1984 Mix

1984 Mix is a Sisters of Mercy compilation album compiled by C.Syde65 in 2018. As the name of the compilation suggests, it consists of many of the Sisters of Mercy songs that were recorded in 1984.

It includes all the tracks released on the Body and Soul EP, the tracks released on the 1988 and 1992 issues of the Japanese version of the First and Last and Always album. And the tracks released on the 2006 remastered version of the British version of the First and Last and Always album.

I was inspired to put together this compilation after I found out the most likely reason why the tracks recorded in 1984 that were released on the Body and Soul EP did not appear on any releases of First and Last and Always as bonus tracks until 2015. I remember wanting to find out whether those tracks were recorded during the sessions for First and Last and Always, or at earlier sessions.

In 2018 I stumbled across a page on heavyleatherblog.wordpress.com that confirmed that the Body and Soul sessions took place in March 1984 and were therefore separate from the First and Last and Always sessions which didn't start until June 1984 by which time the Body and Soul EP had already been released.

I already knew that the EP had already been released by the time recording had begun on the tracks released on First and Last and Always. But it wasn't until 2018 that I was able to find information that stated exactly how long it had been between the recording of the songs for the Body and Soul EP and the release of the said EP.

But that aside, I decided that I wanted to make a compilation that collected up all the tracks that had been recorded in 1984 that had been released either on the 1988 and 1992 issues of the Japanese version of the First and Last and Always album, the 2006 remastered version of the British version of the album, and the 2015 remastered version of the British version of the album.

I had considered including the Sisters of Mercy's cover of "Emma" on this compilation, but I decided against it when I realised that the copy of Emma that I had on my PC - the studio version - wasn't recorded in June-July 1984, but in January 1988 specifically to be released as a B-Side to "Dominion".

As the tracks that were originally released on the Body and Soul EP were the first tracks on this compilation to be recorded and released, they are the first tracks to appear on the first disc of the compilation. The copy of "Body and Soul" presented here was taken from the Sisters of Mercy's greatest hits compilation album A Slight Case of Overbombing: Greatest Hits, Volume One.

The copy of "Afterhours" presented on this compilation originated from an MP3 file at 128 kbps, though I later converted all the MP3 files at 128 kbps of Sisters of Mercy songs that were on my PC at the time to Wma files at 192 kbps.

Even though the British mixes of "Walk Away", "No Time to Cry", "A Rock and a Hard Place", and "First and Last and Always" were released before the Japanese mixes, the page on heavyleatherblog.wordpress.com about the 1984 recording sessions of the Sisters of Mercy confirmed that the Japanese mixes were mixed first. For that reason, I decided to feature the Japanese mixes on this compilation first.

After the tracks on this compilation that were originally released on the Body and Soul EP are the tracks that were originally released on the "Walk Away" single. Next is the extended version of "Train" titled "Long Train" which was originally released as a promotional giveaway with the first 5,000 sales of the Walk Away single in 1984.

Next is the Japanese mix of "No Time to Cry" and the tracks that were originally released as B-Sides to the No Time to Cry single. The last track that makes the first disc of the compilation is the Japanese mix of "Black Planet". On the second disc is the Japanese mix of "A Rock and a Hard Place", followed by "Marian". Then the Japanese mix of "First and Last and Always", followed by the last four tracks from the original releases of the First and Last and Always album.

Then the British mixes of "Black Planet", "No Time to Cry", "A Rock and a Hard Place", and "First and Last and Always". And last of all the early version of "Some Kind of Stranger" which was originally released as a bonus track on the 2006 remastered version of the British version of the First and Last and Always album.