"True" - Spandau Ballet

Todd, did you mean 5:39?

The database says,

...dj copies of this 45 run (4:58)...

Does anybody know if this is a simple early fade of the commercial 45?

I know the intro is shortened. There might be one other edit, never gone thru & compared the two.

I remember hearing an edit on the radio that took out the bridge/sax solo. It basically edited everything between 2:55 and 4:22. Perhaps this was a custom edit?

Just discovered that all the tracks on 1985's The Singles Collection have their left and right channels reversed. This really makes a mess of the catalog, since there are many, many compilations that have their masterings traced back the The Singles Collection.

In addition, all 10 tracks on 10 Best Series Greatest Hits (1994) are differently-EQ'd digital clones of The Singles Collection, so they too have the left and right channels reversed.

For the song "True", as best as I can tell (without the vinyl, because my turntable is still boxed up after my move last summer), the hi-hat starts in the left channel on all the versions I could find, except possibly the promo 45 (details below).

I'll start with the longest versions, down to the shortest. For all the CDs below, the hi-hat starts in the left channel except where noted.

The LP version runs 6:26 on Time-Life's 2-CD Modern Rock Vol. 1 1982-1983 (1999), where it sounds really terrific. I also have a version running 6:23 on an unknown pressing of the single-artist album True.

I have the 12 inch single version running 5:59 on the 2-CD Pop And Wave Vol. 4 (1993, Germany) and the 2-CD Pop And Wave The 12" Mixes (1995, Germany). This is just an early fade of the LP version, with a fade running from about 5:39 to 5:59. Seems like an odd thing to put on a 12" single, but that's what people did in 1983.

Now, the 45 version. It's hard to say exactly how the long the tail of the fade should be, since it's at such a low volume and would probably be swamped by surface noise on the actual 45.

The longest 45 version I have is on Rhino's Billboard Top Hits 1983 (1992), where it runs 5:40. On this disc, the fade-out on the tape runs out longer than on all the other discs I have, including the LP versions. For example, the fade tail runs about 8 beats longer on Billboard than it does on The Singles Collection. Sound quality is superb on Billboard.

Don't know why you'd want to do this, but to recreate the 45 version from the LP version, do this:
Find the two-snare-hit drum fill at 4:36.
Edit on the downbeat following that drum fill (at 4:36.6 on the Time-Life disc).
Remove the 80 beats from 4:36.6 to 5:25.8 (timings from Time-Life disc).
That's it - keep the LP fade for the 45.
You'll have one edit in the 45, on the downbeat following the two-snare-hit fill, at about 4:37.

There are a few Time-Life CDs that use the same analog transfer as Billboard Top Hits 1983: Sounds Of The Eighties Vol. 3 1983 (1994), the 2-CD Body Talk Vol. 8 On My Mind (1996), and Another Lost Decade Romance (2005).

There is a dizzying array of compilation CDs that also feature the 45 version, with the hi-hat starting in the left channel, and a shortened fade compared to Billboard:

• EMI UK's 2-CD Now Smash Hits Of The '80s (1987, 5:38)
• EMI's UK 2-CD Now 1983 (1993, 5:27 - very short fade)
• Warner Special Products' 2-CD Lost In Love (1994, 5:28)
• Rhino's Just Can't Get Enough, Vol. 11 (1994, 5:33 - I don't know why Rhino used a new analog transfer here instead of digitally cloning Billboard, like they did on so many other tracks)
• EMI Australia's 5-CD box Eighties Complete Vol. 1 (1997, 5:41)
• EMI UK's Time To Remember 1983 (1997, 5:29 - a little compressed)
• Disky's 8-CD Greatest Hits Of The '80s (1998, 5:29, compressed)
• Skifan Iceland's 2-CD Pottþétt 80's 2 (2001, 5:28)
• Disky's 8-CD Greatest Hits Of The '80s (2002, 5:30)
• EMI? UK 2-CD Best Of 1982-1983 (2003, 5:28)
• Time-Life's 2-CD Classic Soft Rock Vol. 8 Ordinary World (2007, 5:30)

Now, there are a bunch of CDs that feature the 45 version, but have their left and right channels reversed, so that the hi-hat incorrectly starts in the right channel. This all traces back to The Singles Collection (1985, 5:35). I found three discs that all use the same analog transfer as The Singles Collection:

• Razor & Tie's 2-CD Forever '80s (1994, 5:34, mastered by Steve Hoffman but hampered by source material)
• Cema's 2-CD Cool Rock (1995, differently-EQ'd digital clone)
• Madacy's Rock On 1983 Sweet Dreams (1998; differently-EQ'd digital clone)

There's one more disc with the 45 version its left/right channels reversed, which isn't based on The Singles Collection - EMI's Living In Oblivion Vol. 4 (1994, 5:33) This one is particularly odd, since the rest of the Oblivion series is done so well; I guess mastering engineer Larry Walsh must have used The Singles Collection as a reference, rather than the vinyl 45.

Finally, there's the promo 45 version, which runs 5:00. I have a recreation done by Aaron, and a version on the 50-CD promo set The A List Disc 16 (1994), which is probably a homemade edit done originally by TM Century. Both of these have the hi-hat starting in the right channel, so either: (1) the promo 45 really does have its left/right channels reversed compared to every other version, or (2) both used The Singles Collection or one of those other discs as their source.

Here are instructions for creating the promo 45 edit, using the Billboard Top Hits 1983 disc as the source (and assuming that you can flip the L/R channels yourself):

Keep the first 16 beats from 0:00 to 0:10.1.
Edit on the true downbeat, at the instance of the first bass drum hit.
Remove the 16 beats from 0:10.1 to 0:19.9.
Keep 0:19.9 to 4:20.4 of the 45 version.
Edit on a snare hit at 4:20.4 right after the word "True" at a true downbeat at 4:19.8.
Remove the 8 beats from 4:20.4 to 4:25.3.
Keep 4:25.3 to about 5:15 in the 45 version.
Put a fade from the downbeat at 4:57 to 5:15.

Your mixdown will run about 5:00, with edits at 0:10.1 and 4:10.6, and a fade from 4:42 to 5:00.

Edited by crapfromthepast