ABC - The Look Of Love

Back in 1982, the 45 and LP versions were the same, worldwide, with no weird variations anywhere. The hit version is readily available on lots of CDs; I have it on 25 different CDs myself.

So I'll attempt to document the different masterings. (If not me, then who?)

45 and LP version (about 3:28)

The oldest CD with the song is almost certainly Mercury's full-length ABC album The Lexicon Of Love (copyright 1982, released 1983 or 1984, "atomic" label). It sounds just OK here. As much as I love this album and the production, the sound of the CD is somewhat lifeless (a disappointment considering how brilliant some of the 12 inch singles sound). It runs 3:27 here, and truncates the tail of the fade as it runs into the next song on the disc. It runs 121.1 BPM here (live drummer playing to a click track). The same analog transfer is used on:

• EMI Virgin PolyGram UK's 2-CD Now That's What I Call Music UK Smash Hits Of The '80s (1987)
• PolyTel Canada's Rock With The '80s (1990) - digitally exactly 0.5 dB quieter
• Sony Germany's 2-CD Pop And Wave Vol. 1 (1992) - differently EQ'd digital clone

Mercury did a new analog transfer on the ABC best-of Absolutely (1990). It runs 3:28 here, and 120.8 BPM throughout. Sound quality is much better than Lexicon, and the disc includes the full tail of the fade. The same analog transfer is used on:

• Priority's Rock Of The '80s Vol. 2 (1992) - too loud and clips severely; avoid
• Sandstone/Cema's Rock The First Vol. 6 (1992)
• Oglio's Richard Blade's Flashback Favorites Vol. 2 (1993)
• Razor & Tie's Back To The '80s (1994) - too loud and clips a bit
• JCI/Warner Special Products' 18 Modern Rock Classics From The 80's (1996) - digitally identical
• The 1996 Mercury remaster of The Lexicon Of Love - adds severely compression/limiting, so that it ends up being about 6 dB louder than Absolutely; avoid
• EMI UK's 2-CD Now The Millennium Series 1982 (1999) - too loud and clips a bit
• A 2-CD Icelandic collection called Pottþétt 80's (1999) - too loud and clips a bit
• Realm's 3-CD Greatest Hits Of The '80s Vol. 3 (2002) - WAY too loud and clips severely

There's a new analog transfer on Rhino's Just Can't Get Enough Vol. 6 (1994). It runs 3:29 here, and 119.9 BPM throughout. It's mastered just a bit loud, so there's a small (likely insignificant) amount of clipping. To my ears, the EQ doesn't sound as natural here as on Absolutely. The same analog transfer is used on:

• Time-Life's Sounds Of The Eighties Vol. 26 Rolling Stone 1982-1983 (1995) - digitally exactly 3.4 dQ quieter
• Rhino's Hard Rock Cafe New Wave (1997) - digitally identical
• Rhino's Runway Hits Music From The Catwalk (1998) - even louder; avoid
• Time-Life's 2-CD Modern Rock Vol. 5 Dance (1999) - differently EQ'd digital clone
• Universal's More Pure 80's (2000) - even louder and more compressed/limited; avoid
• Rhino's 7-CD Like Omigod (2002) - even louder and more compressed/limited; avoid

Outliers:

• Time-Life Europe's 2-CD The 80's Collection Vol. 8 1982 (1994) sounds OK but isn't based on any of the above analog transfers (121.1 BPM)
• Mercury's 1998 remaster of The Lexicon Of Love is horrendously compressed/limited; avoid (121.0 BPM)
• The ABC collection 20th Century Masters The Millennium Collection (2000) sounds very close to the 1998 Lexicon remaster; avoid (121.0 BPM)
• Mercury's 2004 2-CD deluxe edition of The Lexicon Of Love may possibly use the same analog transfer as Absolutely but with a small amount of added compression/limiting. It's better than the other remasters, but with a smaller dynamic range than Absolutely. (120.7 BPM)

My recommendation

Go for the ABC best-of Absolutely (1990). It just sounds natural here, and doesn't really sound as natural on the other analog transfers that I mentioned above.

In addition to the hit version detailed above, if you want to dive down the ABC rabbit hole, there are plenty of remixes and live versions for you to hunt down. The hit version was labeled as Part 1. Parts 2 and 3 were on the 12 inch single. Part 4 was a one-minute instrumental at the end of the Lexicon album.

I agree about the disappointing mastering on The Lexicon of Love, and Absolutely's mastering being ideal.

The 1982 US 12" has a mix called "The Look of Love (USA Remix - Dub Version)". In Europe it was called "The Look of Love (Special Remix)" for its promo-only 12" debut and it's eventual commercial release as a "Be Near Me" 7" double-pack B-side in 1985. Regardless of what name it goes by, it's the "dub" companion to Part 3/Dance Version. No remixer is credited, but Trevor Horn is still listed as producer, and it's got that awkward "Trevor Horn has never been to a disco but imagines people might like these samples" sound which is also found on "Owner of a Lonely Heart (Red & Blue Mix)", "Relax (Sex Mix)", and "Leave It (Hello, Goodbye Mix)".

Anyway, I mention it because an edit of this mix was released in Europe in 1989 as "The Look of Love (Part 5)", where it was a B-side for "The Real Thing" on 12" and CD. The edit was released the following year on the Absolutely compilation as just "The Look of Love (Remix)". The U.S. release of Absolutely, however, replaced this track with "The Look of Love (1990 Remix)" by Paul Staveley O'Duffy.

Edited by mjb50