Recycle 19: Run 2

[Link removed 20 November 2012] (38 MB)

Run 2
Factory Records Fac 273
Produced by New Order
August 1989

Tracklisting:

1. Run 2
2. Run 2 (Extended Version)
3. MTO
4. MTO (Minus Mix)

Source: Run 2 Factory UK 12" single Fac 273.

Notes from the restorer:

Released at the height of their popularity, this single is surprisingly rare. A remix of a track from their 1989 album Technique, it was quickly deleted after John Denver took action against the band, claiming that part of the tune resembled his song Leaving On A Jet Plane (after listening to Denver's song, I must confess I don't really hear much resemblance).

For the longest time, this was the most expensive record I'd ever bought. I paid $50 for one in a rather battered sleeve over fifteen years ago. I'd never seen another copy before, and I still haven't seen one since, so I was a bit surprised to read that apparently 20,000 were pressed. I've also been told that the single was deliberately limited and this was the plan all along, but that would seem to defy even Factory's reality-deficient business logic.

In addition to being quite scarce, this single is unusual in a couple of other ways. It's cut at 33 RPM instead of 45, and the overall quality of the pressing isn't as high as their other releases.

Slight cut at 3KHz.

Oh, and there are a couple of really bad edits in MTO -- so bad that I thought the needle had jumped the groove when I first heard it.

Run 2 was remixed by Scott Litt, who during the late 80's was notable for working with REM. The main difference between the album version and Run 2 is that the song has been made more radio-friendly by replacing the long instrumental run-out with another repeat of the chorus. I'm not sure if this was geared toward the American market, but the video was in rotation on MTV's 120 Minutes and there were promo cassettes of these tracks circulating at Warner Brothers during the summer of 1989. My hunch is that the lawsuit nixed a US single release because Denver had to be given a co-writing credit (and would have to be paid royalties).

Despite being listed on later compilations, Run 2 only appeared on this single. All other tracks titled Run 2 play the standard album version from Technique - with the exception of the video on A Collection.

It's never been clarified whether the B-side MTO stands for "made to order", "mid tempo one" (standard demo naming convention within the New Order camp), or "much too old", which is a play on the lyrics from Fine Time. It's pretty much a throw-away track, and the bad edits in question are actually more like the effect of a DJ cutting in and out of a song by using the faders on a mixer - something I've seen and heard Derrick May do during his live sets.