If you have "Saturday Night" on a compilation CD, the odds are pretty good that the mastering originated with Rhino's Have A Nice Day Vol. 15 (1990).
On Have A Nice Day Vol. 15, the song runs 2:53 and sounds very nice. It clips a tiny bit (no big deal), has a great dynamic range, a nice EQ, no evidence of noise reduction, and a pleasing bit of tape hiss on the fade. There are digital clones of Have A Nice Day Vol. 15 on:- Rhino's Billboard Top Hits 1976 (1991; digitally identical)
- Time-Life's Sounds Of The Seventies Vol. 39 Pop Nuggets Late '70s (1995; differently EQ'd digital clone with additional compression - avoid)
- Time-Life's AM Gold Vol. 23 1976 (1996; digitally exactly 0.2 dB louder)
- Time-Life's 2-CD Seventies Music Explosion Vol. 3 Miracles (2005; differently EQ'd digital clone)
The Time-Life disc Sounds Of The Seventies Vol. 25 Seventies Generation (1992) uses the same analog transfer as Have A Nice Day Vol. 15, but blunts the high end a little bit to mask the tape hiss. The following discs use the same analog transfer as Sounds Of The Seventies Vol. 25 Seventies Generation (meaning that the high end is similarly blunted):- Rhino's Yesterday's Heroes '70s Teen Idols (1993; digitally exactly 1 dB louder; this would make more sense if this disc were released before the Time-Life disc, since I don't know of any Rhino discs that base their masterings on Time-Life discs!)
- JCI's Only Rock 'N Roll 1975-1979 (1994)
- Madacy's Rock On 1976 (original 1996 release; digitally exactly 0.5 dB louder)
- Time-Life's AM Gold Vol. 28 Teen Idols Of The '70s (1999; differently EQ'd digital clone)
- Madacy's Rock On 1976 (2004 reissue; differently EQ'd digital clone)
And finally, three Razor & Tie compilations that are not based on Have A Nice Day Vol. 15:- Razor & Tie's Those Fabulous '70s (1990)
- Razor & Tie's 2-CD Suddenly '70s (1997; same analog transfer as Those Fabulous '70s)
- Razor & Tie's 1-CD Suddenly '70s (2001; differently EQ'd digital clone of 2-CD version, about 4 dB louder and possibly some added noise reduction?)
All three of the above fade early and sound like mud. Avoid.
My recommendation for this song: Rhino's Have A Nice Day Vol. 15 (1990), although Rhino's Billboard Top Hits 1976 (1991) will get you the exact same 0s and 1s, and will be significantly cheaper than HAND.
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