Baz Luhrmann - "Everybody’s Free (To..."
Printed From: Top 40 Music on CD
Category: Top 40 Music On Compact Disc
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Topic: Baz Luhrmann - "Everybody’s Free (To..."
Posted By: prisdeej
Subject: Baz Luhrmann - "Everybody’s Free (To..."
Date Posted: 19 April 2016 at 8:55am
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This song was so popular when I graduated high school
that I remember hearing a "Class of 99" version. I do not own the single, (as I could not locate it in the record stores at the time). I would drive 60 miles from Providence to North of Boston just to purchase R&R magazine. Tower records was only place in Southern New England where I could physically purchase a single copy. This song was well into the Top40 on many playlists, but alas no luck finding it. Any promo or stock singles out there? Oh, and once I had a copy of R&R in my possession. I was able to justify the 120 mile trip. :) ------------- DJ L. |
Replies:
Posted By: aaronk
Date Posted: 19 April 2016 at 9:23am
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Yes, there is a promo CD for this one:
DPRO 7087 6 13560 2 1 1. Edit (5:06) 2. Album Version (7:08) 3. Sunscreen (Geographic's Factor 15+ Mix) (4:42) I also have an import CD single, which lists the song title on the spine and cover as "Everybody's Free (To Wear Sunscreen) The Sunscreen Song (Class of '99)." The track list itself, though, does not mention the second part of the title. Tracks 1 & 2 are the same listed versions and times as tracks 1 & 3 on the promo CD. Both the promo CD single and the import CD single include the line "Ladies and gentlemen of the class of '99" at the beginning. If you listen very, very carefully, it sounds like "ninety-nine" was dubbed in. What I didn't realize until today is that there is an earlier (original?) version that opens with the same line but instead says "class of '97." ------------- 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: Back2TheFuture
Date Posted: 19 April 2016 at 4:56pm
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I pulled my promo CD single of "Everybody's Free (To Wear Sunscreen)" and you're right Aaron—It DOES sound like the '99 was edited into the song. The background echo from the previous words said seems to cut off abruptly when the '99 is tacked on. Until you mentioned it, I hadn't really paid that much attention to that. Good catch!
Now, just to throw more confusion into this song, when my youngest brother (now 36) graduated high school in 1998, I remember hearing a version they played at his high school graduation ceremony that said "Ladies and gentlemen of the Class of '98, wear sunscreen etc." Till this day, my younger brother has been looking for the '98 version. I've had luck locating the '99 version (when it went mainstream in 1999) and became easier to find, but I still have yet to find the '97 or '98 versions. Perhaps there was different promos released by graduation year for this song after it was first released? |
Posted By: JL328
Date Posted: 19 April 2016 at 5:34pm
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There was definitely a "97" version. From what I recall, this "song" started
as an op-ed in a newspaper (I believe the Chicago Tribune) in 1997, written by somebody who felt challenged to write a mock graduation speech. It went viral (by 1997 standards). I believe it was passed around as an email forward and falsely attributed to all sorts of prominent people (I don't believe the newspaper editor who authored it was anyone of note), before being noticed by the movie producer Baz Luhrmann. Luhrmann liked it and had somebody narrate it for release. The original version, which may have only been distributed overseas, said "97." I don't know the story behind why it was re-released in 1999, but I presume it may have been as simple as somebody heard the original, liked it, and convinced Luhrmann to update it for release as a US single. Not sure if the "97" version is on any US issued CD (I doubt it) but I would bet quite a bit it is on a foreign release. |
Posted By: aaronk
Date Posted: 19 April 2016 at 5:58pm
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Amazon shows an import CD, released in March 1998, called Something
For Everybody. The CD is mostly music from various movies and plays that Luhrmann has been involved with, but it does also include a 7:10 version of "Sunscreen." My guess would be that this is where the '97 version comes from. There is a YouTube lyric video with a 7:10 version that definitely has the '97 reference in the opening line, and it's probably taken from this 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: aaronk
Date Posted: 19 April 2016 at 6:02pm
Since you only ever heard it at his graduation ceremony, is it possible that someone with a similar voice dubbed in the opening line? This line is said with no music behind it, so it would be fairly easy to do. ------------- Aaron Kannowski http://www.uptownsound.com" rel="nofollow - Uptown Sound http://www.919thepeak.com" rel="nofollow - 91.9 The Peak - Classic Hip Hop |
Back2TheFuture wrote:Posted By: eric_a
Date Posted: 19 April 2016 at 6:53pm
I have this CD, which does indeed say "Class of '97". My copy (Capitol 57636) appears to be a domestic pressing. The album has an Australian copyright but says it was manufactured in the U.S. and has the Hollywood address for Capitol, so I'm inclined to think it was released here. |
Posted By: Back2TheFuture
Date Posted: 19 April 2016 at 10:07pm
Locally, they also played that same '98 version on the radio from April 98 to about July '98. I don't know however if it was custom made by the local top 40 station or if it actually exists on a promo CD somewhere. I e-mailed the ex-program director at the time earlier for more details about this '98 version. I'll post the findings as soon as I get word from him. |
Posted By: Back2TheFuture
Date Posted: 21 April 2016 at 9:24am
So, I finally got an e-mail back from my old friend (who used to be program director at the time) regarding this particular song. He told informed me that there was indeed a promo single that was released in around February or March of 98 that had the '98 dubbed into the song. He also informed me that it was sent out on a light blue CD single and that our local top 40 station had provided several local high schools with a copy of this promo single on cassette tape for play at their 1998 graduation ceremonies after they began playing it on the air (which also explains why I also heard it at my kid brother's graduation too). He also said that this version was released in very limited quantities to certain top 40 stations and that it's now considered a valuable rarity. |
Posted By: PopArchivist
Date Posted: 25 July 2021 at 5:03pm
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The 5:05 on the promo single is lossy. Anyone know of any source where it is lossless? Other than the first 20 seconds the peak is at 15 on the spectrum in a straight line... ------------- Favorite two expressions to live by on this board: "You can't download vinyl" and "Not everything is available on CD." |
Posted By: LunarLaugh
Date Posted: 25 July 2021 at 10:31pm
From wiki:
------------- https://thelunarlaugh.bandcamp.com/ - Listen to The Lunar Laugh! |
Posted By: PopArchivist
Date Posted: 26 July 2021 at 3:52pm
It's not on the soundtrack. ------------- Favorite two expressions to live by on this board: "You can't download vinyl" and "Not everything is available on CD." |
Posted By: AdvprosD
Date Posted: 26 July 2021 at 6:58pm
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"Ladies and Gentlemen, If I could offer you only one tip for the future..."
Is how the HitDisc version on 293-A begins. It doesn't reference the class year at all. This one is also 4:57 in length and is probably the previously mentioned "Lossy" version, with the class year completely removed. There is also a 5+ minute version on a GoldDisc, but I haven't found that one yet. It may have a class, year included. I was doing a number of school functions back then. I didn't notice the class year was edited off the copy. ------------- <Dave> Someone please tell I-Heart Radio that St. Louis is not known as The Loo! |
Posted By: PopArchivist
Date Posted: 26 July 2021 at 8:16pm
The CD promo from 1999 has the class and year (1999). The good news is that the 7:10 is lossless, while the 5:05 is lossy. There might be a way to recreate the 5:05 edit... ------------- Favorite two expressions to live by on this board: "You can't download vinyl" and "Not everything is available on CD." |
Posted By: sriv94
Date Posted: 27 July 2021 at 11:40am
The original column by Mary Schmich: https://www.chicagotribune.com/columns/chi-schmich-sunscreen -column-column.html ------------- Doug --------------- All of the good signatures have been taken. |
Posted By: VWestlife
Date Posted: 05 August 2021 at 8:24pm
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On TopHitsUSA's T473 radio disc, issued 2/26/99, "Everybody's Free" (the 5-minute version) starts with "Ladies and gentlemen, if I could offer you...", with "of the class of 199_" edited out. And not only was it taken from a lossy source, I can also hear rumble, sibilance, and some clicks, so I'm pretty sure it was dubbed from vinyl!
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Posted By: aaronk
Date Posted: 05 August 2021 at 8:39pm
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The UK CD single with the 1999 "Edit" version has the first 17 seconds lossless with no sound quality issues, but the remainder is lossy and from vinyl. It's likely the US promo CD is the same way, and I'll retrieve my copy when time permits to find out. ------------- Aaron Kannowski http://www.uptownsound.com" rel="nofollow - Uptown Sound http://www.919thepeak.com" rel="nofollow - 91.9 The Peak - Classic Hip Hop |