Robert Palmer - Addicted To Love

There were four singles released from the Riptide album. In order:

• "Discipline Of Love" - 7" Island 7-99597, promo 12" single Island PR 791
• "Addicted To Love" - 7" Island 7-99570, promo 12" single Island PR 827
• "Hyperactive" - 7" Island 7-99545, promo 12" single Island PR 879
• "I Didn't Mean To Turn You On" - 7" Island 7-99537, promo 12" single Island PR 891

"Discipline Of Love" came out before the album, as evidenced by the "forthcoming" language on the record label. And yes, "Addicted To Love" was the second single from Riptide, following the non-hit-in-every-way "Discipline Of Love".

LP version (6:02)

The LP version first showed up in 1985 on the Riptide CD, where it sounds just fine, but clips quite a bit around -3 dB. I don't know if all the '85-era CDs use the same mastering as the one I have. The same analog transfer is used on:

• TM Century's track no. 00009091 - hastens fade by a few seconds, but doesn't add noise reduction
• a European CD called Dance Classics Pop Edition Vol. 9 (2012) - EQ'd to add bass and high end, mastered a little too loud and clips a bit

Riptide is your best choice here, even with the clipping.

Robert Palmer left Island Records for EMI in 1988 for the Heavy Nova album (with hit "Simply Irresistible"). This caused two things to happen downstream:

(1) In 1989, Island put out a Robert Palmer best-of called Addictions Vol. 1. In the style of Steve Winwood's Chronicles, which spawned a hit with a remixed version of his old song "Valerie", Island remixed a few of Robert Palmer's songs on Addictions Vol. 1. The version of "Addicted To Love" on Addictions Vol. 1 is an edit of the LP version, and is not a remix. Both the US and UK 45 versions can be edited down from the version on Addictions Vol. 1. There are a lot of compilations out there that use the 1989 edit from Addictions Vol. 1.

(2) In 1995, EMI put out their own Robert Palmer best of called The Very Best Of Robert Palmer. It was released pretty much everywhere except the US in 1995. Guardian Records released the album in the US in 1997 (Guardian 55312), moving "Addicted To Love" to the last track, and adding the dreadful "Addicted To Love '97" as the first track. I don't own this disc, but the earlier posts in this thread say that "Addicted To Love" is a rerecording from scratch, running 4:23. I don't know which of the other Island-era tracks are rerecorded. The 1995 rerecording of "Addicted To Love" is close enough to have fooled some compilation producers, and has found its way onto a handful of compilations.

Got all that? Let's dive in...

Non-hit 1989 edit from Addictions Vol. 1 album (4:24)

Here are editing instructions, using the LP version from the '80s-era Riptide CD as a source:

Segment 1
Extends from 0:00 to 2:53.0 of the LP version and the Addictions Vol. 1 edit
Ends on the word "might", on a bass drum/cymbal crash that falls one eight note before a downbeat

Delete from 2:53.0 to 3:44.5 of the LP version.

Segment 2
Begins on the word "might", which starts the short a cappella section
Extends from 3:44.5 to 5:15.6 of the LP version
Extends from 2:53.0 to 4:24.2 of the Addictions Vol. 1 edit
Ends on a snare hit, one beat after a downbeat; the downebat starts a vocal-free verse with a keyboard playing the melody

Fade
Begins on the word "might", which falls right before a downbeat
Extends from 4:57.7 to 5:15.6 of the LP version
Extends from 4:06.3 to 4:24.2 of the Addictions Vol. 1 edit

I discovered that the two short a cappella sections in the LP version (including the snare hit afterwards) are level-shifted digital clones of each other! That's a pretty neat trick for a 1985 mastering; I have no idea what system they could have used back then that would allow that type of editing.

The non-hit 1989 edit showed up first on Island's Robert Palmer collection Addictions Vol. 1 (1989). Sounds quality is great. It seems to use the same analog transfer as Riptide, but without the clipping, and, of course, being edited. The same analog transfer is used on:

• PolyTel Canada's Rock With The '80s (1990)
• PolyGram's 2-CD Entertainment Weekly Presents Rock Anthems (1993)
• Classic Rock '80s (1997)
• EMI's 2-CD 80's Wave (1998) - truncates fade; avoid
• EMI's 2-CD Mystic Music Presents Red Hot (1998) - shortens fade by about a second
• Time-Life's 2-CD Modern Rock Vol. 21 Club '80s (2001) - mastered too loud and shortens fade by about five seconds; avoid
• Skifan Iceland's 2-CD Pottþétt 80's 2 (2001) - shortens fade by about two seconds

US 45 version (3:59)

The true US 45 version is only on two US commercially available CDs:

• Rhino's 7-CD Like Omigod (2002)
• Rhino's VH1 I Love the 80s (2004)

I also have it on two promo CDs:

• TM Century's track no. 0009056, may be an in-house edit (I didn't check that carefully), no added noise reduction
• swaitek's The A List Disc 35 (1994) - same analog transfer as TM Century's track no. 0009056

Some of the earlier posts in this thread were not too fond of the sound quality on Like Omigod, so here are editing instructions for creating the US 45 version from the 1989 edit, using Addictions Vol. 1 as the source:

Segment 1
Includes the beginning of the song (with the opening beat falling at 0:00.2, just for reference)
7 beats long
Ends on a snare hit
Extends from 0:00.0 to 0:04.0 of the US 45 version and the Addictions Vol. 1 edit

Delete the 6 beats from 0:04.0 to 0:07.3 of the Addictions Vol. 1 edit.

Segment 2
Begins on a snare hit
11 beats long
Ends on a downbeat
Extends from 0:04.0 to 0:10.0 of the 45 version
Extends from 0:07.3 to 0:13.3 of the Addictions Vol. 1 edit

Delete the 8 beats from 0:13.3 to 0:17.6 of the Addictions Vol. 1 edit.

Segment 3
Begins on a downbeat
17 beats long
Ends on a snare hit
Extends from 0:10.0 to 0:19.2 of the 45 version
Extends from 0:17.6 to 0:26.8 of the Addictions Vol. 1 edit

Delete the 32 beats from 0:26.8 to 0:44.0 of the Addictions Vol. 1 edit.

Segment 4
Begins on a snare hit
Extends from 0:19.2 to 4:00.6 (end, including outro silence)
Extends from 0:44.0 to 4:25.3 (end, including outro silence) of the Addictions Vol. 1 edit

The fade from the Addictions Vol. 1 edit matches the fade on the US 45, which is nice.

Your mixdown will run about 4:00, with edits at 0:04.0, 0:10.0, and 0:19.2.

UK 45 version (4:01?)

I'm not sure of the exact length of the UK 45. I'm pretty sure the fade starts at 3:39, but I can't confirm where it ends.

The UK 45 version showed up first on CD on Island's 2-CD Island Story (1987), where it runs 3:55. It cuts off the attack of the opening drumbeat, which is bad. I believe that it fades early (I can't really tell from the one video I found on YouTube). The same analog transfer is used on:

• Time-Life's 2-CD Rock Dreams (1993) - fade is about one second shorter
• Razor & Tie's 2-CD Totally '80s (1993) - fade is about one second shorter
• TM Century's track no. 00000831 - no added noise reduction, doesn't shorten fade

There's a different analog transfer on Virgin EMI Polygram UK's 2-CD Now 1986 (1993), where it fades even earlier at 3:49. This series of 1993 2-CD sets have a lot of early fades, so that's not surprising. Importantly, this set has a fully intact opening drumbeat, which is what tells me that something is wrong with the opening drumbeat of Island Story.

There's still another analog transfer on Rhino's Billboard Top Hits 1986 (1994), where it runs 4:01. I suspect that someone at Rhino re-edited the UK 45 edit from really low-generation source tapes, because this version sounds significantly better than all of the above. (And because if you synch up this version with The Island Story, you can detect tiny timing differences at the edit points.) The same analog transfer is used on:

• Time-Life's Sounds Of The Eighties Vol. 4 1986 (1994) - digitally identical until 1:09, 0.238 dB quieter from 1:09 to 1:17, and 0.477 dB quieter after 1:17
• Rhino's promo Billboard Sampler (PRCD 7135, 1995)
• Time-Life's Sounds Of The Eighties Big '80s (1998)
• Time-Life's Modern Rock Cutting-Edge '80s (1999)
• Time-Life's 2-CD Modern Rock Vol. 4 1986-1987 (1999)
• Universal's Pure '80s (1999) - differently-EQ'd digital clone, but fades about a second earlier

Here are editing instructions for creating the UK 45 version from the 1989 edit, using Addictions Vol. 1 as the source:

Segment 1
Includes the beginning of the song (with the opening beat falling at 0:00.2, just for reference)
6 beats long
Ends on a downbeat
Extends from 0:00.0 to 0:03.5 of the UK 45 version and the Addictions Vol. 1 edit

Delete exactly one beat from 0:03.5 to 0:04.1 of the Addictions Vol. 1 edit.

Segment 2
Begins on a snare hit, which still sounds wrong to my ears
6 beats long
Ends on a snare hit
Extends from 0:03.5 to 0:06.7 of the UK 45 version
Extends from 0:04.1 to 0:07.3 of the Addictions Vol. 1 edit

Delete the 18 beats from 0:07.3 to 0:17.1 of the Addictions Vol. 1 edit

Segment 3
Begins on a snare hit
11 beats long
Ends on a downbeat
Extends from 0:06.7 to 0:12.7 of the UK 45 version
Extends from 0:17.1 to 0:23.1 of the Addictions Vol. 1 edit

Delete the 32 beats from 0:23.1 to 0:40.2 of the Addictions Vol. 1 edit

Segment 4
Begins on a downbeat
Extends from 0:12.7 to 3:57.8 (end, including outro silence) of the UK 45 version
Extends from 0:40.2 to 4:25.3 (end, including outro silence) of the Addictions Vol. 1 edit

The fade from the Addictions Vol. 1 edit also matches the fade on the UK 45, more or less. It's about a second longer than The Island Story, and about 6 or 7 seconds shorter than Billboard.

Your mixdown will run about 3:57, with edits at 0:03.5, 0:06.7, and 0:12.7.

Non-hit 1995 rerecording

As rerecordings go, this one is pretty close to the original. For differences, listen before the second chorus, starting with the line "you'd like to think that you're immune to this stuff". (It's around 2:21 on the LP version and the Addictions version, around 1:53 on the UK 45, and around 1:56 on the US 45.) The 1985 mix has a cool keyboard part playing 16th notes over everything, sounding a little like the intro to "She's A Beauty" by the Tubes. The 1995 rerecording lacks the cool keyboards.

The rerecording is close enough so that it fooled some compilation compilers. I have it on:

• Rhino's Instant Party Disc Regular Strength (1999) - intro is cut in half, compared to Pure '80s #1s disc below
• Hip-O's Pure 80's #1s (2006)

I don't know where else the '95 rerecording shows up.

My recommendations

For the LP version, go with Island's Robert Palmer full-length album Riptide (1985).
For the non-hit 1989 edit, go with Island's Robert Palmer best-of Addictions Vol. 1 (1989).
For the US 45 version, I'm fine with the sound on Rhino's Like Omigod (2002), which is a little treble-heavy and clips a bit. The clarity of the sound makes Addictions seem a little dull in comparison.
For the UK 45 version, I like the sound on Rhino's Billboard Top Hits 1986 (1994).

Edited by crapfromthepast

AdvprosD, according to MusicBrainz, that's the same video/UK single version that debuted on The Island Story.

There also exists a 4:59 edit on the Japanese 3" CD single and I think the US CDV. I'm guessing this is the 12" version that was released in most of the world, but not US or AU/NZ.