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AndrewChouffi
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| Posted: 27 May 2016 at 6:35pm | IP Logged
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Was the original mix of Billy Thorpe's #41 hit "Children Of The Sun" ever issued, from tape, on a CD in any country?
Does anyone have even a clean dub from an album or 45 they could let me listen to? It's been years since I've heard it, and I don't really like the remixed 'Revisited' version...
Thanks,
Andy
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jimct
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| Posted: 27 May 2016 at 8:59pm | IP Logged
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Andy, I have just sent you out dubs of both the long & short versions of
my 1979 promo 45, confirmed as Capricorn 0321. The long version side
fades in, making it a bit tougher for me to exactly gauge its actual time,
but I did my best: listed time (5:38); actual time (5:36). The short version
does not fade in, has a listed time of (4:35), and an actual time of (4:37). I
also sent this version out to Andy, as most of us here are curious about
short radio versions of their faves - which I'm assuming is the case for
you here. :)
The Capricorn label was filing for bankruptcy during this song's chart run,
so Polydor picked up the song's promotion, mid-stream, for the US
market. I don't believe there were any US stock 45 copies of it on Polydor
(not positive about that, though), but I do own an exact long/short promo
45 clone to the Capricorn promo 45, issued as Polydor 2018. I won't
provide all the extensive deadwax info for four promo 45 sides here, since
it wasn't a db hit (although very close, peaking at #41 in 9/79). But the
Polydor promo 45 deadwax has the old Capricorn promo deadwax info,
for both sides included but crossed out, while adding Polydor's master
info to it.
And, although I don't own it personally, Amazon research has revealed
that the original mix of the self-titled LP is on one CD: the 2002 MSI
Music/Super D "Children Of The Sun" import - but it is currently
extremely pricey. Further, beware that the two cheapest used CD copies
are offering the domestic CD (with the remixed v that you don't want) in
error. The cheapest "legit" is $150, for VG. But I didn't check
eBay/Discogs/etc. Perhaps a better price for it can be had elsewhere.
Edited by jimct on 27 May 2016 at 9:21pm
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cmmmbase
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| Posted: 28 May 2016 at 6:12am | IP Logged
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I do have a stock copy of the Polydor 45...
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AndrewChouffi
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| Posted: 28 May 2016 at 8:15am | IP Logged
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Thanks Jim!!
I will compare the two versions this long weekend; I believe the long version was the stock 45.
Now if anybody has the original album version, I'd love to find out what the actual timing of that is - I think it's even longer.
Andy
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Yah Shure
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| Posted: 28 May 2016 at 6:07pm | IP Logged
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I have two variations of the Capricorn 0321 45:
1) CPS-0321 "Wrapped In The Chains Of Your Love" / "Children Of The Sun." This is the stock 45 as originally issued, with "Wrapped" as the "A" side, and "Sun" the "B" (DJ 45s were mono/stereo "Wrapped.") Particulars for the "Children Of The Sun" "B" side are:
Printed matrix #: CPS-0321-BS
Deadwax matrix #: BS CPS 0321 (RE-1) and the letter "P" formed in dots (this might indicate a Columbia Pittman pressing, were it not for the "TI" on the "Wrapped" side, so who knows?)
Listed time: 4:28
Actual time: 5:38
2) CPS-0321-2 Short/Long DJ 45 issue, with "Sun" on both sides. This is the same Capricorn DJ 45 Jim mentioned above.
Printed matrix #: CPS-0321-2-AS on both sides.
Deadwax matrix #s: ASCPS- 0321-2 (SHORT)
A (crossed out B)SCPS 0321(RE-1)-1 (LONG) Columbia Terre Haute markings on both sides.
Listed times: same as on Jim's copy: 4:35 and 5:38.
Note the added "-2" in the printed and deadwax matrix numbers on the second pressing. Stock 45s with "Sun" as the "A" side also have the "-2" matrix addition, as well as the "AS" suffix.
So, although the listed 4:28 timing makes it appear that the initial stock B-side "Children Of The Sun" ran slightly shorter than the 4:35 "short" DJ 45 version on the subsequent Capricorn and Polydor promo 45s, I can confirm that the label time is in error, and that it plays the same 5:38 version as the subsequent "-2 AS" stock 45s.
Andy, you're correct about the vinyl LP cut running even longer. The title track on my Capricorn 0221 Children Of The Sun LP has a listed time of 6:45 and an actual time of 6:46. That's a lot of sunburned kids! ;)
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80smusicfreak
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| Posted: 29 May 2016 at 6:25am | IP Logged
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AndrewChouffi wrote:
| Was the original mix of Billy Thorpe's #41 hit "Children Of The Sun" ever issued, from tape, on a CD in any country? |
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Great song - probably my all-time favorite hit of the prog genre. Contrary to popular belief (based on reading all of the "Billy Thorpe" threads over at the Steve Hoffman forums and a couple other places, anyway), the original mix from '79 DOES exist on CD...
I don't remember ever hearing "Children of the Sun" on the radio (or anywhere else) when the song was a hit in '79. After beginning to buy music as a teenager in the early '80s, and acquiring several of Joel Whitburn's chart books and reading about the song/album elsewhere, I decided I wanted to track it down. I remember I first found the re-issue of the album on Polydor 6228 on cassette around 1988-89 while out on my record-store travels, and snagged it for a very reasonable price. (Although it's since come down in value, the vinyl LP commanded a bit of a premium at the time. Of course, the album's also titled Children of the Sun, and is not "self-titled", as jimct stated upthread.) Needless to say, when I popped the tape into my car's cassette deck on the way home, I was blown away! Less than a year later, I'd also picked up the original pressing on Capricorn 0221 on cassette (still have both to this day). I've never owned the 45 on either label, though...
Fast-forward to about 5-6 years ago, and like you, Andy, I said it was time to acquire the original recording on CD as well. (Don't care as much for the '87 remix on the ...Revisited album, either!) A quick bit of research revealed that the only time the original recording had ever appeared in the digital format was when the original '79 parent album was re-issued on CD in Australia, where "Thorpie" grew up, and had his biggest success. AFAIK, that's still true to this day. It came out in 1993 on Festival D 19773, but is now long out-of-print, and as jimct noticed, it usually goes for big bucks. (This is actually the one jimct uncovered in the listings over at Amazon; I have no idea where Amazon got "Msi Music/Super D" or the "2002" date from.) I obtained my pristine used copy of the Festival CD through eBay, and IIRC, it set me back about $30-$40 at the time. (So if you're the patient type, I wouldn't dare pay $150+ for it, but it is admittedly fairly rare.) Page for this 1993 Aussie CD on Discogs: BILLY THORPE - "Children of the Sun" (import CD) On that Discogs page, you'll see that it states the following under "Notes": "This was the only official CD release of 'Children of the Sun'. It was only released in Australia, and has the original mix of the title track, as opposed to the remix version that appears on the 'Revisited' CD." Although I'm not the one who posted that, I can confirm the info to be accurate...
Quote:
| Now if anybody has the original album version, I'd love to find out what the actual timing of that is - I think it's even longer. |
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Correct. The actual time of the original recording on the Australian Festival CD is (6:44). As far as I can tell, it is indeed from tape, and sounds pretty darn good, at least to my ears...
On a side note, I find your timing in asking about this song kind of interesting, though. :-) While researching a few finer details for this post, I discovered that "Children of the Sun" was recently included on the Fargo: Year Two TV soundtrack on the Sony Classical label, which came out on CD as an import in March. (Not sure about a U.S. release on CD, although it looks like it's currently scheduled for a June release here on vinyl, anyway.) More info here: TV SDTRK. - "Fargo: Year Two" (import CD) I don't know if it's the '79 original or the '87 remix, though, since both versions have an actual time that's just within a couple seconds of each other...
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Topic: Billy Thorpe - Children Of The Sun
