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PopArchivist
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| Posted: 27 April 2019 at 5:06pm | IP Logged
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Because this is a little bit before my time how is it possible that top 40 hits that were exclusive to mono 45's upon release can be found as stereo releases on numerous compilations?
While I know stereo existed during the 60's how do so many various artists comps have stereo versions of these hits? If history is to be accurate Your Song by Elton John should be in mono, but EVERY released comp has it in stereo. Is it an attempt to rewrite history? I am sort of curious if every top 10 from 1960-1969 on the Hot 100 released in mono has a stereo counterpart. When I listen to Traces by Classics IV, the stereo clearly is on every Classics IV comp while the mono is nowhere to be found but the 45 itself.
As good as the Time Life CD's are they clearly have stereo versions of the hits and not the mono. Hell I even picked up Gold with the Supremes and I love the stereo sound. That does not mean it was released in stereo, but was stereo (other than jukeboxes) being produced for sale during the 1960's or is that were all this stereo comes from? Or did companies produce stereo and mono together? Some singles like The Twist have no stereo counterpart, it was recorded much later because of rights issues.
I ask more out of historical context to understand if the stereo versions were done years later or at the same time. My understanding was that stereo of the 60's was given second status to the mono but was still done by the record companies and maintained in catalogue. It was done, but from everything I read, the effort level was low. Hopefully if anyone can give validity to all these stereo 45 versions that are out there, please educate me. Are the stereo 45 versions legit, or only the mono 45's until 1968?
Edited by PopArchivist on 27 April 2019 at 5:10pm
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Santi Paradoa
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| Posted: 27 April 2019 at 6:08pm | IP Logged
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In some cases the label(s) discarded the mono versions of the singles they had on tape and instead held on to the stereo LP versions. That may explain why some songs have never appeared on CD in mono even though the commercial 45 was issued in mono.
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davidclark
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| Posted: 27 April 2019 at 8:30pm | IP Logged
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PopArchivist,
Good questions. Here's as brief an answer as I can attempt.
Commercial 45s were essentially issued in mono until 1968,
when the record companies began to issue stereo 45s (save for
a brief foray into stereo 45s in the late 50s/early 60s, however
there was pretty much always a mono 45 counterpart to a stereo
45). Check out the "List of mono and Stereo 45s - 19xx" posts
on this very board that list for every top 40 single from 1968 to
1975 whether it was issued in mono, stereo, or both. (I seem to
recall recently having written this info before...somewhere).
In terms of recording, many songs were recorded multitrack. But
since 45s ruled in terms of pop hit radio throughout most of the
60s, mono was king. There were different reasons a song got
mixed into stereo back in the 60s:
1) a stereo LP was issued, at or near the time of the hit 45. Many
hits were mixed to stereo for such an LP, however some were
issued in electronic stereo or simply mono on a stereo LP.
2) one or more years later, the song was issued on an LP (often a
"Greatest Hits" or VA LP - this was quite common for many
Motown Artists that got a "hits" LP issued, 1966 being a banner
year for first time Motown stereo). Again, sometimes the song
was mixed into stereo, sometimes not.
What happened for such a stereo mix is that sometimes the mix
was close to the 45, sometimes it wasn't - sometimes the mix
was just not right, other times they were missing overdubs or
were an incorrect edit, version, etc.
Also, some 45s were issued AFTER a stereo LP was issued. In
this case, sometimes the mono LP mix was used, sometimes a
new 45 mix was done, sometimes it was a fold-down of the
stereo.
Then came the 70s, 80s and the CD era that saw many songs
being issued in stereo for the first time. Again, sometimes the
mix was close to the 45, sometimes not.
So, in terms of "authenticity", it is hit and miss, and often up to
an individual collector how he/she classifies the songs. To me, a
stereo mix of a song that was issued at any time is valid in my
collection - I just note the particulars surrounding such a version
- I have a database where I have attempted to indicate info such
as the first time stereo issue, mix/version details, etc. for as
many hits as I can, to help me sort all this out. It's part of my
passion for collecting this stuff - it's fun!
It goes without stating that I do not indulge the "cheesy"
remakes done by "one or more members of the original group"
stuff, the sound a far cry from the original. I do however,
consider some songs that were "remade" in stereo to be
acceptable for what they are (e.g, Pat Boone's 1959 remakes of
his earlier hits).
And I agree with Santi - record companies have discarded/lost
many mono mixes, due to stereo becoming the norm over time.
That's what now has made true mono 45 mixes the challenge to
collect (for those 45s that were not simply fold-downs of the
stereo)!
Edited by davidclark on 27 April 2019 at 8:31pm
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Hykker
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| Posted: 28 April 2019 at 6:55am | IP Logged
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Santi Paradoa wrote:
In some cases the label(s)
discarded the mono versions of the singles they had on
tape and instead held on to the stereo LP versions. That
may explain why some songs have never appeared on CD in
mono even though the commercial 45 was issued in mono.
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Another reason is simply that most people view stereo as
"better" than mono. In the 70s when many labels cleaned
house (I'm thinking the ABC purge in particular), there
was little to no interest in mono from the public.
Only a relative handful of collectors appreciated the
original mono mixes. Heck, even among some collector
friends of mine they "upgraded" their mono albums to
stereo in the 70s.
Hence, mostly stereo reissues.
Edited by Hykker on 28 April 2019 at 6:57am
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Top 40 Music on Compact Disc : Chat Board
Topic: Stereo in the 1960’s
