C'hantal – The Realm

Quality repress of the original along with some interesting remixes. The original is by far the best version along with the accapella, but the Hardfloor mixes are worthy of being on here, the rest ymmv.

Who was C'hantal? Part III

For many years now as you may know, I have been on a quest to uncover the identity of the enigmatic C'hantal. Last year, I joined forces with a colleague from the UK and together, we dedicated all our resources to solving this mystery.

Our investigation took us deep, and we managed to reach out to almost everyone who was involved in the recording process, including the main producer, Dennis Pino. Dennis responded to my letter and shared some of his memories. He told us that they found C'hantal on the streets of Brooklyn, a young and attractive girl, and offered her a chance to sing. She agreed, and the next day, she came to the studio accompanied by her father to verify the legitimacy of the offer. They did the recording in one take and paid her between $300 and $500. After that, she vanished without a trace. Dennis remembered her name was "Shanon".

Ralphie Dee, the other producer, had a similar recollection but remembered her as "Ann" from South Carolina. He mentioned that they were preparing to take her on a European tour in 1991, but they never heard from her again.

With these bits of information, we continued our search by reaching out to studio owners, licensing agencies, producers, promoters, libraries, poetry clubs, and social media platforms like Facebook and Websleuths. We even consulted speech experts, but the only useful information we received was that people believe she was a professional and trained vocalist, which contradicts Dennis and Ralphie's story.

According to Dennis, the only known signed contract was in the possession of the now-defunct BCM Records, which had licensed the track for publication in Europe. Unfortunately, the documents are gone, and the archives of BCM were destroyed in a fire after the company declared bankruptcy. The owner of BCM has gone into retreat as a Jehovian Witness and wants to be "left alone."

One of our theories is that there could be a legal issue at play - the sample was suddenly cleared in 2018, 28 years later, after Superorganism ("Something for you M.I.N.D") was forced to remove the track from Soundcloud. Maybe someone has an interest in keeping C'hantal's identity hidden.

Or, perhaps, the romantic tale of the young girl is true after all. Maybe her father wanted to keep her far away from the XTC-loaded European raves. Maybe she is living a different life, unaware of the impact of her recording. Or, there could be a more tragic ending to the story. The mystery of C'hantal continues to intrigue us, and we believe there is more to the story than what we know.

wow that intro takes me back too far - of course Speedy J took it to the next level, but im quite certain i heard the whole of this played as an intro to a set more than once in the day !! :D classic !

I asked Victor Simonelli about the production of Subliminal Aurra "Ease The Pressure," , in relation to this release, which has a very, very similar vocal style:

This above release ["The Realm"] was kind of a copy of "Ease The Pressure" by Subliminal Aurra. My Sister Francesca Simonelli wrote all the verse lyrics for "Ease The Pressure." Friend named Mariana from Baltimore is who did the spoken word on "Ease The Pressure" , (reading the lyrics that my sister Fran wrote). This Label that "The Realm was released on (Power traxx) , was owned by Friend Dennis Pino in Bklyn.. He and all who were part of making "The Realm" liked "Ease The Pressure" very much and wanted to kind of do their own take on it... The Male Vocals on "Ease The Pressure" are Ralphie Dee. Ralphie Dee is one of the Writers of "The Realm", so You can see the further connection. Anthony Manino is also a writer on "The Realm" .. All are long time friends. This came out at a time when KLF and Orb were very popular. "Ease The Pressure" was engineered by Tommy Musto. Dennis , who owned the label that "The Realm" was released on, also had a record store in Bklyn named Timeless (Going from memory). He had a little studio in the record store, and that studio was one of the first studio's I ever interned for :) I met Lenny Dee at this Store/Studio, in the mid 80's, and "Ease The Pressure" was tune that Lenny Dee and I produced together.

"Eternity is passed"
The Realm (2012 Mix): https://www.discogs.com/Ion-Ludwig-TcTr-EP/release/4348224

"Rhythmatic movement, sensations of the mind"
Azure: https://www.discogs.com/Elephunk-Azure/release/7338390

I would say this sounds as Jade 4U voice . Fantastic voice, loads and loads of classic tunes from Belgium.

I love acapella sounds like this. There where more of them used in dicotheques around Belgium and the Netherlands. Does anyone know any other like this? I remember a song called blackout... but other don't come to mind. please help me out!

This is all nice, but does anybody know who does the voice belong to? Why is she not credited ?

what a voice..
http://www.discogs.com/909-Bass-Line-Vol-2/release/119774
sampled "pleasures of the highest sense"
http://www.discogs.com/Ultimate-Seduction-The-Ultimate-Seduction/release/15895
sampled "the ultimate seduction..."
http://www.discogs.com/Robotnico-%E2%85%A1-Backtired/release/133202
sampled "eternity's passed.."
http://www.discogs.com/Speedy-J-Something-For-Your-Mind-Remix/release/72055
sampled "something for your mind, your body, and your soul,"
"a journey of force .."
http://www.discogs.com/Breakouts-Vol-II-Between-The-Grooves/release/71646
sampled "for your mind your body and your soul"
https://www.discogs.com/Next-Out-There/release/134769
sampled "pleasures of the highest sense"
and of course
http://www.discogs.com/release/384577
sampled all lyrics.

Ralphie Dee's Mix is acid goodness. It's nothing special but, I think it's a very well done mix compared to the other mixes found in this CDM. The Love In D Minor Mix and Original Rave Mix are classics. The other mixes are boring and shouldn't bring your attention for more than one minute: Looking For C'hantal Mix sounds quite outdated. W.I.W Mix is dull and doesn't build much during the 12+ minutes it lasts. The Hardfloor mixes are mediocre and boring.