TOTO - "Africa"

The version that is on "Now That's What I Call Yacht Rock" is an incorrect edit. The correct 45 version starts with the synthesizers and fades out on the second bass riff, while this version starts with 10 seconds of the drums and cowbell and fades out on the first bass riff.

Is that double disc the European import, Dan?

Happy Sunday! The incorrect 45 version, as featured on the UK 2-disc
‘Essential Toto’ is an early fade of the album version. I’ve checked it
before. Basically, if you could lop the percussion-and-drums-only intro
off and extend the song by that length, you would have the correct 45
version. I am not sure if what we’re calling the “incorrect” 45 edit was
possibly a UK 45 version or just a goof.

Edited by EternalStatic

Is the 4:22 version as featured on
the Rhino CD Billboard Top Hits:
1983 the correct 45 version?

"Africa" is Toto's only #1 single, and the third single from Toto IV, following "Rosanna" (a hit) and "Make Believe" (not really).

The song is built around a Jeff Porcaro drum loop. There's a small amount of tempo drift in the tape loop as the song progresses, so that the whole song slows down by 0.3% or 0.4% from beginning to end. It's not a big deal, but it will throw off your BPM calculations if you're being super-precise or you're trying to beat-match for extended parts of the song.

LP version (4:56)

It begins with 16 beats of drums, the rest of the instruments kick in around 0:11, and it has a very long fade.

The oldest CD I have for the LP version (and it may be one of the oldest CDs ever produced anywhere) is a promotional disc called CBS Records Compact Disc Demonstration (1983). It sounds superb here, with a lot of high end, maybe even too much. But this disc is extremely rare and really expensive. The same analog transfer is used on:

• TM Century library track no. 1857 - has added noise reduction; avoid
• Razor & Tie's 2-CD Forever '80s (1994) - might be EQ'd a little differently; hard for me to tell
• Cema's Greatest Hits Of The 80's Vol. 1 Turbo Mania (1994) - sounds extremely close to Forever '80s
• Cema's 2-CD Mystic Music Presents Cool Rock (1995) - sounds extremely close to Forever '80s
• Sony's Hits Of 1983 (1999) - sounds extremely close to Forever '80s

I have a different analog transfer on CBS's Toto IV (copyright 1982). Unfortunately, I remember from my SH.tv days that the early Toto IV CDs have several masterings, and I don't know which one mine is. It sounds just fine, whichever one it is.

Finally, I have a new analog transfer on Toto's best-of Past To Present 1977-1990 (1990), where it sounds great. The same analog transfer is used on:

• Warner Special Products' 2-CD Magic Moments (1992) - faded very early to match the 45 fade; this early fade of the LP version didn't exist in 1983
• EMI Virgin PolyGram UK's 2-CD Now 1983 (1993) - faded about 8 seconds early
• JCI's Eighteen Rock Classics (1994)
• Time-Life's 2-CD Body Talk Vol. 13 Just The Two Of Us (1997)
• Time-Life's Sounds Of The Eighties Classic '80s (2002)

One outlier - EMI Australia's 5-CD Eighties Complete Vol. 1 (1997) uses a different analog transfer than all of the above.

45 version (4:14, according to the database)

The 45 deletes the first 16 beats of drums and begins on downbeat. It also fades early to a length of 4:14.

The oldest CD I have with the 45 edit is Rhino's Billboard Top Hits 1983 (1992), where it sounds spectacular. I suspect that Bill Inglot used the two-track mixdown tapes for the LP version and reproduced the edit, because it runs about four seconds longer than the actual 45. The same analog transfer is used on:

• Rhino's 2-CD Entertainment Weekly Presents 80's Explosion (1994) - digitally identical
• Warner Special Products' 2-CD Starland Music Presents Rockin' USA (1994)
• Time-Life's Sounds Of The Eighties Vol. 3 1983 (1994)
• Time-Life's Sounds Of The Eighties '80s Pop Classics (1999)
• Rhino's 7-CD Like Omigod (2002) - absolute polarity inverted, which is insignificant
• Time-Life's Classic Soft Rock Vol. 4 More Than A Feeling (2006)

The version on TM Century library track no. 6984 is a homemade edit based on the TM Century LP version noted above; avoid. The version on swaitek's promo 50-CD set The A List Disc 17 (1994) is based on the mastering for TM Century library track no. 6984; avoid.

One outlier: Madacy's Rock On 1983 Vol. 2 (2005) is not based on any of the above masterings. It doesn't sound as good as the Billboard disc.

My recommendations

For the LP version, I like Toto's best-of Past To Present 1977-1990 (1990).

For the 45 version, I like Rhino's Billboard Top Hits 1983 (1992).

Truth be told, the only versions that didn't sound great were the TM Century and A-List discs.