David Dundas-Jeans On

Surprise surprise. This song is in stereo. Probably rivaling the crummiest stereo ever produced, but stereo nonetheless. It appears on the vinyl LP "David Dundas" (Chrysalis CHR 1141). The stereo is apparent (if you are in a soundproof room with headphones and no children within 2 miles)at :52 seconds, when some kind of synthesized instrument jumps into the song at about 1 degree (!) to the left. And if that's not enough to shake the universe, the LP version times out at 3:18, and my promo 45 version clocks in at a tad short of 2:38. Now the question is: which one of these puppies is the single? Is the 3:18 LP version also the 45 and the 2:38 version a DJ edit? Or is the DJ version also the 45 version, which would necessitate a change in the database to denote that all the (mono)the entries are in fact, the 45 version. All I have is a promo. And a rapidly-developing headache.

I forgot to mention that at least a couple of the CDs ARE dead mono (such as Rhino Have A Nice Day--Super Hits vol. 19)

Thanks for the info, Andrew. That tells me that the 45 and DJ are the same and that the longer version is indeed the LP version. Pat, The 45 is definitely not an early fade. On the LP the verse "When I Wake Up..." appears at 2:28 and then again at 2:58. On the single it appears only once, but then I believe there is some added editing to extend the fade to where the 45 faded. The exact time on my 45 is just shy of 2:38 (2:37.962 to be exact).

Can the LP version be edited to recreate the 45 version?

Currently going through all 400 songs on Rhino's Have A Nice Day series (!) for a thread on the Steve Hoffman board, and thought I'd share what I found for "Jeans On":

From vinyl on HAND? I hear a tick/pop in the word "have" at 0:50, I hear a little crackling on the fade, and it fades to silence with no hiss. On HAND, it runs 2:34 and it's true mono. That's the 45 length, but the 45 was in in extremely narrow stereo. It's not an early fade of the LP version either - there's one edit at 2:26 inside the fade that loops an earlier vocal line for the fade, plus the 45 just slightly shortens the pause at 1:13. (The LP version keeps the beat, the 45 shortens it to less than a beat.)

MUCH better are any of the LP versions that appear on foreign compilations. The best is probably on EMI Australia's 5-CD Seventies Complete Vol. 2 (1997), where it has a nice dynamic range and has a reasonably centered soundstage. Plus, it doesn't sound like it's underwater, like HAND. The best indication that it's in true stereo is a brief synth part, panned just left of center from 0:53-0:55. Not nearly as good as the Australian collection are Disky's The Beat Goes On Vol. 9 (1997; brassy EQ, everything panned left, slightly compressed), Disky's 8-CD Wow That Was The 70's (1999; VERY brassy EQ, everything panned left, VERY compressed), and Disky's 8-CD Greatest Hits Of The '70s (2000; better EQ, soundstage centered, VERY compressed).