Following its recent reissues of Liza Minnelli’s Columbia albums The Singer and Tropical Nights, Cherry Red’s Strike Force Entertainment (SFE) imprint is turning its attention to Liza with a Z’s 1989 Epic album Results – an epic collaboration, if there ever was one, with The Pet Shop Boys.  The SFE edition, due in the U.K. on August 25, promises to be a definitive look at this classic pop album, stacked with 3 CDs and 1 DVD.  (Read about those past reissues right here!)

When the stage and screen legend began her collaboration with The Pet Shop Boys’ Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe, and co-producer Julian Mendelsohn, she hadn’t recorded a studio album since 1977’s Tropical Nights.  But she correctly gambled that the Pet Shop Boys’ theatrical pop/dance sensibilities would mesh well with her own.  Though Minnelli was reportedly surprised that Tennant, Lowe and Mendelsohn had already recorded the backing tracks by the time she entered the studio to record her vocals, she quickly adjusted to the change in style from her usual live-vocals-with-orchestra approach.  The team had assembled a stellar set of songs sympathetic to Minnelli’s powerful style.  All but three of the album’s ten tracks had been written by Tennant and Lowe, including “So Sorry, I Said,” “Don’t Drop Bombs,” and a cover of PSB’s “Rent,” a particular favorite of the singer’s from their catalogue.

A trio of perfectly-suited covers rounded out the tunestack.  “Twist in My Sobriety” came from German-born English singer-songwriter Tanita Tikaram’s 1988 Ancient Heart.  “Love Pains” hailed from the pens of Steve Barri (The Grass Roots, The Turtles) and the team of Price and Walsh, and was a top 40 hit in 1979 for Yvonne Elliman.  Most inspired was the selection of Stephen Sondheim’s “Losing My Mind” from his landmark 1971 musical Follies.  Though Minnelli never surveyed the part of Sally Durant Plummer onstage, she stepped into her shoes for this high-octane reinvention of the song, which melded Sondheim’s devastating lyrics to irresistible electro-pop beats.

The single of “Losing My Mind” was released first, in April 1989, and ascended to No. 6 on the U.K. Singles Chart.  The album followed a month later, reaching that same impressive peak position on the albums survey.  Though Results made less of an impression in Minnelli’s home of the United States, it fared well in numerous European countries, and earned the Tony and Oscar-winning actress-singer a new generation of fans.  The following year, in 1990, the Pet Shop Boys would lend five songs to an album by another legendary performer, Dusty Springfield, with whom they had previously collaborated on the 1987 single “What Have I Done to Deserve This.”  That album, Reputation, included the hit singles “In Private” and “Nothing Has Been Proved,” and it has also been reissued by Strike Force in an expanded edition.

Strike Force’s reissue presents the original Results album on Disc One and rounds up the various mixes associated with Results on its two further CDs.  The second disc has seven alternate single mixes of “Losing My Mind” and five of “Love Pains,” while the third disc has nine reworkings of “Don’t Drop Bombs.”  Finally, a DVD has the promotional videos for all three singles plus a television performance of “Love Pains,” and as an unrelated bonus, the promotional video for “The Day After That.”  The John Kander/Fred Ebb anthem, penned for their Broadway musical Kiss of the Spider-Woman, was affectingly recorded by Minnelli for Epic sister label Columbia as a benefit for AIDS charity amfAR as a 1993 compact disc EP; the contents of the EP were previously included on SFE’s reissue of Tropical Nights.

Clearly, Strike Force Entertainment has gotten Results with this expanded box set edition! Look for it on August 25 in the U.K. and one week later in the U.S.!  Pre-order links are available below.

Liza Minnelli, Results: Expanded 4 Disc Edition (Strike Force Entertainment SFE058BOX, 2017) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

Disc 1: Original album (released as Epic EK 45098, 1989)

1. I Want You Now
2. Losing My Mind
3. If There Was Love
4. So Sorry, I Said
5. Don’t Drop Bombs
6. Twist In My Sobriety
7. Rent
8. Love Pains
9. Tonight is Forever
10. I Can’t Say Goodnight

Disc 2: Remixes – “Losing My Mind” and “Love Pains”

1. Losing My Mind (7″ Mix)
2. Losing My Mind (Extended Mix)
3. Losing My Mind (Full Length Ultimix)
4. Losing My Mind (Ultimix Dub)
5. Losing My Mind (Almighty Club Mix)
6. Losing My Mind (Almighty Dub)
7. Losing My Mind (Almighty Transensual Mix)
8. Love Pains (Steve Hurley’s Radio Edit)
9. Love Pains (Steve Hurley’s Remix)
10. Love Pains (Deep House Pains)
11. Love Pains (Deep Dub)
12. Love Pains (Steve Hurley’s Instrumental)

Tracks 1-4 from Epic 12″ single 49-68858, 1989
Tracks 5-6 from Columbia/Sony Music TV U.K. 12″ promo, 2002
Track 7 from Almighty Records U.K. promo CD single, 2010
Tracks 8-12 from Epic 12″ single 49-73166, 1990

Disc 3: Remixes – “Don’t Drop Bombs”

1. Don’t Drop Bombs (New 7″ Mix)
2. Don’t Drop Bombs (Extended Remix)
3. Don’t Drop Bombs (Disconet Remix)
4. Don’t Drop Bombs (Exterminator Remix)
5. Don’t Drop Bombs (Peace and Love Remix)
6. Don’t Drop Bombs (Dub Mix)
7. Don’t Drop Bombs (Percapella)
8. Don’t Drop Bombs (A Capella)
9. Don’t Drop Bombs (Instrumental)

Tracks 1 and 9 from Epic U.K. 7″ ZEE 2, 1989
Tracks 2, 6 and 8 from Epic U.K. 12″ ZEE T2, 1989
Track 3 from Disconet Program Service MWDN 1113, 1990. Later released on Dancin’ Divas (Legacy EK 65034, 1996)
Tracks 4-5 from Epic French 12″ promo – SAMP 1395, 1990
Track 7 from Epic U.K. 12″ ZEE Q2, 1989

DVD: Visible Results (released as CMV Enterprises 2VS-49035, 1990) and more (*)

1. Losing My Mind (promo video)
2. Don’t Drop Bombs (promo video)
3. So Sorry, I Said (promo video)
4. Love Pains (U.K. TV Appearance) *
5. The Day After That (promo video) *