(Don’t) Keep It Down: Hot Shot Expands ‘Til Tuesday’s Debut (UPDATED 1/27)

As promised, new U.K. reissue label Hot Shot Records is releasing an expanded edition of Voices Carry the 1985 debut album by pop group ‘Til Tuesday, and it’s now available to order.

The album was the culmination of three years of hard work from the Boston-based band, comprised of Aimee Mann (vocals/bass), Robert Holmes (vocals/guitar), Joey Pesce (keyboards) and Michael Hausman (drums). In 1983, six months after forming, the band earned local acclaim for their song “Love in a Vacuum,” which became a staple on WBCN-FM after the band won the station’s annual Rock ‘n’ Roll Rumble.

But even after signing with Epic Records and working with producer Mike Thorne (producer of works for Soft Cell, Bronski Beat and John Cale), label brass was not convinced that they had a hit on their hands with “Voices Carry,” a song written by Mann about her breakup with Hausman (though initially disguised as written about a woman!). While Cyndi Lauper reportedly wanted to cover the tune with the original lyrics, ‘Til Tuesday kept it for themselves and the rest was history.

Bolstered by a captivating video that won the band an MTV Video Music Award – who could forget Mann belting out her vocals in the middle of a crowded audience in Carnegie Hall? – “Voices Carry” leapt to No. 8 on the Billboard Hot 100 and the album peaked at No. 19. Subsequent singles “Looking Over My Shoulder” and “Love in a Vacuum” failed to catch on with a national audience, though, and ‘Til Tuesday would split up in 1990 after two more critically acclaimed but commercially disappointing. Burgeoning songwriter Mann, of course, became a major force in her own right, embarking on a well-received (and Oscar and Grammy-nominated) solo career and marrying another great singer-songwriter, Michael Penn. (Interestingly, Hausman manages both of them.)

Hot Shot’s reissue features new liner notes featuring interviews with Robert Holmes and Mike Thorne and the original single mixes of “Voices Carry,” “Looking Over My Shoulder” and “Love in a Vacuum.” (UPDATE: the disc will also include “Are You Serious?” – the B-side to “Voices Carry” that appeared on original CD copies as a bonus track.) The set will be available on February 27 but can be ordered now.

Hit the jump to peruse the track list!

‘Til Tuesday, Voices Carry: Expanded Edition (originally released as Epic FE 39458, 1985 – reissued as Hot Shot Records HSR002, 2012)

1. Love in a Vacuum
2. Looking Over My Shoulder
3. I Could Get Used to This
4. No More Crying
5. Voices Carry
6. Winning the War
7. You Know the Rest
8. Maybe Monday
9. Don’t Watch Me Bleed
10. Sleep
11. Are You Serious? (Epic B-side 34-04795, 1985)
12. Voices Carry (Single Mix) (Epic A-side 34-04795, 1985)
13. Looking Over My Shoulder (Single Mix) (Epic A-side 34-04935, 1985)
14. Love in a Vacuum (Single Mix) (Epic A-side 34-05673, 1985)