Well, the legend goes that when the band recorded True Faith and 1963 with producer Stephen Hague in 1987 in order to have a shot at "breaking" the American charts it was a close run thing between which song would end up as the A side as the band felt both songs were of the same calibre. Rob Gretton allegedly wanted to put both tracks out on the same release rather than saving one for another single in order to give fans a decent b-side and thus value for money; the legendary FAC 183 appeared shortly afterwards.

Fast forward seven years, Factory's toast and London Records are preparing a nice few cash-in releases to celebrate acquiring the Joy Division and New Order catalogues. One of the compilations as we all know was (The Best Of) which spawned two singles: a "cleaned up" version of True Faith dubbed "-94" and a number of new versions of 1963 or "Nineteen63" as it was duly titled. So in the end, 1963 finally got its day in the sun as an A-side with both a cleaned up (-94) version of the original Hague mix and a spruced up Arthur Baker (-95) remix with a brand new approach to the song.

Another legend from around the same time concerns "Let's Go" where Bernard and Arthur Baker were on holiday together and rediscovered the instrumental the band recorded back in the day I.e. the demo-ish Salvation! version and possibly the "Waiting For So Long" vocal demo from the mid-80s. They subsequently went into the studio, pulled apart existing multi-tracks with Bernard recording brand new vocals and a guitar track. It was allegedly a Sumner/Baker only project and I don't think the rest of the band were even involved due to their estrangement post-Reading 93. The new "Let's Go (Nothing For Me)" took pride of place as track 1 on the US Qwest pressing of (The Best Of) but was relegated to the limited edition CD single of the newly remixed "Nineteen63" in the UK. Even then two mixes of the new "Let's Go" exist with one having a clean ending (US) and the other fading out (UK).

So I would surmise it's highly likely Bernard recorded the new acoustic guitar track for the Arthur Baker remix of 1963 at the same time they both decided to complete the new "Let's Go (Nothing For Me)" project. The rest of "1963-95" as far as I'm aware was derived from the original 1987 multi-tracks; notably the significantly louder Hooky bass which I'm sure we all agree enhances the remix. Baker obviously thought it was a decent opportunity to raise the faders on his contribution and let us hear the riffs.

Hope this helps.

Edited by user 27 September 2013 16:23:24(UTC)  | Reason: Not specified

He is listed as the engineer on the sleeve so it's definitely a possibility.

However I've given both a (nostalgic) listen this evening and the guitar during the instrumental break of "Let's Go (Nothing For Me)" and the intro of the Baker Remix of 1963 sound remarkably similar. It's got that acoustic-ey Technique chorus'd guitar strum about it.

Thanks a lot NotaMod. That does seem quite likely.

I think I read somewhere that it was Sumner and Baker, with Barney re-recording vocals for True Faith, 1963, Round & Round, Bizarre Love Triangle, as well as adding new keyboards/guitar on 1963 and TF-94. Huge chunks of 1963-95 sound like someone has tried to re-create Hookys bass sound and reused bass outtakes from the original recordings. For me, the band weren't talking at that point except at occasional band meetings, and there was no case of anyone but Sumner being involved in the remixes. UIf I'm totally wrong, someone please enlighten me!

Yeah, Hague hardly broke new ground with the please-buy-the-best-Of 94 mixes. Almost identical to the originals: the TF/63 single, his R and R 7" mix, the Married to the Mob OST BLT... Intigued that they used some of the Sunkist ad in the Brain mix of BM.

I'm fairly sure the BLT-94 mix has different vocals ; one version has a unheard Barney "La La La" at the end, and the vocals seem clearer and softer, similar to his 1989 onward singing style when he took listens and learnt how to breathe between lines. I also noticed that the 7" remix of the 1986 track has Hooky bass on, and the 1986 12" remix has absolutely no Hooky bass at all. It only took me 27 years to notice that when I was mucking about with the tracks in MixPad on the train home after work one day. http://www.mixcloud.com/...gle-full-length-re-edit/

From what I understand of Stephen's memoir, it's more of a re-recording than a proper remix. (And he wasn't even involved)

Oh good one, I forgot about that one. Will have to dig it out today :)