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EdisonLite
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| Posted: 07 July 2007 at 9:17am | IP Logged
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I was told that the Eric Release of "Hard-To-Find Classics" contains the true single edit of "Rivers of Babylon". But it's rumored that the version on BMG Heritage's "Greatest Hits" is a failed attempt at creating the single edit due to the fact that the ad libs at the end of the song do not match up. I only have the Eric release, and the database has no details. Pat, can you (or someone with both CDs) verify whether this rumor is true or not?
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Pat Downey
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| Posted: 07 July 2007 at 11:15am | IP Logged
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You are correct in that the 45 version of Rivers Of Babylon appears on the Eric cd but what I just discovered is that the BMG Heritage cd contains the LP version of Rivers Of Babylon.
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EdisonLite
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| Posted: 07 July 2007 at 11:37am | IP Logged
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Good -- another unique single version identified. And available on CD!
Thanks to MMathews for pointing this out to me.
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Todd Ireland
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| Posted: 07 July 2007 at 12:54pm | IP Logged
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Nice work, Gordon! I keep wondering how many more 45 and LP version/length differences still exist out there that are not yet accounted for in the database. I'm guessing we have at least 90% of them currently documented, though it's amazing how often we still continue to uncover new 45/LP discrepencies!
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jimct
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| Posted: 03 May 2008 at 9:27pm | IP Logged
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Guys, my commercial 45 of "Rivers Of Babylon" has a listed time of (4:16), but an actual time of (4:20), with deadwax info of "WAA-7948-S-WW2". Since (4:20) happens to be the exact time of the currently-described "LP Version", while the "45 Version" on that Eric CD runs only (4:17), it appears to me that an :03 time variance still exists here. Was the Eric CD version simply faded slightly earlier than my 45? Or was more than one commercial 45 issued here?
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smvceo
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| Posted: 05 May 2008 at 9:35am | IP Logged
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Allow me to clarify that when I mastered the ERIC release containing "Rivers of Babylon," we had a working relationship with Warner's, who bought Sire from Seymour Stein. Sire had licensed the track from Hansa, the German label that owned it, for American release. At the time we were compiling the ERIC release, BMG owned the track, so even though it was licensed from BMG, Warner gave us the master for the Sire 45, which is what we used on the ERIC compact disc. Hopefully, my statement here will put this issue to rest for once and for all.
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jimct
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| Posted: 05 May 2008 at 2:15pm | IP Logged
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Tom, I know I speak for many of us on the Board when I say "Thank Goodness For Eric CD's!" Your work on the Eric CDs is always outstanding, and it has filled in numerous "45 version gaps" that would no doubt still exist, were it not for you, Mr. Buster & Co. It's also great when you're able to pop on here to Pat's Board. The absolute LAST thing I want to do is to raise a question here. I do believe that the "master acquisition info" you just posted to be 100% accurate. Everything sounds perfect. But - the :03 second difference lingers, and my earlier question remains unanswered. So I will soon shoot out an mp3 of my 45 to my good friend Todd, who I'm sure also owns the Eric V/A CD that it's on, for his evaluation, and we will soon report back.
Edited by jimct on 05 May 2008 at 2:18pm
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aaronk
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| Posted: 15 May 2008 at 2:21am | IP Logged
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Todd, did you ever discover the :03 difference?
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Todd Ireland
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| Posted: 15 May 2008 at 5:53am | IP Logged
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No, Aaron. But I'll look into it as soon as I receive Jim's 45 dub.
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jimct
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| Posted: 15 May 2008 at 7:20am | IP Logged
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Sorry for the delay, guys. Todd - you'll have the dub this weekend.
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jimct
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| Posted: 30 May 2008 at 4:53pm | IP Logged
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A new wrinkle for this one, gentlemen. I have just picked up a second, unique promo 45 for this song. This one states (Edit), for both its mono/stereo sides, and both sides feature both a listed & actual time of (3:45). This version starts by chopping off the first :38 1/2 seconds of the stock 45, resulting in a fairly bad sounding, acappella "By the Rivers Of Babylon" intro. I was hoping that was the only difference here, but it isn't. This version removes the female lead singer's voice for a few lines, resulting in the "Gregorian Chanters" getting their own segment, mid-song. Also, later in this version, both the female lead and the male "chanters" are removed for a time, creating an instrumental segment not found on the stock 45. NO audio was added for this version, and all unique audio here was created by simply removing either the female lead's vocal, or a combo of both hers and the chanters' vocals. To me, aside from this new, "train-wreck" intro, these two unique "DJ 45 short-version-only" in-song changes give this song a much more interesting, less repetitive feel.
Edited by jimct on 14 January 2009 at 12:24am
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Yah Shure
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| Posted: 30 May 2008 at 6:33pm | IP Logged
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Jim, the 3:45 edit was serviced because numerous stations asked for it. "Rivers Of Babylon" was a huge record at my station. It tested through the roof, had heavy sales and generated extremely heavy phones. Consequently, it was a big hour-opener. But the original promo 45 sounded like a real "train wreck" coming out of a shotgun jingle to start the hour. By comparison, the no-intro edit sounded great coming out of the news.
Was there ever an "RE-1" version somewhere between these two?
Edited by Yah Shure on 13 January 2009 at 9:17pm
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eriejwg
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| Posted: 30 May 2008 at 7:14pm | IP Logged
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I've located a version of this song, running 3:45, on The Best Of that seems to partially match the description of Jim's 3:45 DJ edit.
But, it still has :20 of chanting at the beginning, so this is not the same.
Edited by eriejwg on 30 May 2008 at 8:16pm
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eriejwg
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| Posted: 30 May 2008 at 7:17pm | IP Logged
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BTW, The Best Of appears to be an import CD.
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bwolfe
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| Posted: 31 May 2008 at 3:22am | IP Logged
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I didn't recall that edit.
What a great find once again!
"Babylon" was also a hit in the Johnstown, PA market.
Their "Mary's Boy Child" is also a Christmas favorite
in the market too.
__________________
the way it was heard on the radio
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jimct
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| Posted: 31 May 2008 at 9:25am | IP Logged
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Yah Shure wrote:
Jim, the 3:45 edit was serviced because numerous stations asked for it. "Rivers Of Babylon" was a huge record at my station. It tested through the roof, had heavy sales and generated extremely heavy phones.
Was there an "RE-1" version somewhere between these two?
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Yah Shure, my (3:45) promo 45 also has the RE-2, like your promo 45 copy does. Sir, I only just learned of this new promo 45 version, but it sounds to me as if you'd long already known about it; for 30 years, no less! :) As another former on-air jock, Yah Shure, would you happen to know of any other unique promo 45 versions, that are not currently noted in the database? If so, I know I speak for many of us here on the Board when I say that we would really appreciate it if you could possibly be a "Good Samaritan" at some point, and take a few minutes to perhaps share any other "Rivers Of Babylon", unique-to-the-promo-45 versions, that you may know of, but have not yet been noted in the database. That way, we can then all benefit from your impressive personal storehouse of music knowledge.
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Yah Shure
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| Posted: 31 May 2008 at 1:18pm | IP Logged
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Jim, thanks for the kind words, but please don't call me "sir." :) You deserve the credit for this find, because even though I've known about (and have had) the edit for 30 years, I hadn't remembered it for 30 years! My first station (WJON/St. Cloud, MN) was very well-taken care of by Sire on "Babylon." Of the five promo 45s I have, one is the first issue (4:16 listed) and the other four are the (3:45) edit. Sire also serviced us with the 12-inch disco-FM promo, pictured below, which we didn't air. We did play the 12-inch of the follow-up, "Rasputin," at night.
(12-inch promo for "Rivers Of Babylon," 7:30/4:06 - yes, 4:06)
During the course of XM's "IT" last fall, I crossed paths with Capitol's Marc Nathan on the xmfan chat board. He'd done promotion for Sire at the time of "Babylon" and remembered quite clearly how big the record was in St. Cloud.
Jim, I'll contribute in any way that I can, but I'm like everyone else here, learning about variations previously unknown (and sometimes forgotten.) When you'd bumped this thread up a month ago, I located my German Hansa label copy and picture sleeve and set them aside... too well, as it turns out. Three other Boney M Hansa 45s and a UK Atlantic "Babylon" later, I'm still looking. :) It took your "edit" discovery to prod me into combing through my own Sire stash. That's because my main focus for the last few years has been on compiling an anthology of the records from my college radio years. Transfering, restoring, scanning, researching, more scanning... it all seems like a bottomless pit at times, and will continue to take most of my time for the next few years.
Bwolfe, you're spot-on. As big as "Babylon" had been on WJON, it was nothing compared to the reaction for "Mary's Boy Child"/"Oh, My Lord" a few months later. To say that the phones lit up like the proverbial Christmas tree would not be stretching it. We continued to play the group's singles through "Hooray! Hooray! It's A Holi-Holiday." The continued popularity of "Mary's Boy Child" over the years doesn't surprise me at all. (Isn't that a cool logo on the German Hansa 45?)
Edited by Yah Shure on 13 January 2009 at 9:21pm
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Yah Shure
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| Posted: 01 June 2008 at 11:50am | IP Logged
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Jim, I just listened to both sides of the "Rivers Of Babylon" 12-inch promo. Listed times are (7:30) and (4:06) and actual times are (7:24) and (4:17.) The short side is an edit of the longer.
The (3:45) edit RE-2 DJ 45 appears to be the same as the (4:17) 12-inch version, minus the intro, faded just a bit earlier and slowed down a little over one-half percent. The mix used for both the 12-inch promo and (3:45) edit DJ 45 has considerably more presence and a bit less bass than the (4:16)-listed first promo, which sounds very muddy in comparison. Even the cut on my Nightflight To Venus vinyl LP has much more high end than the original promo 45. I don't have a stock copy of the single; does your stock 45 also sound muddy compared to the (3:45) DJ edit?
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eriejwg
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| Posted: 05 June 2008 at 12:35pm | IP Logged
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Jim and Yah Sure - Thanks for the tip on this particular promo. My copy, that matches Yah Sure's on the right, arrived today.
This promo version definitely makes a catchy song even catchier!
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eriejwg
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| Posted: 05 June 2008 at 12:51pm | IP Logged
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Jim is correct in stating that the acapella intro has a choppy start. I did smooth mine out a bit.
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Top 40 Music on Compact Disc : Chat Board
Topic: Rivers of Babylon - Boney M
