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Rubellan Remasters will release (Feb. 2022 tentatively) the special cassette remix edition of the 1984 album Beat Boy on CD. Thanks once again to Scott for going through the process and acquiring what a lot of fans were waiting for.


Visage - Beat Boy (Cassette Remix Edition)

Beat Boy
Casualty
Questions
Only The Good (Die Young)
Can You Hear Me
The Promise
Love Glove
Yesterday's Shadow
Reprise

Bonus Tracks:
Love Glove (Full Version)
Beat Boy (Extended Dance Mix, 8:45 version)
She's A Machine
Yesterday's Shadow (Single Version - Previously Unreleased)
Beat Boy (Single Version)

Additional info from Rubellan Remasters Facebook post:

"Coming February 2022 (tentatively), the long-awaited CD reissue of the Visage album Beat Boy. But this isn't just any reissue, it's a first-time-on-CD release of the original 'Special Cassette Remix' on this new 'Cassette Remix Edition' expanded CD reissue. The remaining tape transfers were received today and remastering begins this weekend. Flip through the various photos here of the original master tape boxes.

For those who have followed my efforts to get this reissue for the past two years, some changes had to be made to finally get it out of licensing limbo. The original plan was to have the Visage 1983 BBC session included but that was a constant area of delay. So I had to make the decision to drop the session in favor of alternate bonus material, and the full track listing is below. And for those who will no doubt grumble about which of the 137 mixes of Beat Boy that are not included, I worked with what I was able to identify. Though there were several masters of 'Beat Boy' in the archive, many listings showed no details as to what versions or time lengths were on these tapes. One surprise discovery was a 7" A side master containing an exclusive edit of Yesterday's Shadow (my personal favorite Beat Boy track), which had apparently been planned for a single release but never came to be:"

I absolutely LOVE Rubellan Remasters, this is great to hear. Mind you, I'm not a huge fan of the Beat Boy album, but this is still a release that I'll need to purchase from Scott!!

Don't know the last Polydor album, but I'm very happy with the other 3 RR releases from the band. Also out of curiousity, I'll purchase anyway...

The album's a painful listening even in its regular form - why re-release an even longer (and even more excruciating) version? "Yesterday's shadow" edit is an interesting item but overall there's no need for this one, Cherry Pop version is more than enough.

I guess in Russia, you're not taught,
"If you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all."

I believe that the album could have sounded more "exciting" if they had followed the original and more "edgy" ideas that can be heard on the early version of "Beat Boy" on this various artists music magazine LP https://www.discogs.com/release/452228-Various-Debut-LP-Magazine-Issue-05 which came out in April/May 1984, six months before the LP. It is so "inspired" by Art of Noise's "Beat Box" which had just come out, that it's more of a tribute (even the track title!). (I don't blame Visage for being envious of the new Art of Noise sound, even Kraftwerk stopped the release of their planned 1983 LP Techno Pop and did not release in until 1986 and it still did not sound as modern and innovative as Art of Noise a la 1983!)
/JW
http://www.discog.info/visage-discog.html

discoginfo wrote:I believe that the album could have sounded more "exciting" if they had followed the original and more "edgy" ideas that can be heard on the early version of "Beat Boy" on this various artists music magazine LP https://www.discogs.com/release/452228-Various-Debut-LP-Magazine-Issue-05 which came out in April/May 1984, six months before the LP. It is so "inspired" by Art of Noise's "Beat Box" which had just come out, that it's more of a tribute (even the track title!). (I don't blame Visage for being envious of the new Art of Noise sound, even Kraftwerk stopped the release of their planned 1983 LP Techno Pop and did not release in until 1986 and it still did not sound as modern and innovative as Art of Noise a la 1983!)
/JW
http://www.discog.info/visage-discog.html

The 3:20 early "Beat Boy" is an interesting buried treasure. But I suspect that all of those rare mixes and versions that manifested on Debut are lost in legal limbo. A pity. A nice 2xCD of the Debut Magazine highlights might be a must-have item!

oldwaver2 wrote:I guess in Russia, you're not taught,
"If you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all."

You're wrong, and it's rather a dumb saying anyway

discoginfo wrote:I believe that the album could have sounded more "exciting" if they had followed the original and more "edgy" ideas that can be heard on the early version of "Beat Boy" on this various artists music magazine LP ... which came out in April/May 1984

Hmm, it sounds like an early mix, not so much of a version. But more importantly, it's not that different from the finished product. Like a backing track waiting for those guitar squeals, Strange's whine etc.

One of the problems with the album is that the songs are just not there most of the time. And when they are they're just too weak, B-side level at best (aptly-named "Yesterday's shadow" arguably excluding). It's such a contrast to the previous two albums, where even second-tier material like "Wild life" is highly listenable and entertaining! No amount of trendy sound can mask the dearth of creative ideas, feel for melody, intriguing compositional twists and turns. "Beat boy" sounds lobotomized compared to the previous two. But the biggest problem is the fronting. When you have a non-singer like Strange at the microphone - without a guidance of an able producer - you're guaranteed for disaster even if you do have brilliant songs. I tried hard to get something from this album, but Steve simply kills songs stone dead.

The album has been doomed from the start, sad to say - even if we take the project in itself, not accounting for changes in fashion etc. But then again, neither people who stayed at the helm nor new recruits were/are ever famous for their songwriting chops or singing prowess. So it's unfair to expect anything from it, really. I prefer to view it as a contractual obligation, nothing more.

Yesterday's Shadow (Single Version - Previously Unreleased)

... just out of curiosity any clue as to the actual time of this one, i had previously come across a version of the song which was approx 4:47 and was wondering if it is the same version.

AudioChimp wrote:Yesterday's Shadow (Single Version - Previously Unreleased)

... just out of curiosity any clue as to the actual time of this one, i had previously come across a version of the song which was approx 4:47 and was wondering if it is the same version.

It's 4 minutes long. There are a few edits throughout the song and then an early fade. I had no idea what to expect until I got the tape transfer. It would have been cool had it been a remix but it really is just a 'single edit'. It's an interesting take, especially for anyone who felt the 6.5 minute album version was a bit long.

Regarding the album overall, I admit I didn't even own it on any format at the time I sent the reissue request in to Universal. It just seemed like a sure bet since the others I reissued did well. But I also admit that the endless, for lack of another term, nagging about this album was maddening. I couldn't make a single post on Facebook for the last two years without someone asking "What about Beat Boy?" So I'll be happy to never hear that question again! But I do appreciate the enthusiasm around this reissue now that's it's finally happening.

After I made the reissue request, I found a mint copy of the US edition of the LP at a local store for $4, so this would be my first time hearing it in full. Like most, I agree this is an entirely different animal to Visage mark 1. Midge Ure has a sophistication and elegance with his melodies and those are not really present here, aside from the sublime Yesterday's Shadow. It's more of a dance album with some admittedly huge missteps. Ok, maybe only one really bad and that is the puzzling Casualty. I had read the comments elsewhere referring to this 'heavy metal' song, and I see where they get that opinion. Although, aside from the part where Andy Barnett takes on the vocals to sound like he's in Bon Jovi, I think the Steve Strange vocal parts are just fine.

The album also may have benefited from better sequencing. The two best tracks, Love Glove and Yesterday's Shadow, are at the end. The interview with Steve Barnacle as part of the booklet is very insightful. It's interesting to read him recall that Rusty referred to the excellent Love Glove as 'Eurotrash' and had very little involvement in the song.

Remastering is about done. I'm just at the final proofing phase now. The 'tentative' regarding the release date in February is down to how quickly Universal approve the artwork. They go on their company-wide two week holiday vacation after this coming Friday, so if I don't get approval by then, I would expect the release to maybe move to March but pre-orders may still open in February depending on when I have stock.

Not sure if it has been mentioned here yet but around summer I have a colored vinyl reissue of the Visage 'The Singles Collection' with two bonus tracks added coming out, for those who like that sort of thing.

This thread is so ironic. Most of the activity on this forum is about people searching high and low for this edit and that remix to point of ad nauseam. There is so much bottom of the barrel "rarities" posted on NWO. Even though this Visage is a "weak" release, I can't wait to see what Rubellan does with the over-all sound alone. I use Rubellan Masters as a reference example in mix down for sound quality, separation of tracks, sound spectrum placement, and EQ. I've even sent an Oingo Boingo or a Berlin song to Extreme Metal Musicians I know as an example of what a quality track should sound like in completion or the mastering/mix-down stage. I would buy a recording of fart bubbles in a bathtub mastered by Rubellan Masters just to hear the sound quality.

Yeah, I no longer think that "Beat Boy" is an unmitigated disaster. One thing I do really find fault with are the backing vocals! The first two and last three albums have good, appropriate BVs but the cloying disco queen vocals on "Beat Boy" just annoy me. I'd also read of RE's dismissal of "Love Glove" as "Eurotrash." He was all-in on "Beat Boy" as the way forward. That's why there's seven mixes of it! When RE made the great Cage single with Nona Nendryx and first worked with the Barnacle Brothers when Visage was in legal limbo, awaiting the switch in management, the results were fantastic.



I liked that tough sound as it seemed to carry on from "Pleasure Boys" very strongly. But when that came to Visage, we were left with "Casualty" and it didn't work. It seemed like Jazz funk was confused with hair metal on that one. The Cage single showed how to dial down the synths and still make a compelling record.