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Sade - Smooth Operator |
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crapfromthepast ![]() Music Fan ![]() ![]() Joined: 14 September 2006 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 25 |
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Posted: 23 May 2012 at 6:32pm |
I found what I think is a rerecording of the song. It turned up as a flac file in a lossless 1985 directory that I *ahem* found, with no useful tags. It runs about 4:57. In a side-by-side comparison, you can tell immediately that's something's amiss because the drum sounds are different. It's definitely Sade singing, but it's a different vocal take and different (but fairly close) instrumentation, and just a bit faster than the hit version. Anyone know where this came from? If you really want, I can send out copies of this, but it's really not all that interesting - it just sounds like a well-done knock off of the hit version.
The promo 45 version turned up first on the T.J. Martell Foundation/Columbia CD Music For The Miracle, where it runs 3:45, but sounds like a fairly high-generation tape source. The compilers for Realm's Gold & Platinum Vol. 2 apparently thought they could do better for the promo 45 version. It sounds to my ears like they took the song from vinyl! (Can anyone confirm? I hear what I think is low-frequency turntable rumble before the first note and on the end of the fade.) The EQ is extremely bright on this track. This disc, despite being one of the very earliest pop compilations (from 1986!), takes its entire track listing from Music For The Miracle but has early fades on almost every track. I do love old compilations, but I'd recommend avoiding this one. Edited by crapfromthepast |
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KentT ![]() Music Fan ![]() Joined: 25 May 2008 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 0 |
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The UK mix only has a single tracked vocal. The US has a double tracked vocal remix.
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I turn up the good and turn down the bad!
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crapfromthepast ![]() Music Fan ![]() ![]() Joined: 14 September 2006 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 25 |
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Okay. Got it figured out, thanks to the terrific post below from Jeff H. on the Steve Hoffman board. I, apparently, stumbled across the first version of the song, which is UK LP version, originally released as the B-side to the UK single "Your Love Is King". The second version of the song was the hit version that we all know.
This is a YouTube clip with the audio in question, before it segues into a neato instrumental.
Edited by crapfromthepast |
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AndrewChouffi ![]() Music Fan ![]() Joined: 24 September 2005 Status: Offline Points: 3 |
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Speaking of "neato instumentals", does anyone know where I can obtain, digitally, the full 8:47 version of "Smooth Operator" (the one released in the USA promotionally on Portrait AS 2013)? The second half of this version is awesome; I believe it came to be known as "Red Eye" in the UK.
Andy |
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Fetta ![]() Music Fan ![]() Joined: 26 April 2005 Status: Offline Points: 0 |
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I do have a needle drop taken from an unplaced 12" promo if anyone is
interested. |
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Todd Ireland ![]() Music Fan ![]() Joined: 16 October 2004 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 23 |
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The database currently shows "Smooth Operator" on The Best of Sade CD (Epic 66686 and Epic 85287) with the comment: "neither the 45 nor LP version".
In light of the new information on this thread, it would probably be more accurate to have that comment modified to read something like: "this is the U.K. 45 version, which is an edit of the U.S. 45 and LP version". It's also likely that the other database CDs where "Smooth Operator" runs 4:14-4:15 is also the U.K. 45 version. |
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EternalStatic ![]() Music Fan ![]() Joined: 28 September 2019 Status: Offline Points: 0 |
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A handful of things I wanted to add:
1) For those who may still be seeking the "full 8:47 version" of "Smooth Operator" with the instrumental ending, it has finally been released on an import CD: the Blank & Jones compilation So80s (SoEighties) 12. The producers of this series seem to pride themselves on acquiring original master tapes when possible, and at least in these later volumes, do some really well-balanced, not overly compressed mastering. I have this track and think it sounds great. 2) The next-to-last sentence in the note above that was imported from Steve Hoffman's forum appears to be incorrect, or a touch misleading. The poster appears to be making an assumption that the 3:57 North American "Short Version" of the song (which appears on a U.S. promo 45, a U.S. promo 12", and the Canadian commercial 45) is a simple early fade of the UK single version, but as most here know, this "promo 45" version rearranges the song significantly, and one would not be able to re-create the edit by simply fading the UK single version early. 3) It's been 8 years and I'm sure you got some concurrence elsewhere-- but yes, Ron, the Gold and Platinum transfer of the "Short Version" sounds me to be taken from vinyl or an nth generation tape (which I would think to be unlikely given the limited number of releases that version had). Edited by EternalStatic |
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EternalStatic ![]() Music Fan ![]() Joined: 28 September 2019 Status: Offline Points: 0 |
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So, I had attempted this many times through the years, but never ended up with a final result that I liked, but today, I completed a pretty flawless re-creation of the U.S. "Short Version" (which was the
version I heard consistently on the radio in the mid-'80s). I am sharing my edit points and notes below in case anyone else needs them/wants to give it a shot. Note: if you're like me, and a little OCD about keeping the beat/rhythm correct in your editing, be ready to relax your eyes a little when performing these edits. It will look like you are moving the next beat a little bit too far to the left on, well, most of the cuts made--but this is necessary to avoid including bits of errant vocals here and there. Apparently, Ms. Adu had a habit of leading into the beat, which is a great jazzy touch, but frustrating for an editor. So, the U.S. "Short Version" can be re-created from either the full U.S. LP/CD version, or from the UK Single Version. I started with the UK Single Version as found on Epic's The Best of Sade. (If you were to use the full U.S. LP/CD version, you would need to add another step at the beginning where you edit out the spoken intro): 1) You will need two copies of your source file to do this easily. We'll call them "A" and "B". (File "A" will be for your main editing work, and file "B" will be to keep you from pulling your hair out when you realize that the portion of the song you need for the 2nd edit has already been edited out by your 1st edit.) 2) So, for file "A": Cut about 48 seconds from 1:37.032 to 2:25.346. This will take you from the halfway point of the first chorus straight to the actual second verse, removing all traces of the "Coast to coast..." lyrics and the jazzy musical breakdown that follows. Edit is on the downbeat concurrent with the word "Coast", but I think I had to pull the edit just slightly "to the left" to avoid the "C" in "Coast". 3) From File "B" (which should be an undisturbed file, identical to the one you started with), copy 1:53.152 to End of File. Paste (or "Replace") into File "A" at 2:33:354. In your edited file, this should result in cutting from halfway through the second chorus to the jazzy musical breakdown at 2:33:354, again aborting the "Coast to coast..." section. You can discard file "B" now. 4) From the resultant file: Cut 43 seconds from 3:05.541 to 4:01.858. Finally, the "Coast to coast..." lyrics/second half of the chorus makes an appearance! 5) From the resultant file: Delete from about 3:48.800 to end of file. 6) From the resultant file: The fade starts about about 3:28 on the word "operator". I used a bell curve from here to the end of the file, and it matched the promo 12" rip that I used as a guide just fine. I am also happy to share my edit as a guide if needed. (My apologies if this information is already out there somewhere, I searched and did not find!) Edited by EternalStatic |
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EternalStatic ![]() Music Fan ![]() Joined: 28 September 2019 Status: Offline Points: 0 |
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**One more thing, and I apologize for multiple posts, but every time I add something to the above post, the margins for the entire thing fall apart. Going off of both the Gold and Platinum CD transfer, and the promo 12", the true
"Short Version" might run a hair slower than the source file (from The Best of Sade). It's hard to validate, since the G&P mastering is very poor, and my other reference copy is from vinyl, so it could actually be playing a touch too slow in truth. I experimented with slowing down by about 1% and it sounds fine either way. Edited by EternalStatic |
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AutumnAarilyn ![]() Music Fan ![]() Joined: 22 August 2019 Status: Offline Points: 0 |
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Here's the promo 45 artifact in question!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zmcV-YHeYR4 The Red Eye long mix is also on Ben Liebrand's Grand 12 inches vol 17 in addition to the Blank & Jones – So80s (Soeighties) volume 12. Edited by AutumnAarilyn |
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