starship "we built this city"

Nothing earth-shattering to report on, I think.

First, my commercial 45: Grunt FB-14170. I don't know what the "FB" prefix means, since it's usually "PB". Matrix number FB-14170-D-5S SLM 10410 1-1. The "D" is interesting to me, since it's usually "A" for the A-side of the single. The B-side, "Private Room (Instrumental)" has the B- in the matrix number. I don't know what the "A-" and "C-" would have been, although the promo 45 (early fade of LP b/w early of LP and no DJ rap) could probably offer clues. Printed 4:49, actual 4:51, runs at 144.1 BPM throughout. Interesting credit on label: "Remixed by Bill Bottrell"; Bill Bottrell produced Thomas Dolby's Aliens Ate My Buick album, the Toy Matinee album, and Sheryl Crow's Tuesday Night Music Club. There's about 0.2 seconds of something before the opening vocals, but it just sounds like a little tape noise to me, not a deliberate breath. I attribute its presence to a mastering error, since it's not on the LP version at all.

Next, the LP version from the Knee Deep In The Hoopla that I ripped but no longer own. It runs 4:54, and also runs at 144.1 BPM throughout. The difference in length is due to the very tail of the fade being about 3 seconds longer on the LP. I don't have the LP credits anymore, but it would be interesting to see if it has a "remixed by" credit for this song. One disc that seems to use the same analog transfer as Knee Deep is Cema's Entertainment Weekly Presents Rock Archives Vol. 2 (1990).

The first compilation the song appeared on is Warner Special Products' 2-CD Night Beat (1988), where it runs 4:52 and 144.0 BPM throughout.

Razor & Tie's 2-CD Awesome '80s (1994) uses the same analog transfer as Night Beat, but sounds significantly better due to a much better EQ. Warner Special Products' 2-CD Rock This Way (1995) sounds extremely close to Awesome '80s.

The next compilation is RCA's Nipper's Greatest Hits The '80s (1990), where it has a slightly shorter fade than the above discs, and runs at 144.3 BPM throughout. Priority's Eighties Greatest Rock Hits Vol. 3 Arena Rock (1992) uses the same analog transfer as Nipper, but it's mastered way too loud and clips a lot.

RCA's Greatest Hits Ten Years And Change 1979-1991 (1991) starts with the first downbeat of the instrumentation and cuts off the entire intro. Too bad, because it sounds very nice here.

EMI's 2-CD Now 1985 (1993) has an early fade, running only about 4:30.

Finally, Bill Inglot did a fresh analog transfer for Billboard Top Hits 1985 (1994). It sounds good, but there's a small amount of tape drift. The song starts at 144.0 BPM and ends at 143.6 BPM. No normal person would be able to hear it, but now that I have the numbers in front of me, and I know that the 45 and LP versions don't have any drift, it kinda bugs me.

It looks like whatever tapes Rhino used for the Starship tracks on their Billboard discs all have this slight tape drag at the end. On 1986, "Sara" starts at 99.7 BPM and ends at 99.5 BPM. On 1987, "Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now" starts at 95.0 BPM and ends at 94.8 BPM.

A few other CDs use the same analog transfer as Billboard Top Hits 1986, including Time-Life's Sounds Of The Eighties Vol. 2 1985 (1994), Rhino's 7-CD Like Omigod set (2002), and Realm's 3-CD Greatest Hits Of The '80s Vol. 3 (2002).

The 50-CD promo set The "A"-List is actually the no-DJ-rap version from the promo 45. I can't tell if it's taken from vinyl - I don't hear evidence of NR on the fade out and I don't hear any turntable rumble.

For overall sound quality, I'd vote for Awesome '80s here.

Edited by crapfromthepast

Yah Shure wrote: crapfromthepast wrote: Matrix number FB-14170-D-5S SLM 10410 1-1. The "D" is interesting to me, since it's usually "A" for the A-side of the single. The B-side, "Private Room (Instrumental)" has the B- in the matrix number. I don't know what the "A-" and "C-" would have been, although the promo 45 (early fade of LP b/w early of LP and no DJ rap) could probably offer clues. Hold your calls, we have a winner! -A = no rap -C = early fade of LP RCA's use of -A, -B, -C and -D designations goes back at least as far as the multiple DJ 45 issues of Pure Prairie League's "Amie."

Well, then what does -D mean?

Yah Shure wrote: Clarification on the "Amie" DJ designations: they were -A, -C, -Y and -Z.

Shouldn't they have been -A, -M, -I and -E?

:)

crapfromthepast wrote: RCA's Greatest Hits Ten Years And Change 1979-1991 (1991) starts with the first downbeat of the instrumentation and cuts off the entire intro. Too bad, because it sounds very nice here.

I just wanted to add that this CD is also the promo "no
DJ rap" version, but with the intro missing.

If one wants a digital version of the DJ 45, the intro
can be spliced back on from another CD. Works quite well.
MM

To explain Aaron's thread bump: Due to a problem with the forum search engine, I didn't know this thread existed, so last night, I posted in another thread, trying to figure out what the database meant by an introductory inhale differentiating the 45 version. I'm moving my comments here.

I'm 100% with Ron on this. I have checked the 45 and a bunch of CDs mentioned in the database as containing the LP or 45 version, lined them all up in Audition, listened and zoomed in and out of the spectrograms, and they all have the exact same mix on them with minor mastering and tape-generation differences.

Indeed, there's a ¼-second noise at the start of the 45, right before the "we" vocal, but it's some kind of studio noise, not a breath. Aside from tape speed and fadeout length variations, the only difference on the CDs is how much of the intro noise gets to play. The Knee Deep in the Hoopa album plays none of it, and the 45 plays all of it. Close comparison of several other CDs reveals that they usually just either cut that preface off completely, or they just quickly fade in the last part of it—sometimes a little less, sometimes a little more.

And not to disparage Pat's heroic efforts checking his collection, but in the database, there doesn't seem to be consistency as to which discs are said to have the 45 version and which are said to have the LP version.

As for the 45 saying "Remixed By Bill Bottrell", the album just says the track is "Mixed By" him, and it's a red herring. I think this is one of those times when the album ended up containing a remix and the original mix was shelved.

So IMHO the database should be scrubbed of references to the commercial 45 version, unless I'm missing something. I would change the top note to just say that some CDs include part or all of a split-second studio noise which is audible at the very beginning of the 45 but not the LP.

Edited by mjb50