Chic - Le Freak

(I found two previous threads for this song - here and here. This post includes more info than those.)

At the time, in 1978-79, "Le Freak" was the biggest selling single in the history of Atlantic Records. So odd, then, that good sounding CD versions of this track are so hard to come by!

First up, the LP version.

I dug out my LP copy of C'est Chic, Atlantic SD 19209, where "Le Freak" has a printed time of 5:23 and an actual time of 5:24.

I have the LP version on these CDs:

• Atlantic's Dance, Dance, Dance - The Best Of Chic (1991) - This is a terrible-sounding CD, put out before Rhino got hooked up with the Atlantic back catalog. No Bill Inglot on this one, unfortunately. All the tracks have severe tape azimuth errors - hit the "mono" button and you'll hear all sorts of warbly phase problems. And to make matters even worse, "Le Freak" runs about 1.3% slower than the true LP! Unacceptable!
• Atlantic/Atco's Atlantic & Atco Remasters Series - Sampler Two (PRCD 4300-2, 1991 - digitally identical to above CD, problems and all)
• Razor & Tie's Super '70s (1995; mastered by Steve Hoffman, not digital clone but sounds extremely close to above two CDs, problems and all)
• EMI Australia's Seventies Complete (5-CD set, 1997; not digital clone but sounds a lot like above three CDs, problems and all)

So every CD I have of the LP version uses the same horrendous analog transfer as Dance Dance Dance - severe left/right phasing problems and a severe pitch error. I'm sticking with my needle-drop from C'est Chic, which sounds just fine.

Next, the 45 edit:

I have the commercial 45, which I bought while the song was #1 in December 1978. (One of the first two 45s I ever bought, along with "YMCA".) It's Atlantic 3519, matrix number "ST-A-35737-1" with a very faint "SP" next to it, printed time of 3:30, actual time of 3:33.

The 45 runs about 0.6% faster than the true LP, which is well within the range that I'd expect, given the speed tolerances on the late '70s analog tape machines.

The fade begin on the second "freak out" in the last chorus on the word "out" at 3:17, and is a 32-beat fade that last until 3:33. The fade starts abruptly and has a long tail, so on the radio a DJ would fade it much earlier than the 3:33 point.

Nile, Bernard and Tony never played with a click track, so I can't give you exact BPM values. Actually, I've never come across anyone else who could play that precisely WITHOUT a click track!

Basically, the 45 cuts the chorus in half each time and fades early. I tried to figure out the edit points, but that didn't work out too well because the first half of the chorus sounds exactly like the second half. (Brilliant song structure, actually - the chorus is a chant!)

The first appearance of this song on CD was on:

• Silver Eagle's Dancin' The Night Away (OPCD-4512, 1988, runs 3:32)

This CD version tracks exactly with the 45 for the first 1:30, right up until the chorus immediately before the long bass solo. After that, it gradually slows down due to tape drag, bottoming out near the end of the song at around 3% too slow. There are some major speed variations near the fade (like at 3:22) that leave you feeling kinda barfy. This CD version also has a very differently-shaped fade than the 45, and fades much more gradually than the 45 does.

The next time it appeared on CD was on:

• Time-Life's Sounds Of The Seventies - 1978 (1990; differently EQ'd digital clone of Dancin' The Night Away)

Same tape drag problem, same queasiness at the end of the song. There were several more digital clones of this version in the Time-Life catalog:

• #1 Hits Of The '70s: '75-'79 (2000, identical to Sounds Of The Seventies - 1978)
• AM Gold - 1978 (1997, 0.79 dB louder than Sounds Of The Seventies - 1978)
• Solid Gold Soul - 1978 (1997, 0.593 dB louder than Sounds Of The Seventies - 1978)

I have two other CDs that are clearly based on the above Time-Life/Dancin' The Night Away analog transfer even though they're not digital clones. These also have the tape drag and elongated fade:

• Sessions Presents The Ultimate Party Album (Warner Special Products OPCD-4541, 1992)
• Priority's Mega-Hits Dance Classics (Volume 10) (1991; plus it's mastered too loud and has a lot of clipping)

Finally, Bill Inglot and Rhino to the rescue in 1992! The song on this CD sounds utterly spectacular:

• Rhino's The Disco Years, Vol. 3: Boogie Fever (1992, runs 4:17)

This CD was almost certainly made from an LP version tape with new edits that correspond to those in the 45; I can't tell if they use the proper portion of the chorus or not (first half vs. second half, etc.) Either way, I can't tell the difference, so it's certainly good enough. If there's a pitch difference between this and the true 45, it's within about 0.3%, which is insignificant. The 4:17 version runs out to where the LP version fades (I checked). I found some digital clones of the Disco Years CD:

• Rhino Special Editions' Disco Hits Vol. 3 (1992; 0.477 dB quieter than The Disco Years)
• Rhino's Millennium Disco Party (2000; 1.214 dB louder than The Disco Years and clips a lot)

I found one CD that sounds very close to The Disco Years, but has its left/right channels reversed and is faded early to match the elongated fade:

• PolyGram TV UK's The No. 1 Seventies Album (555 054-2, 1997, runs 3:33)

So here's the bottom line:

Buy The Disco Years, Vol. 3: Boogie Fever (Rhino R2 70274, 1992). Fade it manually from 3:17 to 3:33 if you want to match the 45, or enjoy the extra 45 seconds if you want the extra stuff from the LP version that's after the 45 fade. The track sounds astoundingly good on this CD.

All the other CD versions that I've seen are either based on a terrible LP version analog transfer (1991's Dance Dance Dance), or on a version that has dreadful tape drag (1988's Dancin' The Night Away).

I know that Rhino put out a Bill Inglot-mastered Chic collection in the early '00s, but I don't have it. In general, I tend to dislike such recent masterings, due to the infamous "loudness wars".

And there you go. This should certainly put this issue to rest!

Edited by crapfromthepast

And my 45 version from the "Atlantic Records 50th Anniversary" CD also sounds very good (no tape drag and as far as I know the edits are correct).

Anybody know if the Digital 45 just released on iTunes is the proper "45" version (right speed, no tape drag)???

Some of the Atlantic 45 pressings have tape drag. My original I bought new in 1979 has the tape drag. It was a Specialty pressing mastered at Atlantic by DK (Dennis King)

Paul Haney wrote: Well, I went ahead and purchased the song off of iTunes and, to my ears, it's the correct "45" version...correct speed and none of the dreaded "tape drag"!

Hopefully it will be available in FLAC format on Rhino's website soon. They haven't actually added any new downloads in a few weeks.