Monday, 2 February 2009

Martine Girault - Revival 1992

Opaz Records OP001/SRH
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This breathtakingly beautiful piece of sublime soul came out of London in 1992. In a era when everybody that wanted to "be somebody" on the soul scene, was trying to recreate a rare groove, acid jazz sound, Dalston's Finest was just doing his thing. Ray Hayden came across this smokey, Brooklyn chanteuse and decided her voice would sound good on his music.

The line up is Opaz except for Martine Girault on vocals. Danny G supplying synth flute and Neville Malcolm on guitar with Hayden overseeing everything. All three are more than competent on keyboards and the result is a most incredible four and a half minutes of lounge bar soul. In 1992 this release was voted, deservedly so, Best Soul Record of the year by DMC.

This particular 12" was a Limited Edition on the Opaz Records label. It features an Instrumental and the bonus track, Nothin's Gonna Change, which was a dancefloor killer at the time.

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  • Revival
  • Rap Interlude
  • Revival Theme
  • Nothin's Gonna Change
The Download Link is here: Download
Filename: Martine Girault - 1992 Revival L..rar Filesize: 31.45 MB

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ffrr Records FX 205
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For some reason, probably because of the demand, the record was handed to ffrr for a major release. This was a great move because the new 12" featured a new track. The Funky Vibes Mix of Revival does little to improve the actual song but makes an interesting bit of dance fodder. On the flip though, we have 'cause It Matters To Me which is as good as Revival and makes for a hell of a release. The Quiet Fire version is the real gem but Renaisance is also worthy.

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  • Revival
  • Revival (Funky Vibes Mix)
  • 'cause It Matters To Me (Quiet Fire)
  • 'cause It Matters To Me (Renaissance)
The Download Link is here: Download
Filename: Martine Girault - 1992 Revival.rar Filesize: 39.83 MB

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19 comments:

  1. I had the good fortune to meet Martine a couple of years ago, I was involved with a promotion & we had her on the bill doing a PA. She was great, really nice person & performed really well. She also signed my original copy of the promo 12" for me :) I was well pleased!!

    Gave her a copy of my "Good Sh*t" mix & she loved it!

    Cheers for posting, will DL this to save my vinyl copy!!

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  2. Had a similar experience with Elizabeth Troy a couple of years ago. A nicer person you couldn't wish to meet. No ego and all the time in the world for a crazy-arse like me, trying to chat her up. Her PA was faultless.

    Love you Liz! ;-)

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  3. lol, wicked!

    I kinda did the same with Shola Ama, my mate was interviewing her around the time Imagine came out.She was with Steve from D'influence & her PA, Shola was blatently flirting with me!!

    Wish I'd done something bout it now tho! lol

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  4. Hello,

    thanks for your very nice blog. I was lurking for quite a while so it's time to participate. If you are interested, here are 2 further remixes of "Revival" from a latter release on RCA (together with a ridiculous "Bad Boy" Remix featuring Puff "Diddy" Daddy. The "Uptight" Mix is done by 2 guys from Austria and features the Bassline of Lowrell'S "Mellow Mellow Right On" while the other is done by "simon & Diamond" from the UK. Both ripped from my 12" and i apologise for the noise on track 2. Nevertheless enjoy! http://rapidshare.com/files/193483229/revival.rar.html

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  5. Very much appreciated Martin, I'll have a listen and maybe add them to the package.

    The Bad Boy Remix was a wasted effort with an unnecessary rap, just there to attract a bit of album exposure. It obviously failed because I never realised the album had been released until years after it had been deleted. :-/

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  6. Just on Martine Girault... she released an album last year called "If" with production from Ray Hayden. Some nice cuts on there including the title track "If", "Friend", and a version of Omar's "There's Nothing Like This".

    I bought it off Itunes at the time, but it seems to have disappeared from there since....

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  7. Cause It Matters with no analogue hum, now why would I want that Zenn?

    Post them, please, even though I sat there for hours, de-clicking the vinyl. ;-p

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  8. Perhaps I should clarify - I have cd-singles of the FFRR and RCA commercial releases, no version of Cause It Matters here!

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  9. If that is Nothin' Gonna Change then it's on the first 12" but I have not seen a digital version before I've not seen a digital Revival Theme either but I gotta say, it was 'Cause It Matters that stirred my loins? Go for it Zenn, there's no downside after all. ;-)

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  10. ... Hang on a sec... ' theres nothing like this?? Produced by Ray hayden? sung by Martine Gerault ???
    I got to hear that...
    any chance of a post ?

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  11. Top tune - the latter release on RCA has a mix called The Original Full Length, which clocks in at over 8min that, correct me if I'm wrong, wasn't on any other release.

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  12. In the sharing and caring spirit of this very cool blog - here you go, as requested:

    There's Nothing Like This - Martine Girault (produced by Ray Hayden)

    http://www.sendspace.com/file/pocgus

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  13. Thanks for that Sasha, have to admit I prefer Omar's original. It's one of those classics that you can't remake.

    Good news Sasha, I managed to find Guilty. Coming soon mate. ;-)

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  14. I hear ya 110% - nothing tops the Omar original.

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  15. Hey guys,

    I went looking for that new album by Martine, that Sasha mentioned. I didn't see it on iTunes. Does it anyone have idea where it's available for sale?

    Would love to get my hands on that.

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  16. Martine's MySpace

    www.myspace.com/martinegirault

    ;-)

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  17. I checked the site already.
    She doesn't reference information anything about where to how to buy the new album.

    Thanks getting back anyway.

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  18. I dunno where the album went, or what happened to it.... no mentions anywhere...strange... And even stranger that it was up on Itunes for a while.
    Anyways, here's another cut - the title-track "If", which was the real soul-bliss highlight from the album. Enjoy.

    http://www.sendspace.com/file/4a8juy

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  19. Top quality post. Cheers. Got this on vinyl but will now rinse it on my iPod, thanks again. Great memories of places like Fresh n Funky and the Red Eye dropping this and Raw Stylus and D:Influence etc.

    Great site!

    ReplyDelete