RhinoOver the last couple of years, several albums have been released featuring classic recordings by legendary artists such as Elvis Presley, Roy Orbison, Aretha Franklin and The Beach Boys that have been augmented with new orchestral accompaniment. Now, a new compilation called 80s Symphonic gathering together 15 hits from the 1980s by various artists also updated with new orchestral arrangements will be released on CD and digitally on November 9.
Among the songs on the album are David Bowie‘s “Let’s Dance,” Foreigner‘s “I Want to Know What Love Is,” The Cars‘ “Drive,” Chicago‘s “Hard Habit to Break” and Tina Turner‘s “What’s Love Got to Do with It.” Other artists whose tunes are given the symphonic treatment include Simple Minds, a-ha and Roxette. The new tracks boast vocals and other elements from the original songs combined with newly recorded performances by the 48-piece London Studio Orchestra.
Fourteen of the tracks were produced by Andy Wright with symphonic and string arrangements by his collaborator Sam Swallow. Wright previously has worked with Simple Minds, Eurythmics and many others. “Let’s Dance” was produced by Chic guitarist Nile Rodgers, who also produced the original 1983 version of the song.
“My work with David Bowie and specifically ‘Let’s Dance’ is sacrosanct to me so when I was asked by David’s family and [the Warner Bros. label] to add orchestration to the original recording I approached it with extreme trepidation,” Rodgers admits. “In fact my only concern was to protect David’s artistic vision and integrity. In the end I’m very grateful that we did this, as I believe anyone who loves the original will be excited by it. I’m certain David would approve from above.”
A two-LP vinyl version of 80s Symphonic will be released on December 7.
Here’s the full track list:
“Let’s Dance” — David Bowie
“Take On Me” — a-ha
“Alive & Kicking” — Simple Minds
“Vienna” — Ultravox
“The Killing Moon” — Echo & the Bunnymen
“Smalltown Boy” — Bronski Beat
“What Is Love?” — Howard Jones
“What’s Love Got to Do with It” — Tina Turner
“Holding Back the Years” — Simply Red
“Josephine” — Chris Rea
“Hard Habit to Break” — Chicago
“It Must Have Been Love” — Roxette
“I Want to Know What Love Is” — Foreigner
“Drive” — The Cars
“2000 Miles” — Pretenders
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