ELO "Mr. Blue Sky"
Printed From: Top 40 Music on CD
Category: Top 40 Music On Compact Disc
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URL: https://top40musiconcd.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=464
Printed Date: 11 June 2025 at 1:59pm
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Topic: ELO "Mr. Blue Sky"
Posted By: EdisonLite
Subject: ELO "Mr. Blue Sky"
Date Posted: 21 October 2005 at 9:32am
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Can anyone tell me exactly how the 45 edit of "Mr. Blue Sky" differs from the album version? I don't have the 45 or the one CD with the single edit. I took a guess and I edited out the intro part BEFORE the piano eighth-note part (with spoken "Morning..." part) begins, and I edited out the last part (where the faster, rock-ish part comes in), but my edit's a bit short compared to the CD listed in the book with the single edit. Can anyone tell me what I did wrong?
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Replies:
Posted By: edtop40
Date Posted: 21 October 2005 at 2:15pm
the 45 version is the same as the cd/lp version but fades out at the 3:44 mark before the song's tempo changes........would you like an mp3 of the 45 for your own review??
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edtop40
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Posted By: Moderator
Date Posted: 22 October 2005 at 12:17pm
Perhaps there is a difference between the dj 45 and the commercial 45 of this song. My LP version starts off with :03 of short wave radio sound effects that are not on the dj 45. Is this effect on the commercial 45?
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Top 40 Music On Compact Disc Moderator
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Posted By: edtop40
Date Posted: 22 October 2005 at 1:03pm
yes....the radio intro IS on the commercial 45 issued on jet 5050
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edtop40
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Posted By: EdisonLite
Date Posted: 22 October 2005 at 7:53pm
Edtop40,
When you say "radio intro", I assume you don't mean just the "radio voice" saying "morning, etc." over the piano chords. Is that correct? There is a distinct short wave radio sound effect for 3 seconds, then piano chords with a radio voice saying "morning, etc." If this is correct, it sounds like the dj 45 is 3 seconds shorter than the commercial 45, which is shorter than the LP version. Can anyone verify this (or disprove it)?
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Posted By: sriv94
Date Posted: 22 October 2005 at 8:29pm
The edited version on Afterglow does not include short-wave SFX; it starts with the piano/"morning, etc." That version runs (3:48) taking the fade all the way down.
Doug
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Posted By: edtop40
Date Posted: 22 October 2005 at 8:59pm
you guys are way to good about describing the song....i can't figure out what you guys are talking about...........does anyone want an mp3 of the actual 45 version to compare themselves...........i'm glad to send an mp3 to anyone who requests it.....edtop40
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edtop40
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Posted By: EdisonLite
Date Posted: 22 October 2005 at 10:42pm
Doug,
Are you saying the version on "Afterglow" has strings that fade out longer than where they stop on the regular album version?
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Posted By: sriv94
Date Posted: 23 October 2005 at 7:56am
I don't have the actual LP version to compare--Pat's 8th edition book notes that the Afterglow version is the 45 version. I don't know where exactly the strings stop and the tempo changes on the LP.
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Doug
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All of the good signatures have been taken.
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Posted By: EdisonLite
Date Posted: 23 October 2005 at 8:26am
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OK. Pat, you have both versions -- can you verify if the strings continue on for a longer period of time on the single (or "Afterglow" CD) vs. the album?
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Posted By: Moderator
Date Posted: 23 October 2005 at 10:01am
Now you have me confused with the "strings" comment. The song on the LP version starts off with :07 of short wave sound effects and an announcer saying "good morning, today's forecast calls for blue skies". My dj 45 shortens this introduction to :04 with the first :03 of the LP version edited out. I am just trying to see if the commercial 45 has this :04 intro or the :07 intro before the tempo picks up and the real song begins.
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Top 40 Music On Compact Disc Moderator
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Posted By: EdisonLite
Date Posted: 23 October 2005 at 11:13am
Pat writes:
<Now you have me confused with the "strings" comment.>
You are talking about the beginning of the song, and I am referring to the end. By "strings", perhaps it would be more accurate to say "strings/vocals" (where the vocals are singing "boh"). At the end of the single edit, there is one held note -- strings and a choir -- the choir is singing something like "boh" or "bah". It gets cut off on the LP version when the fast tempo kicks in. What Doug is implying is that the vocals and strings hold out longer on the single version (than on the LP) but he doesn't have both, nor do I. So Pat, since you do, can you check this out?
Hopefully edtop40, who has the commercial 45, can answer the question about the length of its intro and just how much, if any, is cut out of the commercial 45.
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Posted By: Moderator
Date Posted: 23 October 2005 at 11:27am
OK now I am with you and on the 45 ending - the "strings" remain for about :04 longer than on the LP version so I don't see how you could ever edit the LP version down to get the 45 version.
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Top 40 Music On Compact Disc Moderator
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Posted By: Todd Ireland
Date Posted: 25 October 2005 at 10:06am
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Yep, you're right, Pat. I tried editing the LP version of "Mr. Blue Sky" to match the 45 version and it can't be done because, as has been documented in this thread, the 45 ending has the strings fade out completely whereas the percussion on the LP version "interrupt" the strings/vocals prior to full fade out. It's the same type of situation as the 45 and LP version of Cyndi Lauper's "Change of Heart", which was discussed extensively on the message board some time ago.
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Posted By: aaronk
Date Posted: 25 October 2005 at 10:38am
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"Change Of Heart" hasn't been issued in its 45 version? I don't remember that discussion. Can you recap for me?
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Posted By: sriv94
Date Posted: 25 October 2005 at 10:51am
I found it on pages 3 and 4 of the "Single/Album versions" thread. All 4:22 CD appearances of "Change Of Heart" are apparently the LP version, as the single ran 3:59 and can't be replicated merely by fading the LP version (they're the same up to the 3:56 mark).
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Doug
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All of the good signatures have been taken.
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Posted By: aaronk
Date Posted: 25 October 2005 at 11:09pm
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Thanks for the info, Doug. I'm going to track down a copy of the 45 and dub the last few seconds to make the 45 version for "Change Of Heart." I've had a lot of success with other songs, such as "Right On Track" by the Breakfast Club and "Thriller" by MJ (Brian can testify to how well my homemade 45 versions sound). In those instances, I dubbed the needed sections from the 45 and then removed surface noise & clicks and matched the EQ. It's a time consuming process, but it's well worth the effort.
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Posted By: edtop40
Date Posted: 22 June 2010 at 6:48pm
the 45 actually lists a run time of 3:44 and does indeed run that length.....if you fade out the last 0:02 of the 3:46 cd version you'll have the true 45 version.....
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edtop40
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Posted By: aaronk
Date Posted: 24 June 2018 at 9:20am
I was revisiting this one, and I haven't been able to find a 45 dub that runs as long as the version on Afterglow. I have a dub of the promo 45 on my hard drive, and it runs 3:44. The intro has three piano notes before the announcer voice comes in. There are no short wave tuning sound effects like on the LP version. The final note of the song lasts 4.5 seconds from the start of the drum hit to the end of the audio. By contrast, this same note on Greatest Hits lasts 4.9 seconds before the second part of the song begins. The version on Afterglow has this final note running 7.9 seconds, which is far beyond the fade of the promo 45.
There is a dub on YouTube of someone playing a 45 (looks like a stock 45), and it matches the promo 45 copy in terms of the length of the fade out, also running 4.5 seconds. This makes me wonder if the version on Afterglow would technically be the 45 version but slightly longer.
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Aaron Kannowski
http://www.uptownsound.com" rel="nofollow - Uptown Sound
http://www.919thepeak.com" rel="nofollow - 91.9 The Peak - Classic Hip Hop
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Posted By: Yah Shure
Date Posted: 24 June 2018 at 8:55pm
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Aaron, my DJ 45 and two stock 45s are all sourced from the same cutting, with identical deadwax numbers. The stock runs 3:44 as advertised, with the same 4.5 second fade.
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Posted By: aaronk
Date Posted: 24 June 2018 at 9:16pm
Thanks, John! Based on this information, it's safe to say that the LP
version can be edited down to create the 45 version. The additional
music found on Afterglow might be unique to that release, although
Wikipedia claims that it matches the Japanese 45
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Aaron Kannowski
http://www.uptownsound.com" rel="nofollow - Uptown Sound
http://www.919thepeak.com" rel="nofollow - 91.9 The Peak - Classic Hip Hop
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Posted By: eriejwg
Date Posted: 25 June 2018 at 8:37am
I was just able to create a 45 version from the Out Of
The Blue album. I used the 45 on YouTube to duplicate
the fade that is 4.5 seconds long
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John Gallagher
Erie, PA
https://www.johngallagher.com" rel="nofollow - John Gallagher Wedding & Special Event Entertainment / Snapblast Photo Booth
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Posted By: EdisonLite
Date Posted: 25 June 2018 at 12:25pm
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When I speak about ELO to the younger generation, it seems like the only song they know (if any) is Mr. Blue Sky. If you'd ask me in the early '80s which song they'd be most remembered for, I would never have guessed a song that barely dented the top 40. Great song, but at its time, it wasn't that big. Just goes to show what being used prominently in TV commercials in recent years can do for a song or group.
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Posted By: Santi Paradoa
Date Posted: 25 June 2018 at 1:11pm
Not just commercials. It's also in the recent Guardians Of The Galaxy sequel. If they listen to the soundtrack it's no wonder it's become a favorite of the younger generation.
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Santi Paradoa
Miami, Florida
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Posted By: Yah Shure
Date Posted: 25 June 2018 at 2:27pm
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Another factor to consider was that although it stiffed in North America, "Mr. Blue Sky" was a big hit back home, landing at #6 on the U.K. chart. It also re-charted there in 2011, although not nearly as high (#88).
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Posted By: KentT
Date Posted: 26 June 2018 at 9:49am
Also, it was the first single from Jet Records switchover
to being manufactured and distributed in the USA by
CBS/Associated Records. Also, in the USA, the single had
to also compete with the flood of $2.99 cutout copies of
the "Out Of The Blue" LP set leftover from United Artists
Records distribution.
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I turn up the good and turn down the bad!
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Posted By: mjb50
Date Posted: 29 March 2022 at 5:22am
I don't know how it compares to the Japanese 45, but the reverb on Afterglow is different than the standard single version. Concentrate on the snare reverb tails in the first 15 seconds of the song, especially in the instrumental section at 0:11, after the cymbal crash and right before the vocals start. On Afterglow, the tails are overlapping well past each beat, whereas they fade much more quickly on the album version and 45. I can even see it in a spectrogram.
It's virtually impossible to make the Afterglow version from the album or 45 version without adding reverb. I'd guess they went the other way, starting with this heavier-reverb mix and then for the album/45 mix using a bandlimited expander to get the 'verb to fade quicker. Or it may really be two different mixes with different reverb settings, and they never used this one till someone pulled the wrong tape for Afterglow. Neither would surprise me.
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