Stephen "Tin Tin" Duffy - Kiss Me (12" Mixe Plural)

Stephen "Tin Tin" Duffy - Kiss Me (Mixe Plural) / 12 Inch Extended Remix (HQ Audio)

This iconic mid-1980s track is, among other things, a testament to persistence.

Stephen Duffy, an original member of Duran Duran, left the band before their rise to global fame.

Embarking on a solo career, he co-wrote "Kiss Me" with his college friend Steven A. Jones in 1981. He says the song draws inspiration from the final line of Christopher Isherwood’s novel Goodbye to Berlin:

"I am a camera with its shutter open, quite passive, recording, not thinking."

The track was first recorded and released independently in 1982 on T.T.T. Records. The initial release, credited to Tin Tin, failed to gain traction, but Duffy was determined to fine-tune it, leading to a series of re-recordings over the next few years.

The definitive version of "Kiss Me" was recorded in 1984 at The Garden Studios in London. The Garden Studios, owned by John Foxx, were also used by The Cure, Depeche Mode, and Siouxsie and the Banshees, among others.

This iteration was produced by J.J. Jeczalik and Nicholas Froome, who were pioneering the use of the latest sampling technology (particularly the Fairlight) through their recordings with Trevor Horn and the Art of Noise, of which Jeczalik was a member.

Indeed, in this version of Kiss Me, we can hear the same style of vocal sampling found in Art of Noise's hit Close (To The Edit), for example. The rich, deep spoken-word vocals here were a feature of many Trevor Horn productions as well.

Beyond his work with Stephen Duffy and Art of Noise, Jeczalik was a sought-after programmer and producer. He collaborated with Kate Bush on her 1982 album The Dreaming and was involved in projects with Frankie Goes to Hollywood, Scritti Politti, and Pet Shop Boys around the time of Kiss Me's release. Nicholas Froome worked alongside Jeczalik on various projects, including the production of Pet Shop Boys' early version of Opportunities (Let's Make Lots of Money).

As for Kiss Me, it was a case of third time lucky when, more than three years after its original version was released, and two years after a further version came out, the J.J. Jeczalik and Nicholas Froome remake climbed to number 4 in the UK and stayed in the top 10 for five weeks. It also made the top 20 in Australia, Belgium, the Netherlands, and the US Dance Chart.

The 12" single contains the extended Mixe Plural, featured here. It was also issued as a double-pack with the earlier 1983 12" version, mixed by François Kevorkian.

Duffy had one further top 10 hit (Icing On The Cake) before forming The Lilac Time (named after a line in the Nick Drake song River Man). The band has continued to release albums for more than 30 years to much critical acclaim.

Year: 1985 Label: 10 Records Cat no: TIN 2-12