It’s THE WEEK OF SINGLES! Each day this week I’ll be bringing you reviews and images of a recent CD or vinyl single acquisition. Craig Fee picked this up for me at Jerry’s Records in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Monday: Van Halen – “Best of Both Worlds” 7″ single
Tuesday: Deep Purple – “Above and Beyond” CD and 7″ singles
Wednesday: Aerosmith – “Dude (Looks Like A Lady)” 12″ single
DAVID LEE ROTH – “Stand Up” (1988 Warner promo 12″ remix single)
I had no idea this even existed! Craig found this one knowing it was something that I would find very interesting. Indeed! Promo discs sometimes do have exclusive bonus material on them, although most do not. I generally only value a promo disc if it has some kind of rare versions on it. This David Lee Roth 12″ has two exclusive remixes that I’ve never heard, nor heard of, before. Both exceed 7 minutes. These mixes were probably done in an attempt to get the song “Stand Up” played in dance clubs, a fairly common practice. Aerosmith, for example have many such remixes, released on commercial singles.
“Stand Up” is a good choice from the Skyscraper album for such an attempt. It was already the most pop and dance-like of the 10 tracks. These remixes were done by François Kevorkian, a name that made me chuckle a bit at first. Craig however immediately recognized the name, and told me that he’s actually a well known mixer. His name can be found on the credits of Depeche Mode’s Violator and Kraftwerk’s Electric Café albums, among others.
I’ve always said that remixes aren’t my thing, but I actually like these two versions of “Stand Up”. They are both similar in style, but have traits in common. They both have a similar sparse style that brings forward isolated elements of the mix to the forefront. There are some vocals here that you probably haven’t heard before, because they were never that prominent. Same with Steve Vai’s lead and rhythm guitar, which is actually used generously in these remixes. I’m not a big fan of dance-y rhythms, but it works on “Stand Up”.
The two remixes are the “Swank Remix (E.Z. To Swallow)” and “Extended Edit (The Long 1!)”. These unbearably annoying names had me expecting the worst, but I find this single to be quite listenable. I kind of like them actually. Bonus: the so-called “extended edit” has plenty of cowbell. Cheers to François Kevorkian!
3.5/5 stars
More DAVID LEE ROTH at mikeladano.com:
Sonrisa Salvaje (Eat ‘Em and Smile 1986 – Spanish version) – Skyscraper (1988) – Your Filthy Little Mouth (1994 Japanese version) – DLR Band (1998) – Diamond Dave (2003)
mikeladano.com 
Cool Stuff…..Roth at the time was always trying to stay current a little outside the rock format as well…I mean this is right up Dave’s alley but not Sheehan’s…..
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It doesn’t even have a real bass on it if I recall correctly, just bass programming. So there you go.
Roth has always tried to get outside the rock box, sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t. Look at the Diamond Dave album that we reviewed last month for example. Or even Dancing in the Streets maybe.
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Yep At the time I read the credits in the cd booklet and no bass…I was like ugggggh there goes Billy and yep he was gone!
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Yep! And Matt Bissonnette was in, no big shock there seeing as his brother was the drummer!
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More cowbell’s never a bad thing – I’m thinking of making a top 5 cowbell tunes in the not too distant future. Everybody’s got somethin’ to hide (except for me and my monkey) & GNR’s Night train are two coming to mind!
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Brilliant choices! Steven Adler loves his cowbell.
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For you to have not had any knowledge of something DLR-related, Mr. Fee wins the Prize Of The Week! I have never heard a dance remix of anything that I thought was worth the time it takes to hear it. I’d be more likely to tell you that they’re not worth the dynamite to blow them up. You are fortunate to hear something that you think is worth it. And a rarity outta left field too. Man, this week of singles has been tons o’ fun!
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Three cheers for Craig Fee, a savvy record shopper if there ever was one.
Sounds like you dislike remixes more than I do, in general. Or maybe I have a higher tolerance. Craig spoke highly of this Francois Kevorkian person, and I assume it’s his talent that makes these remixes better than the average.
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