Herbie Hancock "Rockit"
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=5914
Printed Date: 18 May 2025 at 3:08pm
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Topic: Herbie Hancock "Rockit"
Posted By: 995wlol
Subject: Herbie Hancock "Rockit"
Date Posted: 16 September 2010 at 6:49pm
| Since it is not listed in the database, and I don't have the 45 for comparison, can anyone confirm if the version of "Rockit" that runs 3:42 on the "Only Dance 1980-1984" compilation is the correct 45 version? |
Replies:
Posted By: aaronk
Date Posted: 16 September 2010 at 8:35pm
| It's not the correct 45 version on "Only Dance." The Nick At Nite Outer Space comp has the correct version, though. The 45 runs 3:54. |
Posted By: aaronk
Date Posted: 16 September 2010 at 8:50pm
|
My curiosity got the best of me. Here's where the two versions differ.
- They are the same up to 2:14. - At that point, the 45 version goes into a tom-tom drum fill (as opposed to snare on the "Only Dance" version), and then there's a scratching breakdown with no drums. - From this point on, the two versions are edited completely different. |
Posted By: Santi Paradoa
Date Posted: 17 September 2010 at 4:27am
------------- Santi Paradoa Miami, Florida |
aaronk wrote:Posted By: 995wlol
Date Posted: 19 September 2010 at 2:41pm
| Wow, glad I asked--thanks for info, guys! |
Posted By: aaronk
Date Posted: 19 September 2010 at 8:44pm
| Sure thing! I just checked the music video on YouTube, and unless there's more than one edit, the video has a shorter edit of the 45. Classic video, though! I hadn't seen it in years. |
Posted By: NightAire
Date Posted: 25 June 2011 at 3:48pm
|
Good grief, you're right Aaron!
I have what I suspect is: the 12" running about 6:15; the album version running about 5:23 - 5:28; the 45 edit (thanks to this thread) running 3:55 (from iTunes); the "not the 45" edit running 3:42-ish (cuts most of the scratching); and the video appears to have originally run 3:20 - 3:25! ----- I STILL can't believe this song didn't break the top-40; this was one of THE defining moments of pop music in the 80s. The music video is the stuff legends are made of... I still don't understand my perception of this song at the time (mega-hit, everybody playing it) vs. the chart realities (#71). (#71!!!) In 1983, in Tulsa Oklahoma, this song was THE song. It was it. This song came on the radio (and it did, constantly, on at least the two top-40s in town), and you CRANKED it. Everybody else within earshot went scanning to find who was playing it and crank it too. The video came on, you dropped what you were doing to watch. ...Since when was Tulsa a hotbed of forward-thinking pop listeners??? Anyway, THANKS for the info. ------------- Gene Savage http://www.BlackLightRadio.com - http://www.BlackLightRadio.com http://www.facebook.com/TulsaSavage - http://www.facebook.com/TulsaSavage Tulsa, Oklahoma USA |
Posted By: The Hits Man
Date Posted: 25 June 2011 at 6:06pm
|
The song was more popular because of the video. That was
the appeal. ------------- |
Posted By: crapfromthepast
Date Posted: 06 March 2013 at 8:22pm
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Could the 3:40 version be the UK single version? I have it on a UK 5-CD set called One Hundred Dance Hits Of The Eighties (1990), it's on JCI's Only Dance 1980-1984 (1995, L/R channels reversed), and I have it on the hard drive as being from a disc called Back To the 80's Vol. 1 Disc 3 (unknown). It's easy to recreate from the LP version, with one simple edit at 2:13.
The LP version is more common on CD. The first mastering was on Future Shock, with digital clones on CBS's promo CBS Records Compact Disc Demonstration II (1984; digitally exactly 1.7 dB louder) and Realm's 3 CD Greatest Hits Of The '80s Vol. 1 (1995; digitally exactly 0.2 dB quieter). All sound quite nice. There are different analog transfers on Sony Germany's Mixed Masters Vol. 4 (1989, sounds quite nice), Sony's Club Columbia (1990, also sounds quite nice), and Time-Life's Sounds Of The Eighties Vol. 27 Rolling Stone 1983-1985 (1995, compressed, extremely bright and shrill-sounding EQ; sounds a little like a modern remaster job - avoid) Unrelated: I have Vols. 1, 2, and 4 of Mixed Masters. Does anyone have Vol. 3 or any volumes higher than 4? ------------- There's a lot of crap on the radio, but there's only one http://www.crapfromthepast.com" rel="nofollow - Crap From The Past . |
Posted By: NightAire
Date Posted: 07 November 2017 at 12:57am
|
One minor detail update:
The longest 12" version named "Rockit" in the 1980s was the LP version, running 5:22. The 6:15 version I mentioned above, appeared under the name "Megamix," and contains samples from Rock It, Autodrive, Future Shock, TFS, Rough, and Chameleon '84. I had no idea until a few moments ago that the 6:15 Megamix was anything other than a remix of Rockit on steroids... probably because I didn't own the parent album, "Future Shock." I hope this reduces a little bit of confusion. BONUS: https://youtu.be/lH5y6WpcKO4 - there was a radio edit of "Megamix" in '84 !!! ------------- Gene Savage http://www.BlackLightRadio.com - http://www.BlackLightRadio.com http://www.facebook.com/TulsaSavage - http://www.facebook.com/TulsaSavage Tulsa, Oklahoma USA |
Posted By: eriejwg
Date Posted: 07 November 2017 at 4:54pm
|
I believe the 45 version is also on the Soul Train
25th Anniversary CD. |
Posted By: 995wlol
Date Posted: 09 November 2017 at 11:00am
I wonder if there were factors that caused this song's radio airplay to be under-reported. I very specifically remember 99 1/2 WLOL in Minneapolis constantly playing Rockit and have come across numerous airchecks that back this up. In fact it continued to get airplay well past its initial chart run. However, WLOL never reported Rockit in its weekly survey--not even as an extra. I have no idea why this would have happened, but maybe other stations did the same... |
Posted By: Back2TheFuture
Date Posted: 09 November 2017 at 1:49pm
Ok, so I just pulled out my old, dopey UK 45 for Herbie Hancock's "Rock It" from my basement and matched it digitally with the track on Only Dance 1980-1984 in Cool Edit Pro and it matched exactly. That means that it's most definitely the UK 45 single version on "Only Dance" and "100 Dance Hits Of The Eighties." |
Posted By: mjb50
Date Posted: 03 April 2022 at 9:57am
|
The ~3:42 UK 7" version is also known as the Short Version, and it's even on the US 12". I think this the "not the 45" edit Gene referred to.
The US 7" version runs about 3:55, plus or minus a second depending on slight differences in mastering speed and how far the fadeout goes. ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sek_ZGySpEk - YouTube clip of reissue 45 ) It looks the US 7" version is on these CDs, and probably some others: • https://www.discogs.com/release/5354359-Various-Nick-At-Nite-Goes-To-Outer-Space - Nick at Nite Goes to Outer Space [1997] • https://www.discogs.com/master/1109085-Various-Pop-Music-The-Modern-Era-1976-1999 - Pop Music: The Modern Era 1976–1999 [1999] • https://www.discogs.com/master/865442-Various-Sony-Music-100-Years-Soundtrack-For-A-Century - Sony Music 100 Years: Soundtrack For A Century [1999 26-CD box set] • https://www.discogs.com/master/617893-Various-Ken-Burns-Jazz-The-Story-Of-Americas-Music - Ken Burns Jazz: The Story of America's Music [2000] [5-CD box set] • https://www.discogs.com/release/19550332-Various-Smithsonian-Anthology-of-Hip-Hop-and-Rap - Smithsonian Anthology of Hip-Hop and Rap [2021] • https://www.discogs.com/release/11256698-Various-Millennium-Of-Pop-Das-Jahrhundert-Album- - Millennium Of Pop - Das Jahrhundert Album [1999, Germany] • https://www.discogs.com/release/12711826-Various-City-Retro-Two - City Retro Two [2000, Australia] • https://www.discogs.com/release/7204993-Various-Synth-Pop - Synth Pop [2015, Europe] On a bunch of European comps there also exists a ~3:20 edit that's the same as the UK 7"/Short version but cuts out ~2:33 to 2:50 and abruptly fades or truncates the end. I don't know anything about its origins. The video edit also runs about 3:20, but it's different, with the first edit being only 8 seconds into the song. |
Posted By: AdvprosD
Date Posted: 03 April 2022 at 10:55am
|
Thanks for bumping this thread up mjb50. I tried searching without the quotation marks and the closest thing I found was the Newcleus thread.
Sometimes the search function is finicky. Edit: Also thanks Aaron. ------------- <Dave> Someone please tell I-Heart Radio that St. Louis is not known as The Loo! |
Posted By: aaronk
Date Posted: 11 April 2022 at 2:14pm
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I just received a copy of the "Rockit" promo 12" in the mail, and I can confirm that the "Short Version" matches the 3:42 version commonly found on CD. ------------- Aaron Kannowski http://www.uptownsound.com" rel="nofollow - Uptown Sound http://www.919thepeak.com" rel="nofollow - 91.9 The Peak - Classic Hip Hop |
Posted By: MMathews
Date Posted: 12 April 2022 at 10:22pm
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I'll add myself to chorus of those who could not believe
this never hit the top 40. I bought the 45, I bought the 12" single ....I watched the video a hundred times or more on MTV (what a great video!)...and Z100 had it in high rotation at the time. So yeah, this is one of those 80s hits where the chart position just simply does NOT apply to the record's popularity. BTW, I never saw the point of "scratch mixing" .. found it kind of ridiculous if you ask me, however on this record it worked to make it a great instrumental. And of course I was forced to accept scratch mixing as an effect that would be dubbed into countless more hits as the years went on. Sigh. But there it is. MM |