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Subject Topic: Tommy James & The Shondells - Mony Mony Post ReplyPost New Topic
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aaronk
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Posted: 08 April 2014 at 10:00pm | IP Logged Quote aaronk

I spent some time dissecting the various mixes of this song, and I think a database notation will need to be made to differentiate the stereo mixes on CD.

The following CDs have what I presume to be the original stereo mix:
Toga Rock
Time-Life Rock Party
Millennium Sixties Rock Party
Rockin' Down The Block
Only Rock & Roll 1965-1969
Night Beat
More Party Classics
Time-Life Classic Rock Vol. 11



These CDs have a stereo mix that was probably a later remix:
Sixties Rock Classics Vol. 1
Keep On Dancing
Anthology
Rock And Roll The First 50 Years
Billboard Top R&R Hits 1968
Son Of Frat Rock (also unedited and runs longer)


There is different, heavier reverb on the (presumed) later stereo remix, and it has a different feel then the other stereo mix. The difference can be easily spotted right from the intro when comparing the two. The later remix has a very "boomy" sound, whereas the earlier mix is much more subdued.

In terms of the various edits, there are 4 mixes that I'm aware of:

1. mono 45 mix - has two bad edits, occurring at 2:26 & 2:27, leaving an extra two beats in that shouldn't be there
2. stereo LP mix - has an obvious edit at 2:22, but at least keeps the beat of the song
3. stereo remix (full version) - no edits and runs 3:17
4. stereo remix/edit - edited to match the stereo LP mix with an obvious edit at 2:23

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Bill Cahill
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Posted: 09 April 2014 at 5:12pm | IP Logged Quote Bill Cahill

Re-issue 45s contained the stereo LP version summed to mono, which you'll also find on the CD Roulette 58003 Rock 'n' Roll Hits Of The 60's Vol. 1.

I was once told that the Collectables CD 6410 Hanky Panky/Mony Mony absolutely used the original LP tape. Seems to have more punch than other releases.
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The Hits Man
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Posted: 10 April 2014 at 1:31pm | IP Logged Quote The Hits Man

yet, the true mono single version has yet to appear on any
CD. I do have my needledrop of it, though.

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crapfromthepast
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Posted: 08 November 2024 at 9:57am | IP Logged Quote crapfromthepast

Woops! It looks like Aaron did the bulk of the analysis already. Regardless, I wrote this up before I checked the board, so at the risk of duplicating Aaron's work...

The full performance of the song ran 3:17. For the versions released in 1968 (mono on 45, stereo on LP), both were edited down from the 3:17 performance. The stereo and mono were two different mixes from the same multi-tracks; the mono wasn't a fold-down of the stereo. Aaron reported above that the 45 goofed up the edit pretty bad. The LP version deleted 48 beats from 2:23 to 2:45, but the edit was in a tricky location between beats.

Mono 45 version (2:55)

Never released on CD. Oh well.

Stereo LP version (2:49)

I found three different analog transfers of the stereo LP version, all of which first appeared in 1987.

The first is on Silver Eagle/Capitol's mail-order 2-CD Rockin' Down The Block (1987). The sound is so-so.

The second is on Warner Special Products' More Party Classics (1987). It's an improvement over the Silver Eagle disc. The same analog transfer is used on:
  • Sessions/Warner Special Products' mail-order 2-CD Night Beat (1988) - fade is 4 beats shorter
The third is on DCC Compact Classics' Toga Rock (1987). The sound is better than the above two masterings. The original pressings include a small indexing error, so that you hear the opening note of the next song at the very end of "Mony Mony". A 1988 rerelease (with credit of "Mastered by Steve Hoffman") fixes the indexing error, and uses a differently-EQ'd digital clone of the original release. The same analog transfer is used on:
  • Time-Life's Classic Rock Vol. 11 1968 The Beat Goes On (1989) - fade is 5 beats shorter
  • Time-Life's 2-CD Rock Party (1990) - left and right channels are swapped and fade is 10 beats shorter
  • JCI's Only Rock 'N Roll 1965-1969 (1994) - fade is 5 beats shorter
  • Rhino's Millennium Sixties Rock Party (1999)
Fold-down of stereo LP version (2:47)

I'm hesitant to call this a "mono LP version", because I don't know if a mono LP was actually released or, if it was, what was on it.

The mono fold-down of the stereo LP version appears on Collectors' Choice Music's 2-CD 40 Years The Complete Singles Collection (1966-2006) (2008). It runs a little faster than Toga Rock, and the tail of the fade is about two beats shorter than Toga Rock.

Non-hit 1988 stereo remix by Bill Inglot of full performance (3:17)

When Rhino acquired the rights to the Roulette catalog (I assume in 1988?), Bill Inglot unearthed the multi-tracks of the full performance of "Mony Mony", which had never been released. He mixed it to stereo in 1988. Rhino released the new stereo mix on the fine '60s garage band multi-artist compilation Son Of Frat Rock (1988).

Any later releases that use a 3:17 version all trace their masterings back to Rhino's Son Of Frat Rock (1988).

Edit of non-hit 1988 stereo remix

Rhino edited the shiny new stereo mix of the song to match the structure of the stereo LP version, by deleting 48 beats from 2:23 to 2:45 and fading a little early. The edit at 2:23 is between the beats, more or less where it was in the 1968 mixes. It seems that the engineer at Rhino made the edit in the analog domain, presumably using tape and a razor blade, because none of the releases of the edit synch up perfectly with the full version from Son Of Frat Rock (1988).

This edit first appeared on Rhino's Billboard Top R&R Hits 1968 (1988, original release). The same analog analog transfer is used on:
  • Rhino's Tommy James Lil' Bit Of Gold 3-inch CD (1988)
  • Rhino's Dick Clark's American Bandstand Concert Tour Greatest Hits Collection (1989)
  • RCA Special Products' Keep On Dancing (1991) - fade is 5 beats shorter
  • Rhino's Billboard Top R&R Hits 1968 (1993 reissue) - digitally identical
  • Rhino's promo-only Billboard Sampler (1995, PRCD 7135)
There's another analog transfer of this edit on Rhino's Tommy James Anthology (1989), which has comparable sound quality to Billboard, but swaps the left and right channels. The same analog transfer is used on:
  • the promo-for-radio New Gold On CD week of 1990-01-09
  • the promo-for-radio New Gold On CD week of 1991-02-18
  • Rhino Special Products' 2-CD (promo?) Entertainment Weekly Presents Pure Party (1993)
  • Rhino's Tommy James collection Very Best Of (1993)
  • Time-Life's Animal Rock (1994)
  • Rhino's cheapie '60s Rock Classics Vol. 1 (1994)
  • Rhino's Stadium Rock (1995)
  • Rhino's Beverly Hills 90210 Songs From The Peach Pit (1996)
  • Varese Sarabande's Rock & Roll The First 50 Years The Late '60s (2005)
  • Time-Life's 2-CD Flower Power Good Lovin' (2008)
  • Time-Life's 2-CD AM Gold Good Lovin' (2021)
  • TM Century track no. 00001425
  • TM Century track no. 00010798
My recommendations

For the mono 45 version, you'll need vinyl. It's a different mix than everything that's appeared on CD.

For the stereo LP version, go with DCC Compact Classics' Toga Rock (1988 reissue, mastered by Steve Hoffman).

For the non-hit 1988 stereo remix by Bill Inglot of the full performance, go with Rhino's Son Of Frat Rock (1988).

For the edit of the non-hit 1988 stereo remix, any of the above will do, but you may as well go with Rhino's Billboard Top R&R Hits 1968 (1988), although the 1993 reissue is the same 0's and 1's. Anthology sounds fine, but it has its left and right channels swapped.

Edited by crapfromthepast on 08 November 2024 at 11:59pm


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PopArchivist
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Posted: 08 November 2024 at 10:31pm | IP Logged Quote PopArchivist

Ron does this mean you are doing a more in depth look at 1968's biggest hits?

I always find it interesting this late in the decade that the mono 45 is not the same as the stereo LP version. I always wondered if by 1968 if the 45's really had unique differences compared to the stereo LP of the decade...

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crapfromthepast
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Posted: 08 November 2024 at 11:58pm | IP Logged Quote crapfromthepast

For the 37 1968 tracks I've looked at in detail so far, just about all of them have dedicated mono mixes on the 45s, which differ from the stereo versions on the LP (specifically, they're not just fold-downs of the stereo mixes).

I'm working on one batch of the 1968 tracks - enough to fill one 4 GB zip file. Probably around the first 100 positions of the rankings.

I needed a break after slogging through the Bubbling Unders of 1996, where I knew practically none of the songs, and few if any would care about those low-charters. We all know the big hits from 1968, which is a most welcome change from the 1996 obscurities.

I'll pick up with 1995 soon enough.

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