Top 40 Music on Compact Disc: Was (Not Was)

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Topic: Was (Not Was) - "Walk The Dinosaur"

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crapfromthepast
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Posted: 03 October 2007 at 5:46pm \| IP Logged

I remember hearing the full LP version of this on the radio (98PXY/Rochester NY) when it was a hit in 1989, and I don't remember hearing the 45 edit at all on the radio. Do any of you remember hearing the 45 edit on the air at all?

In any case, the three CD sources I have for the 45 edit all sound like mud. They are:

Now That's What I Call Music 1987 (Virgin EMI PolyGram UK 8 27071 2, 1993)
Hits On CD Vol. 9 (Mercury Germany 816 670-2, 1988)
The "A" List Disc 46 (Swaitek, 1994)

I have six CD sources for the LP version, all of which sound quite a bit better than the above three CDs:

Modern Rock 1988-1989 (Time-Life R828-07, 1999, and the best-sounding of the bunch)
Sounds Of The Eighties 1989 (Time-Life R988-13, 1995; digitally identical to above Modern Rock CD)
What Up, Dog? (Chrysalis VK 41664, 1988)
Rock On 1989 (Cema Special Products S21-18695 ROK-2-1989, 1996; digitally exactly 0.4 dB louder than What Up Dog)
Everything '80s (Razor & Tie/Warner Special Products OPCD-4560, 1995)
Turn It Up (PolyTel Canada 840 533 2, 1989)

Here are instructions for creating the 45 version from the LP version; times are given for the Modern Rock CD:

Keep 0:00.0-1:56.9 of the LP version.
Edit on downbeat.
Keep 2:26.1-3:32.7 of the LP version.
Edit on downbeat.
Keep 3:49.3-4:23.7 (end) of the LP version.

Note that the "additional production and final mix" credit on the 45 is also on the album, so the 45 is just an edit, not a remix.

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eriejwg
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Posted: 04 October 2007 at 6:54am \| IP Logged

Odd that a song that was a hit in 1989 showed up on a UK 1987 CD. Must have been a hit there 2 years earlier.

I have a 192 bitrate version from the Now That's What I Call Music 1987 disc and it sounds rather nice.

crapfromthepast
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Posted: 04 October 2007 at 7:19am \| IP Logged

eriejwg wrote:

I have a 192 bitrate version from the Now That's What I Call Music 1987 disc and it sounds rather nice.

It's not REALLY bad, like some of the much older tracks taken from vinyl or anything, but when you do a side-by-side comparison with any of the LP-version CDs, it's a little more apparent. The 45 versions sound a little muffled, like you're listening under a blanket. The high end is a little more clear and a little better defined, for lack of a better description.

NightAire
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Posted: 05 July 2018 at 12:10am \| IP Logged

At risk of stirring up unnecessary confusion... I'm starting to wonder if the 7" version might be a SLIGHT remix... and here's why:

To my ears, the tympani with reverb on the off-beats right before "Open the door, get on the floor..." each time is more pronounced in the 7" vs the album version. They are in both versions, so it's a matter of prominence in the mix. I would never have noticed had I not been playing them at the same time, one in the left and one in the right.

Behind the second verse, especially under the line "much too big to be a bird..." there is a lightly buzzing guitar in the LP version... it is absent in the single version.

The reverb on the "CAW!" right after the words "...than I've EVER heard..." has a significantly longer reverb tail on the LP version than the single version.

Unless I did my edit in the wrong place, the last "open the door / get on the floor / everybody kill the dinosaur" seems to have different horns behind it. (That could be an editing error on my part, but the first part of the edit certainly matches.)

Could somebody double-check me on this? Did I just get an oddball mix of the LP version mixed into my collection, or are there truly minor differences in the mix between the LP version and single version?

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aaronk
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Posted: 05 July 2018 at 12:38pm \| IP Logged

Great catch, Gene! The single version is definitely missing the electric guitar in the third verse.

I have a rare 1993 promo CD single that hasn't yet been documented, but it contains the original single version.

DPRO 04568
1. Edit (listed 3:38; actual 3:37)
2. Album Version (listed 4:21; actual 4:22)
3. Acappellasaurus (listed 3:45; actual 3:46)

This promo CD was released to try capitalizing on Jurassic Park, which came out in the summer of 1993. A big sticker on the front cover has the artist, title, catalog number, and also says, "For the summer of the dinosaur. The timing doesn't get any better."

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Aaron Kannowski
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eriejwg
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Posted: 05 July 2018 at 1:04pm \| IP Logged

Just compared the Now 1987 to the custom edit I did
of the LP version. The mixes sound identical. Does that
mean that the Now CD has a custom edit too?

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aaronk
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Posted: 05 July 2018 at 1:08pm \| IP Logged

John, Now 1987 does not have an electric guitar during the third verse starting at 2:29. The LP version on What Up, Dog? does have an electric guitar during this verse, which starts at 2:59.

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Aaron Kannowski
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eriejwg
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Posted: 05 July 2018 at 6:26pm \| IP Logged

Thanks for the clarification, Aaron. I didn't listen far
enough in to the song to compare. So, you can't recreate
the 45 using the LP version.

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crapfromthepast
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Posted: 09 July 2018 at 8:21pm \| IP Logged

Nearly 11 years later (!), I can confirm that the 45 is indeed a different mix from the LP version.

45 version (3:37-ish)

The song was a UK hit in 1987 and the US in 1989. It appears that the US and UK 45s use the same mix and edit of the song.

I have the 45 version on the three discs that I listed above:

Mercury Germany's Hits On CD Vol. 9 (1988) - sounds just fine, despite my remarks above
Virgin EMI PolyGram UK's 2-CD Now 1987 (1993) - differently-EQ'd digital clone of Hits On CD Vol. 9
swaitek's promo 50-CD The A List Disc 46 (1994) - has noise reduction, likely taken from vinyl, also likely taken from a TM Century mastering

LP version (4:21-ish)

Chrysalis's What Up Dog (1988) sounds great, and is actually a terrific album, start-to-finish. One of the very best albums from the late '80s.

All of the discs I listed above use the same analog transfer as What Up Dog, and all sound great.

Gene gave the most evident example of the difference: "Behind the second verse, especially under the line 'much too big to be a bird...' there is a lightly buzzing guitar in the LP version... it is absent in the single version."

Ignore my editing instructions above, since you can't edit the 45 from the LP version.

I also have the UK CD Video disc of the song, which has an analog video component that I can't read, plus three versions of "Dinosaur" that are neither the 45 nor LP, and a remix of "11 Miles An Hour".

Edited by crapfromthepast on 09 July 2018 at 8:22pm

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RichM921
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Posted: 10 July 2018 at 7:28pm \| IP Logged

Thanks as always Ron. To answer your question from nearly 11 years
ago, yes my local station played the 45 edit (Q105 Tampa) when the
song was new. But the CHRs in surrounding markets played the album
version.

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