Billy Ocean - Caribbean Queen 45?

Hi all,

Re: Caribbean Queen.
Need assistance for a fading memory. I searched for an an older thread for this song but it mainly discussed the "African / European Queen" versions.

Back in '84 i purchased the 45 for this, and then later the 12" single. I never owned the "Suddenly" album.
I got rid of the 45 in the early 90's.

I remembered the 45 as being a different mix than all the CD issues listed as "45 version but..."
I remember the 45 having less echo on everything, especially the strings at the intro, and the bass-line started right at the beginning, along with the strings.

Another minor difference i remember, in the first verse right after the line "she said i was the tiger she wanted to tame"... the little sample of Vincent Price's laugh from Thriller was harder to hear, slowed down a bit more and shorter. At the time i wondered if that's what it was, but i wasn't sure. But in the 12" mix (now the only mix) you can clearly hear it is Vincent, it's not as slow and they left in one more chuckle.

I just recently pulled out the old vinyl 12" which is labeled "Special Mix".... and when it was new, that's what it sounded like to me, a remix for the 12".

When i first purchased the Greatest Hits CD, my ears thought "this is an edit of the 12" mix, not the 45 mix."

So now i went on Rhapsody and played the LP version and I'm hearing the same mix as my 12" single. Everything now seems to be this one mix, which i thought was a remix.

Does anyone still actually have the Jive 45? Has history been re-written?

I could just be recalling wrong after 25 years, but I'm sure enough to have to ask...

Thanks!
MM

   

The song debuted on the US charts a good two months before it hit the UK charts, so I think the song was a hit here before it was tweaked for the album and for UK single release. (Both hit in mid-to-late 1984.)

The original US release is Jive 45 JS 1-9199, printed 3:32, actual 3:40, 113.9 BPM throughout, no "mixed by" credit on label

The closest match to the US 45 I've found is on the 50-CD promo set The A-List (1994), which runs about 113.7 BPM throughout with very slight tempo drifts. It may even be taken from vinyl; there's evidence of noise reduction on the fade (the highs drop off slightly).

There's a nice-sounding version on Warner Special Products' 3-CD After Hours (1990), which runs a tiny bit faster than the 45 at 114.3 BPM and runs a tiny bit longer at 3:42. The extra length is at the very tail end of the fade. The same analog transfer is used for Razor & Tie's 2-CD Totally '80s (1993) and JCI's Only Dance 1980-1984 (1995). Both sound extremely similar to After Hours.

There's an even better sounding version on Rhino's Billboard Top Hits 1984 (1992), which also runs 3:42 and 114.3 BPM. There's a differently EQ'd digital clone on Time-Life's Sounds Of The Eighties 1984 (1994).

All of the above are the US 45 version. The easiest way to tell is that the bassline starts right away after the drum intro.

There's a slightly different mix on the 7:55 LP version, which I have on Arista's Perfect 10 III (1986). Unlike the 45, it's got no bassline in the first 20 seconds or so. There are other subtle differences, like the Vincent Price laugh from "Thriller" after the line "type that she wanted to tame" - it's barely there in the 45, but it's very pronounced in the LP mix.

I don't have the LP, but I'm willing to bet that there's a "Mixed by Nigel Green" credit for this song; there's no such credit for the US 45. (And I don't have the UK LP either.) I think this came out after the US 45 had run its course; the US 45 had a "forthcoming" album credit on it.

The UK 45 is edited down from the LP mix.

The UK 45 is Jive 77, printed 4:05, actual 4:05, about 113.8 BPM throughout, but there are clear edits with slight tempo variations before/after. It's also a different mix than the US 45, and indicates as such on the label by "Mixed by Nigel Green". I didn't document the edit points.

This UK 45 edit/mix is what's found on the US Greatest Hits CD from 1989, where it runs 4:06 and 113.9 BPM. The same analog transfer is used for the UK 2-CD Now 1984 (1993, fade is truncated by a few seconds) and for Disky's 8-CD Greatest Hits Of The '80s (1998).

So unless I'm mistaken, the 3:40-ish versions are all the "45 version" (US 45, that is), the 4:06 versions are all technically an "edit of the LP version" (and also the UK 45 version), and the 7:55 versions are all the LP version.

FYI - The other versions of the song you may encounter:

Caribbean Queen (instrumental) - B-side of US 45 Jive JS 1-9199, printed 3:32
European Queen - B-side of UK 45 Jive 77, printed 4:05, actual 4:06, "Mixed by Nigel Green" and matches UK 45 mix
African Queen - B-side of "Mystery Lady", US 45 Jive JS1-9374, printed 3:40, actual 3:38

The US 12" to "Mystery Lady" (Jive JD1-9373) has both African Queen (printed 8:20) and European Queen (printed 8:14) as B-sides, but with a credit of "Mixed and engineered by Bryan 'Chuck' New", so it's not the same mixes as the hit versions.

Hi again,

Sorry i was away from the board for a bit, been packing up to move this collection again. Ugggg.

thanks for all the great info, guys, as always.

And, i just visited my yahoo mail... so thanks VERY much for the 45 dubs you sent Jim!
will reply more in the email...

-Mark M

I've yet to find the 12" version (#1 on the Billboard Dance charts) on CD anywhere.

Caribbean Queen (No More Love On The Run) (Extended Mix)

12" mix is finally coming to CD on Cherry Red label