amii stewart--knock on wood

sriv94 wrote: One of the tunes played was "Knock On Wood"--which had the drum intro (not the electronic intro), but had the edit in the "you better knock, knock, knock, knock on wood, babe" refrain.

This is exactly how the "neither" version on Pure Disco sounds, although there is a bad tape squealing noise throughout.

It appears that I'm on a disco-songs-that-peaked-in-April-1979 kick (see the "Heart Of Glass" thread), so I thought I'd dissect Amii Stewart's "Knock On Wood".

What a mess!

I started with the commercial 45, Ariola Records America 7736, labeled as "Short", printed 3:40, actual 3:37. The deadwax reads "7736 AS SHORT" and possibly an "I" or an "X" following that. It has a BPM of 144.0 at the beginning and 143.7 at the end. (My software program reads it as "143.7".)

The intro to the commercial 45 has the synth "fly-over" going first right-to-left, then left-to-right. The instrumentation starts at 0:05, the first break with no instrumentation is at 0:57, the second break is at 1:44, there are 4 complete "think I better knock knock knock on wood"'s from 1:57 to 2:12, then a 4-beat drum fill, then the bridge. The fade starts on the downbeat at 3:26 and runs about 32 beats until silence at 3:37.

Next, I dug out Amii Stewart's Knock On Wood LP, Ariola SW 50054, printed 6:13, actual 6:09. The left/right channels are reversed, compared to the 45. The "fly-over" intro is absent, and instead there's a 92-beat drum intro for the first 40 seconds. The 0:40 mark on the LP version compares to the 0:05 mark on the 45.

The LP is much slower than the 45, with 139.5 BPM on the intro and outro and around 139.0 BPM in the middle. (Software reads "139.1".) That about a 3.2% or 3.3% difference, which is huge.

The first break falls at 1:34, the second break falls at 2:22, and there are 8 complete "think I better knock knock knock on wood"'s from 2:37 to 3:05. At 5:14, the song goes back to the drum-only portion that began the song. The fadeout is roughly 32 beats long and runs from 5:54 to silence at 6:09.

Then, I hauled out the 12" single. I can't tell if it's a promo release or a commercial single - it's got a yellow label, has a release number "PRO 7736", and has a neato generic Ariola cardboard sleeve that says "THE TWELVE-INCHER" at the bottom. The sound quality on this 12" is astounding! Both sides are labeled "Side A", which isn't very helpful.

One side is labeled "Fast Disco", matrix number PRO 7736 A/S, printed 6:10, actual 6:07. The tempo is 141.2 on the intro, about 140.6 in the middle, and 141.2 on the outro. (Software reads "140.8".) This is the album version, sped up by 1.2%. No other difference. The left/right channels are the same as the LP, and the opposite of the 45.

The other side is labeled "Slow Disco", matrix number PRO 7736 A/S RE-1, printed 6:13, actual 6:12. The tempo is 139.3 on intro, about 138.5 in the middle, and 139.3 on the outro. (Software reads "138.8".) This is the album version, slowed down by 0.2%, which is insignificant and is well within the tolerances of a lot of late-'70s-era tape machines. The "slow disco" version is effectively the album version. The left/right channels are the same as the LP, and the opposite of the 45.

We know that the fly-over intro is lost to history, and that the only versions of that on CD are taken from vinyl. The only versions on CD taken from tape either have the drum-only intro from the album/12" versions, or have a ridiculous re-recording of the intro (see below).

The first version to appear on CD was a sped-up early fade of the LP version. This runs 144.3-143.6 BPM (beginning-to-end), and so is the proper 45 tempo. These runs about 4:49. The left/right channels match the LP and are the opposite of the 45.

• Silver Eagle's Dancin' The Night Away (1988, best-sounding of these three even though the levels are a bit low)
• Priority's Mega-Hits Dance Classics Vol. 10 (1991, mastered too loud and clips a lot)
• Razor & Tie's Disco Fever (1991, tinny-sounding EQ)

There's a version running 3:49 that cuts off the first 65 beats (27 seconds) and starts with a snare. It has a roughly 32-beat fade starting on the downbeat from 3:35 to 3:49 (4:02 to 4:15 in the LP version). It runs 144.0-143.7 BPM, so it matches the 45 tempo. The left/right channels match the LP and are the opposite of the 45. It's on:

• Rhino's The Disco Years, Vol. 3 (1992, spectacular sound on this CD)
• Time-Life's Seventies Dance Party - 1978-1979 (differently EQ'd clone of above CD)
• Rhino's New Millennium Disco Party - The Divas (2000, about 1.2 dB louder than above Rhino CD but too loud and clips a lot)

There's a unlistenable version on these two CDs that has a terrible ringing in all but the first minute of the track. Plus, there's some awful tape drag, so the song begins at 141.2 BPM and ends at 138.5 BPM. You can definitely hear that something is wrong. The left/right channels match the 45 and are the opposite of the LP. It runs 3:42.

• Polydor's Pure Disco (1996)
• EMI Australia's Seventies Complete (5-CD set, 1997)

There's another edit of the LP version, running 3:57 and 139.0 BPM throughout, with left/right channels that match the 45 and are the opposite of the LP. It's on:

• Connoisseur Collection's 100 All Time Classic Dance Hits Of The 1970s (1988, thin-sounding EQ)

Finally, there's a version running 4:08 that features a newly-recorded 30-second intro. There are overdubs and severe mix differences in the rest of the song as well. Not for the purists...

• Disky UK's Wow That Was The 70's (8-CD set, 1999)

One might ask, which is the "proper" tempo? I don't have a guitar tuner handy, but since half-steps are about 5.9% apart (2^(1/12)), one could figure out which version is closest to an actual note (baed on 440-A), and that would be the speed at which it was recorded. Assuming that the musicians tuned up before they played...

Edited by crapfromthepast

Nice picture disc! Never seen that before in my life.

crapfromthepast wrote: Finally, there's a version running 4:08 that features a newly-recorded 30-second intro. There are overdubs and severe mix differences in the rest of the song as well. Not for the purists...

Hi Ron!
This last version you mention, from the description sounds like an edit of a 1985 U.K. 12" Remix... sort of a re-issue for club play. Says on it "NEW REMIX" and lists the title as "Knock On Wood / Ash 48". It has some extra percussion and is remixed as you describe. I'd gues they used that for this V/A comp. The 12" lists the time as 7:46.

-MM

Here's one more discovery. I have a promo CD set from a Canadian company that has a 5:40 version of "Knock On Wood," and this version does have the same "fly-over" intro as the 45! It is clearly a tape source, too.

The company that produced the CDs (ERG Music, "Knock Out Hits") is targeted at professional DJs, and they do not have any special access to master tapes. In fact, tons of tracks on their discs are straight from vinyl. That means this tape-sourced 5:40 version must be on CD somewhere in the world.

Does anyone know where it may have originated from? Also, would this version perhaps be an original LP version (similar to other disco songs where the 12" version replaced the LP version on later pressings)?

Edited by aaronk