"I Keep Forgettin’..." - Michael McDonald

Found lots of versions that sound good, and one that sounds spectacular.

The oldest version on CD that I have is on Warner Bros' Sweet Freedom (1986). I don't have the disc anymore, but I seem to remember that it might have been an import, and I think it was mastered by Lee Herschberg (he's good). I have two CDs that are digital clones of Sweet Freedom:

• Time-Life's 2-CD Body Talk Vol. 3 Moonlit Nights (1996; different EQ)
• Time-Life's 2-CD Body And Soul Vol. 13 Slow Caress (1999; digitally identical)

There's a different analog transfer on Sandstone's Cosmopolitan Vol. 1 (1992), which sounds comparable in quality to Sweet Freedom but is a little hissier. There are a bunch of CDs that use the same analog transfer as Cosmopolitan Vol. 1:

• swaitek's promo 50-CD The A List Disc 11 (1994; no noise reduction; absolute polarity inverted, which doesn't involve sound quality)
• Time-Life's 2-CD Body Talk (1994; digitally exactly 0.1 dB quieter)
• Priority's Eighties Greatest Rock Hits Vol. 12 Singers Songwriters (1994; unlike most other Priority discs, this one sounds great)
• Time-Life's Sounds Of The Eighties Vol. 5 1982 (1994; digital clone but with additional compression)
• JCI's Only Rock 'N Roll #1 Radio Hits 1980-1984 (1996, sounds extremely close to Sounds Of The Eighties)
• Time-Life's 2-CD Singers And Songwriters Vol. 7 1980-1982 (2000; digitally exactly 1.342 dB quieter than Sounds Of The Eighties)
• Razor & Tie's Easy Rock (2001; differently EQ'd digital clone of Sounds Of The Eighties)
• Time-Life's Classic Soft Rock Vol. 5 California Dreamin' (2006; digitally identical to Sounds Of The Eighties)

The version on Razor & Tie's 2-CD Forever '80s (1994) is kinda sorta close to Cosmopolitan, but I'm not positive.

I liked the sound on Cosmopolitan, until I heard the sound on Michael McDonald's single-artist The Ultimate Collection (2005). Seems to be from lower-generation source tapes, with no noise reduction and a very warm EQ. The peaks are a little more consistent peak-to-peak, like the Sounds Of The Eighties discs above, but there's not much compression on Ultimate. The sound on this disc is really stunning, and I heartily endorse it - a terrific-sounding slice of smoooooooooooth music.

Plus, technically, the song is a remake! "I Keep Forgettin'" was written by Leiber and Stoller, and hit #55 in 1962 for Chuck Jackson. There are some lyrical and melodic similarities in the chorus, although the verses are different. Who knew?

At what point did "(Every Time You're Near)" become part
of this song's title? From what I find online, the
picture sleeve and most pressings don't include this.

Wow, the regulators came after old McDonald! I had no idea.