Top 40 Hits still not on cd in the US

Pat Downey wrote: Same for the original Dr. Hook cd "Players In The Dark" on Casablanca 800054 - if you have this cd and can pass along the running time of "Baby Makes Her Blue Jeans Talk" I will enter it in the database.

Okay, I put my money where my mouth was, and just acquired an original (used) CD of "Players in the Dark" by Dr. Hook. (This one's definitely a toughie; it set me back $60!)

Interesting situation here. For starters, although the vinyl LP & cassette were both issued on Casablanca 7264 in early 1982, by the time the CD version came out in 1983-84, the Casablanca label was no more, and PolyGram had also switched to a more universal catalog-numbering system. Consequently, the CD & inserts all actually bear the "Mercury" name & logo - not Casablanca, as my sources indicated - but the catalog no. itself is indeed 800 054-2. And as I predicted, the CD is a West German pressing for the U.S. market, since there weren't yet any CD-manufacturing plants Stateside at the time...

That said, printed time on the back insert for "Baby Makes Her Blue Jeans Talk" is (3:46), and surprisingly, that's just what it actually runs! However, it turns out the new "Greatest Hooks" collection fades the song early, to just (3:40). Also, in his "Pop Annual", Whitburn claims the 45 version runs (3:39); since I don't own the 45, I have no idea whether that's accurate, or if it's a different mix from the LP/CD version. All I can say for sure is that based on the lyrics, the "Greatest Hooks" version is the "Players in the Dark" version faded about six seconds early. I'll let the folks w/ the excellent 45 collections here sort out the rest...

I don't usually pay this much for CDs, but I guess I can also have the satisfaction of now owning the group's final pop hit, "Loveline", on CD - a song that was omitted from "Greatest Hooks"... :-)

80smusicfreak wrote: As an aside, I do have Tony Carey's "The First Day of Summer", Eddie Schwartz's "All Our Tomorrows", and Pia Zadora's "The Clapping Song" on CD, but all of those are definitely imports, and I'm not aware of their appearance on any U.S. CDs to date...

While most folks here lately seem to be focused (obsessed???) on the CD release of some hit 45 versions by the likes of Eddie Money and R. Dean Taylor (full disclosure: yes, even *I* bought the new EM and H&O "Playlist" CDs from Sony/BMG for the rare "45 versions" that they included!), alas, no one has yet to mention that on May 13, Tony Carey's 1984 hit, "The First Day of Summer", actually made its U.S. CD debut in either form...

It's included on Carey's new hits collection, "A Lonely Life - The Anthology", on Renaissance RMED-353 (printed on the disc itself as "RMED-0353", so take your pick). I have the CD, and the actual timing for "The First Day of Summer" is (3:43); although I don't own the 7" single myself, according to Joel Whitburn's "Hot 100 Annual", the 45 version/length is "(3:28)", so this appears to be the LP version/length...

I've been a huge TC fan since 1983, when I first heard Planet P's "Why Me?", and his fantastic follow-up solo album the very next year, "Some Tough City", sealed it. (As indicated in an earlier post, I've had the latter - which was the original parent album of "The First Day of Summer" - on an import CD for years now. Renaissance label owner John W. Edwards' liner notes in "Anthology" state, "Several more of TC's solo albums are being re-released in North America during 2008 and 2009...," so it appears that we will FINALLY be seeing the U.S. CD debut of "Some Tough City" shortly!) While Renaissance has been known to issue second (later) pressings of some of their CDs on CD-R, the new hits CD is a factory-pressed disc, and included the involvement of TC himself. Of course, it does include his other U.S. top 40 hit, 1984's "A Fine Fine Day" - which is also hard to get on CD - and it clocks in at (4:23). (Both the 45 & LP versions reportedly run "4:24", so I assume they're the same???) In addition to his several other lesser pop & AOR hits, as an added bonus, "Anthology" also includes most of his hits as lead singer of Planet P Project! This new CD doesn't quite measure up to the home-made cassette that I recorded of his solo & Planet P material some 15 years ago, but a welcome release from another very underrated '80s act, nevertheless. (Mariah who???) :-)

"Yes, and we lied a little/
And we maybe stole some/
Sayin', 'Southern Cali-forni-a, here we come!'..."

The 45 of "The First Day Of Summer" does indeed run 3:28. To help determine if the 45 is an edit or simply a shorter length compared to the LP, here's some details about the 45:

(0:24) vocals start (first verse)
(0:57) chorus
(1:47) verse
(2:04) bridge
(2:36) chorus repeated several times to fade

The 45 of "The First Day Of Summer" is an edit of the LP version. I don't have either in front of me now, but I know that the intro is shortened on the 45. There's a well-done edit in the intro on a snare hit that links a piano roll (before the edit) to a snare/crash cymbal (after the edit).

I have the 45 and promo 12" at home - I'll dig them out tonight.

BTW, I think there has been an earlier Tony Carey greatest hits CD, although it may have been available only through Mr. Carey's website. Don't have it myself.

Also BTW, the 45 of Planet P's "Why Me" is a different mix than the LP version. I have the Geffen release of the full Planet P CD, but I haven't seen the 45 version on CD.

crapfromthepast wrote: BTW, I think there has been an earlier Tony Carey greatest hits CD, although it may have been available only through Mr. Carey's website. Don't have it myself.

There have indeed been at least three previous TC hits CDs released - including "Retrospective: 1982-1999" - but all have been imports. (Even the promo sticker affixed to the shrink-wrap on the front of the new "Anthology" CD from Renaissance boasts the following: "First ever U.S. 'Best Of' Compilation".) I don't know if any of those were offered exclusively through his web site or not, but bear in mind that while TC's American, he's lived in Germany for years now, and as such, his official web site is also based there. Frankly, I was always pretty disappointed w/ the track selection on all of those imports - and while not perfect, the new Renaissance CD is by far the best of the bunch, IMHO...

Also BTW, the 45 of Planet P's "Why Me" is a different mix than the LP version. I have the Geffen release of the full Planet P CD, but I haven't seen the 45 version on CD.

"Why Me?" clocks in at (4:04) on the new "Anthology", so it's the LP version. I'm not aware of the (3:29) "45 version" appearing anywhere on CD to date, either. (Yep, I also have the domestic "Planet P" CD, as well as "Pink World", which has still only ever been available as an import - great stuff!)