Duke Jupiter - I'll Drink To You

The band Duke Jupiter was from Rochester, NY. I started college in Rochester shortly after "I'll Drink To You" was released in 1982. The song got an unusually high level of airplay in Rochester, even years later. As a result, I hear it as a biggish hit, on the order of "You Don't Want Me Anymore" by Steel Breeze. I know this wasn't anywhere near a national hit, yet I still think of it very fondly and it's one of my favorites from the early '80s.

LP version (printed 4:32, actual 4:32)

After three unsuccessful albums on Mercury, the band released the Duke Jupiter 1 album on tiny label Coast To Coast (distributed by CBS) in 1982. The only other LPs I could find on Coast To Coast were by Kelly Marie and B.T. Express, plus singles from those two artists, Fantom, William Robinson, and Ron Evans, all in the 1981-1983 time frame. It was a very small label.

Qobuz actually has the Duke Jupiter 1 album (!), which will be far easier to find than trying to hunt down a CD copy.

It sounds superb on the Qobuz version. Low-generation source tapes, nice EQ, great dynamic range, and no evidence of added noise reduction. Much better than my old vinyl copy of the LP.

45 version (printed 3:32, actual 3:32)

Qobuz has the A-side ("I'll Drink To You") and non-album B-side ("Begin Again") of the 45 available as a two-track download. It sounds OK, but it's from vinyl. It's a better analog transfer than the one I did from my own 45, but it still has the inner-groove distortion at the end of the track that my own 45 has.

Or, you can edit it down from the album version. It's two edits, nothing else. Using the timings from the Qobuz Duke Jupter 1 album:

Segment 1
Extends from 0:00 to 2:43.7 of the LP version and the 45 version.
Ends right before a snare hit.

Delete the 32 beats from 2:43.7 to 2:58.7 of the LP version.

Segment 2
Begins on a snare.
Extends from 2:58.7 to 3:20.6 of the LP version.
Extends from 2:43.7 to 3:05.6 of the 45 version.
Ends right before a downbeat.

Delete the 96 beats from 3:20.6 to 4:05.0 of the LP version.

Segment 3
Begins on a downbeat.
Extends from 4:05.0 to 4:32 (end) of the LP version.
Extends from 3:05.6 to 3:32 (end) of the 45 version.

You mixdown will run 3:32, with edits at 2:43.7 and 3:05.6.

It's hard to believe the song sounds this good, after 43 years of living with grunge in the grooves.

Edited by crapfromthepast - 6 hours 17 minutes ago at 9:58pm