"True" - Spandau Ballet

I did some comparisons based on Ron's notes above, and while the Billboard disc does have a better source tape, the edit is slightly different from The Singles Collection. I suspect that Bill Inglot didn't care for the sound of the single master and edited the LP version to match the 45. The edit on The Singles Collection appears at 4:37.4 on the word "much" (in the line "this much is true"). The edit on the Rhino disc appears at 4:37.0 on the downbeat before the line "this much is true."

It's nitpicky, but Rhino's edit is not the true single version (pun intended) if you want to split hairs.

45 version (5:37)

The earliest appearance of the 45 version is likely Chrysalis' Spandau Ballet The Singles Collection (1985). There's a little bit of hum, and the left and right channels are reversed (hi-hat starts in the right channel), but it runs to a nice length of 5:35, has a great dynamic range, reasonable EQ, and no trace of noise reduction on the fade. The same analog transfer (including the swapped left and right channels) is used on:

• Razor & Tie's 2-CD Forever '80s (1994)
• Cema's 10 Best Series Greatest Hits (1994) - differently-EQ'd digital clone
• Cema's 2-CD Cool Rock (1985) - digitally identical
• Madacy's Rock On 1983 Sweet Dreams (1998)

The edit on The Singles Collection is an easy one, using the LP version on Time-Life's 2-CD Modern Rock Vol. 1 1982-1983 (1999) as the source:

Segment 1
Extends from 0:00 to 4:37.3 of the LP and 45 versions
Ends on a snare hit on the word "much"

Remove the 80 beats from 4:37.3 to 5:26.4 of the LP version

Segment 2
Begins on a snare hit on the word "much"
Extends from 4:37.3 to 5:37 (end) of the 45 version
Extends from 5:26.4 to 6:26 (end) of the LP version

I don't have a needledrop of the actual 45 to compare, but I would think that The Singles Collection would include the actual 45 version, rather than a recreation of the 45 edit. If you follow the instructions above, the recreation runs about two seconds longer than The Singles Collection, due to the extremely long tail to the fade. It's pretty insignificant.

Now, four US compilations that include the song, none of which are based on the mastering for The Singles Collection:

• EMI's Living In Oblivion Vol. 4 (1994) - runs 5:33, has its left/right channels swapped
• Warner Special Products' 2-CD Lost In Love (1994) - runs 5:28, truncates fade
• Rhino's Just Can't Get Enough Vol. 11 (1995) - runs 5:33
• Time-Life's 2-CD Classic Soft Rock Vol. 8 Ordinary World (2007) - runs 5:30; differently-EQ'd digital clone of EMI UK's Time To Remember 1983 (1997)

I confirmed that all of the above include the proper 45 edit.

And finally, a boatload of foreign compilatons, all with the proper left/right channels, that all include the proper 45 edit, but with wildly varying lengths based on how far out the tail of the fade extends:

• EMI's 2-CD Now Smash Hits Of The '80s (1987) - runs 5:36
• EMI Virgin PolyGram UK's 2-CD Now 1983 (1993) - runs 5:27
• EMI UK's Time To Remember 1983 (1997) - runs 5:28
• Disky UK's 8-CD Greatest Hits Of The '80s (1998) - runs 5:29
• Skifan Iceland's 2-CD Pottþétt 80's 2 (2001) - runs 5:28
• Disky UK's 8-CD Greatest Hits Of The '80s (2002; not the same set as the 1998 set) - runs 5:30
• EMI UK's Best Of 1982-1983 (2003) - runs 5:28
• EMI Australia's 5-CD More Complete Eighties (2006) - runs 5:28 and is mastered WAY too loud

So, after wading through all these CDs, I can identify three distinct masterings, with the proper 45 edit, which appear on fairly common US CDs:

• Chrysalis' Spandau Ballet The Singles Collection (1985) - runs 5:35, has left and right channels reversed (hi-hat starts on the right)
• EMI's Living In Oblivion Vol. 4 (1994) - runs 5:33, has its left/right channels reversed (hi-hat starts on the right)
• Rhino's Just Can't Get Enough Vol. 11 (1995) - runs 5:33, has correct left/right channels (hi-hat starts on the left)

All three of the above sound fine, and I don't think you'll be disappointed by any of them. I'm going to recommend swapping the channels on The Singles Collection, just because this version runs longest.

Ever-so-slightly incorrect attempt to recreate the 45 edit

As Aaron noted, Rhino's Billboard Top Hits 1983 (1992) gets the edit wrong, by editing exactly one beat too early. Here, the edit is on the downbeat before the word "much", rather than at the snare exactly on the word "much". It's too bad, because the sound quality is superb on this disc, and the track runs longer than any other version out there.

The same analog transfer as Billboard Top Hits 1983 (and therefore the same incorrect edit) is also used on:

• Time-Life's Sounds Of The Eighties Vol. 3 1983 (1994)
• Time-Life's 2-CD Body Talk Vol. 8 On My Mind (1996)
• Time-Life's Sounds Of The Eighties '80s Blockbusters (1999) - digitally exactly 1.5 dB louder than Sounds Of The Eighties Vol. 3 1983
• EMI's 2-CD Pop Goes The '80s (2002)
• Time-Life's Another Lost Decade Romance (2005) - digitally exactly 1.39 dB louder than Sounds Of The Eighties Vol. 3 1983

Outliers

EMI Australia's 5-CD Eighties Complete Vol. 1 (1997) runs about 5:44, and is edited differently from the 45. I didn't spend too much time with this one.

I suspect that the 5:04 version on swaitek's promo 50-CD The A-List (1994) is an in-house edit done by TM Century and based on the mastering for The Singles Collection. The left and right channels are reversed on this disc, too.

What about this version heard on the music video? It runs 5:16. This is
not the promo 45 version?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AR8D2yqgQ1U

Edited by Ron S

Ron, I found a Spandau Ballet compilation which contains
the proper commercial 45 edit. The compilation is titled
Gold: The Best of Spandau Ballet.

More info on Discogs:

https://www.discogs.com/es/Spandau-Ballet-Gold-The-Best-
Of-Spandau-Ballet/master/305381

Edited by David Pro