(JOHNNY THUNDERS AND) THE HEARTBREAKERS ORIGINAL MIX vs THE LOST ’77 MIXES - CHINESE ROCKS/BORN TO LOSE 7”

JOHNNY THUNDERS AND) THE HEARTBREAKERS

ORIGINAL MIX vs THE LOST ’77 MIXES - CHINESE ROCKS/BORN TO LOSE 7”

(Johnny Thunders and) the Heartbreakers Chinese Rocks/Born to lose 7”  has been rereleased by Jungle records recently.  The LAMF album has also recently been given the “definitive deluxe reissue” treatment (albeit on CD).

The original mixes are infamously and notoriously sludgy. It’s the stuff of legend, and countless opinions. It also caused the demise of the band. Several  remixed reissues surfaced later; including one by Johnny himself in 1984 that still failed to deliver the goods. ‘L.A.M.F. The lost ’77 mixes’ surfaced in 1994, the supposed “final selection”, which involved innumerable ears sifting through countless mixes; 300 odd mixes were shortlisted to 50, then culled again for the album. Finally, the expanded definitive deluxe reissue appeared  a while ago, in a 4 CD (CD’s ferchrissakes) box set with ‘LAMF - the lost ’77 mixes’, ‘ L.A.M.F. – the Track LP restored’, ‘L.A.M.F. – the demo sessions’, and L.A.M.F. – the alternative mixes’.  The Chinese Rocks 7” is/was available in a variety of coloured vinyl as a separate entity. The reissue is the cover as shown in the picture (credited to Johnny Thunders and the Heartbreakers. The original '77 7 inch record has no band title on the front, and credits the Heartbreakers on the back) 

So, without going through the entire LAMF album, here’s my two cents worth on just a couple of the available versions; Chinese Rocks/Born to lose  – the original mixes vs ‘the lost ’77 mixes’.  

I put my original 1977 7” on Track Records up against the versions on ‘the lost ’77 mixes’ and listened to them both back to back several times.  

For my money, these ears favour the original versions. The original versions have a certain appeal for sure. The original 7” still sounds OK, I reckon. It’s heavier, and has more bottom end. Johnny’s little solo twirls fill in nicely on the right channel on the speakers. Naturally, it’s more ah, sludgy, and therein lies its appeal, I say.  The Heartbreakers (as they were, at the time, without “the Johnny Thunders and” prefix) in all their foggy  drug fuckedness. The essence of the Heartbreakers  is captured here in a way, gloriously unpolished, as it was recorded. Sure, the vocals are a bit lost in the there, but it rocks Like A Mother Fucker (pun intended), and it’s dirty and raw, just as the band probably were. You get more of the feel of them hangin’ out for a fix with this version of Chinese Rocks. Same with Born to lose, it having more of a gritty sensibility on the original muddy mix .

Not that there’s anything wrong with the versions on ‘the lost ’77 mixes’. They’re  a  bit punchier, cleaner, and clearer. Most people favour them, and prefer the mud washed off. The liner notes on ‘the lost ’77 mixes’ reference cassette tapes of the album at the time, and say the cassette version  sounds as if it had a shower, shave, coffee, and a cigarette compared to the sludgy vinyl version. I’ll reverse that analogy and apply it again in comparing ‘the lost ’77 mixes’ to the original versions. While it may be good to hear the refreshed versions that have had a shower, shave, coffee, and a cigarette, the version that is dirty, strung out, had a few drinks, and smoking a cigarette also has its merits.

So. You could trawl the net for an original 1977 7” or a new coloured vinyl version, should you choose. Long live Johnny’s legacy.