Popmuzik - M

After 'Popmuzik', 'Popmuzik', 'Popmuzik', 'Popmuzik' and 'Popmuzik', I recently found out that there was a new release of 'Popmuzik' on a 10" single, pressed on pink vinyl. It was another one of those Record Store Day releases, with an interesting tracklisting, because it contained an 11 minute remix on the B-side. And so of course I had to order this one.

The disc doesn't disappoint. Of course I am familiar with the original 7" version, but the three other versions were new to me, and their diversity really surprised me. Maybe all the versions of 'Popmuzik' need to be brought together on a CD release one day. Although listening to all of them in one go is probably going to be slightly exhausting. 

My collection: 10" single [unnumbered]
Found: Discogs.com, received 18 May 2024
Tracks: 'Popmuzik (Original 7" version)', 'Popmuzik (Live Latin Performance Vancouver 2000)', ''Popmuzik (R&B 1978 Demo Version)' / 'Popmuzik (Second Sun Remix)'

Popmuzik (Hip Hop 1989 Re-mix) - M

This single serves to confuse matters more than they already were... Back in 2009 I bought the 1989 remix of 'Popmuzik', a UK release that was a hit in the UK. A year later I found the Ben Liebrand single edit, released in Europe. That single did not chart.

Enter this UK pressing of a 'Hip Hop 1989 re-mix' - also subtitled 'Ben Liebrand Re-mix'. A different sleeve, but it contains the same remix found on the European release. All I can conclude is that the record company was pretty busy with this track, but in all honesty it's quite confusing. All I know is that this version did not chart - the other one did.

My collection: 7" single no. 6177
Found: Record fair, Amsterdam, September 21, 2019
Cost: 1 euro
Tracks: 'Popmuzik (Hip Hop 1989 Re-mix)' / 'Popmuzik (Original 1979 mix)'

Danube - M

You wouldn't be far off the mark if you associated the letter M with that one hit single, Popmuzik, from 1979. Personally I always preferred Moonlight and muzak, a track taken from the same album 'New York London Paris Munich', but that's as far as the general public's recall of Robin Scott's work goes.

After three albums M was dropped by his label. At this point Robin Scott signed to Stiff Records and released the single 'Danube', featuring his girlfriend Brigit Novik on vocals. The single was released on yellow vinyl with a transparent sleeve on which a blue M was printed. With the single in it, this M turned green in parts - what a nice effect. High marks for the novelty effect!

My collection: 7" single no. 6019
Found: Discogs.com, received March 19, 2019
Cost: 1 pound
Tracks: 'Danube' / 'Neutron'

Popmuzik (Ben Liebrand single edit) - M

Attentive readers of this blog will recall I posted a 1989 remix of M's 'Popmuzik' on this blog back in August 2009. I bought that one in the UK. It appears that the Netherlands also released a remix of 'Popmuzik' that same year, except this one was made by Ben Liebrand, the Dutch DJ who had become a household name during the Eighties.

Indeed, his remix is very different from the one on the other single - but less unsuccessful. While the UK version reached number 15 in the UK singles chart, this single did not chart in the Netherlands.

My collection: 7" single no. 4852
Found: Grammofoonwinkel, Utrecht, May 14, 2010
Cost: 1,5 euro
Tracks: 'Popmuzik (Ben Liebrand single edit)'

Popmuzik - M

I have the double groove 12" single of 'Popmuzik', but of course I have the 7" single as well. Although it has to be said, for a long time I only had the 12" single, because I didn't think I would ever play that 7" single very often. It had been a big hit in 1979, peaking at number 3 in the Dutch Top 40, and for a long time I was very sick of this song.

Robin Scott commented about this song: 'I was looking to make a fusion of various styles which somehow would summarize the last 25 years of pop music. It was a deliberate point I was trying to make. Whereas rock and roll had created a generation gap, disco was bringing people together on an enormous scale. That's why I really wanted to make a simple, bland statement, which was, 'All we're talking about basically (is) pop music'.

My collection: 7" single no. 2852
Found: June 21, 1997
Cost: 1 guilder
Tracks: 'Popmuzik' / 'M Factor'

That's the way the money goes - M

Robin Scott, a.k.a. M, released his debut album 'New York, London, Paris, Munich' in 1979. The best known single (as well as the first one) from the album is 'Popmuzik', but 'That's the way the money goes' was another single taken from that album - the third one.

Not that it was as successful: it did not chart in most of Europe, and only reached number 45 in the UK singles chart.

My collection: 7" single no. 4134
Found: Backtrack, Antwerpen, November 7, 2009
Cost: 1 euro
Tracks: 'That's the way the money goes' / 'Satisfy your lust (before you go bust)'

Popmuzik (1989 re-mix) - Robin Scott's M

Robin Scott celebrated the tenth anniversary of his biggest hit 'Popmuzik' with a new remix of the track. It was released in June 1989 and became M's first UK hit since 1980's 'Official secrets'. The single peaked at number 15.

The original 1979 mix of 'Popmuzik' is featured on the B-side of this single, although that one sounds remixed as well.

My collection: 7" single no. 3950
Found: Record Exchange, London, August 5, 2009
Cost: 30p
Tracks: 'Popmuzik (1989 re-mix)' / 'Popmuzik (Original 1979 mix)'

Moonlight and muzak - M

Although 'Popmuzik' was his biggest hit, 'Moonlight and muzak' was the song that always intrigued me more. The mysterious sound, the understated vocals and the angelic background vocal were very appealing to me. A lot of people didn't agree: whereas the former made number 2 in the UK, the latter only reached number 33. In the Netherlands, it didn't go any better: a number 3 for 'Popmuzik' and number 12 for 'Moonlight and muzak'.

My collection: 7" single no. 558

Found: Disco Market, Den Haag, 1987

Cost: 1 guilder

Tracks: 'Moonlight and muzak' / 'Woman make man'

Download: here

Pop Muzik - M

When you have a record collection it's always nice to show people some rarities and gimmicks. Back when everyone knew what vinyl records did, it was great to show this one. The 12" record of M's 'Pop Muzik' played two different songs on the same side, both songs starting at the beginning of the record. It was just a matter of choosing the right groove, because the A-side of this record actually had two grooves!


Of course, I only found out about this 12" when it left the shops for some time. So I had to wait for some time to get my hands on it, whereas my brother actually had it for years. I bought my second hand copy in 1990, eleven years after its release.

Which brings me to another interesting fact: a lot of people actually seem to think that 'Pop Muzik' is an eighties song. However, it was released in April 1979 and was a top 10 hit almost everywhere in Europe that summer. It influenced a lot of tracks from the eighties, though, so it's no wonder it keeps appearing in lots of eighties compilations.

My collection: 12" single no. 91
Found: 1990
Cost: 5 guilders
Tracks: 'Pop muzik', 'M Factor' / 'Pop muzik (full length disco mix)'
Download: here