25 years after I bought the single 'Duel' I find out that there's a limited edition double single of this track! Fortunately, I spotted this double single at a bargain price, because nothing is worse than seeing items like this for a staggering amount and you realise you either have to wait forever to find another copy or it will never be available at a reasonable price at all.
When the single 'Only one word' was released, it was also released as a limited edition 10" single in a box set. The box set featured three colour prints and one exclusive track: the demo version of 'Only one word'. When you listen to it, it sounds a bit like a rough version of the track performed live.
Compared to the aggressive sound of their debut album 'A secret wish', the material on Propaganda's second album '1234' was rather subdued. 'Only one word', the second single from the album, was a good example: the first line-up of Propaganda would never even have considered a ballad to be released as a single. Yet, here it was. Personally, I rate this as one of my favourite Propaganda tracks of all.
This is an interesting one. Propaganda for Frankie is an Italian producer/DJ outfit that decided to profit from the ongoing popularity of the bands Propaganda and Frankie goes to Hollywood. Their track 'P-machinery medley with Relax' is what people would nowadays call a 'mashup'. The difference being that the songs are performed by other, unnamed, artists.
In late 1985, Propaganda's management introduced the group to the London based music lawyer Brian Carr of Compton Carr, who studied both contracts Propaganda have been given to ZTT Records and Perfect Songs, contracts which had been signed by the band members without legal advice. He came to the conclusion that under these contracts, the members of the group could go on making records for the rest of their lives and never make any money from them.
When I called this song 'Machinery' in this post, someone immediately corrected me, writing that the song is called 'P-Machinery'. Of course, I do know this, but it has been subject of a heated discussion between a friend and me over the years. His supporting evidence was that the song's lyric never mentioned 'P-Machinery'. My evidence was that it is continually listed as 'P-Machinery' in 'Britains Hit Singles' and the Dutch 'Hit Dossier'.
For a little while in 1985, I thought Propaganda was the best thing since sliced bread. After the success of Dr. Mabuse, the band fell silent for a while before releasing 'Duel'. I vaguely recalled 'Dr. Mabuse', but this new single was total genius in my book. Especially the frantic piano solo was something I really marvelled at.
I'm glad to say I got into Propaganda before they took over the charts in Europe with their second single 'Duel'. 'Dr. Mabuse' peaked at number 27 in the UK singles chart and number 7 in Germany in 1984, but elsewhere the single failed to chart.
