Gary Glitter - "Rock And Roll Part 2"

I thought doing comparisons for this track would be relatively simple. Nope. At the very least, the designation of "45 length" and "LP length" need to be changed.

First I played my US 45 (Bell 45,237, Part 2 has printed 3:10, actual 3:10). It's mono on both sides.

Then assembled all 7 versions I have on CD to figure out what's what. It still doesn't quite make sense.

I found what I think are three different stereo mixes on CD, none of which really sound like the mono 45, and it's really difficult to describe them.

The first version to appear on CD was DCC's Toga Rock II (1989, mastered by Steve Hoffman). Very boomy drums, lots of processing on the vocals. Big delay in the vocals between L and R channels - R comes in first. (Listen to just the L channel vocals, and it's sounds like everything comes in just a little late.)

This same version crops up again (but doesn't sound quite as good) on Mystic Music Presents Good Times (1991), Time-Life's Sounds Of The Seventies - 1972 Take Two (1991) and Madacy's Rock On - 1972 (1996).

There's another, more dry mix on Time-Life's Guitar Rock - 1972-1973 (1994), which sounds like it has essentially no reverb on anything, especially when compared with the Toga Rock mix. The vocals have a lot less processing. It has slightly exaggerated highs, which leads me to think that it may be a clone of Rhino's 1991 Greatest Hits CD, and the sample I heard on Amazon confirms this.

And finally, there's the version on Rhino's Have A Nice Day Vol. 9, which doesn't match any of the above. The claps in the clap track are panned completely to the R channel and have a very different tone than all the others, and it's not an EQ difference. The vocals are panned hard right as well, with just a small amount of leakage into the L channel. What the heck?

And to complicate matters, none of the above three mixes really matches the 45. I guess Toga Rock comes closest, but there are still some differences in the effects used on the vocals, plus the 45 extends about 10 seconds beyond the end of the Toga Rock version.

I repeated the same exercise with the B-side, "Part 1" (which is the same song but with vocals). The 45 has vocals that sound kinda natural, while the version on Disky's Beat Goes On Vol. 3 (1997) has lots of processing that make the vocals sound kinda metallic.

I give up. :(

Anyone have the Bell LP? Or UK 45/LP?

I always thought it was a dedicated mix, as the CD versions I have do not fold down to sound like the mono. It seems there needs to be some further sorting of the various CD versions, though. Thanks for your new details, Ron!

BTW, Gary's only other US top 40 hit is on a third CD that is currently not in Pat's database. "I Didn't Know I Loved You" can be found on Sounds Of The Seventies - AM Heavy Hits (Time-Life SOD-37).

My LP has a printed time of 3:00 for Part 2. I will have to compare it to my 45 tomorrow.

edit: wow, the 45 sounds terrible. The LP version is stereo, has an actual time of 2:59 and sounds great.

Edited by mainrhythm