The Two Ring Circus
Encyclopedia
The Two Ring Circus, released in 1987 on Mute Records
in the UK and Sire Records
in the U.S, is a remix
album from Erasure
that served as a companion piece to their second album The Circus. The vinyl version was a double 12" album playing at 45rpm, featuring 6 previously unreleased remixes and 3 re-recordings. The CD and cassette editions featured an additional 7 live bonus tracks billed as "The Touring Circus".
UK chart rules at the time made The Two Ring Circus ineligible to chart. It became their second release to briefly slip into the Billboard 200
chart, peaking at number 186.
The first six tracks on The Two Ring Circus were all new remixes of songs that had already appeared on their second album "The Circus". The next three tracks were re-recordings of two songs from The Circus and one song from the band's first album Wonderland
. All three were orchestral arrangements by Andrew Poppy
.
The 7 "Touring Circus" bonus live tracks on the CD and cassette mainly feature songs from Erasure's first two albums. The last track, a live version of "Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight)
" was their first remake of an ABBA
tune, foreshadowing a concept that would later provide them with a number-one in the UK in 1992 with the Abba-esque
EP
.
All 7 of the CD and Cassette live bonus tracks were recorded in Hamburg and were previously featured on the triple 12" single release for "The Circus
". There was a further live song per 12" not featured on this album. All 10 of these live tracks (plus an 11th originally featured on the "Victim Of Love
" CD Single
) are featured on disc 2 of the "EBX 2" box-set.
The US editions of the CD and cassette also included an additional remix in the form of an edited version of a previously released remix.
"The Touring Circus" (Bonus tracks on the cassette (LC STUMM 35) and CD (CDL STUMM 35)
Mute Records
Mute is an independent record label based in the UK. It was founded in 1978 by Daniel Miller and featured several prominent musical acts on its roster such as Goldfrapp, Depeche Mode, Yazoo, Erasure and Fad Gadget.-Beginnings:...
in the UK and Sire Records
Sire Records
Sire Records is an American record label, owned by Warner Music Group and distributed through Warner Bros. Records.-Beginnings:The label was founded in 1966 as Sire Productions by Seymour Stein and Richard Gottehrer, each investing ten thousand dollars into the new company. Its early releases as a...
in the U.S, is a remix
Remix
A remix is an alternative version of a recorded song, made from an original version. This term is also used for any alterations of media other than song ....
album from Erasure
Erasure
Erasure are an English synthpop duo, consisting of songwriter and keyboardist Vince Clarke and singer Andy Bell. Erasure entered the music scene in 1985 with their debut single "Who Needs Love Like That"...
that served as a companion piece to their second album The Circus. The vinyl version was a double 12" album playing at 45rpm, featuring 6 previously unreleased remixes and 3 re-recordings. The CD and cassette editions featured an additional 7 live bonus tracks billed as "The Touring Circus".
UK chart rules at the time made The Two Ring Circus ineligible to chart. It became their second release to briefly slip into the Billboard 200
Billboard 200
The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists...
chart, peaking at number 186.
The first six tracks on The Two Ring Circus were all new remixes of songs that had already appeared on their second album "The Circus". The next three tracks were re-recordings of two songs from The Circus and one song from the band's first album Wonderland
Wonderland (album)
- References :...
. All three were orchestral arrangements by Andrew Poppy
Andrew Poppy
Andrew Poppy is an English composer, pianist, and record producer.-Biography:From 1974 to 1979 he studied music at Royal Holloway College and Goldsmiths College University of London, studying piano with Susan Bradshaw and earning a B.M...
.
The 7 "Touring Circus" bonus live tracks on the CD and cassette mainly feature songs from Erasure's first two albums. The last track, a live version of "Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight)
Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight)
"Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! ", originally titled "Been and Gone and Done It", is one of Swedish pop group ABBA's biggest disco hits. It was recorded and released in 1979 with "The King Has Lost His Crown" as the B-side. It appears on ABBA's Greatest Hits Vol...
" was their first remake of an ABBA
ABBA
ABBA was a Swedish pop group formed in Stockholm in 1970 which consisted of Anni-Frid Lyngstad, Björn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson and Agnetha Fältskog...
tune, foreshadowing a concept that would later provide them with a number-one in the UK in 1992 with the Abba-esque
Abba-esque
Abba-esque is an EP by Erasure. It scored their first number one on the UK singles chart with the release in 1992. Always big fans of the Swedish quartet ABBA, performing various songs in concert for years, Erasure released this four-song covers EP, which was originally intended as a full...
EP
Extended play
An EP is a musical recording which contains more music than a single, but is too short to qualify as a full album or LP. The term EP originally referred only to specific types of vinyl records other than 78 rpm standard play records and LP records, but it is now applied to mid-length Compact...
.
All 7 of the CD and Cassette live bonus tracks were recorded in Hamburg and were previously featured on the triple 12" single release for "The Circus
The Circus (song)
"The Circus" is a song by British synthpop duo Erasure, released in September 1987 as the band's seventh single overall. It is also the title track on their second album, The Circus....
". There was a further live song per 12" not featured on this album. All 10 of these live tracks (plus an 11th originally featured on the "Victim Of Love
Victim of Love (song)
"Victim of Love" is a song by British synthpop duo Erasure, released in May 1987 as their sixth single overall.It was the third single to be lifted from the duo's second album, The Circus, released six weeks earlier, and was remixed for single release....
" CD Single
CD single
A CD single is a music single in the form of a standard size Compact Disc, not to be confused with the 3-inch CD single, which uses a smaller form factor. The format was introduced in the mid-1980s, but did not gain its place in the market until the early 1990s...
) are featured on disc 2 of the "EBX 2" box-set.
The US editions of the CD and cassette also included an additional remix in the form of an edited version of a previously released remix.
UK version (L STUMM 35)
- "SometimesSometimes (Erasure song)"Sometimes" is a song by British synthpop duo Erasure, released in October 1986 as their fourth single overall.After three commercial flops from their debut album Wonderland, "Sometimes" became Erasure's first bonafide hit, peaking at number one in South Africa, number two in their native United...
" (Erasure and Flood Mix) - "It Doesn't Have To BeIt Doesn't Have To Be"It Doesn't Have to Be" is a song by British synthpop duo Erasure, released in February 1987. It was issued as a single six weeks before the release of the duo's second album, The Circus....
" (Mix By Pascal GabrielPascal GabrielPascal Richard Marcel Gabriel is a Belgian-born musician based in London. His musical career began in 1977 in the punk rock band The Razors...
) - "Victim of LoveVictim of Love (song)"Victim of Love" is a song by British synthpop duo Erasure, released in May 1987 as their sixth single overall.It was the third single to be lifted from the duo's second album, The Circus, released six weeks earlier, and was remixed for single release....
" (Little Louie VegaLittle Louie VegaLuis Fernando Vager , better known as "Little" Louie Vega, is an American musician and one half of the Masters At Work musical production team...
Mix) - "Leave Me To Bleed" (Vince Clarke and Eric RadcliffeEric RadcliffeEric Radcliffe is a recording engineer and producer who worked with New Wave and synthpop bands in the early 1980s in Basildon, England...
Mix) - "Hideaway" (Little Louie Vega Mix)
- "Don't Dance" (Daniel Miller and Flood Mix)
- "If I Could" (Orchestral Arr. & Thanks To Andrew PoppyAndrew PoppyAndrew Poppy is an English composer, pianist, and record producer.-Biography:From 1974 to 1979 he studied music at Royal Holloway College and Goldsmiths College University of London, studying piano with Susan Bradshaw and earning a B.M...
) - "Spiralling" (Orchestral Arr. & Thanks To Andrew Poppy)
- "My Heart... So Blue" (Orchestral Arr. & Thanks To Andrew Poppy)
"The Touring Circus" (Bonus tracks on the cassette (LC STUMM 35) and CD (CDL STUMM 35)
- "Victim of Love" (live)
- "The CircusThe Circus (song)"The Circus" is a song by British synthpop duo Erasure, released in September 1987 as the band's seventh single overall. It is also the title track on their second album, The Circus....
" (live) - "Spiralling" (live)
- "Sometimes" (live)
- "Oh L'amourOh L'amour"Oh L'amour" is a song by English synth pop duo Erasure, released in April 1986 as their third single.It was issued by Mute Records in the UK and Sire Records in the U.S. to herald the June release of Erasure's debut album Wonderland, but became the third consecutive commercial failure for the band...
" (live) - "Who Needs Love (Like That)Who Needs Love Like That"Who Needs Love Like That" is the debut single released by British synth pop duo Erasure. The song was released in the UK on Mute Records in 1985 as a prelude to their debut album Wonderland.-History:...
" (live) - "Gimme! Gimme! Gimme!Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight)"Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! ", originally titled "Been and Gone and Done It", is one of Swedish pop group ABBA's biggest disco hits. It was recorded and released in 1979 with "The King Has Lost His Crown" as the B-side. It appears on ABBA's Greatest Hits Vol...
" (live)
US Cassette and CD
25667-4 / 25667-4- "SometimesSometimes (Erasure song)"Sometimes" is a song by British synthpop duo Erasure, released in October 1986 as their fourth single overall.After three commercial flops from their debut album Wonderland, "Sometimes" became Erasure's first bonafide hit, peaking at number one in South Africa, number two in their native United...
" (Erasure and Flood Mix) - "It Doesn't Have To BeIt Doesn't Have To Be"It Doesn't Have to Be" is a song by British synthpop duo Erasure, released in February 1987. It was issued as a single six weeks before the release of the duo's second album, The Circus....
" (Mix By Pascal GabrielPascal GabrielPascal Richard Marcel Gabriel is a Belgian-born musician based in London. His musical career began in 1977 in the punk rock band The Razors...
) - "Victim of LoveVictim of Love (song)"Victim of Love" is a song by British synthpop duo Erasure, released in May 1987 as their sixth single overall.It was the third single to be lifted from the duo's second album, The Circus, released six weeks earlier, and was remixed for single release....
" (Little Louie VegaLittle Louie VegaLuis Fernando Vager , better known as "Little" Louie Vega, is an American musician and one half of the Masters At Work musical production team...
Mix) - "Leave Me To Bleed" (Vince Clarke and Eric RadcliffeEric RadcliffeEric Radcliffe is a recording engineer and producer who worked with New Wave and synthpop bands in the early 1980s in Basildon, England...
Mix) - "Hideaway" (Little Louie Vega Mix)
- "Don't Dance" (Daniel Miller and Flood Mix)
- "The CircusThe Circus (song)"The Circus" is a song by British synthpop duo Erasure, released in September 1987 as the band's seventh single overall. It is also the title track on their second album, The Circus....
" (Dave Powell Mix) - "If I Could" (Orchestral Arr. & Thanks To Andrew PoppyAndrew PoppyAndrew Poppy is an English composer, pianist, and record producer.-Biography:From 1974 to 1979 he studied music at Royal Holloway College and Goldsmiths College University of London, studying piano with Susan Bradshaw and earning a B.M...
) - "Spiralling" (Orchestral Arr. & Thanks To Andrew Poppy)
- "My Heart... So Blue" (Orchestral Arr. & Thanks To Andrew Poppy)
- "Victim of Love" (live)
- "Spiralling" (live)
- "Sometimes" (live)
- "Oh L'amourOh L'amour"Oh L'amour" is a song by English synth pop duo Erasure, released in April 1986 as their third single.It was issued by Mute Records in the UK and Sire Records in the U.S. to herald the June release of Erasure's debut album Wonderland, but became the third consecutive commercial failure for the band...
" (live) - "Who Needs Love (Like That)Who Needs Love Like That"Who Needs Love Like That" is the debut single released by British synth pop duo Erasure. The song was released in the UK on Mute Records in 1985 as a prelude to their debut album Wonderland.-History:...
" (live) - "Gimme! Gimme! Gimme!Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight)"Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! ", originally titled "Been and Gone and Done It", is one of Swedish pop group ABBA's biggest disco hits. It was recorded and released in 1979 with "The King Has Lost His Crown" as the B-side. It appears on ABBA's Greatest Hits Vol...
" (live)
Release history
| Country | Date |
|---|---|
| United Kingdom United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages... |
|
| United States United States The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district... |
Chart performance
| Chart (1987) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| U.S. Billboard 200 | 186 |