Deep Cuts and Long Mixes | Inside Extended Stimulation 12” Pop Adventures on the Dancefloor 1983

When project manager and lifelong 12” enthusiast Jan Burnett started buying extended singles from chart return shops in Dundee as a teenager, he didn’t imagine that decades later, those same records would inspire a lovingly curated deep dive into pop’s most inventive format.

Now, with Extended Stimulation - 12” Pop Adventures on the Dancefloor 1983–1988, Burnett brings together 43 tracks of pure pop - but not as you know it. Across four discs, he sequences a set that moves smartly through classic and rarer extended versions, from the head-to-head remix wars of ZTT and PWL to under-the-radar club favourites and newly unearthed tape transfers.

The box combines “front of the record box” go-to mixes with lesser-heard versions that once powered mid-’80s dancefloors. Expect names like Simply Red, Pet Shop Boys, New Order, Duran Duran, Simple Minds, Culture Club, a-ha, ABC, The Human League, and Sigue Sigue Sputnik, alongside hidden treasures and remixes appearing on CD for the first time.

Each track has been sourced directly from master tapes, many transferred specifically for this release. The detailed booklet credits both producers and remix engineers - keeping alive the vital names behind the decks and the consoles.

“What I’ve tried to do,” says Burnett, “is compile a collection of the rarer or less obvious versions — the ones that were big in your local club. Some you’ll love, some you won’t, and some you’ll never have heard before, but hopefully will grow to love.”

Sequenced with the flow of a DJ set, Extended Stimulation captures that thrilling era when every remix mattered, every record shop had its own treasures, and the 12” single ruled the dancefloor.

Jan’s Track Picks

To give a taste of what’s inside the box, Jan has chosen four highlights to sample below:

Nitzer Ebb – Join In The Chant (Burn!)

Not pop as you know it, however, take a look at who produced and remixed it... Phil Harding of PWL fame. The harder sound of pop, and a similar time to when he remixed A Question Of Time by Depeche Mode, both on Mute, sitting nicely between the scarce Deconstruction Mix of No Memory by Scarlet Fantastic and PWL's production of Success by Sigue Sigue Sputnik, again mixed by Phil Harding.

Secession - Fire Island (Extended Mix) (No Fade)

A Scottish band that had a couple of singles on Beggars Banquet and an album via the Virgin imprint Circa. There are still ownership issues with regards to that album, so don't hold your breath for a reissue, but the Beggars Banquet singles were mastered and reissued recently (full disclosure... on my own label) and it makes perfect sense to have this fantastic track sitting next to John Rocca's Freeez, as he mixed this track.

Arcadia - The Promise (Extended Remix)

History is kinder to Duran Duran these days, but at the time it was evident there were two camps in the band, one splitting to do The Power Station, the other to do Arcadia. It's interesting that the nucleus of all Duran work has been Simon and Nick and so it's not too stupid to say this would have made a terrific Duran Duran single. The uncredited Sting vocal brought him brownie points too, rather than his guest vocal with Dire Straits.

Glenn Gregory and Claudia Brucken - When Your Heart Runs Out Of Time (6'20" Mix)

Not everyone's cup of tea, but in my mind an under-rated release via ZTT. A shorter version appears on the Insignificance soundtrack. Written by country star Will Jennings, this is a fitting slower, last dance end to a rollercoaster of a box set. ZTT liked their guest guitarist solos, Frankie had Gary Moore, Glenn and Claudia had Midge Ure. In the classic ZTT fashion, this version is 16 seconds longer than 6'20".

Extended Stimulation - 12” Pop Adventures on the Dancefloor 1983 – 1988 is out now.

4CDs featuring front of the record box ‘go to’ mixes. Combining early classic 12” extended versions and remixes from the head-to-head chart wars of PWL and ZTT, along with rarer, less well-known tracks and mixes which must not be forgotten.

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