culture club "karma chameleon"

I have this song on a whopping 21 CDs, and I've actually made some sense of the mastering history. As far as I can tell, the only differences seem to be the length of the fade. The starting point of the fade is the same for all 21 CDs - it's at about 3:41 at the word "lovin'". I can't compare with anything from vinyl, since I've recently moved into a new house and my vinyl is inaccessible.

The longest run time seems to be about 4:11, and it's found on these CDs:

• Rhino's Billboard Top Hits 1984 (1992) - my first choice for versions running this length
• Warner Special Products' 2-CD Good Times (1991; mine is RE-1 reissue) - uses same analog transfer as Billboard but has a tiny noise at the very tail of the fade
• Razor & Tie's 2-CD Totally '80s (1993) - uses same analog transfer as Good Times, also includes noise at tail of fade
• Time-Life's Sounds Of The Eighties Vol. 6 1984 (1994) - digital clone of Billboard but with lots of added compression - avoid
• Big Ear Music's Only In The 80's Vol. 2 (1995) - extends farther out than others by a fraction of a second and actually comes to a truncated fade; opposite absolute polarity as the others, which is insignificant
• Virgin's Colour By Numbers - I don't have this one

Next, there's a version running about 3:59, which seems to have originated on CD with the many greatest hits albums:

• Best Of (1989)
• At Worst (1993) - differently EQ'd digital clone of 1989 Best Of
• Ten Best Series (1994) - digitally exactly 0.841 dB quieter than At Worst; my first choice for versions running this length, although many others sound pretty much the same as this disc
• EMI UK's 2-CD Now 1983 (1993) - uses same analog transfer as Ten Best Series and doesn't hasten the fade like other tracks on this CD series
• Sony Germany's 2-CD Pop And Wave Vol. 3 (1992) - differently EQ'd digital clone of Ten Best Series
• Priority's Rock Of The '80s Vol. 12 (1994) - seems to use same analog transfer as Ten Best Series but with added compression - avoid
• Warner Special Products' 2-CD Punk (1996) - uses same analog transfer as Ten Best Series; in what universe is this song considered punk?
• Madacy's Rock On 1983 (1996) - digitally exactly 1.2 dB louder than Ten Best Series
• EMI Australia's 5-CD Eighties Complete Vol. 1 (1997) - sounds a little muffled compared to others; higher-generation tape source?
• Disky Europe's 8-CD Greatest Hits Of The '80 (1998) - uses same analog transfer as Ten Best Series
• Universal's Pure '80s (1999) - uses same analog transfer as Ten Best Series but with huge amount of added compression - avoid

Finally, Bill Inglot did what appears to be a new analog transfer for the Just Can't Get Enough series, running about 4:06. It's on:

• Rhino's Just Can't Get Enough, Vol. 12 (1995) - it'a a little loud and clips a bit
• Rhino's Instant Party Blow-Out (2001) - digital clone of Just Can't Get Enough; clips a lot
• Rhino's 7-CD Like Omigod (2002) - uses same analog transfer as Just Can't Get Enough but even louder - avoid

Unless noted above, virtually all the 4:11 and 3:59 versions sound excellent. The 4:06 versions also sound good, but they're a little loud and clip a bit.

The only questions remaining are what these different lengths correspond to. Because I can't play vinyl right now, I'll venture a guess out of thin air:

• 4:11 - LP and US 45 length
• 3:59 - UK 45 length (or possibly originating on the greatest hits disc?)

If anyone wants to check these, that'd be great.

Incidentally, the song is recorded with a live drummer and a click track, and runs at about 184.0 BPM on just about all of the above discs. No speed errors on any of the above disc. Oh, and the little "march" section runs at 188 BPM - no click track from 3:11 to 3:32.

(Edited to indicate that 4:11 is both LP and US 45 length, and removed my guess that 4:06 is the US 45 length.)

Edited by crapfromthepast

Paul C wrote: The length of 'Karma Chameleon' on many CDs is about 3:58, which was the 45 length in the UK (and perhaps other countries).

Is there a difference between the US single version and the UK single
version (or just an early fade)?

Bumping this thread up for Ron.