Kim Wilde

Revisiting "You Keep Me Hangin' On"...

My 45 (MCA 53024, 1986) has a printed time of 4:13 and an actual run time of 4:10. It has a very minor tempo drift from beginning (123.8 BPM) to end (123.9 BPM). Don't have the Another Step album to compare tempos or fade points.

Most of the 14 versions I have on CD are pretty close to the 45, but there are some goofs I'll point out so you can avoid them.

Priority's Rock Of The '80s Vol. 9 (1993) runs about 1.6% too slow, at 121.8 BPM. It's not the only track that runs abnormally slow on this series - "Pop Goes The World" on Vol. 11 is also too slow. Avoid.

The UK 2-CD set Now 1986 (1993) fades early by about 10 seconds. (Unless that's how the UK 45 runs...) Avoid.

The promo 50-CD set from swaitek called The A-List uses noise reduction on this track. Avoid.

The Time-Life 2-CD set Rock Dreams (1993) is missing the first 0.25 seconds of the intro. Surprisingly, so is Razor & Tie's 2-CD Awesome '80s (1994), which is mastered by Steve Hoffman and has a stellar reputation, but sounds nearly identical to Rock Dreams, including the intro glitch. Avoid.

There are a few discs that use the same digital source as Rock Dreams, but have the intro intact, including MCA's single-disc Greatest Rock Hits Of The '80s (1996; 1.9 dB quieter than Rock Dreams) and Time-Life's 2-CD Modern Rock Vol. 5 Dance (1999; 0.4 dB quieter than Rock Dreams). Both run 123.4 BPM throughout, both run about 4:14, and both sound very nice. I'd bet these are based on the mastering for Another Step, but I can't confirm that.

The most accurate representation of the 45 is probably on Sandstone's Rock The First Vol. 6 (1992), which runs at 123.9 BPM throughout and runs about 4:11. There is a digital clone that exactly 1.7 dB louder on Madacy's Rock On 1987 (1996), but it's too loud and clips a bit.

Bill Inglot did a new analog transfer for Rhino's Billboard Top Hits 1987 (1994), which sounds nice but is a little loud and clips a bit. It runs 123.4 BPM throughout and runs 4:14. There is a digital clone of the Billboard disc on Time-Life's Sounds Of The Eighties Vol. 9 1987 (1995; a little added compression - avoid).

And there are other versions that don't seem to be based on any of the above analog transfers, including UK's Now 8 (1986, EQ'd with too much high end and sounds too bright, runs 123.3 BPM and 4:10), the promo 4-CD MCA Hits Sampler Vol. 1 (1988, runs 124.0 BPM and 4:11 with truncated fade), and Warner Special Products'2-CD Rockin' USA (1994, runs 123.6 BPM and4:10). These all sound OK.

I should point out that in most of these cases, the length difference is due to where the fade ends, not due to significant pitch/tempo differences.

Overall, if I had to choose based on sound quality, I'd pick the Billboard disc, even though it clips a little. The EQ is a little bright for some tastes, but I like it. If you're looking for a version as faithful as possible to the 45, choose Rock The First.

Edited by crapfromthepast