The 9:41 version can only be found on the 12" vinyl single and the multi-artist compilation C.D. So Eighties, Vol. 6.  The 7" single version clocks in at 4:24. The Pretty in Pink soundtrack and Substance collection have longer cuts (6:04 and 6:28 respectively) that each contain parts the other leaves out.

The 7" and 12" singles both spell the title “Shellshock” on the sleeve and “Shell-Shock” on the label.  The credits for Pretty in Pink and the track listing for the soundtrack spell it “Shell-Shock” while the track listing for Substance spells it “Shellshock.”

In the artist’s words, “It’s about the illusions surrounding nightclubbing and being a victim of those.  It’s as if there’s a conspiracy to make you feel everyone but you is going out and having fun and meeting people of the opposite sex.”  At the 23 second mark you can hear coproducer Andy Partridge smashing a whiskey bottle.

Buy the album.

Expanded Wireless and Flat Earth Bargain

The remastered and expanded release of The Golden Age of Wireless by Thomas Dolby is available for $14.99 at AvatarMusic.

Now I'm going to explain why that's the best news ever.

Wireless was released on L.P. in at least three different forms.  Songs were added and subtracted, different mixes and edits of the same songs were substituted, one song was rerecorded completely, the track order was changed, and the segues were faded out to facilitate this.  For years, the worst version was the only one available on C.D.  The sound was also pretty weak.  Retrospectacle made some of these songs available in better quality, and brought back the lost songs "Leipzig" and "Urges," but "The Wreck of the Fairchild" and the original recording of "Radio Silence" were never released on C.D.

Even in this butchered and watered-down form, Wireless is one of the best albums I've ever listened to.  I can't even properly describe it.  It's like somebody on an island isolated from the New Wave found a synthesizer and created his own electronic version of rock, jazz, and pop music.  It's warm and soulful in a mechanical and stoically British way.  "The Wreck of the Fairchild" (which I have in very poor quality thanks to Kazaa) is a heterogenous semi-instrumental that deepens the contradictory and mysterious feel of the album.

For a fleeting moment in 2009, a version of Wireless was available that included all the songs from the different releases plus every non-album track Dolby released during the time and a number he recorded and didn't release, all with excellent remastered sound.  I'm a huge fan, but I was asleep at the switch.  By the time I got on the ball and was going to order it, it was out of print and cost over $100 to get from a third party.  It was about to break down and buy the pretend album from Amazon MP3 Store when I checked back and saw a new listing.  I sent a message asking if they really have all these copies of the 2009 edition (twice I've received C.D.s from sellers that were different from the versions they listed), and they told me this is the real deal.  It still sounds too good to be true.

There's also a remastered and expanded version of The Flat Earth available at the same store.  As always, The Flat Earth seems underwhelming coming after The Golden Age of Wireless.

This song is simply ingenious.  The composition, arrangement, and production are all brilliant.  It's based on catchy melodies to begin with, and the structure and all the changes it goes through are just phenomenal.  There's also some nice use of concrete sounds and manipulated tape of instruments.

Record sleeves and a picture disc for various releases of the 1985 single "So in Love" by Orchestral Manœuvres in the Dark.  Designed by Peter Seville, the artwork draws from the imagery of Día de los Muertos, the Mexican celebration of All Saints' Day which incorporates pre-Columbian traditions.