London Symphony Orch. - Star Wars 45
Printed From: Top 40 Music on CD
Category: Top 40 Music On Compact Disc
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Printed Date: 10 June 2025 at 12:07pm
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Topic: London Symphony Orch. - Star Wars 45
Posted By: Paul Esch
Subject: London Symphony Orch. - Star Wars 45
Date Posted: 16 January 2006 at 12:36pm
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Pat, in your listing for "Star Wars (Main Title)," you list both Star
Wars - A New Hope (RCA 68772) and BIllboard - Top Movie Hits-1970s (Rhino 72424) as having the 45 version, but I think this may be a mistake. The BIllboard CD has the first 2:20 of the soundtrack's "Main Title/Rebel Blockade Runner." The soundtrack CD I have doesn't have the 45 version either, even in the various takes on Track 13; those are also variations on "Main Title/Rebel Blockade Runner." The 45 version can be recognized by the awkward edit at 0:07, cutting straight to the section of the main riff led by French horns. Then, at 0:47, there's another edit into a section (or sections) of the "End Title" until the end. The single (20th Century 2345) is 2:19, and I've never been able to find a CD copy anywhere (nor, for that matter, a decent copy of the vinyl 45). May the force be with you. |
Replies:
Posted By: aaronk
Date Posted: 16 January 2006 at 1:36pm
LOL! |
Paul Esch wrote:Posted By: Moderator
Date Posted: 19 January 2006 at 9:43pm
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This is very interesting as I just pulled my 45 which is a dj copy number 2345 and "Star Wars - Main Title" is listed as the B side and runs (5:20). The A side was "Star Wars - Cantina Band" ------------- Top 40 Music On Compact Disc Moderator |
Posted By: EdisonLite
Date Posted: 20 January 2006 at 9:22am
| Pat, I thought the "Stars Wars/Cantina Band" medley was only an A-side for Meco. Are you saying you have this medley as an A-side by the London Symphony Orchestra?? I always thought their A-Side was just "Star Wars (Main Title)? And I, too, am not convinced that the version on the Rhino CD is truly the single version. |
Posted By: Roscoe
Date Posted: 14 February 2006 at 6:18pm
I just got a copy of the commercial 45. The A side is "Star Wars Main Title" and runs 2:20. The B side is listed as "Cantina Band". As indicated above, the 45 version can be recreated from the commercially available soundtrack CD. The first part of the 45 version is from the "Main Title" track, while the last part is from the "Throne Room/End Credits" track. I must say, however, that this 45 contains one of the all-time sloppiest edits in Top 40 history, as the first post above hints at. The edit from the intro into the "french horn" section of the main riff occurs not on the opening beat of the main riff, but several beats in. It honestly sounds like an error and there would have been no reason not to perform this edit several beats earlier. But that is what was released on the commercial 45. This is one of those cases where I could not bring myself to honor historical accuracy in recreating the 45; my version corrects the sloppy edit. |
Posted By: Jeff H.
Date Posted: 27 February 2006 at 8:49pm
I agree that edit is extremely sloppy. Actually found a copy of the 45 not too long ago. Bought it mostly for the ultra cool illustrated picture sleeve. Does anyone know if there are copies of this single with the blue 20th Century Records label like the soundtrack album had? The 45 copy I have has the label that they switched to in mid 1977 and used up until the label was retired and absorbed into Casablanca in the early 80's. |
Posted By: eric_a
Date Posted: 27 February 2006 at 11:08pm
| My copy is on the blue 20th Century label. |
Posted By: Jeff H.
Date Posted: 28 February 2006 at 9:13pm
I thought that 45 was issued with that label also. Thanks! |
Posted By: anthology123
Date Posted: 10 March 2006 at 10:45am
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Roscoe,
I am glad to hear you had created a better edit. Is there a chance I can get a copy from you? |
Posted By: smvceo
Date Posted: 26 June 2007 at 6:34pm
Check out this stock copy:
This single uses most of the LP version of "Star Wars - Main Title," then splices to the middle of the "End Title" music. The flip side is "Cantina Band." I presume that since the 5:20 version is what's on the promos, this was the first of two different 45 versions of "Star Wars - Main Title." I've never seen a copy that plays 2:20. |
Posted By: Pat Downey
Date Posted: 26 June 2007 at 7:07pm
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My commercial 45 with a stated running time of (2:20) has a printed matrix number on the label of M-2345-BS-RE-1, indicating that this was the second pressing of the 45.
My dj copy states a running time of (5:20) with the same matrix number as pictured on the 45 above M-2345-BS. So there are indeed two different pressings of this commercial 45. |
Posted By: Todd Ireland
Date Posted: 31 August 2007 at 4:49pm
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Pat:
The various artist compilation CD Reel Blockbusters (Hip-O 40167) is listed in the database, but nowhere is it indicated that "Star Wars (Main Title)" is available on this CD. According to www.allmusic.com, the song is shown as running 5:37 on the disc. Run times aren't always listed accurately on the website, so I'd like to ask... Does the Reel Blockbusters CD contain the long 45 version or a re-recorded version? |
Posted By: Pat Downey
Date Posted: 02 September 2007 at 9:56am
| Todd, on the cd Reel Blockbusters, Star Wars Main title is neither the 45 nor LP version and it runs 5:35. |
Posted By: aaronk
Date Posted: 16 November 2012 at 11:02pm
I'm a little confused by this statement. I was able to successfully create the short 45 version from the 5:18 version on "Instrumental Magic." I would presume this is the same as the 5:20 version on the O.S.T., no? I'm also puzzled by the above statment that says
Based on this info, I would conclude that the 45 is different from the LP, but there are no designators for 45/LP version in the database. ------------- 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: AndrewChouffi
Date Posted: 17 November 2012 at 10:43am
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To everybody:
I'm trying to get to the bottom of this too. Could anybody post streams of both versions of the 45, even if from crackly vinyl? Andy |
Posted By: Roscoe
Date Posted: 17 November 2012 at 11:23am
I think I figured out the confusion. When I posted that back in 2006 (! wow, how the time flies), I was using the 2 disc "Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope Original Motion Picture Soundtrack" CD as my source. I didn't realize at the time that this CD contained a remixed version of the soundtrack with some substantial differences from the original vinyl soundtrack LP. On this CD, the "Main Title" track runs 2:14 and therefore does not match the original 45 long version or soundtrack LP. This version appears on a few listings in the database as "neither 45 nor LP version". Using this CD as a source, I had to combine pieces of the remixed "Main Title" and "End Titles" tracks to match the original short 45, which was why I indicated such in my post from 2006. The "Main Title" track on the first CD release of the soundtrack and the 1993 Original Trilogy box set does indeed run 5:20 and matches the "long" 45 version. This is correctly listed in the database. The short 45 version can be recreated from this version by making several very awkward edits. I don't have the original vinyl soundtrack LP but my understanding is that the 1993 soundtrack CD and the original vinyl soundtrack both match the long 45 version (5:20 length). Bottom line: Avoid the 2004 remixed soundtrack CD if you are seeking the original LP/long 45 version. |
Posted By: eriejwg
Date Posted: 18 November 2012 at 4:23pm
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Would someone mind posting the edit points to recreate the
short 45 version? |
Posted By: mjb50
Date Posted: 16 February 2022 at 7:33am
The best sound quality is on the https://www.discogs.com/release/12037799-John-Williams-4London-Symphony-Orchestra-Star-Wars-A-New-Hope-Original-Motion-Picture-Soundtrack - 2018 CD released by Walt Disney Records. For authenticity, though, you'll want to start with a mid-'80s mastering. This way you get the same tape dropouts and dynamic range compression that were on the 1977 releases. I used Hear the Light vol. II (1984). They used the same source for the 1983 and 1986 double CD of the soundtrack, so these instructions will work for those releases as well. If using Audition, one of the Data preferences you can set is the amount of crossfade at the edit points. I recommend 8 milliseconds in order to approximate the angled tape splices. 1. speed up by 0.723% (Audition: interpret sample rate as 44419, then resample to 44100; Audacity: use Change Speed effect) [I verified the speed against 2 different rips] 2. trim leading silence; first real peak at -24 dB should be at 0.007 seconds 3. cut 0:07.430 to 0:48.840 4. from what remains, cut 0:49.341 to 1:30.316 (halfway in between the last two orchestra hits) 5. from what remains, cut 1:39.478 to 3:12.435 (halfway in between the short horn stab and the long one) Sorry I don't have the exact edit points for the 2018 remaster. As mentioned, the edits will sound abrupt, but that's how it is on the 45. |
Posted By: mjb50
Date Posted: 16 February 2022 at 11:38am
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Incidentally, the B-side, "Cantina Band" comes in at least three versions, I've just noticed, and this doesn't seem to be documented anywhere:
The 1977 soundtrack album & single mix has added reverb, the steel drum is mixed very loud throughout, the lowest clarinet note in the right channel at 0:03 is almost inaudible, the synth bass from 1:13 to 1:57 is EQ'd to be plainly audible and remains especially clear at 1:45, and it fades out before the last bass synth notes can be heard. This version was released on the 1980s CDs as well. The mix on the 1993 Anthology edition is relatively dry, the steel drum is not as loud, the lowest clarinet note at 0:03 is plainly audible, the synth bass in the middle is EQ'd to be bassier and more in the background, and it ends cold with 3 bass synth notes (no fade at all). The 1997 Special Edition (on RCA/BMG), the 2004/2007/2015 Sony reissues thereof, and even the 2018 reissue of the original soundtrack album use the same version that was on the 1993 Anthology, but faded out to match the 1977 soundtrack version. The original film version is buried in reverb and dialogue, has almost no bass, and is chopped up (you never hear it in its entirety), but it basically is the same as the version released in 1993 thru 2018. |