Top 40 Music on Compact Disc: "Right on Track"

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Topic: "Right on Track" - Breakfast Club

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Indy500
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Posted: 04 November 2010 at 5:24pm \| IP Logged

The 12" single had the following versions of Right on Track: (times from the label)
Side A
Midtown Mix 7:10
Midtown dub 5:35
Canal Street Mix 5:15
14th St Mix 6:00
Side B
Uptown Mix 6:23
Uptown Dub 6:33
Local Mix 4:33

The only one I've found on CD is the Midtown Mix which does run 7:10 and is on the Canadian Unidisc Dance Classics, The Hits, Vol 10

Anyone else have any info on any these mixes?

Edited by Indy500 on 04 November 2010 at 5:25pm

crapfromthepast
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Posted: 04 November 2010 at 5:53pm \| IP Logged

FYI - The "Local Mix" was what was on the 45, and was what got the most airplay in 1987. It's got the vocals from the chorus as the intro instead of just an instrumental intro. After the first 20 seconds or so, it's the same as the LP version.

And no, unfortunately I've never seen it on CD.

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Roscoe
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Posted: 04 November 2010 at 7:37pm \| IP Logged

crapfromthepast wrote:

Correct. This is one I have searched high & low for on CD over the years to no avail. And these days I'm afraid that the song has become one of those 80s hits that has sunk into obscurity.

On a positive note, the above referenced 12" single sounds nice and became a great needledrop source for the 45 version.

aaronk
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Posted: 04 November 2010 at 11:19pm \| IP Logged

It has actually been issued on cd once, but only on an extremely rare promo disc. It's a four disc set from MCA released circa 1988 that has many rare single versions of MCA hits. If I have a chance, I'll post the full track list for all four discs. They are truly a goldmine of hard to find single versions, although the sound quality isn't, in my opinion, the greatest on every track. Nonetheless, all songs are from tape sources.

Updated to add: The sound quality isn't bad on any of the tracks; I probably worded it wrong. I just meant that some of the tracks, when compared with other CD sources, don't sound quite as nice. In those cases, it is typically a more "flat" sounding EQ and sometimes a little more tape hiss.

Edited by aaronk on 06 December 2010 at 2:56pm

aaronk
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Posted: 06 November 2010 at 1:00pm \| IP Logged

The MCA 4-disc promo set track list (times listed are printed times and aren't all correct):

Disc 1 (CD33-17604)
1. AMANDA - Boston (4:16)
2. WE'RE READY - Boston (4:14)
3. RIGHT ON TRACK (Local Mix) - Breakfast Club (4:33)
4. MAD ABOUT YOU - Belinda Carlisle (3:37)
5. HEAVEN IS A PLACE ON EARTH - Belinda Carlisle (4:03)
6. I GET WEAK - Belinda Carlisle (4:18)
7. CIRCLE IN THE SAND - Belinda Carlisle (3:40)
8. AXEL F - Harold Faltermeyer (3:00)
9. ONE THING LEADS TO ANOTHER - The Fixx (3:23)
10. THE HEAT IS ON - Glenn Frey (3:45)
11. SMUGGLER'S BLUES - Glenn Frey (3:45)
12. YOU BELONG TO THE CITY - Glenn Frey (4:22)
13. MIAMI VICE THEME - Jan Hammer (2:26)
14. I CAN DREAM ABOUT YOU - Dan Hartman (4:09)
15. YOU KEEP ME HANGIN' ON - Kim Wilde (4:13)
16. WEIRD SCIENCE - Oingo Boingo (3:45)

Disc 2 (CD33-17605)
1. COOL IT NOW - New Edition (4:06)
2. LOST IN LOVE - New Edition (4:01)
3. MR. TELEPHONE MAN - New Edition (3:58)
4. GIRLFRIEND - Pebbles (4:19)
5. MERCEDES BOY - Pebbles (3:54)
6. OH SHEILA - Ready For The World (3:36)
7. LOVE YOU DOWN - Ready For The World (3:58)
8. I THINK WE'RE ALONE NOW - Tiffany (3:47)
9. COULD'VE BEEN - Tiffany (3:31)
10. I SAW HIM STANDING THERE - Tiffany (3:58)
11. LOOKING FOR A NEW LOVE - Jody Watley (3:58)
12. DON'T YOU WANT ME - Jody Watley (4:10)
13. SOME KIND OF LOVER - Jody Watley (4:32)
14. MOST OF ALL - Jody Watley (4:10)

Disc 3 (CD33-17606)
1. SISTER CHRISTIAN - Night Ranger (4:14)
2. SENTIMENTAL STREET - Night Ranger (4:10)
3. GOODBYE - Night Ranger (4:20)
4. WHEN YOU CLOSE YOUR EYES - Night Ranger (4:02)
5. PHYSICAL - Olivia Newton-John (3:43)
6. TWIST OF FATE - Olivia Newton-John (3:39)
7. DON'T DO ME LIKE THAT - Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers (2:40)
8. YOU GOT LUCKY - Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers (3:37)
9. DON'T COME AROUND HERE NO MORE - Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers (5:06)
10. JAMMIN' ME - Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers (4:08)
11. SOMEWHERE OUT THERE - Linda Ronstadt and James Ingram (3:58)
12. THE ONE I LOVE - R.E.M. (3:16)
13. SHAKEDOWN - Bob Seger (3:59)
14. THE FUTURE'S SO BRIGHT, I GOTTA WEAR SHADES - Timbuk 3 (3:21)
15. CANDLE IN THE WIND - Elton John (3:48)
16. ALL I WANTED - Kansas (3:20)
17. THE SAFETY DANCE - Men Without Hats (2:44)

Disc 4 (CD33-17607)
1. CRUSH ON YOU - The Jets (3:41)
2. YOU GOT IT ALL - The Jets (4:05)
3. CROSS MY BROKEN HEART - The Jets (4:05)
4. I DO YOU - The Jets (3:38)
5. CURIOSITY - The Jets (3:42)
6. ROCKET 2 U - The Jets (3:41)
7. MAKE IT REAL - The Jets (4:16)
8. I MISS YOU - Klymaxx (4:04)
9. MAN SIZE LOVE - Klymaxx (3:58)
10. MEETING IN THE LADIES ROOM - Klymaxx (3:59)
11. I'D STILL SAY YES - Klymaxx (4:13)
12. LOVE OVERBOARD - Gladys Knight (4:25)
13. NEW ATTITUDE - Patti LaBelle (3:59)
14. ON MY OWN - Patti LaBelle and Michael McDonald (4:30)
15. SWEET FREEDOM - Michael McDonald (3:58)

Indy500
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Posted: 06 November 2010 at 1:13pm \| IP Logged

Nice item.

Hykker
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Posted: 06 November 2010 at 4:01pm \| IP Logged

Wow, what a collection! Pretty much everything that matters released on MCA or associated labels from the mid-ish 80s.

Curiously, which version of "Sister Christian" is on it? One side of the promo single there was a radio edit where the guitar solo was replaced with another chorus. Both versions were the same length IIRC. Of course both my copies of this are rather noisy pressings, and I don't think I've ever run across it on CD.

aaronk
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Posted: 06 November 2010 at 5:07pm \| IP Logged

Almost all of the songs are the commercial 45 versions, including "Sister Christian." The only exceptions that I recall are:

"You Belong To The City" (promo version)
"On My Own" (LP length) (incorrectly listed as 4:30)
"I Can Dream About You" (LP length)

bwolfe
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Posted: 08 November 2010 at 7:17am \| IP Logged

"Candle in the Wind" with or without applause?

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aaronk
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Posted: 08 November 2010 at 8:45am \| IP Logged

Without.

crapfromthepast
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Posted: 19 November 2010 at 7:37pm \| IP Logged

Well, just reviewed all 4 CDs of MCA Hits Sampler, and it's pretty terrific. Seems to be all the 45 versions/lengths/mixes, except where noted above. Sound is pretty solid throughout. EQ may be a little thin on some tracks, but that's better than a bass/treble boost. I heard hiss at the end of every one of the tracks, and no loss of the high end on any of the fadeouts, so no evidence of noise reduction on anything.

All in all, 19 of the 62 tracks found their way into my permanent library, replacing the homemade edits, the versions taken from mp3 or vinyl, the versions from CDs that had compression/limiting applied, and so forth.

Here are the 19, with Billboard peak month and my notes:

Boston - We're Ready (February 1987) - longer tail on the fade than any other CDs!
Breakfast Club - Right On Track (May 1987) - the near-mythical "Local Mix" from the 45! Woo-hoo!
Belinda Carlisle - Circle In The Sand (June 1988) - 45 version/mix
The Jets - I Do You (December 1987) - never had this track on CD before
The Jets - Make It Real (June 1988) - more dynamic range than other CDs
The Jets - Rocket 2 U (April 1988) - true 45 pitch/edit, which I'd never had on CD before
Klymaxx - I'd Still Say Yes (July 1987) - 45 version, which I didn't have on CD
Klymaxx - Meeting In The Ladies Room (June 1985) - never had this song on CD before
Gladys Knight - Love Overboard (March 1988) - never had this song on CD before
Patti LaBelle - New Attitude (May 1985) - never had the 45 version on CD before
Pebbles - Girlfriend (April 1988) - much more dynamic range than other CDs
Pebbles - Mercedes Boy (July 1988) - 45 version, which I didn't have on CD
Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers - Jammin' Me (June 1987) - never had this song on CD before
Bob Seger - Shakedown (August 1987) - had it on The A-List
Tiffany - Could've Been (February 1988) - true 45 mix, with proper dynamic range (not compressed/limited in loud portions)
Tiffany - I Saw Him Standing There (April 1988) - never had the 45 length on CD before
Jody Watley - Don't You Want Me (December 1987) - never had the 45 version on CD before
Jody Watley - Most Of All (June 1988) - Yay! The never-available-on-CD true 45 version! This is one of the most underrated songs of the entire decade (co?written by Gardner Cole, who co?wrote "Another Lover", "Open Your Heart", and "Strange But True")
Jody Watley - Some Kind Of Lover (April 1988) - never had the 45 version on CD before

All in all, an outstanding collection. Buy it if you ever see it!

Todd Ireland
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Posted: 05 December 2010 at 2:13am \| IP Logged

Quote:

Breakfast Club - Right On Track (May 1987) - the near-mythical "Local Mix" from the 45! Woo-hoo!

Glad you were finally able to track it down in CD quality, Ron! It's really too bad the 45 version has never been made commercially available on CD as the intro packs a far superior hook than its LP counterpart, in my opinion.

By the way, thanks for providing the track-by-track analysis. I have a copy of this nice MCA sampler set and never realized until you mentioned it that the levels for the 45 mix of Tiffany's "Could've Been" are not clipped and has the dynamic range fully intact. I don't think this mix has appeared elsewhere on CD in this way since.

Edited by Todd Ireland on 05 December 2010 at 2:19am

Glenpwood
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Posted: 10 April 2012 at 1:24pm \| IP Logged

FYI Back On Track (Local Mix) is listed on a digital only Universal compilation The Best 80's Hits Collection in the UK Itunes store but it is the original LP mix. I just wrote Itunes to get a store credit and the listing changed.

aaronk
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Posted: 02 October 2015 at 1:23pm \| IP Logged

Just today, I obtained an import CD that has the correct 45 version of
"Right On Track." It's on a Dutch CD called "Hits Album 6." Please
note that this is a different compilation from the UK CD, which came out
around the same time. Although some of the tracks are the same, there
are some different tracks on the Dutch CD, most notably the Breakfast
Club track.

I'll post further details on this as soon as possible.

Edited by aaronk on 02 October 2015 at 1:23pm

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Aaron Kannowski
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aaronk
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Posted: 05 October 2015 at 7:22am \| IP Logged

Here are the US top 40 hits contained on Hits Album 6:

Madonna - La Isla Bonita (promo 45 remix) (4:02)
Club Nouveau - Lean On Me (3:58)
Simply Red - The Right Thing (45 version) (4:14)
Breakfast Club - Right On Track (45 version) (4:31)
Aretha Franklin & George Michael - I Knew You Were Waiting (For Me) (3:59)
Fleetwood Mac - Big Love (3:37)

All tracks are from tape sources and sound pretty good. They are probably a few generations removed from the original master tapes, but that's okay for those of use seeking the elusive 45 versions contained on it.

Specifically comparing "Right On Track" to the version on the MCA Hits Sampler disc, the copy on Hits Album 6 has a more full-sounding EQ, and it also has some dynamic range compression added. I'm curious to know if the 45 also has this dynamic range compression, so I'll dig out my 45 and have a listen. Doing an A/B between the two CDs, the MCA Hits Sampler copy sounds "lifeless" by comparison. I do not know, however, if this beefier sound on the Hits Album 6 CD is true to what the 45 sounds like. The other tracks on the Hits Album 6 CD don't appear to have any compression added.

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Aaron Kannowski
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80smusicfreak
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Posted: 17 October 2015 at 7:03pm \| IP Logged

aaronk wrote:

Just today, I obtained an import CD that has the correct 45 version of "Right On Track." It's on a Dutch CD called "Hits Album 6." Please note that this is a different compilation from the UK CD, which came out around the same time. Although some of the tracks are the same, there are some different tracks on the Dutch CD, most notably the Breakfast Club track.

I'll post further details on this as soon as possible.

Thanks for the tip on this import CD, aaronk; after reading your post above, I ordered my own used copy on-line last week, and it just arrived a couple days ago. "Right on Track" has always been one of my favorite '80s songs, and w/ the 45 version being so elusive on CD - and one of those rare instances where it's actually LONGER than the LP version (4:30 vs. 4:16) - I'd been wanting the "local mix" on CD for quite some time. I actually own several of the volumes in the U.K. Hits Album series from that period already, but was not previously aware of this similar Dutch series w/ slightly altered track listings. (Strange coincidence file: This Dutch version of Hits Album 6 ALSO includes "Crockett's Theme" by Jan Hammer, which I just posted about in another thread!) I agree that "Right on Track" sounds excellent on this CD. Would love to find that 4-CD MCA Hits Sampler, too, but I doubt that'll happen anytime soon (*sigh*)...

Indy500 wrote:

Believe it or not, MCA also issued "Right on Track" on cassette maxi-single back in early '87; it was one of the very first titles issued in that form when the majors finally decided it was time for the "big push" here in the U.S. Needless to say, it's extremely rare on cassette, but by coincidence, I came across a used copy only about five months ago, and didn't hesitate to grab it. Track listing is identical to the 12" vinyl above, and of course all from tape source. :-) Would take all of the mixes on CD, too, though...

PopArchivist
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Posted: 12 September 2020 at 4:10pm \| IP Logged

aaronk wrote:

Specifically comparing "Right On Track" to the version on the MCA Hits Sampler disc, the copy on Hits Album 6 has a more full-sounding EQ, and it also has some dynamic range compression added. I'm curious to know if the 45 also has this dynamic range compression, so I'll dig out my 45 and have a listen. Doing an A/B between the two CDs, the MCA Hits Sampler copy sounds "lifeless" by comparison. I do not know, however, if this beefier sound on the Hits Album 6 CD is true to what the 45 sounds like. The other tracks on the Hits Album 6 CD don't appear to have any compression added.

I was assembling my 1987 Hot 100 and Aaron I have to concur with you that the Hits 6 of Right On Track sounds fantastic compared to the MCA Hits Sampler. I had seen this thread years ago when I wanted to post on this board (but did not know it was open at the time, like many of us) and ordered the import.

Ron, I would urge you to go with the Hits 6 rather than the MCA. I don't know if Aaron ever got around to digging out the 45 but the RCA does sound lifeless. I don't think it will ever sound better than Hits 6. It is one of my all time favorite songs of the 80's.

Edited by PopArchivist on 12 September 2020 at 4:10pm

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AutumnAarilyn
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Posted: 12 September 2020 at 5:44pm \| IP Logged

In NYC, the album version was the only one I remember
hearing.

edogak2000
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Posted: 22 March 2023 at 10:39am \| IP Logged

Hello,

the B-Side of "Right On Track" (4:05), what mix is it ?

Is it available on any CD ?

https://www.discogs.com/de/release/789552-Breakfast-Club-Rig ht-On-Track

Thanks

Best regards
Adris

thecdguy
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Posted: 22 March 2023 at 4:29pm \| IP Logged

edogak2000 wrote:

Hello,

the B-Side of "Right On Track" (4:05), what mix is it ?

Is it available on any CD ?

https://www.discogs.com/de/release/789552-Breakfast-
Club-Rig ht-On-Track

Thanks

Best regards
Adris

The B-Side has a remix credited to Jellybean, and he did
the "Midtown Mix" that appears on the 12" Single that
runs over 7 minutes, so I'm wondering if maybe the b-side
is just an edit of the midtown mix. Don't know if it's
ever been on CD, though.

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