Top 40 Music on Compact Disc: howard jones "things can only get better"

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Topic: howard jones "things can only get better"

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edtop40
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Posted: 11 March 2006 at 12:35pm \| IP Logged

anyone know if the version from the "dream into action" cd, the place where the song was originally issued, contains the version with the synth intro?......on the 45, it seems to have a part of a syth line, maybe from the previous song, INCLUDED on the 45 version....all the greatest hits cd's and compilation seem to have this part edited out..........does anyone have this cd???....also does anyone need a copy of the 45 for their review.....i need help on this one!!!

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budaniel
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Posted: 11 March 2006 at 1:38pm \| IP Logged

I have the Dream into Action CD. Things Can Only Get Better is the first track on the CD, and it does have the full synth intro before the rhythm track comes in.

AndrewChouffi
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Posted: 11 March 2006 at 4:16pm \| IP Logged

Hi 'edtop40',

I don't get this part of your post: "all the greatest hits cd's and compilation seem to have this part edited out".

My 'Best Of" (Elektra) has this synth part. Does your's not?

Andy

edtop40
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Posted: 11 March 2006 at 4:38pm \| IP Logged

can someone send me an mp3 of the version from "dream into action"...........edtop40@yahoo.com

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aaronk
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Posted: 12 March 2006 at 5:39pm \| IP Logged

I know what you're talking about Ed. It's very, very faint... there's the tail end of a synth note right before the intro to the song. You'd need to turn the volume up a bit to hear it. What Ed is saying is that this partial synth note was clipped off the beginning on the CDs he mentioned, but it remains in tact on the 45. The question remains if it's part of the previous track on the original album, or if it's actually part of the song itself.

budaniel
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Posted: 12 March 2006 at 6:59pm \| IP Logged

well...the song is the first track on the CD, so it can't be a leftover from a previous track...unless the song order was different on the original LP.

edtop40
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Posted: 13 March 2006 at 4:07pm \| IP Logged

pat was kind enough to email me an mp3 of the song from the "dream into action" cd and it indeed has the slight synth intro on it........i'm concerned about the song full run time because it looks short..........i will email my full finds later tonite........

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edtop40
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Posted: 13 March 2006 at 7:07pm \| IP Logged

ok........just listened to an mp3 of song from the "dream into action" cd and it has the correct syth intro BUT it fades out about 0:04 earlier than the 45 version.......i believe we can re-create the correct 45 version by splicing the syth intro from the "dream into action" cd with the version from "essentials" which has the proper length 3:59......

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Todd Ireland
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Posted: 29 August 2008 at 6:43pm \| IP Logged

According to abagon, the actual commercial 45 run time of Howard Jones' "Things Can Only Get Better" is 4:02, not 3:59 as stated on the record label. Currently, all database CD appearances of this song run 3:53-3:59, so they all run :03-:09 shorter than the 45. This leads me to wonder if the LP length is shorter than the 45 length. So does anyone have the original 1985 vinyl LP release of Howard Jones' Dream Into Action on Elektra who can pass along the run time of "Things Can Only Get Better"? I would think it runs 3:55 like on the CD release of Dream Into Action.

eriejwg
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Posted: 29 August 2008 at 8:19pm \| IP Logged

I think the opening split second synth note as you describe is actually part of the song as it seems to blend in nicely to the intro.

Indy500
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Posted: 31 August 2008 at 10:12am \| IP Logged

The 12" version is on my Top 5 "Why Isn't This on Cd?" list.

Todd Ireland
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Posted: 03 September 2008 at 9:21am \| IP Logged

Todd Ireland wrote:

According to abagon, the actual commercial 45 run time of Howard Jones' "Things Can Only Get Better" is 4:02, not 3:59 as stated on the record label. Currently, all database CD appearances of this song run 3:53-3:59, so they all run :03-:09 shorter than the 45. This leads me to wonder if the LP length is shorter than the 45 length. So does anyone have the original 1985 vinyl LP release of Howard Jones' Dream into Action on Elektra who can pass along the run time of "Things Can Only Get Better"? I would think it runs 3:55 like on the CD release of Dream Into Action.

As a follow up to the above post... Abagon has a Japanese pressing of the Dream into Action vinyl LP and reports the run time of "Things Can Only Get Better" to be 3:55, just like on the U.S. CD album release. I'd say we have the official LP time pretty much pegged, but again does anyone have the U.S. LP release who can 100% confirm the song's run time on it?

Indy500
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Posted: 03 February 2012 at 3:05pm \| IP Logged

If you are a Howard Jones fan you might be interested in this:

http://howardjones.com/shop.html#ecwid:category=897009&mode= product&product=3879803

Boxset includes the 12" Album, Action Replay and a whole CD of never released on CD remixes including, finally !!, Things Can Only Get Better. Only available through his website and not cheap but it sounds great and if you're a fan of 80's remixes...

New to CD remixes:

1. Look Mama - Megamamamix ( HOW7TE)
2. New Song (Extended Version) (HOW1T)
3. Things Can Only Get Better (Extended Mix - Previously Unreleased on CD) (HOW6T)
4. Pearl In The Shell (US 12" Promo Mix - Previously Unreleased) (ED 4992)
5. Like To Get To Know You Well (International Remix - Previously Unreleased in full on CD)(HOW5T)
6. Life in One Day - Part 1 ( Previously Unreleased on CD) (HOW8T)
7. Life in One Day - Part 2 ( Previously Unreleased on CD) (HOW8T)
8. You Jazzy Nork! (Previously Unreleased on CD) (HOW6T)
9. Conditioning (Original 1983 Mix - Previously Unreleased on CD)
10. No One Is To Blame (Extended Version - Previously Unreleased on CD) (HOW9T)
11. New Song (Alternative Extended Mix - Previously Unreleased)

Edited by Indy500 on 03 February 2012 at 3:11pm

abagon
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Posted: 10 December 2012 at 10:13am \| IP Logged

Todd Ireland wrote:

According to abagon, the actual commercial 45 run time of Howard Jones' "Things Can Only Get Better" is 4:02, not 3:59 as stated on the record label. Currently, all database CD appearances of this song run 3:53-3:59, so they all run :03-:09 shorter than the 45. This leads me to wonder if the LP length is shorter than the 45 length. So does anyone have the original 1985 vinyl LP release of Howard Jones' Dream into Action on Elektra who can pass along the run time of "Things Can Only Get Better"? I would think it runs 3:55 like on the CD release of Dream Into Action.

I got the US original vinyl LP "Dream Into Action" (Elektra 60390-1)
The listed time on the record label and the actual running time is (4:02).
The actual running times of the LP and the 45 are the same each other.
However the 45 has the longer introduction than the LP. (the 45's vocal starts at 0:25, the LP starts at 0:24)
This is not the speed issue. The 45 has a low volume synthesizer tone at the very first. (this length is about 0.7 second.)

--abagon

edtop40
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Posted: 04 April 2014 at 10:00am \| IP Logged

i was able to use the intro from the cd 'Dream into
Action' and tack it onto the correct length version from
the cd 'essential' to effectively re-create the proper 45
version running 4:02......if anyone needs a copy please
send me an email or pm......

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crapfromthepast
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Posted: 28 June 2018 at 8:39pm \| IP Logged

I thought this one would be simple. And I suppose it is, if you're not too picky about a one-second intro that's way down at -56 dB, or the length of the tail of a very long fade.

45 version (4:02)

I found a needledrop of the 45 on YouTube. It begins with about a second of a very faint synthesizer note, way down at -56 dB. After about a second of the faint note, the familiar intro kicks in. The 45 has a fade that starts on a downbeat at 3:47, and runs about 29 beats to 4:02. The song is recorded with a drum machine, and the BPM is constant from beginning to end, with no obvious edits anywhere (i.e., no discontinuities in the beats).

I'd always thought that the vinyl LP version was the same as the 45, and it may very well be the same, but I can't confirm.

CD versions

All of the CD versions shorten the tail of the fade. Most omit the one-second faint synth note before the familiar intro. And just about all sound very good (no added compression/limiting, no noise reduction).

I will try and describe these in what I believe to be some kind of meaningful order.

The closest thing to the 45 that I found is a 3:59 version on Madacy's Rock On 1985 Walking On Sunshine (1998). It lacks the one-second faint synth note, but runs longer than the common CDs. This version has a fade that starts on a downbeat at 3:46 (the same downbeat that's at 3:47 in the 45) and runs 24 beats from 3:46 to 3:59. This version also has no obvious edits anywhere (no discontinuities in the beats).

There are other 3:59 versions on CD, but I don't have any of those discs. They all came out after the Madacy disc, and I don't know anything about the mastering. They're:

Rhino's MTV The First 1000 Years New Wave (1999)
Elektra's The Essentials (2002)
Flashback's Flashback '80s Club Classics (2000)
Collectables' Top Of The Pop Hits The 80s (Box Set) (?)

I discovered that the version on my 1985 Elektra target pressing (that's the pattern on the disc) of Dream Into Action is a differently-EQ digital clone of the Madacy disc, somehow, with four differences: (1) It has the one-second faint synth note intact, which is missing from the Madacy disc, (2) It has a little clipping on the peaks around -2 dB, (3) It fades earlier than the Madacy disc, with a 16-beat fade from the downbeat at 3:47 to 3:55, and (4) It has an edit on a downbeat at 3:38, which repeats about 280 or 290 samples, then picks right up where it left off. Before the edit, Dream Into Action has its absolute polarity reversed compared to the Madacy disc. After the edit, Dream Into Action has its absolute polarity matched with the Madacy disc. It's insignificant, so you won't notice it if you're listening, but it's still a weird curiosity. And it tells me that Dream Into Action is a generation removed from the Madacy disc, because the 3:38 edit isn't on the 45 or on the Madacy disc.

These discs use the same analog transfer as Dream Into Action:

Time-Life's Sounds Of The Eighties Vol. 17 The Mid-'80s Take Two (1996) - differently-EQ'd digital clone
Time-Life's 2-CD Modern Rock Vol. 3 1984-1985 (1999) - differently-EQ'd digital clone
swaitek's 50-CD The A List Disc 27 (1994), so this is likely used on a TM Century disc

The version on Elektra's HoJo Best Of (1993) seems to use the same source tapes as Dream Into Action, with a different EQ nad no clipping, but cuts off the one-second faint synth note and starts with the familiar intro. The weird edit is present, too, at 3:37. The fade matches Dream Into Action perfectly, with a with a 16-beat fade from the downbeat at 3:46 to 3:54. These discs use the same analog transfer as Best Of:

Starland/Warner Special Products' 2-CD Rockin' USA (1994)
JCI's Only Dance 1985-1989 (1995)
Warner Special Products' 18 Modern Rock Classics (1996) - digitally exactly 0.8 dB quieter than Rockin' USA
EMI's 2-CD Entertainment Weekly Presents 80's Wave (1998)

My recommendation?

Try for Dream Into Action or the two Time-Life collections. Realistically, you'll never find a copy of the Madacy disc. And maybe the other 3:59 versions I listed above are good, too? I dunno.

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