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80smusicfreak
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| Posted: 17 April 2013 at 9:15pm | IP Logged
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aaronk wrote:
| Also, I don't know why people can't admit to liking Milli Vanilli. I'll be damned if they didn't have some of the best pop records of the late '80s, even if Rob & Fab didn't do the singing. It's kind of a shame that they stopped pressing their music. If a "hits" compilation ever came out with the correct single versions, I'd buy it. |
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Allow me to extend the Milli Vanilli sidebar even further - I agree 100%. In fact, I'll come out of the closet and admit that I actually saw Milli Vanilli in concert before the scandal broke... :-)
Back in the '80s I lived in SoCal, and at the beginning of every summer for a roughly two-week period leading up to the 4th of July weekend there was a huge county fair held about 10 miles (and a couple cities over) from where I lived. It was something all of us young locals looked forward to annually, just after the school year had ended (and over 20 years since I last attended, a quick on-line search reveals it's still going strong). I went at least once every year from roughly 1985-90, during my HS & college years. Anyway, this fair included a large stage and grandstand area where different mid-level recording artists performed every night over those 14-17 days - usually they were current top 40 acts, w/ a few oldies or country acts also mixed in. The beauty was, once you paid a whopping $5 admission to get into the fair itself, those evening concerts were always FREE. :-) (No longer true today, BTW.) Seating in the grandstand was first-come, first-serve, or you could take a spot in the standing area that extended about 20 feet out from the very front of the stage...
Over the six-year period that I attended, I probably saw about 10-12 concerts total; as I recall, they were typically 60-75 minutes in length. I always attempted to get there early, to ensure a good spot in the standing area right in front of the stage. A friend of mine had this really cool (and small) audio cassette recorder that came w/ this long clip-on mic, which he'd let me borrow for each show. Armed w/ a new, blank, high-quality 90-minute tape to capture each concert in its entirety, I always made sure that I had it ready to go in the recorder, which fit easily into the right front pocket of my jeans. I then ran the mic cord up inside my T-shirt, and clipped it to the outside end of my sleeve. :-) (I always wore a dark blue or black shirt, to insure the mic was less visible.) When the show started, and the lights went dim on stage to the roar of the crowd, it was time to pull it out of my pocket, hit the "REC" button, and stuff it back in. I always kept an eye on my watch so I'd know when it was time to flip the tape after 45 minutes, and made sure it was ALWAYS during the applause that occurred between songs, so that nothing was missed. I must've recorded a half-dozen shows; I know I captured Steppenwolf, Kool & the Gang, and Laura Branigan on tape, among others - think I may have gotten Frankie Valli, Little River Band, Kenny Loggins, and Kim Carnes as well (I remember I saw them all there during that period, anyway). Only ONE person standing next to me ever noticed that tiny mic clipped to my shirt sleeve, and asked me what it was, lol. The tapes always came out great (much better than most bootleg LPs I've heard over the years), and one of these days, I'll dig out that old tape box buried somewhere in my closet and re-live those shows. :-) (RIP Laura Branigan - luckily, I got to see her live one more time, at a fair in NJ in the late '90s, a few years before she passed...)
Okay, back on track: So it's June of 1990, the county fair is on, and this new dance act, Milli Vanilli, which had been hot for over a year then (w/ five hits already under their belt), and having won the 1989 Best New Artist Grammy four months earlier, is among the acts scheduled to perform live there that year - oh, and their second album, The Remix Album, had just hit store shelves a few weeks earlier. Yeah, at that time, there were already some rumblings about Rob & Fab not actually singing on the album, but I wasn't yet aware of it, and I actually liked most of their hits. So when a couple of my friends said they were going to go that night, I jumped onboard, knowing it would be a fun summer evening at the fair, and that it would only set me back a paltry five bucks (okay, plus maybe a little more for food, rides, and/or games - but hey, the MV part would be FREE!). We also knew that as a new dance act w/ nearly a half-dozen recognizable songs, MV were sure to draw the young ladies - and on that level, they certainly didn't let us down. ;-) (John Kay, eat your heart out!) There was no question Rob & Fab knew how to dance that night, anyway, and I can report there were NO tape skips during the show! :-) I remember they actually pulled a teen girl from the audience and had her sit in a chair onstage as they "sang" their #1 hit, "Girl I'm Gonna Miss You", to her. She was thrilled, as was the entire crowd that evening - no one left disappointed. At this time, I can't remember if the MV show was among the ones I caught on tape, or not...
Then, about 4-5 months later (November), all heck broke loose when producer Frank Farian came forward and confirmed that the singers indeed WEREN'T Rob & Fab; they of course had to return the Grammy, the media had a field day, lawsuits were filed, etc., etc. So did I then feel cheated??? Ripped off??? Did I call the organizers of the fair and demand my money back??? Did I think that meant the MV tunes weren't "real" or that their cassettes & CDs would somehow self-destruct just because the two guys we'd seen in the videos (and in my case, also watched dance onstage) didn't actually SING on the album??? Hardly...
I still remember the commercial that Rob & Fab made a couple years later (1992?) for Care Free gum - Rob & Fab gum commercial - and thought it was cool that they could then at least laugh about it. The following year (1993), I also recall reading in the music press about how the duo had stuck together and actually SUNG an album of new recordings themselves, simply titled Rob & Fab. At the time I laughed, although I admit I was curious to hear what it sounded like. Alas, it of course received no MTV or radio play, and there was no internet on which to "sample" some tracks from it then, so I didn't buy it. Then around 1995-96, having moved to the NYC area by then, I remember heading over to northern NJ on one of my music-buying trips, and hitting a chain store. (I believe it was either a Best Buy or Nobody Beats The Wiz.) Of course, as I normally did, I made sure I hit their cheapo/cut-out bin, in search of some bargains or oddities - and lo & behold, they had about a half-dozen brand new, sealed copies of the great lost Rob & Fab album on cassette (and I wanna say they had a few on CD, too), so I bought one - it was only $1.99, at the most. :-) Think I played it once back then, and haven't touched it again since - but to this day, I still have it, lol. Fellow chat board member crapfromthepast has by far the definitive web page on this album: Rob & Fab album . All I can add to it is that the album was most definitely issued by the label on cassette here in the U.S., too (label & no. for the cassette version is Joss Entertainment JEG 63192-4), and since CD sales in this country had just barely passed cassettes at the time (1993), however many total copies were actually pressed (2,000 or 3,000), I guarantee the format breakdown on that figure was 50% cassette/50% CD. cftp also has a promo CD single for "We Can Get it On"; and while I don't actually own one, that tells me a commercial two-track cassette single was more than likely issued for it, too, featuring the "radio edit" of that song, plus a B-side - so we're both still missing a few MV collectibles, lol...
I, too, am quite surprised that after more than 20 years, MV's music remains unavailable on CD here in the U.S.; there's no doubt in my mind that Sony/BMG could sell quite a few copies of the Girl You Know it's True album if they brought it back - and if not a straight re-issue, the duo could certainly warrant a volume in the distributor's "Playlist" series, IMHO...
Sorry for the rather long post!
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DJghr1
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| Posted: 18 April 2013 at 4:29pm | IP Logged
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I don't mean to derail the current thread even more but I had to chime in where 80smusicfreak left off...
Back in the Summer of '89, I saw MV in concert myself (in Tampa), this time on the Club MTV Tour. "Downtown" Julie Brown was the host & M.C. Also part of this tour was Information Society, Paula Abdul, Tone Loc, & Was (Not Was). Despite low attendance the energy level was great & I didn't care that MV was lip syncing.
Sorry again, continue with the thread... :)
Edited by DJghr1 on 18 April 2013 at 4:32pm
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MMathews
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| Posted: 19 April 2013 at 1:18am | IP Logged
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To the combo-topic i will add also that i thought that at
the time, the entire MV "scandal" was blown totally out
of proportion.
I didn't care that Keith Partridge's brothers and sisters
weren't really singing or playing backup on my Partridge
Family records, that my Archies records weren't really
sung by cartoon characters. You're supposed to "hear"
music not look at it.
As for Wind Beneath My Wings, yes, a beautiful song done
my many wonderful singers including Bette - but i am with
Ron .. i wanted to run screaming everytime she got to the
"flllyyyyyyyyyy" part.
Years ago i made my own custom edit (using crossfades as
Gordon did) to remove the "flyyy" part.
For me it's so much gentler that way. Oh, and i too am
comfortable in my manhood to to say Barry is one cool m--
----r.
As Deacon once said on "The King Of Queens" .. "hey, the
man had a lot of hits". :-)
MM
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EdisonLite
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| Posted: 19 April 2013 at 9:47am | IP Logged
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I'd love to hear your custom edit of "Wind", Mark. My recent editing was just to get the promo edit, but in following the precise notes given earlier in the this thread, I found one or two edits very awkward sounding, so I might have done the edit a half-second later where it was so much smoother - nothing where I edited out that annoying "flyyyyyy" section - and I totally agree, Mark, that's so annoying. At least the 45 edits out the equally annoying "You, you, you" parts, so 50% of the annoyance is gone. But I'd still prefer a non-"flyyyyyy" version! LOL BTW, the 1st version I ever heard of this song was Lou Rawls, so I first knew it as a neo-disco song (or whatever you want to call disco in 1982) and, despite an entire 1st verse spoken by Lou instead of sung, I really loved this recording. Then I heard Sheena's, Gladys', Gary Morris', etc. Bette's would be fine if that coda could be sustituted for something else.
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Brian W.
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| Posted: 19 April 2013 at 6:38pm | IP Logged
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crapfromthepast wrote:
But "Wind Beneath My Wings" still gives me hives and makes my teeth hurt. Never before or since was there a song that made me want to gouge my ears out! It's not the song, either, because I've heard great versions by Lou Rawls and Gladys Knight. I think it's the "flyyyyYYYYYYYYY" at the end of the song... |
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I'm like that with Patrick Swayze's "She's Like the Wind." Clunky, dumb-ass, low-IQ lyrics. It sounds like a fifth grader wrote it. (I initially typed "low-EQ" lyrics -- hilarious irony, eh?)
Bette Midler, not a big fan, but don't hate her music, either. But I've liked her less since I got to know several people who worked with her on the Disney lot when she had a film contract there and had her own office, and they (both men and women) all said she was a bitch. Nobody liked her. (They all looooved Goldie Hawn, though, and said she was exactly like what you see on the screen. That's really her.)
And I actually do like Milli Vanilli as well. I have a whole Milli Vanilli singles comp I made with all the correct 45 versions and correct B-sides.
Edited by Brian W. on 19 April 2013 at 6:43pm
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Michaeldila
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| Posted: 10 December 2014 at 5:54pm | IP Logged
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i just listened to the short version of "wind beneath my wings" from the
'atlantic 50 years' cd and the edits are indeed atrocious!! especially the edit
at 3:31....if you are listening with earphones it's criminally amateur-
sounding. i thought it was maybe an attempt by the cd's compiler to match
the radio version, but when i listened to the "official" video version on
youtube, it was exactly the same. does anyone own the original cd single
promo from 1989? is it the same story on that cd? or the promo 45?
and while on the bette topic...there is a video on youtube of bette lip-
syncing "from a distance" on the tv show 'top of the pops' from 1991. it is
the same shortened edit that i remember hearing all over the radio in new
york city. the bridge is shortened as is a small part of the ending. my
question is was this edit ever available anywhere? was it a dj edit?
Edited by Michaeldila on 10 December 2014 at 5:58pm
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aaronk
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| Posted: 11 December 2014 at 11:18pm | IP Logged
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The promo CD for "Wind Beneath My Wings" has the same edit as the "Atlantic 50 Years" disc.
The only promo CD I have for "From A Distance" is PRCD 3528-2. It has a non-described version with a listed & actual time of 4:37.
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eric_a
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| Posted: 12 December 2014 at 6:24pm | IP Logged
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aaronk wrote:
The only promo CD I have for "From A
Distance" is PRCD 3528-2. It has a non-described
version with a listed & actual time of 4:37. |
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To add to Aaron's point, I poked around some old Casey's
Top 40 and Rockin' America discs, and they both played
the full version. Of course, this doesn't prove that an
edit *doesn't* exist, but I'd be surprised if they both
played such a long ballad if a label edit were in wide
circulation.
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80smusicfreak
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| Posted: 31 January 2015 at 7:58pm | IP Logged
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80smusicfreak wrote:
| The following year (1993), I also recall reading in the music press about how the [ex-Milli Vanilli guys] had stuck together and actually SUNG an album of new recordings themselves, simply titled Rob & Fab. At the time I laughed, although I admit I was curious to hear what it sounded like. Alas, it of course received no MTV or radio play, and there was no internet on which to "sample" some tracks from it then, so I didn't buy it. Then around 1995-96, having moved to the NYC area by then, I remember heading over to northern NJ on one of my music-buying trips, and hitting a chain store. (I believe it was either a Best Buy or Nobody Beats The Wiz.) Of course, as I normally did, I made sure I hit their cheapo/cut-out bin, in search of some bargains or oddities - and lo & behold, they had about a half-dozen brand new, sealed copies of the great lost Rob & Fab album on cassette (and I wanna say they had a few on CD, too), so I bought one - it was only $1.99, at the most. :-) Think I played it once back then, and haven't touched it again since - but to this day, I still have it, lol. Fellow chat board member crapfromthepast has by far the definitive web page on this album: Rob & Fab album . All I can add to it is that the album was most definitely issued by the label on cassette here in the U.S., too (label & no. for the cassette version is Joss Entertainment JEG 63192-4), and since CD sales in this country had just barely passed cassettes at the time (1993), however many total copies were actually pressed (2,000 or 3,000), I guarantee the format breakdown on that figure was 50% cassette/50% CD. cftp also has a promo CD single for "We Can Get it On"; and while I don't actually own one, that tells me a commercial two-track cassette single was more than likely issued for it, too, featuring the "radio edit" of that song, plus a B-side - so we're both still missing a few MV collectibles, lol... |
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Ha. Yesterday, I finally received my copy of Cash Box Looking Ahead 1959-1993 from Record Research. While flipping through it, to my surprise, I noticed it indicates that Rob & Fab's "We Can Get it On" actually CHARTED for one week at #106, in the magazine's 11/21/92 issue! (RR chose to list it in the book under the name "MILLI VANILLI", however.) Very interesting. (The guys must've called Wayne Newton, lol - after all, that same week he was at #25 w/ a bullet, and just three weeks away from hitting #1 w/ "The Letter"!) Oh, and ironically, after suspending it in the 08/31/85 issue, Billboard finally resumed its own "Bubbling Under" chart just TWO WEEKS later, in the 12/05/92 issue - so did Rob & Fab barely miss appearing there, too???
BTW, I should correct myself above - the CD maxi-single for "We Can Get it On" shown on cftp's web site is actually a commercial copy, and NOT a promo. However, by coincidence, there IS a rare promo copy currently up for grabs on eBay, which featured the same four versions of the song, but w/ more generic cover art: ROB & FAB - "We Can Get it On" (U.S. promo CD single) Also, Joel Whitburn's listing for this single in the book states "(3 versions)" in the "B-side" column, in addition to showing the maxi-single's catalog no. ("63191"), so there may not have been a regular two-track single after all. Oh, and there is currently one copy listed on eBay of the Rob & Fab album on cassette (complete w/ some excellent pics), which is identical to mine: ROB & FAB - "Rob & Fab" (U.S. cassette)
Sorry to hijack this thread yet again!
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crapfromthepast
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| Posted: 31 January 2015 at 9:39pm | IP Logged
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To further derail the thread, I have a commercially
available cassette single for "We Can Get It On", with a
cardboard sleeve. It has 4 tracks on it - two per side.
I've still never seen a single for Wayne Newton's "The
Letter".
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Top 40 Music on Compact Disc : Chat Board
Topic: Bette Midler - "Wind Beneath My Wings"
