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80smusicfreak
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| Posted: 06 September 2014 at 6:50am | IP Logged
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This isn't well known, but there are actually TWO very distinct U.S. pressings of Eric Carmen's 1988 hits collection from Arista, titled The Best of... - and both were issued here in ALL THREE formats (i.e., vinyl LP, cassette, & CD)...
The RARE version is the original on Arista 8547, which featured only 10 tracks (and slightly different front cover art). Carmen had just scored his huge "comeback" hit from the Dirty Dancing soundtrack, "Hungry Eyes", which peaked in the top 5 in February of '88. So to ca$h in, Arista initially rush-released this new collection around March or April, as "Hungry Eyes" was just about to fall off the charts. But in the end, that version of The Best of... was available on store shelves for only about 2-3 months (tops) before being withdrawn, and turned into cut-outs by Arista/BMG. The reason??? After the initial release, apparently somebody at the label had a "lightbulb" moment: "Hey! Let's get Eric back in the studio to record a new song for us, we'll tack it onto the new hits collection, and we'll release it as a single to help promote it!" That song would be "Make Me Lose Control", released on Arista 9686 in May of '88, and would of course go on to reach the top 5 as well, later that August. So the label quickly re-issued The Best of... as Arista 8548 (note consecutive catalog no. w/ the original), w/ "Make Me Lose Control" now added as track 6 (for a total of 11), and revised front cover art which of course touted the inclusion of the new song. That is the COMMON version of the album, and the one shown by Pat in the on-line database...
When "Make Me Lose Control" became a huge hit in the Summer of '88, I ran out and bought The Best of... on cassette; by then, the re-issue on Arista 8548 was the only version on store shelves. But I was always a fan of checking the cut-out racks as well, and I remember within just a few months, discovering quite a few copies of The Best of... there, and initially thinking, "What in the world are these doing here already???" Upon closer inspection, I realized they were actually DIFFERENT, so I bought a copy of Arista 8547 on cassette as well. (And hey, as a cut-out, it set me back only $3.99 at the most, lol.) So I've had both versions on cassette for over a quarter century - and a few years ago, I added BOTH versions to my collection on CD as well, although they're packed away at the moment...
Arista 8547 is definitely a toughie to find on CD today, and as I said, 95% of the ones out there will understandably be cut-outs, w/ a drill hole on the spine - but nevertheless, it should be added to the database. (I actually alluded to this one over five years ago in the Triumph Classics thread. I see that Pat did add the Steve Forbert collection - 1993's The Best of... - What Kinda Guy? - that I was also referring to in that same post.) You can tell the 8547 originals just by looking at the front cover art, and reading the black box in the lower left corner. On those, it states, "ALL OF ERIC CARMEN'S GREATEST HITS ON ONE CD! Includes his new smash, 'Hungry Eyes,' from the hit film, Dirty Dancing, plus the #1 hits, 'All By Myself' and 'Never Gonna Fall In Love Again.'" On Arista 8548, that same black box was revised to read, "ALL OF ERIC CARMEN'S GREATEST HITS ON ONE CD! Includes 'Make Me Lose Control' plus 'Hungry Eyes' from the smash film Dirty Dancing and the #1 hits, 'All By Myself' and 'Never Gonna Fall In Love Again.'" I don't know if the versions of any of the other top 40 hits on the collection were changed between Arista 8547 & 8548, but if the printed timings are to be believed, it doesn't look like it. There is currently ONE copy of Arista 8547 on CD on eBay, but it's a bit pricey, and from a seller in the Netherlands (although if you look at his photo of the back insert, you can see that the CD itself is a U.S. pressing): "The Best of Eric Carmen" (original Arista 8547 pressing)
Even Record Research's Top Pop Albums book needs revision on this one (attn: Paul Haney). As of the 6th edition from 2006 (the most recent one I have), it indicates that Eric Carmen's The Best of... debuted in the 06/11/88 issue of Billboard, w/ the original "8547" no. - and as such, "Make Me Lose Control" is NOT found in the alphabetical song listings reflecting the contents & hits of his charted albums. The collection charted for 20 weeks, peaking at #59. While it may be true that Billboard listed it as "Arista 8547" during its chart run (can't confirm, as all my old issues of the magazine from 1988 are currently packed away in storage), that would surely have to be in error, as the re-issue on Arista 8548 was clearly out by then ("Make Me Lose Control" having debuted on the "Hot 100" three weeks earlier, in the 05/21/88 issue). Regardless, I don't think there's ANY way to dispute that the inclusion of "Make Me Lose Control" on the re-issue was what carried the album on the chart for its entire 20-week run (especially when you also consider that both the label & picture sleeve on the 45 clearly stated, "From his new album THE BEST OF ERIC CARMEN")...
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edtop40
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| Posted: 06 September 2014 at 6:56am | IP Logged
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a great read as always!!....thanks for sharing this type of
information!!
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MMathews
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| Posted: 07 September 2014 at 2:30pm | IP Logged
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Ah... I remember this well. I was in Record World CD
shopping back in '88. On a front display they had a row
of his hits collection, so I picked it up. It had the
black sticker about "Hungry Eyes" on it.
On my way to register, I saw another row with the black
sticker that also said it contained his new single "Make
Me Lose Control". I had not heard it, but figured hey,
same price, let me grab this one instead.
When I got home and heard the new song I fell in love
with it instantly! This was a rare case that a song
became a favorite of mine before ever hearing it on the
radio.
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crapfromthepast
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| Posted: 08 September 2014 at 7:12am | IP Logged
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Great story, indeed.
I vaguely remembered something about "Make Me Lose
Control" not being on the Best Of album, and your
details set the record straight.
Please keep posting stuff like this. I can't imagine
there are many other places on the web to look this up.
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There's a lot of crap on the radio, but there's only one Crap From The Past.
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Topic: Eric Carmen CD missing from database...
