joe cocker "up where we belong"

The version on Warner Special Products' 3-CD Secret Love (1987) has the glitch at 0:14 on the word "who". It also sounds like it's taken from a higher-generation tape source than most of the others.

There's a differently-EQ'd digital clone of Secret Love on Cema's 2-CD Cool Rock (1995), and the same analog transfer is used for Warner Special Products' 2-CD Night Songs. All have the glitch.

The version on The Island Story (1987) has no hint of a glitch at "who", but it fades earlier than Secret Love and has a harsh, midrange-heavy EQ. I dislike The Island Story for a number of reasons, and avoid using it if I can.

The version on Cosmopolitan Vol. 2 seems to use the same tape source as The Island Story, but with a much more forgiving EQ. The fade is in the same place as Story, and there's no glitch. Sound quality is better than the above two, but still isn't my first choice.

The analog transfer done by Bill Inglot on Rhino's Billboard Top Hits 1982 (1992) sounds better than all that have come before it, and it runs out to the proper length (same as Secret Love). It also has the glitch on "who".

There are many digital clones of Billboard Top Hits 1982, including Warner Special Products' 2-CD Body Talk (1994; 0.1 dB quieter), Time-Life's Sounds Of The Eighties 1982 (1994; different EQ), Time-Life's 2-CD Body Talk Vol. 4 Together Forever (1996; 1.706 dB quieter) and Time-Life's Sounds Of The Eighties Vol. 31 Movie Hits Of The '80s (1996; different EQ).

All of the above have the glitch on "who", except the 1994 Body Talk and Movie discs, where it's fixed by cutting the glitch out (see below), so that the two don't digitally cancel against the Rhino disc until the 0:14 mark.

The 2-CD UK set Now 1983 (1993) has no glitch, but fades early - even earlier than The Island Story. Sound quality is quite nice, despite the early fade, almost as good as from the Rhino disc. The A List (1994) sounds like it originally had the glitch, but was cleaned up. It also appears to fade a bit early, and may possibly have noise reduction. (Taken from vinyl?) None of the other CDs have any NR.

My first choice for sound is the Rhino disc, despite the glitch.

FYI - you can easily remove the glitch by taking out about 2 cycles of Ms. Warnes's vocals. If you're comfortable with editing tools, you can repeat the correction of the two Time-Life discs above, which cut out exactly 198 samples from the Rhino version.

Edited by crapfromthepast

Thanks everyone and extra thanks to Ron for all the info!

From the Collecting 1982 on compilations thread...

Just checked all the copies I have of the song. These have the glitch at 0:14 - Warner Special Products' 3-CD Secret Love (1987) Rhino's Billboard Top Hits 1982 (1992) Warner Special Products' 2-CD Night Songs (1994) Time-Life's Sounds Of The Eighties Vol. 5 1982 (1994) Time-Life's 2-CD Body Talk Vol. 4 Together Forever (1996) These do not have the glitch at 0:14 - Island's 2-CD Island Story (1987) Time-Life's 4-CD Great Love Songs Of The 70's And 80's Vol. 4 Endless Love (1991) Sandstone's Cosmopolitan Vol. 2 (1992) EMI PolyGram Virgin UK's 2-CD Now 1983 (1993) swaitek's 50-CD A List Disc 11 (1994) Time-Life's 2-CD Body Talk (1994) Cema's 2-CD Cool Rock (1995) Time-Life's Sounds Of The Eighties Vol. 31 Movie Hits Of The '80s (1996) Joe Cocker's Best Of Joe Cocker's Ultimate Collection