American Oldies

Message Topic Search Topic Options Post Reply Create New Topic Printable Version Translate Topic

   Here's an interesting issue.  Not sure if it's a question, or a warning, though, so bare with me.

A long time ago, when I first started hunting information on oldies on the web, I came across a website that sold "oldies 45's" and offered to put them on CD for you.  (I just checked and they still have a website: http://www.americanoldies.com/).  Since you actually bought the 45's, they claimed, it was perfectly legal for them to make these CD's for you.

Now, here's the kicker.  After making the CD, they gave you two options.  One, you could have the 45's mailed to you, at your expense, or two, sale them back to them at 25% of the purchase price.  Now, considering how many people were just after the songs anyway, I'd guess it was a safe bet that most of the time, people took option two.

Well, I decided to give this a try.  It was a pretty expensive experiment, as you had to buy each 45 (usually for about $3, more for older songs) for each track on a 20-song CD, as well as a processing fee to put in on the CD.  To keep the cost down, I decided to just pick songs I needed from 1989.  I'm going to guess that the whole thing set me back about $80.

Now, I had assumed that, if these tracks were coming from actual 45's, then I was certain to get the 45 versions, right?  Not so.  Two tracks I ordered were "Like A Prayer" by Madonna, and "Batdance" by Prince.  When the CD came in, I was shocked to hear what was clearly the full LP version of "Batdance".  And if that wasn't bad enough, "Like A Prayer" was the butchered version from "The Immaculate Collection".

Anyway, the point of this meandering post is to ask this question.  Is it possible that reissue 45's for these two songs actually came out with the version I got on my CD?  Personally, I doubt it.  I think that the company lied to me, and instead of copying from 45's, they just ripped the songs from existing CDs.  

Opinions?

Author	Message Topic Search Topic Options Post Reply Create New Topic Printable Version Translate Topic
JMD1961 Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Music Fan Joined: 29 March 2005 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 13	Post Options Post Reply Quote JMD1961 Thanks(0) Quote Reply Topic: American Oldies Posted: 22 April 2006 at 6:47pm
	Here's an interesting issue. Not sure if it's a question, or a warning, though, so bare with me. A long time ago, when I first started hunting information on oldies on the web, I came across a website that sold "oldies 45's" and offered to put them on CD for you. (I just checked and they still have a website: http://www.americanoldies.com/). Since you actually bought the 45's, they claimed, it was perfectly legal for them to make these CD's for you. Now, here's the kicker. After making the CD, they gave you two options. One, you could have the 45's mailed to you, at your expense, or two, sale them back to them at 25% of the purchase price. Now, considering how many people were just after the songs anyway, I'd guess it was a safe bet that most of the time, people took option two. Well, I decided to give this a try. It was a pretty expensive experiment, as you had to buy each 45 (usually for about $3, more for older songs) for each track on a 20-song CD, as well as a processing fee to put in on the CD. To keep the cost down, I decided to just pick songs I needed from 1989. I'm going to guess that the whole thing set me back about $80. Now, I had assumed that, if these tracks were coming from actual 45's, then I was certain to get the 45 versions, right? Not so. Two tracks I ordered were "Like A Prayer" by Madonna, and "Batdance" by Prince. When the CD came in, I was shocked to hear what was clearly the full LP version of "Batdance". And if that wasn't bad enough, "Like A Prayer" was the butchered version from "The Immaculate Collection". Anyway, the point of this meandering post is to ask this question. Is it possible that reissue 45's for these two songs actually came out with the version I got on my CD? Personally, I doubt it. I think that the company lied to me, and instead of copying from 45's, they just ripped the songs from existing CDs. Opinions?

sriv94 Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Music Fan Joined: 16 September 2005 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 3	Post Options Post Reply Quote sriv94 Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 22 April 2006 at 7:57pm
	I got burned by them too, for the exact same reason you did. However, two of the songs I ordered from them were Chubby Checker's "The Twist" and Question Mark & THe Mysterians' "96 Tears." Unless they got them off bootleg CDs (as the Cameo-Parkway stuff wasn't yet released domestically), they were from vinyl. Everything else came from existing CD sources. When I openly complained to them, I was given a refund for about 3/4 of the purchase price (the two vinyl songs and two others that I didn't already have a CD copy of I wound up paying for). Whether reissue 45s for your songs are available is probably moot, given our mutual experiences.
	Doug --------------- All of the good signatures have been taken.

Grant Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Music Fan Joined: 12 October 2004 Status: Offline Points: 0	Post Options Post Reply Quote Grant Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 22 April 2006 at 11:38pm
	Get them on truth in advertising. Find out exactly how their offer is worded and write to the state's Attorney General's office and file a complaint. Give them all the info and the evidence.

Brian W. Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Music Fan Joined: 13 October 2004 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 17	Post Options Post Reply Quote Brian W. Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 23 April 2006 at 12:11am
	Aside from the fact that them burning the CDs in the first place is illegal, BECAUSE they weren't really burning the records you'd purchased, since they weren't the 45 versions, they were the album versions. And, no, the reissues of those 45s are NOT the album versions.