Post-Punk Monk

The other night I was on a Joy Division jag as I was making the most elaborate stir fry ever. Two and a half hours of prepping the seven different fresh vegetables, seasonings, and tofu. My laserdisc player is a kiosk model, so it automatically plays any disc you put into it, laserdisc or CD, on permanent repeat until you beg for mercy. By the third time I was hearing “She’s Lost Control,” I had the thought, “didn’t Grace Jones record a wacky cover version of that?” and before I knew it I was switching gears from a Joy Division to a Grace Jones jag!

I was exposed to 1981’s “Nightclubbing” on college radio and I quickly got on the Jones train. I’d heard that she was a model-slash-disco singer in the late 70s, but I never heard those first three albums [though the “Disco” box has been penciled in on my want list since it came out!]. By 1981, she was midstream into her pivot into New Wave and those albums were immense for me. I next bought the third of the Island Trilogy “Living My Life.” Since I had seen the great video for the title track, at the time I was stymied that the great song was nowhere to be seen on the album of the same name. 40+ years later and I’m lucky to have the clear vinyl “Love Is The Drug” reissue from the mid-80s. It had the 5:28 mix of “Living My Life” from the iconic “One Man Show” video that haunted me until I got that single. There’s still a Euro 12″ that I need!

It was the late 80s when I ran across a CD of “Warm Leatherette” at Park Avenue CDs and that wrapped up the Island “New Wave Trilogy” of Grace Jones for me. I also had the singular “Slave To The Rhythm” album that really stands apart from everything else in her oeuvre. At the time of release, I avoided the later EMI Jones albums but I’ve since relented on my “No Compass Point All-Stars, No Grace” hardline stance. Perhaps to my detriment. It was on a trip to Greenville, SC in 2012 that I had a shopping spree that saw me getting the “Hurricane Dub” 2xCD from Ms. Jones as well as this previously unseen gem we’ll discuss today.

Grace Jones: Private Life – The Compass Point Sessions – US – 2xCD [1998]

Disc 1

1. Private Life (Long Version) 6:17
2. Private Life (Dub Version) 8:04
3. Love Is The Drug (Long Version) 8:38
4. Breakdown 5:29
5. Warm Leatherette (Long Version) 5:35
6. The Hunter Gets Captured By The Game (Long Version) 6:44
7. I’ve Done It Again 3:50
8. Pars (Long Version) 5:41
9. Pull Up To The Bumper 4:33
10. Use Me (Long Version) 6:10
11. She’s Lost Control (Long Version) 8:23
12. She’s Lost Control (Dub Version) 8:38

Disc 2

1. Cry Now, Laugh Later 5:01
2. Nightclubbing 5:04
3. The Apple Stretching 7:05
4. Nipple To The Bottle (12″ Version) 6:54
5. My Jamaican Guy (12″ Version) 7:01
6. Feel Up 4:02
7. I’ve Seen That Face Before (Libertango) 4:30
8. Demolition Man (Long Version) 4:56
9. Unlimited Capacity For Love 5:44
10. Ring Of Fire (Demo) 3:56
11. Man Around The House 4:12
12. Living My Life (7″ Version) 3:31
13. Slave To The Rhythm (Hot Blooded Version) 8:18

I wasn’t paying attention when this compilation dropped in 1998 but maybe I should have been. One proviso is that some of the “long versions” here were strictly the album version of tracks. “Private Life,” “Love Is the Drug,” and “The Hunter Gets Captured By The Game” offered nothing to the owners of “Warm Leatherette.” But hearing the full length “Private Life” immediately followed by the dub version was how it’s supposed to be done! Making the track into a dozen minutes of ice old psychodrama.

The long “Warm Leatherette” was from the B-side of the UK “The Hunter Gets Captured By The Game” 12″ single. It was just a longer take of the track; not a radical dub reconstruction. Of all of the great songs on “Nightclubbing,” the lyrical beauty and languid vibe of “I’ve Done It Again” was last, but not the least in capturing my ardor. It may be my go-to song from the album to this day. I’ve been known to listen to the song on repeat for an hour and it was a great choice to contribute to this anthology. Another full length edit of “Pars” from the “Warm Leatherette” album was next. Songs like this may have been edited by the minute less on the 1980 album in order to achieve an album side sequence in the bad old days of vinyl records‡ and caused by the severe mechanical restrictions that records imposed on the album form back then.

In a similar fashion, the powerful “Use Me” was also about 70 seconds longer here. And the 12″ version of “She’s Lost Control” was the reason why we came to this party. It couldn’t be more different from the Joy Division track. First of all, Grace took ownership of the song’s narrative by proclaiming “I’ve lost control, again,” then then proceeded to do that as the Reggae skank of the track descended into madness and manic laughter and tire screech Foley effects. The nearly nine minute length was completely called for here to put the journey across in song. And then the Dub version broke the track down into brittle rhythm guitar and Syndrums competing with berserk synths. Sweet madness.

Disc two began with crucial album tracks before proffering the 12″ of the ferocious “Nipple To The Bottle,” and this was the same track I’ve had on promo 12″ for 43 years as mixed by Steven Stanley. But a delight on the silver disc. The 12″ of “My Jamaican Guy” was new to my ears. A minute longer than the album version but three minutes longer than the ca. 1982 12″ single edits of the track, this was probably another long unedited take out for the first time here.

The 12″ of “Demolition Man” was the original UK 12″ mix of the track. A full minute longer. Then we had some new wrinkles in the La Jones firmament at the time of release. The Johnny Cash cover of “Ring Of Fire”‘ wasn’t as radical as what Wall Of Voodoo had performed in 1980, but are there any bad versions of that song? “Man Around The House” was an odd song. And it featured what I wasn’t sure were sound bites of dialogue from a film or either Ms. Jones embellishing the song with her own dramatic readings. Of all the songs here, it didn’t seem to have the Compass Point vibe that the band brought so significantly to the material. So it seemed to stand apart from the bulk of this material.

And the scarce “Living My Life” only appeared on the silver disc here in a disappointingly brief 3:31 mix that seemed to barely be representative of the song I knew from “One Man Show.” So I’m afraid that vinyl copies of the song are still a must. And finally, the “Blooded” 12″ mix of “Slave To The Rhythm” was rounding things out here. No stranger to the silver disc, that. And since it didn’t feature the Compass Point All Stars, more than a bit off target, though still a good single.

With eleven tracks I didn’t have on the silver disc, surrounded by peerless deep cuts that every home needs, this was almost the one Grace Jones CD anyone might need in their own private Record Cells. It’s a magnificent overview of the most fecund period in Jones’ career arc, where she was matched with the ideal band and told to work that action and did so for three highly productive years.

As a fan I note that there are still some promo 12″ mixes in my Record Cell that are not in evidence here, but this was never intended to be a remix collection per se. Like the title says, these were the Compass Point Sessions. It’s a time and place rendered on two CDs packed with the goods that would make anyone a fan of Grace Jones if they would just listen. I’m a richer person for having bought this a dozen years ago and really should obtain the DLX RMs of “Nightclubbing” and “Warm Leatherette,” which are stuffed further delights. And then there’s the Blu-Ray versions which laugh off disc size restrictions with even more material, but are sadly too rich for my blood. Making this treat the way forward for this Monk.

-30-

‡ – A history lesson for any youngsters reading this. LPs were at best 20-22 minutes long per side and you had to adjust the track times to best fit one side of an album. Which made for juggling tracks around to best create that ideal length of side no matter which songs in which lengths in which order sounded more successful as an album. And then with inner groove distortion, you were better off putting a quiet song at the end of each side as the dynamic range decreases the further from the outer rim that the stylus moves.