Japanese Single Box

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Man, Harry, now you're making ME want this box. I had decided against it since I already have all the songs and I'm not a Carpenters 'completist,' but dang if this doesn't sound nice. (I'm a packaging nut, as many here probably know....the music is almost secondary!)
 
I decided to take a long look at my set today as well and I believe there are a couple of errors in the reproduction: in this set the Carpenters logo appears on the earlier singles - Ticket To Ride, Close To You, etc. - and although the label is the correct color the logo didn't appear untiil the Tan album - and I believe the 1st single to carry the logo was Rainy Days and Mondays...

Mike
 
Harry

After reading your review I am soooo glad I actually ordered this set. Should be arriving 'any day now' :laugh:

Stephen
 
no1kandrfan said:
I decided to take a long look at my set today as well and I believe there are a couple of errors in the reproduction: in this set the Carpenters logo appears on the earlier singles - Ticket To Ride, Close To You, etc. - and although the label is the correct color the logo didn't appear untiil the Tan album - and I believe the 1st single to carry the logo was Rainy Days and Mondays...

Mike

I noticed that too, and I'm certain that there are other variations like the catalog numbers. These all have UIDY-xxxx numbers which I'm sure didn't exist in the '70s. It's understandable that SOME concessions had to be made for consistency's sake.

I know that in the US, that first single was in mono, but who knows whether or not that's true in Japan? They had a different b-side as well. For us it was "Ticket To Ride / Your Wonderful Parade" and on this set it's "Ticket To Ride / All I Can Do".

It probably was more of a cultural choice than anything else. At that point NO-ONE had heard of Carpenters, so it was probably felt that the circus atmosphere of "Your Wonderful Parade" might be lost on the Japanese audience, whereas "All I Can Do" was the type of fast vocal that the Japanese seem to appreciate.

And we know that in the US there were at least two different variations of that first single with "Your Wonderful Parade" having a shorter spoken intro on one of the versions. But again, who knows what transpired in Japan?

Harry
 
Mike Blakesley said:
Man, Harry, now you're making ME want this box. I had decided against it since I already have all the songs and I'm not a Carpenters 'completist,' but dang if this doesn't sound nice. (I'm a packaging nut, as many here probably know....the music is almost secondary!)

Here's a sampling of the three different label eras as represented on this set:

CarpSingleSet.jpg


Harry
 
Harry

I have a question about that picture...

CarpSingleSet.jpg


I don't see the middle row of the sleeves from your picture in the picture below. Are they the reverse side of some of the singles?

372264B.jpg


Stephen
 
I have a minor quibble with David's list of versions found on the single set.

davidgra said:
Disc 12:
"Sing" -- album version
"I Won't Last a Day Without You" -- album version


Disc 16:
"I Won't Last a Day Without You" -- album version
"One Love" -- album version

My findings are a bit different. It would appear that the Japanese released "I Won't Last A Day Without You" as a b-side to "Sing" a year before it was to become a single on its own. Thus, David is correct in his assessment of the Disc 12 version being the album version. It must have been plucked from the album to fill the b-side of the "Sing" single.

A year later, "I Won't Last A Day Without You" was released in its own right as a single and Richard beefed up the recording with a moog and electric guitar figure that plays in parts of the chorus. That single version is correctly heard on this set on Disc 16, so it should say "single version" and not "album version" for Disc 16.

On another front, I'm amazed that the set actually contains two iterations of "Top Of The World". As David mentions, the story has always been told by Richard that they never figured "Top Of The World" as a single but that Japan released it. That's born out in this set as the original album version pops up as a single on Disc 11, paired with "Druscilla Penny". A year later, the song was released worldwide as a single and Japan again issued it, this time with the new single-version recording, again pairing it with "Druscilla Penny."

I guess this sort-of proves that the Japanese were ahead of the game several times when it came to Carpenters!

Harry
 
newvillefan said:
Harry

I have a question about that picture...

CarpSingleSet.jpg


I don't see some of the sleeves from your picture in the picture below. Are they the reverse side of some of the singles?

372264B.jpg


Stephen

Look again.

The first title on my picture is "Ticket To Ride" It's in David's picture as the very first one.

The Santa Claus picture in the middle on my picture is the third one in the third row on the full-set picture.

And the last one I have is the last one in the set.

They're all there.

However, many of these, but not all, have different pictures on the reverse side. It's case-specific as to which ones do, but I'm seeing pictures in these sleeves that I've not seen before.

Harry
 
Sorry Stephen, I just re-read your question that you edited and now I understand your confusion.

The middle row in my picture represents the actual sleeves that the discs come in. They are separate from the pictures that are issued as well. All of the contents you see in my pictures are housed in their own individual plastic sleeves (with the sticky stuff on the fold-over flap).

I'm not sure why these are that way. The generic A&M sleeves would tend to indicate that there wasn't a picture sleeve, or perhaps the Japanese issued the pictures as an insert along with the generic sleeve (?)

As I mentioned, some of these insert pictures are single sheets, some are fold-overs with lyrics printed inside. I'm guessing that because they are so different, that each one is authentic to the way the singles were originally packaged.

We'll need a Japanese single expert to figure some of this stuff out.

Harry
 
No problem Harry, I re-edited it to avoid precisely the confusion I caused :laugh:

Thanks for the information, I wondered what this would look like and now understand that each verticle set of pictures (CD, insert + sleeve) are actually all part of the same item! Very cool :D

Stephen
 
I'm not a collector and didn't know early '70s. So I hope Mitch or someone will explain well.

Harry said:
I know that in the US, that first single was in mono, but who knows whether or not that's true in Japan?

Harry's old quote(Yuka's message) might explain this.
Harry said:
Yuka Ogura wrote:
About mono mix, UMJ does not think there was any Mono mix. If his memory serves him correct, A&M was making mono mix until probably 67 or 68. And by the time Carpenters debuted, there was only Stereo mix available. At least there was only Stereo mix appeared in Japan.


I bought some 45's(before the Carpenters logo era). Of course they didn't have the logo.
So I thought a certain CD's on the set are not from original release but later release.
For example, Kaoru shows 1st and 2nd press of "Superstar".
http://www.asahi-net.or.jp/~ap5k-ymd/45-1970.htm
As you see, 1st press didn't have the logo. And its label didn't have the logo.

You have seen Chris-An Ordinary Fool's photos before.
Chris-An Ordinary Fool said:

I think Chris May said he took a picture of his Japanese 45 "Ticket To Ride" as his old avatar. So he can post the photo of the label of his 45.

Sakura
 
Harry, what do you think of the sound quality overall? David wrote that these sound like the 98 Remasters, but I wasn't sure if he meant that they were the album versions or the same mastering?

By the way, I DID order mine from Amazon JP, but I have not got a confirmation on the shipping yet. We'll see if I do get one...
 
Andrew, you'll get one emailed to you. I got mine last night e-mailed to me, the only problem being I couldn't read a word of it!

But you'll get one.

Now with Tuesday being a holiday, I'll have to wait till Wednesday :sad:
 
Yes those are my scans of the Japan 45 above. I also have the Japan 45 single of We've Only Just Begun b/w I'll Never Fall In Love Again. 3rd one in on top row on back of new singles box. I don't have scans but when you open the Japan 45 it's first inside of clear plastic with a sticky flap over when you pull out the cover it opens up left to right and inside are the lyrics in Japan on left and lyrics in English on the right for both We've Only Just Begun and I'll Never Fall in Love again. Then behind that is the sleeve for the 45 record with the A&M logo repeating around in a circle 9 times. The back has the A&M logo. the inside label looks like the above scan of Hurting Each Other I scanned.


Regarding Harry's question above I sure would love to know the answer myself. I also have the US version Santa Claus 45 single Promo, one side mono other stereo but the stereo has the Haeco Processing on it. So did the stock single of Santa Claus for Japan or even the US have a clean stereo side? Wish we had someone to confirm that.

I still have not opened my singles box set yet, got it late yesterday and just got home from work today so I plan to dig into these this weekend. :)
 
Well I feel really stupid...before breaking into my new singles box set I thought I would grab my box of 45 I have collected over the years, my collection has grown close to over 250 single 45's of various artists. I went searching for the stock single of Santa Claus and I actually have it, I had it misplaced and not with my other Carpenter singles. I had forgotton I had it. Here are scans I just took. Just gave it a spin and compared it to my promo. I can say that at least for the US, the stereo side stock of Santa Claus does not have the Haeco Processing. You can also tell by holding the 45 under light to see which has the processing. It's hard to photograph 45's. On this stock copy it is b/w MCD and you can clearly see the Haeco processing (which look like a bunch of criss crosses meshy looking.

Comparing with headphones, you can tell the Promo Stereo I have of Santa Claus the vocals are all over the place, almost phased out sounding and there is slight distortion. On this stock copy it is not like that.

Now we still don't know about the original Japan stock 45 of this single did it have it or not, I would bet it did not just like the U.S but I am guessing.

santaclausstock45ar9.jpg

Merry Christmas Darling with strong Haeco Processing
mcdstock45hp5.jpg


Here for comparison is my Promo Stereo of Santa Claus, you can clearly see the strong Haeco processing

promosanta45lb9.jpg
 
Thanks Chris. That answers the question, that there WAS a version of the record issued WITHOUT the HEACO-CSG processing, so somewhere a master tape existed WITHOUT the processing.

I find it strange that back in '74, and subsequent years, that I never heard a non-CSG'ed version on the radio. Of course it would be hard to tell on a mono AM station, but it was certainly true of the FM's that I listened to back then. I guess since the promo had it, and that's what stations had access to back then, then it's understandable.

Again, thanks for the help. Your pictures make it abundantly clear.

Harry
 
Well I finally had some time to myself tonight to break open this new singles boxset from Japan...Here are my thoughts:

I have managed to only get through the first 17 Discs. (hey it takes a long time to get through 66 songs in one sitting) LOL

First off, I am greatly impressed with this set, the details are incredible. If you are a lover of artwork and detail this is a must have set. As I mentioned earlier I happen to own 2 original Japan 45's of the Carpenters and the details on the 2 discs in this set replicate the exact 45's I own and I mean replicate. It is very cool. When I first opened the box I noticed inside how the Carpenters logo carries through even to the inside cover, yes the details are everywhere. :) I then had to go through to make sure I had all 33 discs (hey you never know) It was a little difficult getting my fingers inside the 4 separate dividers to grab out all the discs to go through them all but I managed. (I am a neat freak already and touching these I want to make sure they stay in perfect condition. Opening the booklet it was very cool to see Richard's handwritten note, this is always a great confirmation that this set was approved.

Having listened to the first 17 discs I can say that I am very very impressed with the mastering of this set, the sound is fantastic. (my first run through always with my Sony headphones MDR V600)

I won't go through all the songs and the ones I've touched on have been mentioned by others here.

I Kept On Loving You-This songs really sounds like a whole new song for me, one of my favorite Richard vocals, with this clean opening, even though short tends to make the whole song brand new, for me... it is now a complete perfect song. This is a huge plus already for this boxset. :thumbsup:

It is really nice not hearing all that reverb you tend to hear so much on many of the compilations, there is none of that here of course, something my ears pick up straight away. I have fallen in love again with these singles.

Well, Bless the Beasts & Children is indeed the original soundtrack version, this alone makes this Japan singles box set worth getting and without a question a rare set to personally own. This is just awesome to finally have this on CD.

Ok, this may sound like a dumb question but reading along in the lyric book provided, when I got to Disc 8, Maybe It's You, on the lyrics page it says for the chorus, 1st: Rising on the shore the ocean came, the 2nd chorus, Rising on the shore the ocean's king. Are these really the correct lyrics? In the Japan Treasures 2 Cd Set the lyric booklet for this song both say ocean's king. Misprint on the singles booklet?

Oh, Not sure I have ever seen that photo on Disc 9 of Karen behind Richard with this white antique looking piano. I like it.

Crystal Lullaby-Everytime I hear this song I tend to think of the piece that Richard ultimately "fixed" Here of course is the original untouched. :laugh: Still I really like how he fixed it on Treasures and am glad to own that as well.

I Won't Last a Day Without You-Harry is right, we indeed have 2 different versions one on 12 and one on disc 16. Listen closely to the chorus and you will hear it. I also tend to want to say that the version on Disc 12 sounds ever so slightly slower to my ear. I did notice too that each clocks in at different times listening to the very last sound. Disc 12 at 3:52 and Disc 16 at 3:48, yes not much diff but yet I did notice.

Santa Claus is Comin' to Town-I must echo what Harry already wrote, this is the single stereo version without the Haeco Processing, I've grown attached to this original version over the years and though some might think it has some distortion I have always considered it the way the song was meant to sound, in other words apart of the original sound. I also agree with Harry that after listening to this, it does not sound like it was mastered from a 45 but rather from a master tape, it sounds that good. :) It sounds very much like my stock single stereo 45. It really sounds great and at the risk of repeating myself yet again, having this is worth the price of this set for me.

a question for those that have this set, what do I do with the OBI strip to keep it from getting creased or messed up (since it is not just the normal small OBI but attached to the photos on the back)..where to store it? I'd like to keep it looking nice.

...with plans to spend more time this weekend on the rest of the discs...
 
Glad you're enjoying it Chris! Sets like this make me so happy because I know that somewhere out there that they really do care about us fans! Can't wait for mine to come!
 
Chris-An Ordinary Fool said:
Ok, this may sound like a dumb question but reading along in the lyric book provided, when I got to Disc 8, Maybe It's You, on the lyrics page it says for the chorus, 1st: Rising on the shore the ocean came, the 2nd chorus, Rising on the shore the ocean's king. Are these really the correct lyrics? In the Japan Treasures 2 Cd Set the lyric booklet for this song both say ocean's king. Misprint on the singles booklet?

Japanese printings of English lyrics are notorious. I have many examples of wrong words and phrases that are unintentionally hilarious. It stems from the way that the Japanese "hear" our language, and if anything, it's rather endearing. Since these lyrics are sourced from the '70s, there are even more examples of misheard lyrics. Back then, there wasn't the Internet and global television that there is today, which are both powerful tools in spreading the correct usage of different languages to others. Glancing through the tiny lyrics on this Carpenters set, there are many examples that may bring a smile to your face as you read through them.

Chris-An Ordinary Fool said:
I Won't Last a Day Without You-Harry is right, we indeed have 2 different versions one on 12 and one on disc 16. Listen closely to the chorus and you will hear it. I also tend to want to say that the version on Disc 12 sounds ever so slightly slower to my ear. I did notice too that each clocks in at different times listening to the very last sound. Disc 12 at 3:52 and Disc 16 at 3:48, yes not much diff but yet I did notice.

My now-ancient chart on the speed and versions of "I Won't Last A Day Without You" can be found in the middle of this old thread. Indeed, the two versions on this box set are different in both speed and versions, but the single version here is still not quite as fast as the one found on that old original A&M CD of A SONG FOR YOU. Both are the same single version, but the one on that old album is faster in speed still.

Chris-An Ordinary Fool said:
a question for those that have this set, what do I do with the OBI strip to keep it from getting creased or messed up (since it is not just the normal small OBI but attached to the photos on the back)..where to store it? I'd like to keep it looking nice.

For now, I've decided to store it inside the set. By folding it flat at the edge where it meets the back, it just fits tightly inside the lid of the box set. That way, it's still contained with the set, but less likely to be damaged. It also provides a hand view of the covers in case you get 'em out of order (even though the UIDY catalog numbers will help there too, since they're sequential).

Harry
 
reading along in the lyric book provided, when I got to Disc 8, Maybe It's You, on the lyrics page it says for the chorus, 1st: Rising on the shore the ocean came, the 2nd chorus, Rising on the shore the ocean's king. Are these really the correct lyrics? In the Japan Treasures 2 Cd Set the lyric booklet for this song both say ocean's king. Misprint on the singles booklet?

Mistakes in Japanese "translations" of lyrics are very common. (They're not translations, I guess....they're more like phonetic representations!)
 
I GOT IT! At 8:15 am I heard a knock at my door, I sprang from my bed to my door and saw the HUGE box from Amazon.co.jp!

I was excited! I wasn't totally awake, so I went back to bed for an hour! lol

When I got up and opened the box, I put on the "Top of the World" 2003 CD single to play while I opened the box!
It was like a religious experience. I was thrilled to see that I had Box #000086, which excites me because I was born in 1986!

The sleeves are so unique, so gorgeous, and such an addition to my collection! I've only dreamed about such a set since I became the hardcore Carpenters fan that I am!

I have yet to hear the set, but that will come tonight! And you will surely hear about it!

I'm so freakin' excited!
 
Way to go, Alex, I'm glad you finally got it and edition #000086 WOW that must be the lowest I have heard yet. It's funny how we both ordered it from the same place and your # is so much lower than mine. :?:

Can't wait to hear your review. I still have not ran through them all yet, I'm up to Disc 21 and lovin this set. The artwork is very cool, I never knew they could get so much detail on such a small 45 cover.
 
Can someone that has the box set do a close comparison on Disc 28-Silent Night. I was listening to this last night and I am hearing some distortion on just a few words on this song. In the lyric book provided when Karen sings the 2nd paragraph: Heavenly hosts sing alleluia, on the word "sing" I am hearing slight distortion and then on the 3rd paragraph when she sings: Son of God, on the word "Son" there is much distortion on that word.

It almost sounds much like what you might hear on a 45 record.

I compared this song Silent Night and those words to my German Christmas Portrait containg the same song and I am not hearing the distortion on that.

Is anyone else hearing this? I don't have a 45 single of Silent Night so I can't compare it to that.
 
Nope. It's not from a 45. And it's not from the German CHRISTMAS PORTRAIT or that earlier mastering at all. All three of the tracks on Disc 28, "Silent Night / Jingle Bells / Ave Maria" are derived from the 1996 remixed version of the CHRISTMAS PORTRAIT album, the one with all the reverb.

Compare "Silent Night" and its distorted part with the CHRISTMAS COLLECTION version, and you'll hear the same distortion. I believe the distortion was inherent in the original recording, and mellowed out nicely on the original LP and the German CD. On the remix album, Richard boosted the midrange and highs, which also brought out the distortion more.

Good catch, Chris.

Harry
 
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