In 1989 producer William Orbit and DJ / S`Express main man, Mark Moore, forged a cracking – but sadly short-lived – collaboration. 

Orbit had been brought in to remix Moore’s chart hit, Mantra For A State Of Mind, and from there the two then, together, refashioned French duo Les Rita Mitsouko, and reimagined a couple of incredible Prince tracks. The Future and Electric Chair would  both be rinsed in acid house / Balearic clubs and go on to become classics. 

Orbit and Moore’s major joint endeavor, however, was to be enlisted by pop culture visionary / maverick / Machiavellian hustler Malcolm McLaren to refine and reshape several songs from his album, Waltz Darling. The proper follow-up to 1984’s opera-obsessed Fans, the original recordings featured a cast of clubland faces – from Paris and NYC, super models, Bootsy Collins, and Eurythmics’ Dave Stewart. 

Moore and Orbit tackled Something’s Jumpin’ In Your Shirt, fronted by Calvin Klein campaign star and movie director Tim Burton’s wife-to-be, Lisa Marie, and created the definitive version of McLaren’s Deep In Vogue. Their brilliant Banjie Realness mix updating The Salsoul Orchestra’s Love Is The Message for nearly 10 fabulous minutes. Then came Call A Wave, where the pair fix fluttering, fragmented vocals and fractal frequencies to a replayed Barry White riff.

Borrowing the refrain from Barry’s steamy I’m Gonna Love You Just A Little Bit More Baby, with the phat, funky keys pitched somewhere between a harpsichord and a clavinet, the mysterious Gina Cie is set swimming in a serene sonic sea, surrounded by singing whales and dolphins. Sent on a divine dive of dizzying strings and seductive, but serrated, sirens. Their Return To Deep Ambient Mix is a wealth of whale song and these enchanted ethereal exclamations. Removing the beats, the medley, now manufactured from panpipes and panted, heavy breathing. 

While these 2 takes were only available on a 2 X 12 DJ promo pack, Massimino Lippoli’s DFC reinterpretation was the one that you had to have. Massimo, part of the production team responsible for Morenas and Sueño Latino, employs the same elements as Moore and Orbit – bar the Barry White bit – but also makes the most of some glorious Manuel Gottsching-esque guitar, laid down by the legendary Jeff Beck. Also punctuated by big piano chords, the results are like a more downtempo take on Massimo’s aforementioned Sueño Latino, or Manuel’s E2 E4. This version must surely have been a source of inspiration for subsequent, loved-up, sexed-up, Balearic bombs, such as The Grid’s Floatation. One of the men behind that track’s terrific transformation, Andrew Weatherall, was certainly aware of Call A Wave, since he span it during his hugely influential late night “Giving Up Sessions” on Kiss FM.

I found my copy – one of those fantastic heart-stopping, double-take, memorable moments that you only get with physical digging – in the treasure trove that was the basement of Manchester’s Vinyl Exchange. In the early `90s I’d regularly weekend with friends in the city, clubbing and buying records. The Exchange in particular had carefully, expertly, stacked racks, packed with old 12s and new promos that were sought-after, prized and impossible to find in London. Often adorned with enthusiastically scrawled sales stickers explaining exactly why you needed this tune, and frequently signed off with a smiley face.* It was very likely Balearic Mike who served me. 

*I removed the sticker from my copy of this record. I’ve no idea why. I really wish I hadn’t.

Malcolm McLaren’s Call A Wave remix double-pack is available to pre-order from Be With Records.