Ran-Dells-"Martian Hop"
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Category: Top 40 Music On Compact Disc
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URL: https://top40musiconcd.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=6798
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Topic: Ran-Dells-"Martian Hop"
Posted By: jimct
Subject: Ran-Dells-"Martian Hop"
Date Posted: 21 April 2012 at 5:40am
Inside the thread for "The Little Space Girl", Paul C had recently imbedded a
different question, about this song. I thought the sensible thing to do would
be to just give this song its own thread, to avoid any confusion. My original
1963 45, confirmed as Chairman 4403, has a listed time of (2:14) and an
actual time of (2:12). The sound effects are present from the start until the
vocals kick in, at the :12 second mark of my single. Paul also makes a
reference to an Ace import CD, but I'm just not sure which one he's talking
about here, since two different songs were being discussed over on that
other thread. I do have those Ace CDs. Was it the same "Special Novelty
Edition" disc that Jesse Lee Turner was on that you were also referring to for
"Martian Hop", Paul C?
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Replies:
Posted By: Paul C
Date Posted: 21 April 2012 at 10:38am
Thanks for the info, Jim.
It was indeed the Ace UK CD The Golden Age Of American Rock 'N' Roll: Special Novelty Edition to which I was referring. The desciption you give of your U.S. 45 matches the version on this CD.
There are three CDs listed in the database containing this song, all with run times of (2:10). The only one I have is the Varese Sarabande CD, 25 All-Time Novelty Hits, on which the first two or three seconds have been cut off. Tom Diehl states in the other thread that the Halloween Hits CD also has the version with the shorter intro. The third CD is also a Varese Sarabande CD, so it most likely is also missing the first couple of seconds. (Hopefully Pat can confirm this; on both versions what sounds like a bell is heard four times before the vocals start - the version with part of the intro cut off starts with the first bell sound, while on the 45 version there are two or three seconds of sound effects before the first bell is heard.)
The Canadian CD, Crazy Tunes, and the re-issue 45 on the Canadian Underground label (issued in the mid-to-late 80s) both feature the version with the cut off intro.
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Posted By: NightAire
Date Posted: 28 October 2020 at 9:40pm
I've never heard what I'd consider a "clean" copy of this song; did the original 1963 7" single sound as grungey as the versions on CD today?
I'm wondering if the texture of the recording is a "feature," not a "flaw."
To me it sounds like every version was taken from a vinyl copy, rather than the master tape that allegedly cost them $300 (according to Wikipedia) to record!
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Gene Savage
http://www.BlackLightRadio.com - http://www.BlackLightRadio.com
http://www.facebook.com/TulsaSavage - http://www.facebook.com/TulsaSavage
Tulsa, Oklahoma USA
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Posted By: TomDiehl1
Date Posted: 28 October 2020 at 10:27pm
Gene, I no longer have my email exchanges
with the Ran-Dells leader, the late Steve
Rappaport, due to an email server crash
several years ago. However during our
exchanges, I brought up the sound quality
of the song on CD.
He explained to me that it was recorded on
a 4 track machine and he kept bouncing
down tracks to one mono track and adding
new overdubs, so that the final mono
mixdown had 9 different tracks on it. Both
he and his label never imagined it would
become a hit, so, in order to save money,
as soon as the disc was pressed, the mono
master was also wiped and reused. The
label quickly found themselves in a
predicament and ended up having to dub a
new master from a 45 for all future
releases, domestic and foreign. The tape
used for CD release these days does in
fact contain a disc dub.
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Live in stereo.
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Posted By: NightAire
Date Posted: 29 October 2020 at 8:09am
Yikes... now we know. OK, thank you Tom.
The Ace CD recommended in the "The Little Space Girl" thread sounds significantly better than the other sources I've heard. I would have assumed it was tape.
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Gene Savage
http://www.BlackLightRadio.com - http://www.BlackLightRadio.com
http://www.facebook.com/TulsaSavage - http://www.facebook.com/TulsaSavage
Tulsa, Oklahoma USA
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