Adam Wade: Point Of No Return

Pat, thanks for putting out your book - it's my main source for determining the versions of the many thousands songs I have on CD.

A question: I have the original 45 vinyl (COED 550) and the Collectables 5455 CD of Adam Wade's "Point Of No Return". You list the CD as a rerecording, but to my 60+ year-old ears they sound pretty much the same. Is the CD in fact a rerecording?    

Another Note: The mono version of the Four Seasons recording of "Rag Doll" also appears on the Time-Life 2RNR-10 CD entitled "Rock 'N' Roll Era - 1964 (1987 copyright). The timing appears to be about 2:53 or 2:54. This does not appear in your book.

Thanks for maintaining this forum!

Dear Pat: Sorry for the confusion about "Point Of No Return", my error. I had the vinyl 45 of Adam Wade on my desk in front of me when I sent my query, and had flipped it over to the song "Point Of No Return" on the "B" side, and without thinking, that is the title I typed in my message; of course I meant the other side of the 45, which has the song "The Writing On The Wall". You say that the version of that song on the CD is a very good rerecording, and of course I accept that - but it's a darned good reconstruction!

Now, as to the recording of "Rag Doll"; my copy of the CD Time-Life "The Rock 'n' Roll Era - 1964 has the matrix number OPCD 2542-2 RE-2 (Note the different last digit from yours). So, it must be a newer release. I presume that my CD is missing a song that yours has, replaced by "Rag Doll" If you want to bother comparing my track listing with yours, here is the listing:

1. Where Did Our Love Go (Supremes) Stereo
2. Rag Doll (Frankie Valli/Four Seasons) Stereo 2:54
3. Under The Boardwalk (Drifters) Stereo LP
4. It Hurts To Be In Love (Pitney) Mono
5. Little Old Lady..Pasadena(Jan & Dean) Stereo, Long Ver
6. You Don't Own Me (Gore) Stereo
7. Oh, Pretty Woman (Orbison) Stereo
8. My Guy (Wells) Stereo
9. Keep Searchin' (Shannon) Mono
10. C'mon And Swim (Freeman) Mono
11. Last Kiss (Wilson/Cavaliers) Mono
12. Dancing In The Streets (Martha/Vandellas) Stereo
13. G.T.O. (Ronny/Daytonas) Mono
14. Suspicion (Stafford) Mono
15. No Particulat Place To Go (Berry) Stereo
16. Leader Of The Pack (Shangri-Las) Mono
17. Hi-Heel Sneakers (Tucker) Mono
18. Chapel Of Love (Dixie Cups) Mono
19. Louie Louie (Kingsmen) Mono
20. Goin' Out Of My Head (Little Anthony) Stereo
21. The Shoop Shoop Song ( Everett) Stereo
22. Surfin' Bird (Trashmen) Mono

All the above except "Rag Doll" are as you listed them in your book. Of course I don't know the song that I am "missing".

One final query (I'm sure you get asked this a lot):
Any chance of the next editions of your book being available on CD-ROM? And how about OLDER songs from say, 1950 or even earlier in a "Pre Rock & Roll Special Edition?

Thanks for your help....

Oops--forgot to answer your final question regarding expanding the scope of the book 1950-1954. Well it is a little late now as I haven't stocked my library with the cd titles that would be needed to enter that era. That era really predates rock and roll and would be a strange addition I feel.

Now with regards to releasing the 11th edition on CD-ROM, I have inquired both through book publishing companies and computer geeks regarding this possibility and both always come back with the same answer -- the CD-ROM would be bootlegged to death within a week of its release and legitimate sales would drop to zero. The size of the book is a major concern and I would love to be able to reduce the price and the size of the publication but readers have already voted in the past to keep all the out of print cd's intact. An annual supplement is a possibility but the supplement wouldn't really help anyone who does not currently own the 10th edition.

Edited by Moderator

It will be at least 6 months before the 11th edition comes out. I currently have over 700 new cd entries but traditionally need 1,000 before I release a new edition. Also would like feedback from current and potential buyers of this book as to what format would serve their needs the best (paper, CD-ROM, annual updates only etc.)

I will listen again to "Writing On The Wall" this weekend but having previously spent a considerable amount of time reviewing the Adam Wade hits, I concluded that all of cd appearances on both Collectables and Time-Life are either rerecordings or alternate takes. The instrumentation seems to be the same but the vocals are not the hit single vocals.

Pat Downey wrote: After listening again to "Writing On The Wall" today, I cannot discern any difference between the 45 and the cd verion on Collectables 5455. With regard to his other 2 top 40 hits, they are both either rerecordings or alternate takes both on the Collectables cd and the Time-Life cd's. If you need specific timing points where you can detect the differences, just let me know.

This is a terribly old thread but I'd be
interested to know the places to detect the differences between the 45 and
the alternate version of "As If I Didn't Know?"