"Love Machine (Part 1)" - The Miracles
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Topic: "Love Machine (Part 1)" - The Miracles
Posted By: Todd Ireland
Subject: "Love Machine (Part 1)" - The Miracles
Date Posted: 11 May 2009 at 5:53pm
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The actual commercial 45 run time of the Miracles' "Love Machine (Part 1)" is 2:54. (Timing info courtesy of Jim. The printed record label time is 2:55.) Currently, database CD appearances of this song containing a "45 version" comment range from 2:50-2:59.
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Replies:
Posted By: MMathews
Date Posted: 09 April 2015 at 11:19am
I stumbled across an oddity regarding this song on one of
the database CD's. It is this entry on Silver Eagle
records:
(S) (2:51) Silver Eagle OPCD-4512 Dancin' The Night
Away (45 version)
Besides bring the shortest running time for all the "45
Version" entries, this is a strange and different mix.
The drums and percussion have an echo added to them. At
first I thought the echo was added to the entire track,
but on close listen it's only added to the
drums/percussion but not to the vocals, so it must be a
remix of some kind. Another odd thing is all of the low
bass is cut off. There's no bass whatsoever lower than
125Hz. All other sources I've heard have good low bass
and a strong beat.
This just happened to be the first CD I pulled to get the
45 version, so at first I thought OK, the 45 must have
been a different mix than the LP version instead of just
a fade. But then I pulled several other CD's with the 45
version and they all match the LP mix. I checked Youtube
as well, and not one video contains this odd mix.
So, can any one else with this 2-disc set confirm what I
hear? I also wonder if this mix appears on any other CD
in the database...I only own about 5 or 6 comps with this
track, but the DB has dozens of them.
I'll double-check a 45 dub as soon as I have one, but I
don't think this mix originates there.
MM
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Posted By: crapfromthepast
Date Posted: 09 April 2015 at 6:56pm
Mark - The sad thing for me is that Dancin' The Night Away was my only CD source for this song for many, many years. I'd just assumed it was mixed liked crud to begin with. When I finally got to hear it on a proper Motown collection, it was a revelation.
So I listened as carefully as I could, and I'd say that the version on Dancin' The Night Away is the result of some really horrendous processing, and is not a dedicated mix. I mean, REALLY horrendous processing. I hear some kind of echo effect on everything, including the vocals. And I do mean echo, not reverb. And an ugly, severe EQ that completely eliminates the low end - precisely what NOT to do for a disco hit. (Compare this with the tremendous, fat-sounding version on the 4-CD Hitsville set.) Plus, it cuts off one of the four quick drum hits that begin the song - this version only has three.
Sadly, the same analog transfer is used for Priority's Mega-Hits Dance Classics Vol. 5 (1989), which is about 6 dB louder, and seems to have additional noise reduction. A sonic disaster.
If you weed out the above two CDs, the rest are much better. Chronological release order didn't make much sense here, so I'll list them in order of sound quality, worst-to-best.
Silver Eagle's 3-CD Motown Anniversary (1983?) sounds like garbage, with an early fade and a high-generation tape source, but it's orders of magnitude better than Dancin'.
Motown's Motown Year By Year 1975 (1995) sounds a little lifeless, but it's a little better than Anniversary.
Motown's Twelve #1 Hits From The 70's (copyright 1982) sounds comparable to Year By Year, but with a significantly longer fade.
All of the above seem to be different analog transfers. Avoid all of them, if you have access to any of the following CDs. Everything listed below sounds better than everything listed above.
I found three analog transfers that I can endorse, all done by Bill Inglot (not surprising).
Rhino's Disco Years Vol. 3 (1992) is very good. There's a differently-EQ'd digital clone on Time-Life's Sounds Of The Seventies Vol. 44 '70s Dance Party 1975-1976 (1997).
Even better is Motown's 4-CD Hitsville USA Vol. 2 (1993). There's a digitally identical clone on Motown's 4-CD 35th Anniversary Collection (1994). The same analog transfer is also used on Time-Life's 2-CD Motown Collection Vol. 5 (2008). Compared to Disco Years, I hear a little more presence at the very end of the opening drum fill - it could be the ringing of the snare when the last tom-tom is hit. It sounds a little muffled on Disco Years, almost like the effects of noise reduction (even though I doubt that there's NR on that disc). And Disco Years is infinitely better than all of the discs I listed above it; the opening drum fill is just a lifeless thud on those discs.
The best of all is Rhino's Billboard Top Hits 1976 (1991). There's a differently EQ'd digital clone on Time-Life's Solid Gold Soul Vol. 11 1976 (1996). This sounds just as full-of-life as Hitsville, but with a little more midrangy EQ, and a longer fade.
My recommendation for the 45 version: Rhino's Billboard Top Hits 1976 (1991)
As for the nearly 7-minute-long LP version, there are significantly fewer choices.
The version on Motown Year By Year 1975 (1995) lists it as "Extended promotional 12 inch single version", but to my ears, it sounds like the LP version. Sounds very nice here. (Please post difference between LP and 12" versions, if you know of any.)
The version on Motown's Compact Command Performances Vol. 2 22 Greatest Hits (1986) sounds OK, but it's EQ'd better on Year By Year.
Finally, avoid at all costs the version on Madacy's 2004 rerelease of Rock On 1976, where it replaces "Let Your Love Flow" from the original 1996 release. Here's, it's severely compressed/limited. Avoid, if I haven't already made that clear.
My recommendation for the LP version, from my admittedly small sample of discs: Motown Year By Year 1975 (1995)
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Posted By: AndrewChouffi
Date Posted: 10 April 2015 at 4:59am
To MM & CFTP:
I don't believe I still own 'Dancin' The Night Away' but I seem to remember "Love Machine" suffering from undecoded Dolby, giving it that distinctive terrible sound quality.
Andy
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