ROMANTICS - "What I Like About You"

ROMANTICS - "What I Like About You"

The actual 45 running time is (2:38), the listed time is "2:56" on the record label. (Nemperor ZS9 7527)

Hi, AndrewChouffi. I don't have the vinyl LP "Romantics", however I have the CD "More Of The Big 80's (Rhino)". I have compared the 45 with the Rhino CD. The commercial 45 speed is unbelievably VERY VERY faster than the CD track. The 45 is never edited down, and doesn't have an overdub. There is the final voice "Hi" at 2:37.541 on the 45.



--abagon

I finally acquired a stock 45 for this. Abagon's crazy timing is exactly what I
got, too. It is *not* an edit. It is in *full* chipmunk mode, from start to finish.
Totally unlistenable. My deadwax is a handwritten "AF-ZS9-7527-3."

Does anyone happen to own a promo 45 for this? Unfortunately, it is one of
the very few db promo 45s from 1980 that I am missing. They just couldn't
have serviced radio with the crazy stock 45 version all of us seem to own!

I do have this one on a promo 45 but it is in storage. It even comes with a promo-only picture sleeve. I've never seen another... unfortunately when i bought mine on ebay the seller shipped the 45 inside the sleeve and it split the bottom side.

I don't remember offhand what it times out to, however, I decided to check out the "chipmunked" track speed off of an mp3 of the 2:56 version sped up to 2:38.... I know with absolute certainty that the promo 45 does NOT sound this fast..... but now I am curious about it and will go to my storage locker tomorrow if I can, to go dig it out.

I just timed out my promo, and it times out to 2:54
(listed time 2:56).

MMathews wrote: I have to conclude for myself that this 45 pressing is a critical mastering error.

This may be the most comical understatement I've seen all
day. :)

If someone would send me an mp3, I'll gladly run a
quickie test to find out exactly how fast it is.

If it's seriously pitched up by 10%, that's an
inconceivable amount, and is WAY too large to be an
error. To give you a sense of scale, some of the radio
stations (like WPLJ in New York) used to pitch up their
music by 2%. At 2%, something sounds a little off to the
untrained ear. Some of the '50s and '60s-era pressings
of 45 can be off in pitch by 1% or 2%. A semi-tone (like
from a C to a C sharp) is about 6%. A Technics 1200
turntable has pitch control of +/- 8%. In practical use
during beat-matching, I've never pitched up or down the
full 8%. The old Otari reel-to-reel decks that all my
old radio stations used had a pitch control of +/-7% or
+/-8% (I forget which).

So to pitch up by 10%, you really have to work at it!

(Seriously - please, somebody send me an mp3 of a 45
dub...)

Perhaps someone saw the time of the song on the flip side of the stock 45 and sped the A side up to match it? Makes me wonder, then, was the B side of the stock 45 slowed down to match the label time of the A side?

jimct wrote: Thanks, Steve. Could you please provide deadwax info for your promo 45? That way, those of us hoping to locate a stock 45 at the correct, promo 45 speed can use your 45's deadwax as a possible tipoff, before buying another bogus (2:38) stock copy.

Sure thing. Hand etched T1 (or I) AC-ZS9-7527-3 (the
final dash almost looks like =).
About 180° away is machine stamped (in tiny type) what
looks like N17y315 preceded by an indecipherable
character.

Weird. Since promos are at more-or-less the correct
speed at least some stampers were OK.



Edited by Hykker

abagon wrote: The LP actual running time is (2:55), the listed time is "2:56" on the LP record label. (title "Romantics" Nemperor PZ 36273) The LP speed is not crazy. --abagon

Maybe so, but it's worth noting that your LP is actually a re-issue, as indicated by the "PZ" prefix you give in the catalog no. As printed on the label of your 45 further up, original LP pressings carried a "JZ" prefix...

80smusicfreak wrote: abagon wrote: The LP actual running time is (2:55), the listed time is "2:56" on the LP record label. (title "Romantics" Nemperor PZ 36273) The LP speed is not crazy. --abagon Maybe so, but it's worth noting that your LP is actually a re-issue, as indicated by the "PZ" prefix you give in the catalog no. As printed on the label of your 45 further up, original LP pressings carried a "JZ" prefix...

Thanks for the info, 80smusicfreak!

By the way.
Are all the "PZ" prefix re-issue items in the CBS releases?

--abagon