“You Came,” You Saw, You Conquered: Universal U.K. Gets “Close” to Kim Wilde Classic for Its 25th Anniversary

Universal’s U.K. arm will expand Kim Wilde’s Close (1988) for its 25th anniversary with a two-disc set full of rare and unreleased remixes on September 2.

Wilde’s sixth album was her biggest success to date, a U.K. Top 10 album with four huge hits to its name in “Hey Mister Heartache” and Top 10 singles “You Came,” “Never Trust a Stranger” and “Four Letter Word.” (The record was a Top 20 album in the U.S., though only “You Came” charted Stateside, landing at No. 41.) Close remains one of Wilde’s most beloved and fully-realized albums (an opinion shared by Wilde herself), and her popularity also earned her the opening slot on the European leg of Michael Jackson’s Bad World Tour – no small feats here.

The newly-expanded Close includes all the B-sides and remixes from all five singles released from the album, many of which have not been released on CD at all, or not since the original CD single releases. (This includes Shep Pettibone’s remix of “You Came” for U.S. singles, which was included in full on a European 12″ single.) In addition, an unreleased a capella and “bonus beats” version of “You Came” have been added to the bonus disc.

The full track list and pre-order links for this new reissue are after the jump.

In Case You Missed It: Join the (Music) Club!

If you’re a British compilation hunter or fan of imports, it’s tough to go wrong with Demon Music Group’s Music Club Deluxe label. The relatively inexpensive double-disc sets the label turns out might look simple or quickly assembled, but they’re in fact often packed with a few rarities for your buck.

In recent weeks, Music Club Deluxe has issued a half-dozen compilations, all for ’80s pop/rock artists. You likely know their hits, but there are some great album cuts, B-sides and remixes to go around for each. Hit the jump and we’ll run through them all.

Release Round-Up: Wilde and Grey Edition

We’ve got a few reissue notes (in case you missed them) to start off your week.

• First up, Cherry Pop is prepping another batch of Kim Wilde reissues. The label re-released Wilde’s RAK-era LPs – Kim Wilde (1981), Select (1982) and Catch as Catch Can (1983) to a strong reaction from her fanbase, and are now prepping two-disc editions of Teases & Dares (1984) and Another Step (1986), Wilde’s first two records for the MCA label. The latter is notable for being co-produced by Rod Temperton and Bruce Swedien, two names that longtime Michael Jackson fans will recognize as songwriter and engineer, for the King of Pop, respectively. These new reissues will be released sometime this summer.
• EMI continues to let it all hang out with some massive U.K. reissue projects. The latest is a triple-disc re-release of Attack of the Grey Lantern, the 1997 debut album from acclaimed indie-rockers Mansun. This new package will contain the original, chart-topping semi-concept album as well as two discs of non-LP material, a newly-produced remix and extensive liner notes by former Mansun frontman Paul Draper. It streets on June 15 in the U.K.
• Finally, in case you missed the word on these, Amazon is showing listings for deluxe reissues of a-ha’s Hunting High and Low (1985) and Scoundrel Days (1986) from Rhino on June 15 (internationally). They’re coming up as imports thus far, but I have little doubt they’ll come out in the U.S., especially with the band about to hit the States on their farewell tour. No word yet on extras – I have e-mailed Rhino to no avail thus far (so if you’re reading this and from the label, send a message to theseconddisc@gmail.com) – but once there’s more info, it’ll be here. After all, we’ll have to compare to the Reissue Theory posts done on both of these LPs!

Have a look at the details for both Kim Wilde and Mansun after the jump.