!
In the interim I will be content to stream the album/EP immediately, and grab the downloads, since these records have some of my absolute favourite PG singles.
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chasinvictoria – In that ’81-’83 period Godwin was really in the zone!
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Ook. I didn’t know you don’t have the Dance Emotion EP… I have a copy somewhere in my boxes’o’vinyl (unopened since we moved here – what, 13 years ago?) but laying hands on it will be a chore at best. Doesn’t sound like you’ll be in a position to make use of it in the very near term anyway, so I’ll make a mental note to dig for it next time I’m at the storage locker… With luck it’ll be near the top of the pile.
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the RAHB! – You got one of those? I didn’t really trouble myself since I had so many other Godwin discs. In fact, I am currently “shepherding” your copy of the “Images Of Heaven” EP which is similar, but different to the “Dance Emotions” EP on the blogpost. The “Images Of Heaven” EP is one of the handful of your records that I took from you eons ago for “safe keeping” and eventual REVO action. That was before I eventually got my own copy of it. Are you thinking of this instead?
If so, I already have that…along with some Peter Shelley 12″ers of yours that I forgot I pulled from your vinyl cache and ended up buying my own copies of in recent years! For that long-mooted Pete Shelley rarity collection!
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Pretty sure I’ve never heard Godwin outside of the first Metro album. According to Discogs’ bio: “Solo, he composed synth-pop and blitz kid new wave tracks during the 1980’s.” What the heck is “blitz kid new wave”?
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Michael Toland – Oh Michael. Do we need to have a talk? New Romantic stuff. Like Roxy Music + Bowie with heavy [moderne] synths. Like what his producer/buddy Midge Ure was doing in Visage and Ultravox at the time.
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I don’t know why I never went further in his direction. I’m very fond of the first Metro album, and did explore Duncan Browne’s non-Metro work. (Big thumbs up for The Wild Places and Streets of Fire, not so much his folk stuff.) I’ll have to catch up.
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Michael Toland – All three Metro albums are distinct and interesting. “New Love” has a new band to replace Browne. It’s far less baroque/decadent. New Wave versus Post-Glam. It’s got an edgy Talking Head vibe. The third album, “Future Imperfect,” released in the US in 2005 as “America In My Head” in a LP rip CD from Oglio, is a deep dive into guitar synths. Very distinctive but only issued on LP in Germany and Australia. No UK release as far as I can see. Same band on the last two albums. After that comes a brace of solo Godwin singles [but with the same sidemen as in the late Metro band. Lots of Ferry/Walker influence on this material. But Walker Brothers Scott Walker. You may have heard “Images Of Heaven.” Perhaps my favorite 80s pop song. Then the “Correspondence” album followed in ’83.
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