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Topic: Lipps Inc. - Funkytown

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crapfromthepast
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Posted: 09 June 2009 at 9:01am \| IP Logged

I have this song on 26 different CDs - this may be the most-compiled song I own! We'll go through the releases chronologically.

First, the 45 version: Casablanca 7" NB 2233, 1979, printed 3:57, actual 3:59, beginning 122.4 BPM, end 122.3 BPM, fade starts at true downbeat at 3:48 after strings end; both of Cynthia's lines of "Won't you take me down/to Funkytown" are inside the fade, and the fade last 24 beats from 3:48 to 3:59.

The album version on Mouth To Mouth ran 7:51 (not 100% sure about that number), beginning 122.2 BPM, end 122.1 BPM.

The very first version to appear on CD was the album version, on an extremely obscure promotional sampler called Sampler U.S.A. - Compact Disc Popular Repertoire (Polygram 811 337-2, 1983, printed 7:48, actual 7:47, beginning 122.2 BPM, end 122.2 BPM). An odd choice to put on a CD sampler, since the full Mouth To Mouth album wasn't released on CD! The general public never saw this CD, and it's safe to say that you'll never find this CD, so we'll move on.

The first commercially available version to appear on CD was the 45 version, which appeared on Dancin' The Night Away (Silver Eagle Records/Warner Special Products OPCD-4512, 1988, printed 3:58, actual 3:58, beginning 122.2 BPM, end 122.1 BPM, fade starts at true downbeat at 3:48 after strings end; both of Cynthia's lines of "Won't you take me down/to Funkytown" are inside the fade, and the fade last 20 beats from 3:48 to 3:58).

There were several CDs that used the same analog transfer as Dancin' The Night Away (same timing/BPM/fade):

Mega-Hits Dance Classics Vol. 6 (Priority CDL 7976, 1989, mastered way too loud and clips a lot)
Mystic Music Presents Good Times (Warner Special Products OPCD-3523, 1991, printed 3:58, digitally exactly 0.4 dB quieter than Dancin')
Only Rock 'N Roll 1980 1984 (JCI JCD-3137, 1994, not digital clone but sounds very close to Dancin')

Next, there was a version that appeared on After Hours (Silver Eagle Records/Warner Special Products OPCD-4523, 1990, printed 3:59, actual 3:57, beginning 122.9 BPM, end 122.8 BPM, fade starts at true downbeat at 3:47 after strings end; both of Cynthia's lines of "Won't you take me down/to Funkytown" are inside the fade, and the fade last 20 beats from 3:47 to 3:57).

There is one CD based on the After Hours analog transfer (same timing/BPM/fade):

Sessions Presents The Ultimate Party Album (Warner Special Products OPCD-4541, 1992, printed 3:57)

Next, Bill Inglot did a new analog transfer for The Disco Years, Vol. 2 (Rhino R2 70985, 1990, actual 3:59, beginning 122.9 BPM, end 122.9 BPM, fade starts later than true 45 on downbeat at 3:51 that falls in the middle of the word "town", and the fade last 16 beats from 3:51 to 3:59). The clarity of the tracks on The Disco Years is really astounding, and I'm pretty sure Bill Inglot went back to the original 2-track mixdown tapes for the full album version and redid all the edits and fades. There are quite a few CDs based on the Disco Years mastering (same timing/BPM/fade):

The '70s Preservation Society Presents Disco Fever (Razor & Tie A2 22496, 1991, not digital clone but sound very close to Disco Years)
Entertainment Weekly Presents The Disco Collection (Warner Special Products OPCD-2695, 1993, printed 3:59, not a digital clone but sound very close to Disco Years)
Video Soul - Best Soul Of The '80s Vol. 1 (Rhino R2 71971, 1995, not digital clone but sound very close to Disco Years)
Rock 'N Roll Relix 1980-1981 (Eclipse/EMI-Capitol 64617-2, 1998, printed 4:02, digitally exactly 0.1 dB quieter than Disco Years)
Sounds Of The Seventies - '70s Dance Party 1979-1981 (Time-Life R840-09, 1997, differently EQ'd digital clone of Disco Years that blunts a little of the high end, mastered by Dennis Drake and is the best-sounding of the bunch)
Solid Gold Soul - Early '80s (Time-Life R838-25, 1999, differently EQ'd digital clone of Disco Years that blunts some of the high end, also mastered by Dennis Drake and sounds comparable to 70s Dance Party)

In 1992, Bill Inglot did another analog transfer for Billboard Top Hits - 1980 (Rhino R2 70675, 1992, actual 4:04, beginning 122.7 BPM, end 122.7 BPM, fade starts later than true 45 on downbeat at 3:51 that falls in the middle of the word "town", and the fade last 24 beats from 3:51 to 4:04). To my ears, this version isn't as crisp-sounding as The Disco Years (maybe a higher-generation tape? or a transfer from the 45 master?), but the sound is still quite nice. There are plenty of CDs that are based on this mastering (same timing/BPM/fade):

Billboard Top Dance Hits - 1980 (Rhino R2 70494, 1992, digitally identical to Billboard Top Hits)
Celebration (Time-Life R138-38, 1994, mastered too loud and clips)
Sounds Of The Eighties - 1980 (Time-Life 988-07, 1995, differently EQ'd digital clone of Billboard Top Hits)
Solid Gold Soul - '80s Rhythm And Grooves (Time-Life M18664, 2001, digitally exactly 1.364 dB quieter than Billboard Top Hits)

Next, there was a version that was done by Suha Gur for Casablanca Records - Greatest Hits Casablanca 314 526 253-2, 1996, printed 3:56, actual 3:56, beginning 122.2 BPM, end 122.2 BPM, fade starts earlier than true 45 on downbeat at 3:40 between the two repetitions of the string part, and the fade last 32 beats from 3:40 to 3:56). The sound is so-so - I think there's some noise reduction used on this CD, because all the songs sound very clean but sorta lifeless. There are other CDs based on this mastering (same timing/BPM/fade):

Pure Disco (Polydor P2 35877, 1996, printed 3:55, mastered too loud and clips)
The Number Ones: Party On (Simitar 55592, 1998, printed 3:59, digitally exactly 0.378 dB louder than Casablanca Records)

For a nice-sounding album version, I recommend Funkyworld: The Best Of Lipps, Inc. (Casablanca 314 512 969-2, 1992, printed 7:51, actual 7:47, beginning 122.5 BPM, end 122.4 BPM, mastered by Joseph M. Palmaccio and sounds very nice). There's a digital clone on the 4-CD The Casablanca Records Story and the single-CD promo sampler (SACD 921, 1994).

Finally, two stragglers that don't sound all that great:

100 Dance Hits Of The Eighties (Connoisseur Collection DBOX CD 101, 1990, actual 3:56, beginning 122.4 BPM, end 122.2 BPM)
Now 1980 (Virgin EMI Universal [UK] 20253, 1999, actual 3:56, mastered too loud and clips)

Edited by crapfromthepast on 10 August 2020 at 1:04pm

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80smusicfreak
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Posted: 09 June 2009 at 5:18pm \| IP Logged

crapfromthepast wrote:

The very first version to appear on CD was the album version, on an extremely obscure promotional sampler called Sampler U.S.A. - Compact Disc Popular Repertoire (Polygram 811 337-2, 1983, printed 7:48, actual 7:47, beginning 122.2 BPM, end 122.2 BPM). An odd choice to put on a CD sampler, since the full Mouth To Mouth album wasn't released on CD! The general public never saw this CD, and it's safe to say that you'll never find this CD, so we'll move on.

Hey, not so fast - now there's a challenge if I ever heard one, lol! (As I've mentioned here before, I, too, have always been a huge fan of V/A comps since I first started collecting music 26 years ago, and I also scour hundreds of used stores for original-pressing CDs dating from the early to mid '80s.) Care to share what else is on this early sampler, inc. timings??? Thanks in advance...

Quote:

While we're on the subject, I also highly recommend the above CD for the group's cover of Ace's 1975 hit, "How Long". They funked up the song, big-time, and IMO, made it their own. It did hit #29 r&b & #4 dance in "Billboard" in late 1980, and it's a shame it failed to cross over to the pop chart - due to the anti-disco movement at the time, no doubt...

crapfromthepast
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Posted: 09 June 2009 at 6:17pm \| IP Logged

A good-natured challenge, indeed! :)

Always glad to help out a fellow early-compilation-collector - here's a page from my website with scans of the first batch of CD compilations. Follow the links at the top for more scans. (I probably should have posted this years ago, since we all collect the same stuff!)

Roscoe
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Posted: 09 June 2009 at 8:58pm \| IP Logged

I agree that the Disco Years mastering is the best of the bunch.

I was bored one day and recreated the 45 edit of "Funkytown" and didn't realize until then that it's somewhat complicated. They used the second sax solo that comes much later in the LP version; you have to move that back to earlier in the song then do a similar cut and paste of the robotic voice chorus, which also occurs later.

The edit that always bothered me was the one that cuts off the last part of the word "town" at the conclusion of the first half of the 45 version. It never sounded right on the radio and it still doesn't.

AdvprosD
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Posted: 02 August 2020 at 10:05am \| IP Logged

Roscoe wrote:

I agree that the Disco Years mastering is the best of the bunch.

I was bored one day and recreated the 45 edit of "Funkytown" and didn't realize until then that it's somewhat complicated. They used the second sax solo that comes much later in the LP version; you have to move that back to earlier in
the song then do a similar cut and paste of the robotic voice chorus, which also occurs later.

The edit that always bothered me was the one that cuts off the last part of the word "town" at the conclusion of the first half of the 45 version. It never sounded right on the radio and it still doesn't.

"The edit that always bothered me was the one that cuts off the last part of the word "town" at the conclusion of the first half of the 45 version. It never sounded right on the radio and it still doesn't."

Sorry for dredging up the old thread... Which 45 version had this clip-off of "Town"

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JFive
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Posted: 23 June 2022 at 11:55pm \| IP Logged

AdvprosD wrote:

Sorry for dredging up the old
thread...
Which 45 version had this clip-off of "Town"

It happens at about 2:09 on the 45 version.

Edited by JFive on 24 June 2022 at 7:26pm

kaqueno
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Posted: 24 June 2022 at 4:24am \| IP Logged

Hi guys, I don't know if it was said in another thread,
but in 2021 the "Mouth To Mouth" cd was reissued, with
the single versions of:

- Funkytown (Single Version)
- All Night Dancing (Single Version)
- Rock It (Single Version)
- Power (Single Version)

https://www.discogs.com/release/19334320-Lipps-Inc-Mouth-
To-Mouth

cheers

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