"If I Can’t Have You" - Yvonne Elliman

The needledrop of the 45 that I have runs at 109.1 BPM throughout (it's a live drummer playing to a click track), and fades from about 2:47 to about 2:57.

The first CD that featured the song is Silver Eagle/Warner Special Products' 2-CD Dancin' The Night Away (1988), where it runs at 109.5 BPM throughout. It sounds like it's from a very high-generation tape source, with very little high end and very little stereo separation. The same analog transfer is used for:

• Priority's Mega-Hits Dance Classics Vol. 3 (1989; the last 30 seconds of the song are louder than the rest of the song, and clip a bit)

Also in 1988, a 5-CD set on Connoisseur Collection called 100 Dance Hits Of The '70s featured the song, running a bit slower at 108.5 BPM throughout, and the same fade points as the 45. This version sounds like it's from better source tapes, but with a boosted high end and a boosted low end.

The versions on Saturday Night Fever (both original and 1995 remaster) run 109.3 BPM throughout, and sound surprisingly similar to each other. Not the lowest-generation source tapes. The same analog transfer is used for :

• Razor & Tie's 2-CD Disco Fever (1991)

Bill Inglot did a new analog transfer for Rhino's Billboard Top Hits 1978 (1991), which runs 109.6 BPM throughout, and sounds WAY better than anything else that came before or after, to my ears. The same analog transfer is used for:

• Time-Life's AM Gold Vol. 25 1978 (1997; digitally exactly 1.5 dB quieter)
• Time-Life's Sounds Of The Seventies Vol. 46 '70s Dance Party 1978-1979 (1997; differently-EQ'd digital clone)
• Time-Life's 2-CD Seventies Music Explosion Vol. 2 Escape (2005)

Others, which all seem to be different analog transfers from one another:

• Time-Life's Sounds Of The Seventies Vol. 27 Dance Fever (1992) runs at 108.8 BPM throughout, and has no high end.
• Sessions/Warner Special Products' 2-CD The Ultimate Party Album (1992) runs at 108.7 BPM throughout, and has no high end.
• Sony's Collector's Edition Disco (1995) runs at 109.2 BPM throughout, and has a wimpy-sounding EQ.
• Polydor's Pure Disco (1996) begins its fade too early and ends its fade a few seconds too soon.

My recommendations:

This one is clear - go with Rhino's Billboard Top Hits 1978 (1991), or one of its Time-Life clones.

Edited by crapfromthepast

Will gladly take a look at this if someone shoots me a WAV file...

The click track might what's heard (on EVERY issue of this song) at :16 off to one channel where there is
an audible click. . Also, I don't hear a mix difference on the "Special Disco Version", it sounds like
it's just edited to repeat some of the song to make it longer, but is different in that it sounds as if it
has less compression/limiting than the 2:56 version. So I suppose you could edit it back to 2:56 to get a
less compressed/limited verson of the 2:56 version. But I don't think that gives you any real improvement
on the Billboard CD transfer.

Edited by Bill Cahill

To AaronK:

I *believe* there are no MIX differences on "You Should Be Dancing", but it is the longer unedited take of the track that made it to 'Children Of The World' & 'Saturday Night Fever Soundtrack'.

The first known appearance of this version (to the best of my knowledge) was the US promo 12" issued to the discos right before the 'Children Of The World' LP dropped.

People, please correct me if I'm wrong!

Andy



Edited by AndrewChouffi

First CD appearance, by the way is the RSO CD of the
"Saturday Night Fever" soundtrack in 1983-1984. The old 2
CD fatboy case version, later versions were on Polydor.