On the mixing of Seal's "Killer","Prayer for the Dying", "Don't Cry"

[philosi]

Originally Posted by not_so_new

Yep... that was a kick a%% post. Interesting that Steve said " I used to layer reverb a lot more than I do now." I wounder if that is because verbs are better now or because he is just using less?
.

Having recently purchased my first EMT plate, let me assure you, reverbs were better then.

[BlueSwan]

Originally Posted by thethrillfactor

There had already been an Adamski(?) dance mix that had been a club hit even before Crazy came out. Seal was either writer or co-writer and vocalist.

Great interview, but I had to laugh a bit at this part. The Adamski version, was the original version, released in 1990, it wasn't a "dance mix". It was credited solely to Adamski, although Seal sang the vocal and infact wrote the melody on top of Adamski's instrumental track - the instrumental was entitled "Killer", which is why the song has that title, despite it not being an obvious title choice judging by the lyrics.

Anyway, Adamski's "Killer" wasn't just a "club hit", it was a MASSIVE mainstream hit all over Europe, and indeed spend four years at #1 in the UK. Not on the club chart, but on the regular sales chart. It remains a classic and is in my opinion still clearly the best out of the many versions that exists of this song. No offense to the Trevor Horn/Steve Macmillian version, but I thought it lost a bit of it's synthy appeal in that version, but I suppose they had to make it different from the Adamski version.

[marcan]

Originally Posted by BlueSwan

Great interview, but I had to laugh a bit at this part. The Adamski version, was the original version, released in 1990, it wasn't a "dance mix". It was credited solely to Adamski, although Seal sang the vocal and infact wrote the melody on top of Adamski's instrumental track - the instrumental was entitled "Killer", which is why the song has that title, despite it not being an obvious title choice judging by the lyrics.

Anyway, Adamski's "Killer" wasn't just a "club hit", it was a MASSIVE mainstream hit all over Europe, and indeed spend four years at #1 in the UK. Not on the club chart, but on the regular sales chart. It remains a classic and is in my opinion still clearly the best out of the many versions that exists of this song. No offense to the Trevor Horn/Steve Macmillian version, but I thought it lost a bit of it's synthy appeal in that version, but I suppose they had to make it different from the Adamski version.

I agree with this (except four years at #1??? in UK).
But what really impressed me was Crazy(or Krazy, the version with Tim Simenon). The sonic texture was like something from another galaxy...

[dan p]

Some of the best tracks ever! I have listened with headphones many times to those songs.Truly worldly inspiration.Incredible production.

[emkay]

Next to the obvious classics (Beatles, Zep,Sinatra etc.), Seal and Jeff Buckley's Grace for me are absolutely stellar!. Thanks for that interview..

[iWS]

"But what really impressed me was Crazy(or Krazy, the version with Tim Simenon). The sonic texture was like something from another galaxy..."



Loved Tim Simenon 's ' Winter in July'- also anyone remember the Roland RSS surround version they did for radio 1 in the UK?

W

[5down1up]

High 5 to Thrill & Steve thumbsup

I had and am still having a lot of fun with those records ! Mucho Respecto !

[marcan]

Originally Posted by iWS

"But what really impressed me was Crazy(or Krazy, the version with Tim Simenon). The sonic texture was like something from another galaxy..."



Loved Tim Simenon 's ' Winter in July'- also anyone remember the Roland RSS surround version they did for radio 1 in the UK?

W

Yeah, Winter in July, loved that one too. Never heard of the surround version...

Actually, there is a story about the remix made by Time Simenon for Krazy (which is actually THE version for me).
Very honored by the invitation of Trevor, Tim worked three days in the studio remixing Crazy. He was very disapointed because he didn't receive any credits for it....

[Alécio Costa]

Hey, folks
Steve also did/does Toto Albums.

Interesting, last sunday I was watching Seal´s DVS, Live in PAris - pretty good.

Lisa Stansfield and Seal´s productions are my references nowadays.

I thought they did everything at Metropolis.

[Alex Niedt]

"Prayer For The Dying" is such an incredible track in every respect.

[jupiter8]

Back in the days my mixes did'nt sound as good as Trevor Horns but that was obviously because he had the Fairlight and the digital Sony recorders.

My mixes still don't sound as good as THs and now i have superiour equipment to what he had back in the days.

What should i blame now ? The reverbs ? Someone mentioned reverbs were better back then so that's probably it.

[Ernest Buckley]

Just found this thread doing a search for SEAL... all I can say is awesome. Better than anything you`ll read in a magazine.