Deep Blue – The Helicopter Tune

Karl-Haze i agree, i was always a 2 bad micer , but always feel me gravitating to this these days . all great mixes tho

Spotify listing suggests that the VIP mix is also made by Rufige Kru

Saw Sean in Sainso yesterday stocking up on Xmas booze

Here we are 30 years after its release, and it still sounds like future music. Has to be one of the greatest ever releases in the hardcore / jungle / dnb scene.

Sometimes I feel like crying when I hear that awfully out of tune vocal come in on the Rufige Kru remix of The Helicopter Tune, but then I remember that the better track is on the flip, so I dry my eyes, turn the record over and enjoy some blissed out, early Jungle courtesy of JMJ and Richie.

Can anyone else confirm if their copy is just SHADOW 41 R1 pressed on black vinyl?

I think one of the coolest things about the bpm drop in the middle of Fantasy #2, is that it goes from 164, reduces down to about 82, and then jumps back up to 164. Mathematically it works so well because by the time you've hit 82 BPM, that's just halftime of 164 so the track "automatically" gets back to where it started. Little things like this keep music and production infinitely interesting and rewarding.

It's taken me bloody years to realize this, but Fantasy #3 seems like a tribute to 808 State - Pacific State... i got this when it came out and sold it in the mid 90s, but that little synth line has stayed with me since then.. back on the wantlist..

Karl-Haze
I had a similar thought when listening to this vinyl for the first time today. I also prefer the 2 Bad Mice Remix compared to Rufige Kru version on disc 1, but all in all glad i have both! I'll certainly be playing these again :)

A note for collectors, to be sure it’s a 1993 original it needs to come with the stickered sleeve.

Most original copies look like the picture above, with the off white sleeve and the sticker in the centre of the opening. All of the copies I saw at the time of its release looked like this.

There is also a version with a die cut sleeve that has the sticker to one side. I’m not sure if these are part of the original run or if they came a little later but they are from around the same time, a few months later at most.

The record was then reissued in a brown generic Moving Shadow sleeve in 1997. The record itself looks and sounds identical to the original so without the sleeve there is no way of telling the two versions apart. This version wasn’t in the database so I have added it, it probably accounts for a lot of the copies out there.