Toni Basil - Mickey

This appears on lots of discs. Fortunately, they fall neatly into three catgories: (1) LP version, (2) 45 edit, and (3) 0:11 shorter than the 45 edit.

(Disclaimer: I didn't time the 45 myself; I'm using the timings from the 1996 edition of Pat's book.)

45 edit

Remarkably, the song was unavailable on CD until 1993! The first place it appeared was on EMI's Living In Oblivion Vol. 2, where it runs 3:36, with a long fade from the downbeat at 3:04 to 3:36. The fade has a very long tail. Sound quality is very nice.

There are digital clones of Living In Oblivion on:

• Cema's Greatest Hits Of The 80's Vol. 4 New Wave Hits (1994; diff EQ)
• Madacy's Rock On 1982 (digitally exactly 1 dB louder)

0:11 shorter than 45 edit

I suspect that there was a tape source in Chrysalis's vault somewhere that ran 3:25. The fade starts on the downbeat around 3:04 and has the same overall shape, but but shortens the tail.

This 3:25 version showed up first on Razor & Tie's 2-CD Awesome '80s (1994, mastered by Steve Hoffman). Sound is very nice here.

There are a bunch of CDs that use the same analog transfer as Awesome '80s:

• Rhino's Just Can't Get Enough, Vol. 5 (also 1994; I suspect that Bill Inglot used the same source tape, because JCGE tracks exactly with Awesome '80s, down to the same fade and noise on the fadeout; avoid,though, because it's about 4 or 5 dB louder than Awesome '80s and clips a lot)
• Time-Life's Sounds Of The Eighties Vol. 5 1982 (1994; differently-EQ'd digital clone of Just Can't Get Enough)
• JCI's Only Dance 1980-1984 (1995)
• JCI's Only Rock 'N Roll #1 Radio Hits 1980-1984 (1996)
• Warner Special Products' 2-CD Punk (1996)
• Time-Life's Sounds Of The Eighties Essential '80s (1998; digitally exactly 1 dB louder than other Sounds Of The Eighties disc)
• Rhino's Millennium New Wave Party (1999)
• Rhino's Instant Party Disc (1999)
• Rhino's 7-cd Like Omigod (2002; extremely loud and clips a lot)

LP version

The LP version runs 4:12. It can probably be edited down to the 45, although I haven't tried this.

The LP version first appeared on Razor & Tie's Best Of, which I don't have. I do have Razor & Tie's Sampler 4, though, which I assume is pretty close in sound quality.

The same analog transfer is used for:

• Big Ear Music's Only In The 80's Vol. 1 (1995; mastered by Steve Hoffman, who also did the Best Of CD)
• Simitar's Number Ones The '80s (1998; differently EQ'd digital clone of Sampler 4, and, I assume, Best Of)
• Time-Life's 2-CD Modern Rock Vol. 5 Dance (1999; differently EQ'd digital clone of Only In The '80s)

There are some outliers that don't fit neatly into the above three mastering categories. The promo 50-CD set The A List Disc 13 (1994) seems to have a homemade edit and an even shorter fade than everything else listed above. The UK 2-CD set Now The Millennium Series 1982 (1999) runs only 4:09 and clips severely - avoid. There's a 45 version in Spanish on Living In Oblivion Vol. 2 (1993), which runs about 3:37. That's fantastic for lots of reasons.

I also have the 12", which features a Special Club Mix running 5:56, and a Special Club Mix in Spanish, running 5:12. Also fantastic for lots of reasons.

My recommendations:

For the LP version, any of the discs I listed sound very nice. Whatever you can find for cheap.

For the 45 edit, go with Living In Oblivion Vol. 2, where you'll also get the Spanish version. Muy bueno indeed.

For 0:11 shorter than the 45 edit, Awesome '80s sounds great, and the JCI and Warner Special Products discs sound pretty much exactly like Awesome '80s. Avoid the Rhinos, which are too loud and clip a bit.

Edited by crapfromthepast

my commercial 45 issued as chrysalis 2638 lists a run time
on the label as 3:36 and does indeed run that length....

The Razor & Tie CD from 1999 is all awful new remixes. The only place I know of to get the original 12" mix is on the KOL 12" Blue CD