Give Peace a Dance
10 August, 2011It’s a little unusual to note that three of the best summaries of the UK dance scene of the early 1990s were issued by, not so much a record label as by… the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND). The three Give Peace a Dance sets include a fair number of exclusive tracks and remixes, and gather up many of the most notable names in british dance music of the time, from the burgeoning move from house into hardcore, early Brit-rap and the first glimmerings of ambient house. Some of this stuff is definitely “of its times” but there are some gems too.
With the exception of the KLF’s track, the ironically titled “What Time Was Love”, and the Gary Clail/On-U Sound verion of the Pop Group’s unreleased “Karen Silkwood’s Car”, there’s no overtly anti-nuclear sentiment in evidence in the music, and the sleevenotes are pretty discreet too. All royalties from the releases, which were overseen by Beechwood, went to CND.
Give Peace a Dance vol 1, 2CD, CND/Mixmag 1991
DISC ONE
01. The Moody Boys – Free (5:04)
02. Beats International – 3 Foot Skank (Monitor Mix) (3:21)
03. Wildski – Wonderful World (Mad Professor Mix) (5:41)
04. Dub Syndicate feat Prince Far I – Wadada (3:40)
05. African Head Charge – Hold Some More (4:18)
06. Gary Clail/On-U Sound System feat. Big Youth – Karen Silkwood’s Car (3:59)
07. Coldcut – Stop This Crazy Thing (Hedmaster Mix) (6:49)
08. Massive Attack – Daydreaming (4:14)
09. Krispy 3 – Sell Outs Must be Done (4:51)
10. Bocca Juniors – Raise (63 Steps to Heaven) (Tackhead Remix) (4:44)
11. Bomb The Bass – Understand This (5:04)
12. MC Duke – Get Involved (3:25)
13. Hoodlum Priest – Caucasian (3:33)
14. Mana Loa – Free Spirit (6:17)
15. Ruthless Rap Assassins – And It Wasn’t a Dream (CND Edit) (3:11)
16. Definition of Sound – Rise Like the Sun (7:34)
DISC TWO
01. The Orb – Little Fluffy Clouds (Ambient Mix Mk1) (8:46)
02. Sun Electric – O’locco (Kama Sutra Mix) (6:16)
03. The Shamen – Hear Me Oh My People (Orbital Mix) (6:45)
04. Baby Ford – Change (D.F.W.M.N. Mix) (5:41)
05. Renegade Soundwave – Ozone Breakdown (5:54)
06. Apollo XI – Peace (In the Middle East) (7″ Radio Edit) (3:23)
07. Sunsonic – Driveaway (Primate Mix) (6:25)
08. S’Express – Brazil (Vox Mix) (4:04)
09. Fantasy UFO – Fantasy (Club Cut Mix) (4:41)
10. Fraser Clarke vs The Irresistible Force – War ‘n’ Peace (CND Edit) (7:12)
11. Scientist, The – The Bee (Honeycombe Mix) (4:28)
12. 4 Hero – Mr Kirk’s Nightmare (Remix) (5:07)
13. The KLF – What Time Was Love (1:36)
Give Peace a Dance vol 2: The Ambient Collection, CD, CND 1991
01. LFO – Change (4:24)
02. Bleep & Booster – Genki (Technology Remix) (4:49)
03. The Black Dog –The Von Daniken Experiment (4:23)
04. Electrotête – I Love You (Bug-Eyed Beans From Venus Mix) (3:54)
05. Erasure – Ship of Fools (The Orb’s Southsea Isles of Holy Beats Mix) (9:34)
06. Colourbox – Philip Glass (3:25)
07. The Irresistible Force – Space is the Place (Cosmic Mix) (4:31)
08. Suns of Arqa – Kalavati Alap (4:16)
09. Solaris – Solaris (6:15)
10. Ohi Ho Bang Bang – The Path (4:10)
11. Suns of Arqa – Kalavati (Bleep & Booster Remixes) (21:55)
Give Peace a Dance vol 3: Psychotic Reactions, 2CD, CND 1992
DISC ONE
01. The Pied Piper – Kinetic (Orbital Remix) (7:01)
02. Orbital – Open Mind (F.A. Mix) (6:26)
03. Ubik – The Truth Vibration/Rise (6:12)
04. Hi-Ryze – JP233 (5:28)
05. C/R/2 – Madness (4:23)
06. Doc Scott – Surgery (Midnight Mix) (6:12)
07. 400 Blows – Tension Release (Exclusive Mix) (4:24)
08. Turntable Symphony – It’ll Make You Go Ooh! (Original Mix) (6:00)
09. Holy Ghost Inc. – Jihad (3:17)
10. Nightmares On Wax – Fun (7:10)
11. Hoodlum Priest – Capital of Pain (Apollo 440 Remix) (6:21)
12. Carl Cox – I Want You (Skin 2 Mix) (5:27)
DISC TWO
01. The Irresistible Force – Underground (Fuck Off Mix) (7:24)
02. The Hypnotist – The Ride (6:04)
03. A Homeboy, a Hippie & a Funki Dredd – Start the Panic (Top Buzz Mix) (5:03)
04. Moby – Go (Rainforest Mix) (5:18)
05. Psycho Slaphead – Psycho Slaphead (Asylum Mix) (6:18)
06. Sheep on Drugs – Drug Music (5:50)
07. Vinyl Vandals – Don’t Be So Serious (4:12)
08. Toxic – Original Style (X-Clusive Remix) (6:31)
09. Satin Storm – Call in the Hardcore (6:15)
10. Set Up System – Fairy Dust (Saga Mix) (5:05)
11. Apollo 440 – Blackout (Digital Hardcore Instrumental Remix) (6:12)
12. Meat Beat Manifesto – Paradise Now (5:39)
Nice stuff, thanks. Had vol 2 on vinyl, probably in the basement now!
I remember in 1991 and 1992 that these three albums were amongst the most popular choices when the point had been reached on a Sunday when everyone was too far gone to spin any more vinyl!
What amazes now is just how experimental and diverse that period was between 1990 and 1992, in fact I would go as far to say that there was as much creativity in those two years as there has been in the last twenty!
So many wonderful tracks, it is hard to know where to start….as a cultural artifact it really does evoke that moment of optimism in the late eighties and early nineties when our MDMA soaked neurochemistry could imagine an ontological and cosmological shift was just around the corner (though back then December 21st 2012 seemed such a long way away!)
Many thanks for posting this trilogy and in such good quality as well.
THANK YOU SO MUCH! I had Ohi Ho Bang Bang’s “The Path” on cd many years ago and for some reason the cd stopped being able to play or read! Very grateful to you, thanks!!
I never bought these at the time but always meant to…too many other compilations around at the same time! Fantastic to have all three now,,,,Cheers!