OT: Midnight Star - Freak-a-Zoid

Previous discussion was lumped in with a thread about the song "No Parking (on the Dance Floor)".

I'm pretty sure every CD release with a 4-minute version on it actually has the 1987 Timmy Regisford remix edit, not the original single mix released in May 1983 and re-released in June 1984. This includes the Unidisc releases and numerous compilations.

However, I confirmed that the original "Freak-a-Zoid" 45 version did finally appear on a recent Japan-market CD of the No Parking on the Dance Floor album: Octave Lab/Solar OTLCD5611 (2019) and its discounted reissue (2021). Unfortunately, I heard some low-res preview clips, and it seems this track and the promo 12" instrumental are probably vinyl transfers. I'd be happy to be proven wrong, though, if someone wants to pay the big bucks for one of those imports and report back with your findings.

Although it doesn't have any bonus tracks, I'd like to hear the original 1990 Japanese CD (CSCS 5288) of the No Parking on the Dance Floor album, as it's surely got the most authentic mastering. I can say to definitely avoid the 2006 "30th anniversary" (of Solar Records) CD reissue. They played the tapes too fast and ran them through crude digital filters in an overzealous attempt to reduce hiss (which wasn't even in need of removal), with dreadful results. The 1993 Unidisc release (SPLK-7117) or reissue thereof is much better.

The 45 version of "Freak-a-Zoid" can be reconstructed from the 12"/LP version, but it's a lot of work. Here are my notes, using the Unidisc album version to start, but I don't recommend trying it yourself. Just PM me for my files.

• Whenever I refer to the down beat, it's the LinnDrum kick drum on the 1 if you count 1-2-3-4-1-2-3-4. The kick should stay in perfect time except in the one edit where I mention it's late. "Right before the down beat" means to also include the couple of milliseconds of synth, if any, in advance of the kick drum. Also, if using Audition, in Data settings, set "Smooth delete/cut boundaries with crossfades of" to 10 ms to approximate the effect of angled tape splices.
• Remove 0:00 to 0:05.6 so the song starts right at the 2nd "freak-a-zoids".
• Remove 0:09.6 to 0:17.6, cutting right before the handclap on each end.
• Remove 0:57.7 to 1:05.7, cutting right before the down beat on each end.
• Copy 5:55.7 to 6:11.6, selecting right before the down beat at the beginning, but 27 ms before the down beat at the end.
• Select 1:33.5 to 1:57.3, selecting right before the down beat at the beginning, but 22 ms before the down beat at the end. Paste the copied section into this space.
• Remove 2:29.1 to 2:37.1, cutting 12 ms before the down beat at the beginning and 27 ms before the down beat at the end (this is the only edit where the kick drum does not perfectly line up with the one it's replacing; it's slightly late).
• Remove 2:33.1 to 2:37.1, cutting 27 ms before the down beat on each end.
• Remove 2:41.0 to 2:45.0, cutting 15 ms before the down beat at the beginning and 13 ms before the down beat on the end.
• Create the chorus outro: Copy 6:19.6 to 6:35.5, selecting right before the down beat at the beginning and 21 ms before the down beat at the end. Paste this segment to a new file and apply a variable volume adjustment as needed to undo the fade. Copy 5:16.0 to 5:31.9, selecting 21 ms before the down beat at the beginning and right at the down beat at the end, and paste it onto the end of the first segment. Reduce the volume of the newly pasted segment by a couple of dB, if necessary, so the transition is smooth. (To be honest, I had to fudge this seam a bit to get the timing right.)
• In the original file, select 3:32.7 to the end, selecting right before the down beat at the beginning, and paste the chorus outro over it.
• Cut off everything from 4:00.3 and beyond, so the last words heard are "come on and wind me". Apply a linear fade twice to the entire 2nd segment (the last 11.65 seconds), then apply a third linear fade to the last 7.5 seconds.
• To get a speed match, slow it down by 0.1%.
• I went back and inspected the edit points afterward, and ended up deleting some small portions where I got the number of milliseconds before the downbeats slightly off.