https://top40musiconcd.com/forum/ Copyright (c) 2006-2013 Web Wiz Forums - All Rights Reserved. Sat, 04 Apr 2026 10:00:09 +0000 Tue, 14 Apr 2020 07:42:57 +0000 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss Web Wiz Forums 12.07 360 https://top40musiconcd.com/forum/RSS_post_feed.asp?TID=4959 https://top40musiconcd.com/forum//images/Top-40-Music-on-CD-Forum-Logo.png https://top40musiconcd.com/forum/ https://top40musiconcd.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=4959&PID=54121&title=maniac-michael-sembello#54121 Author: Angelman60
Subject: 4959
Posted: 14 April 2020 at 7:42am

That was an interesting reading, I didn't know there was a different 45 version so I checked and it confused me a bit because the 12'' mix looks more like the LP version than the single mix.

Here are the source I found just to be sure we are talking about the same thing. I also found a very good source for the video mix :

Video mix : (mono)
https://www.vob-clip.com/soundtrack/2575-michael-sembello-ma niac-1983-vob.html

Single mix : with a complete different synth on the prechorus.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lf7mj_4z9pg

LP Version :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oRSlwCWC1Xw

The instrumentals are interesting too. 7'' and 12'' intrumentals are totally mixed differently and 7'' instrumental seems to be from an unreleased version too.


Edited by Angelman60]]> Tue, 14 Apr 2020 07:42:57 +0000 https://top40musiconcd.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=4959&PID=54121&title=maniac-michael-sembello#54121 https://top40musiconcd.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=4959&PID=52094&title=maniac-michael-sembello#52094 Author: eriejwg
Subject: 4959
Posted: 18 June 2019 at 8:55pm

Guessing the video mix was never released, perhaps on a
12" or other sources?]]> Tue, 18 Jun 2019 20:55:51 +0000 https://top40musiconcd.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=4959&PID=52094&title=maniac-michael-sembello#52094 https://top40musiconcd.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=4959&PID=52092&title=maniac-michael-sembello#52092 Author: aaronk
Subject: 4959
Posted: 17 June 2019 at 9:56pm

Interesting! There are actually mix difference throughout and not just at the end. The pulsing synth during the verses, for example, is much louder on the video mix. I guess this is another example of a video that has a unique mix.]]> Mon, 17 Jun 2019 21:56:41 +0000 https://top40musiconcd.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=4959&PID=52092&title=maniac-michael-sembello#52092 https://top40musiconcd.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=4959&PID=52090&title=maniac-michael-sembello#52090 Author: RichM921
Subject: 4959
Posted: 17 June 2019 at 8:50pm

Lately on MTV Classic, they have been playing "Maniac" (I've caught it twice in the last couple of weeks and I don't even watch it that often) and I realized that the original video version is different from what I hear on the single and LP. The differences are toward the end. After the guitar solo and the line "will and what will be" there is no guitar note. As the song trails out there is no extra guitar and no background vocals. Fortunately someone uploaded the original video on YouTube without over dubbing CD audio. The first missing guitar note is at around 3:35. Was this video version unique? Original video for Maniac]]> Mon, 17 Jun 2019 20:50:50 +0000 https://top40musiconcd.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=4959&PID=52090&title=maniac-michael-sembello#52090 https://top40musiconcd.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=4959&PID=49700&title=maniac-michael-sembello#49700 Author: Ron S
Subject: 4959
Posted: 15 July 2018 at 9:27am

Just heard the 45 version this morning on Casey's Top 40 from July 9, 1983. I
never knew there were two different versions of this song. I actually prefer the
Flashdance LP version over the 45 version. It's good to know that the 45 is
available on CD.]]> Sun, 15 Jul 2018 09:27:33 +0000 https://top40musiconcd.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=4959&PID=49700&title=maniac-michael-sembello#49700 https://top40musiconcd.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=4959&PID=40704&title=maniac-michael-sembello#40704 Author: NightAire
Subject: 4959
Posted: 12 March 2014 at 1:58pm

Good info, Aaron... thank you!]]> Wed, 12 Mar 2014 13:58:04 +0000 https://top40musiconcd.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=4959&PID=40704&title=maniac-michael-sembello#40704 https://top40musiconcd.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=4959&PID=40701&title=maniac-michael-sembello#40701 Author: aaronk
Subject: 4959
Posted: 12 March 2014 at 8:45am

NightAire wrote: I'm curious about this one; is there distortion in every copy of the single mix of this song?

I have a copy on Casablanca's Greatest Hits, and I hear the distortion you are talking about. For instance, on the word "before" at around 2:15, it's very noticeable. Guess what? The distortion pops up in the exact same places on my 45 copy. So, my conclusion is yes, the distortion is inherent in the recording.]]> Wed, 12 Mar 2014 08:45:46 +0000 https://top40musiconcd.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=4959&PID=40701&title=maniac-michael-sembello#40701 https://top40musiconcd.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=4959&PID=40699&title=maniac-michael-sembello#40699 Author: NightAire
Subject: 4959
Posted: 12 March 2014 at 2:42am

crapfromthepast wrote: ...sound as good as you'll find for the 45 version...

I'm curious about this one; is there distortion in every copy of the single mix of this song? I came into a copy of the version from either Bossa Nova Hotel or Retro Lunchbox -- whatever the source, it is horribly clipped as you described.

I assumed the distortion I heard, almost a "tearing" sound in the voice in places, was from this clipping; however, I've been able to hear another digital copy that was not clipped (perhaps from the Casablanca Records Story, perhaps from a VERY clean vinyl source), and similar distortion is audible.

I don't remember this distortion on the radio, but that was 30+ years ago and I might have blamed it on the station's processing or multipath or whatever. I was a teenager listening on cheap equipment, so the odds of me noticing were a million to one anyway. :-)]]> Wed, 12 Mar 2014 02:42:30 +0000 https://top40musiconcd.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=4959&PID=40699&title=maniac-michael-sembello#40699 https://top40musiconcd.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=4959&PID=24911&title=maniac-michael-sembello#24911 Author: budaniel
Subject: 4959
Posted: 18 January 2010 at 7:50am

yes. that's exactly when Z100 began--and their play list consisted of the same handful of songs repeated again and again. It was something like this:

Eurythmics - Sweet Dreams
Stevie Nicks - Stand Back
Culture Club - I'll Tumle 4 Ya
Men Without Hats - Safety Dance
Taco - Puttin on the Ritz
Billy Joel - Tell Her About It
Donna Summer - She Works Hard for the Money
Michael Sembello - Maniac
The Police - Every Breath You Take

OVER and OVER and OVER again. And me and my friends were listening to it repeatedly because they were giving away 100 dollars every hour, so we kept trying to win.

And I believe 83 was when PLJ went top 40 pretty much competing with Z100.
]]> Mon, 18 Jan 2010 07:50:07 +0000 https://top40musiconcd.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=4959&PID=24911&title=maniac-michael-sembello#24911 https://top40musiconcd.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=4959&PID=24910&title=maniac-michael-sembello#24910 Author: Hykker
Subject: 4959
Posted: 18 January 2010 at 6:28am

MMathews wrote: After it was a big hit, Z-100 (the big top 40 station in NYC "the flame-thrower!" as they would say..) had switched over to an edit of the 12" mix, and they started doing that quite often with other hits.

crapfromthepast wrote: The single was huge. So huge, in fact, that there was a minor backlash - WPLJ in New York held a "Maniac"-free weekend! I remember hearing both versions on the radio at the time, but I don't remember which stations played which version.

This is more of a radio timeline question, but wasn't WPLJ still an AOR in 1983? Maybe they just did it as a gag, but it's not likely a rock station would have played a "disco" (ie-anything danceable) song. When did Z-100 come into being? I thought it was in the late summer of '83, making it in mid-chart run of this song.
What other N.Y. stations might have played this song? Seems a little too uptempo for an AC station.
]]> Mon, 18 Jan 2010 06:28:07 +0000 https://top40musiconcd.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=4959&PID=24910&title=maniac-michael-sembello#24910