Robert Palmer - Addicted To Love

Hi "crapfromthepast",

I'm really not sure, but I *believe* the edit that first showed up on 'The Island Story' was the video version and quite possibly the original UK 45 version.

Andy

AndrewChouffi wrote: Hi "crapfromthepast", I'm really not sure, but I *believe* the edit that first showed up on 'The Island Story' was the video version and quite possibly the original UK 45 version. Andy

I just watched the video on youtube, and Andy, you're right. That unidentified edit IS on the video.

Does anyone have the U.K. commercial 45 of "Addicted to Love"? I'm still wondering if either the 4:01 or the 4:24 versions that repeatedly show up in the database as "neither the 45 nor LP version" is actually the U.K 45 version?

Revisiting the many versions of this song, a little more thoroughly than I did four years ago.

The first version to appear on CD was the 6:02 LP version, which turned up on the full-length Robert Palmer CD Riptide in 1986. It turns up on TM Century's GoldDisc 596, but not many other compilations.

The next version to show up on CD was the 3:54 shortened intro version from The Island Story in 1987. This version was used in the video, and I suspect that it might be the UK single version (no confirmation one way or the other yet). It's recognizable because it's missing a downbeat in the intro, which is annoying to beat-matchers like myself.

The same analog transfer as the The Island Story was used on Time-Life's 2-CD Rock Dreams (1993) and Razor & Tie's 2-CD Totally '80s (1993). A different analog transfer was used for EMI UK's 2-CD Now 1986 (1993), but it fades about 8 seconds early.

The next version to appear on CD was the 4:24 version with a lengthened intro from the much-maligned Robert Palmer collection Addictions Vol. 1(1989). (Sonically, it does sound really good, but it has a lot of remixes or new edits.)

The lengthened intro version later appeared on PolyTel Canada's Rock With The '80s (1990), Time-Life's 2-CD Modern Rock Vol. 21 Club '80s (2001; mastered too loud and clips a lot), and Skifan Iceland's 2-CD Pottþétt 80's 2 (2001; also too loud).

The true US 45 finally appeared on TM Century's GoldDisc 918, where I suspect it was taken from vinyl. It shows some very slight dulling of the highs on the fade, which is evidence of noise reduction. The version on The A List Disc 35 (1994) is taken from the TM Century disc. Neither one sounds very good. We'd have to wait for Rhino's 7-CD Like Omigod box (1999) to get the true 45 version from a tape source.

In 1994, when Bill Inlgot was compiling the tracks for Billboard Top Hits 1986, he recreated the shortened intro version from The Island Story using lower-generation source tapes. The opening beat/crash cymbal has more attack on the Rhino disc, and the fade is longer. The song runs 4:01 here, as opposed to 3:54 on The Island Story; the 7-second difference is the longer fade used here. Overall, the sound quality is better here, due to the better source tapes, but it's not the true US 45.

There are digital clones of Billboard Top Hits 1986 on Time-Life's Sounds Of The Eighties Vol. 4 1986 (1994; identical until 1:09, 0.238 dB quieter from 1:09 to 1:17 and 0.477 dB quieter after 1:17), Time-Life's 2-CD Modern Rock Vol. 4 1986-1987 (1999; 3 dB quieter than other T-L disc), and Universal's Pure '80s (1999).

So my first choice for each version, based on sound quality, is:

• True US 45 version: Like Omigod
• LP version: Riptide
• Shortened intro version used in video (and possibly UK single version?): The Island Story
• Lengthened intro version that didn't appear until Addictions disc: Addictions Vol. 1

Aaron - The version on Pure 80s #1s might be a rerecording from the Very Best Of disc (Guardian 55312) listed in the book. Don't have that one, though.

Edited by crapfromthepast

I agree that the Rhino box set is dynamically crushed. I also hear the aggressive compression and "pumping" that dacs2000 mentions in the other thread.

I created my own single edit using the LP version on Riptide, and it's much better sounding. Offhand, I can't recall all of the edit points, but there are nearly a half dozen and an early fade.