Say the word cover

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Today we’ll look at the North American single by Arcadia that came out after “So Red the Rose” and was a rare example of Arcadia [on EMI and Capitol worldwide] being farmed out to do soundtrack duty on a rival label. I got my copies of this song back in the early 90s when I was deep diving into collecting Duran Duran, and obviously, that meant a lot of Arcadia records entering the Record Cell as well.

The movie in question was “Playing For Keeps;” a 1986 movie that would be long-forgotten had it not been the motion picture debut of Oscar® winner Marisa Tomei. A movie where Jimmy Baio was top billed over Ms. Tomei! It’s presumably one of those 80s “plucky teen” films where said teens band together against incredible odds to do…plucky things, I guess. Certainly several cuts above the decade’s “teen sex film” trend! Though this was the first film directed by the Weinstein Brothers for their Miramax Films company. So anything unsavory was on the other side of the camera. [Ugh!]

These releases were on Atlantic Records, so the house that Ertugun built got to play with some Duran Duran toys for once. I got the US picture sleeve 7″ single. The image on Discogs was scanned years ago from my mint copy. It’s got an elegant Dean Chamberlain portrait of the group [where Nick was already off of the black hair dye – thank goodness] offset by the colorful pastels of the movie branding that fit right in with the peacock-like duo.

Arcadia: Say The Word – US – 7″ [1986]

1. Say The Word [edit] 4:49
2. Say The Word [instrumental mix] 4:31

The track was something that sounded like a second cousin to “A View To A Kill.” Nick Rhodes was still deeply smitten with his Fairlight CMI™ at this point in time, so it’s all brass stabs and crashing beats of fantasy. With an arrangement that’s nothing like what an actual band ever would have come up with jamming in a room together. The production was with Alex Sadkin and the band with Michael Hutchinson and Shep Pettibone remixing. It’s all a bit busy and overcooked but makes an adequate chaser to the better Arcadia album. One can see why this was left off, if it’s an outtake from the album sessions. The B-side to the 7″ was a remixed instrumental version that was suitably different from the A-side mix to be of interest.

Various: Playing For Keeps OST – US – LP [1986]

1. Pete Townshend: Life To Life (“Playing For Keeps” Title Song) 3:46
2. Chris Thompson: It’s Not Over 4:42
3. Peter Frampton: Distant Drums 4:36
4. Eugene Wilde: It’s Gettin’ Hot 3:54
5. Hinton Battle: Think We’re Gonna Make It 3:14
6. Phil Collins: We Said Hello, Goodbye (Don’t Look Back) 3:42
7. Sister Sledge: Here To Stay (“Playing For Keeps” Anthem) 3:58
8. Arcadia: Say The Word (Theme From “Playing For Keeps”) 5:07
9. Joe Cruz: Make A Wish 2:57
10. Julian Lennon: Stand By Me 4:52

Having The Collector’s Sickness, I had to buy the actual soundtrack LP of course. I may have gotten this first, since it was an easier way to obtain the non-LP song. The rest of the LP has never met my ears. The album mix of “Say The Word” is actually more interesting than the single edit. They cut out some interesting riffing that actually made it more appealing to my ears. These things can go either way. But things didn’t end there.

Various: Playing For Keeps OST – US – CD [1986]

1. Pete Townshend: Life To Life (“Playing For Keeps” Title Song) 3:46
2. Chris Thompson: It’s Not Over 4:42
3. Peter Frampton: Distant Drums 4:36
4. Eugene Wilde: It’s Gettin’ Hot 3:54
5. Hinton Battle: Think We’re Gonna Make It 3:14
6. Phil Collins: We Said Hello, Goodbye (Don’t Look Back) 3:42
7. Sister Sledge: Here To Stay (“Playing For Keeps” Anthem) 3:58
8. Arcadia: Say The Word (Theme From “Playing For Keeps”) 5:07
9. Joe Cruz: Make A Wish 2:57
10. Julian Lennon: Stand By Me 4:52

But it was the early 90s, and I was not playing any LPs. I was holding out for the CD of that title. Which was sort of amazing that it reached the silver disc, since there were no real hits on it. Let me set the scene for any young people reading this. In 1986, the CD was still the plaything of the elite. CDs tended to trail the LP/cassette release by as much as a half year owing to manufacturing difficulties with only a handful of plants in the world then. Many titles did not come to CD unless they had six months of good sales behind them. Obviously your Phil Collins and Madonna albums got the VIP treatment. I’m guessing the presence of heavy hitter Phil Collins here might have motivated Atlantic to invest in a CD of this title up front. This might have been sealed in the longbox for $30, about what it will cost you now [without the longbox].

Arcadia: Say The Word – USP – 12″ [1986]

1. Say The Word [vocal extended remix] 6:30
2. Say The Word [instrumental extended mix] 5:46

There was also a US promo 12″ of “Say The Word” which I never got a copy of. It had the extended vocal remix and instrumental remix and a laughable “AOR” sticker plastered on it. No AOR [Album Oriented Rock] station worth its salt would have touched the even more effete Duran Duran spinoff band with a barge pole. AOR was too busy playing hair metal at this point in time. Especially with the Latin Rascals styled edits to be found on the 12″ mix here. This track was for break dancing, not air guitar. Lots of clattering percussion [courtesy of Raphael De Jesus] as the Arcadia album also had, only manipulated in the Fairlight’s Page R sequencer to within an inch of their lives. The femme backing vocals on this track synched well with LeBon’s leads, but there were no credits to be found anywhere for the lady in question. Too bad, as she was good here.

As with the 7″ single the instrumental remix on the flip side was a significantly different beast, with a smoother complexion and none of the frantic edits of the A-side. The fascinating thing about this single was that the guitar here was down to a single riff, similar to the one on “Bang A Gong,”endlessly manipulated on the Fairlight. I wonder if Rhodes had the cheek to have sampled Andy Taylor from The Power Station for this? I suspect not as the legal repercussion would have been tremendous. Maybe they just went for the feel.

Arcadia: Heaven’s Eyes – Bootleg – CD [1995]

1. Election Day (Consensus Mix) 8:32
2. Election Day (Cryptic Cut No Voice Mix) 8:27
3. Election Day (Fact & Story Mix) 9:06
4. Goodbye Is Forever (Extended Mix) 6:44
5. Goodbye Is Forever (Dub Mix) 5:14
6. The Promise (Extended Remix) 7:05
7. Rose Arcana (Extended) 5:30
8. The Flame (Extended Remix) 7:12
9. Flame Game (Yo Homeboy Mix) 2:47
10. Say The Word (Extended Remix) 6:31
11. Say The Word (Extended Instrumental) 5:38

One thing that made the inability to source the 12″ single above bearable for me was the presence of this bootleg Arcadia mix CD, “Heaven’s Eyes” in 1995. By this time, I had the Japanese “So Red the Rose” CD and I opted for this collection of mixes instead of waiting several more years to digitize my own collection and then have a CD-R to show for it. I have to say, that the quality of this disc was very high. Whoever had it, might have access to CEDAR technology since these sound way better than ca. 1995 vinyl rips.

Arcadia: So Red The Rose DLX RM – UK – 2xCD + DVD [2010]

Disc 1

1. Election Day 5:29
2. Keep Me In The Dark 4:31
3. Goodbye Is Forever 3:49
4. The Flame 4:23
5. Missing 3:41
6. Rose Arcana 0:51
7. The Promise 7:29
8. El Diablo 5:58
9. Lady Ice 7:41
10. Say The Word (7″ Edit) 4:30
11. Election Day (Single Version) 4:31
12. Goodbye Is Forever (Single Mix) 4:17
13. The Promise (7″ Mix) 4:46
14. The Flame (7″ Remix) 4:06
15. Say The Word 5:08
16. She’s Moody And Grey She’s Mean And She’s Restless 4:29

Disc 2

1. Election Day (Consensus Mix) 8:39
2. Goodbye Is Forever (Extended Mix) 6:45
3. The Promise (Instrumental) 5:44
4. Rose Arcana (Extended) 5:33
5. The Flame (Extended Remix) 7:17
6. Say The Word (Extended Vocal Remix) 6:33
7. Election Day (Cryptic Cut) 9:09
8. The Promise (12″ Mix) 7:06
9. Goodbye Is Forever (Dub Mix) 5:15
10. Say The Word (Extended Instrumental Remix) 5:48
11. Election Day (Early Rough Mix) 9:04
12. Flame Game (Yo Homeboy Mix) 2:50

In 2010, four of the five mixes of “Say The Word” reached the DLX RM of “So Red the Rose” and for some reason I didn’t think that buying this at the time was a priority! It’s a solid three figures now, and why I didn’t buy it is beyond me, since it had a DVD of the “Arcadia” video album with it! That was the single Duran Duran oriented home video that I didn’t have the commensurate Japanese laserdisc of! It remains a holy grail to this day. An viewed in that light, even 125 clams for this package seems like a deal in comparison.

I can only think that in a of of pique, at the few tracks that were missing from this collection [certainly the 7″ instrumental remix of “Say The Word”] I balked at paying the $30-40 it cost when new. Seeing as I already had the certainly adequate “Heaven’s Eyes” and my Duran collecting days were long gone by then, not buying this did not deal me a fatal blow. If it happens, it’ll happen. Meanwhile, the “lost” Arcadia single will set one back a pretty penny if you need the picture sleeve. And the 12″ is still a hefty premium to own. Maybe the DLX RM of “So Red The Rose” is one’s best bang for $125 bucks?

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