Public Broadcasting Exclusive: Carpenters The Complete Singles Release

Yeah it's "Still Crazy" I was thinking of, but I think I got mixed up because I've got a promo CD for "From The Top" that features both "Still Crazy" and "My Body", and I knew the UK single featured one of the solos as a promotion for FTT as the second or third track.
 
I was just looking up the Japanese Singles set, and I noticed that it only goes up to 1986 when Honolulu City Lights came out (or was that not released in Japan till closer to 1989?) I thought that it would have included The Rainbow Connection/Leave Yesterday Behind/Superstar-Rainy Days and Mondays from 2001. So for international singles, there is still room for a box set of ALL international singles.
 
Okay, I’m not a new member here, but I never posted anything anymore after September 2009, when I started out posting a remix overview per album, because by then I was totally confused which CD compilation had which remix. Great to see the fully expanded individual song threads to cross-reference on the A&M Corner. Great job!

So hello everybody, I’m Stefano and I live in the Netherlands. After almost 3 years I finally was able to buy ‘The Complete Singles’. A lot has already been said about this excellent and well-produced compilation, but I do wish to give some further information about 4 specific tracks which are related to the other main subject here, namely: vinyl rips. In the past 30 years I have built a 6th sense for vinyl rips on CD releases. Knowing the vinyl sound limitations by heart (being an audiophile almost all my life), my alarm bells ring when I notice a vinyl rip on CD.

  1. Ticket To Ride + Your Wonderful Parade (the mono 45 versions)
    The only two vinyl transfers on this compilation. I read some neutral reviews on the quality of these vinyl rips. That really surprises me, because I think that the engineers have done an outstanding job here. We have been given an ultra clean transfer of the two unique mono versions without any rumble, ticks and annoying vinyl-related hiss. Transferring vinyl is a difficult job, but the result here just blew me away. Of course it helped that the source was mono, because it’s easier to transfer mono records than stereo records, soundwise. Kudos for those enigeers!

  2. Santa Claus Is Coming To Town (single version)
    Some members were doubting whether this is might be a vinyl transfer, but there’s really no need to dispute: the version here is 100% master quality. Finally!

  3. Calling Occupants Of Interplanetary Craft (single edit)
    This track caused a lot of buzz here. For the 2009 Japanese Single Box Universal Japan couldn’t find the master tape and used a vinyl rip (cleary audible, vinyl all over the place). Of course I was very anxious to find out if the single edit would finally make its CD debut in master qualty on this compilation. Many of the members still think it’s a vinyl rip, the same rip that has been used on the Japanese Single Box. Well, I have news for y’all: this is definitely the master tape we are hearing. Apparantly the UK single master tape was indeed found and used for this compilation. Another big relief.

    You clearly hear a nice clean opening without the vinyl hiss and rumble you hear on the Japanese Single Box. Furthermore the sound quality doesn’t degrade towards the ending of the song, and there’s no distortion in the loud sections. Another proof that the master tape was used.

    Harry made his own single edit from the album version. It really cannot be edited to the original single edit on basis of the album version, because the single edit starts with a CLEAN piano intro. Richard not only edited the track, but clearly (re)mixed the intro for the single release. The album version has the (by now very outdated) spoken intro followed by the piano intro somewhat segued into each other. So on basis of the album version you won't be able to start your edit in the same clean way like the single does. Apart from that, Richard (or another engineer) made at least three edits to get it all down to the 4 minutes version. In my opinion all three edits were done rather lousy, and this disturbs me everytime I play the single edit. One particular nasty one is somewhere around the last chorus. But guys, that’s the audiophile in me. If you don’t hear these edits: congratulations! Your life is much easier than mine. You are able to enjoy music without constantly analyse it. I envy you. So of course I am glad we finally have the single edit in master quality, but on the other hand the edited version itself could have been done better, with a bit more Carpenters’ quality and a slightly longer fade out.
Conclusion: what TJL stated on November 6, 2015 in my opnion is true: ‘Santa’ and ‘Occupants’ were sourced from British A&M tapes. The only vinyl sources are the first two singles.

And because we are talking about vinyl transfers, do you all know that the Japanese Single Box contains 4 vinyl rips? They are:
No. 13. Bless The Beasts And The Children (Soundtrack Version)
No. 33. Santa Claus Is Coming To Town (1974 Single Version)
No. 51. The Christmas Song (Single Version)
No. 53. Calling Occupants Of Interplanetary Craft (Single Edit)

I still have to investigate the ‘Bless The Beasts And The Children’ track on The Complete Singles compilation. Is it the soundtrack version, the single version or the album version? Anyone?
 
Harry made his own single edit from the album version. It really cannot be edited to the original single edit on basis of the album version, because the single edit starts with a CLEAN piano intro. Richard not only edited the track, but clearly (re)mixed the intro for the single release.

Right. My point was that by using the vinyl single - or even this version - one could tack on a clean opening and use a clean digital source for the balance of the song.

Just now, on the occasion of this post, I placed both the COMPLETE SINGLE COLLECTION version and the JAPAN SINGLE BOX version of "Calling Occupants Of Interplanetary Craft" into Audacity and lined them up, peak for peak down to the individual sample level. Then I inverted one of the recording's phase so that ups were downs and vice versa. Theoretically, this should have the effect of sound cancellation when played simultaneously.

And it did. Wave for valley, and valley for wave, the two cancel each other out perfectly. OK, so one might say that that doesn't prove anything, but I think it does. I do a lot of syncing up of different recordings looking for differences, and one thing I can tell you, very few EVER line up as perfectly as the COMPLETE and JAPAN versions of "Calling Occupants..." do. If I were an audio detective, I'd conclude that these two are bit identical, with the exception of one starting a millisecond or so later than the other. But when you line them up, they cancel each other out perfectly - all the way through.

So, I'll stand by my assessment - if the JAPAN SINGLE BOX version is a vinyl rip, then so is the COMPLETE SINGLES version, because it's bit-identical in the recorded song part.
 
Just a heads up for those who get PBS Detroit, they are airing the Close To You/Christmas Memories Special at 8pm.m. est tonight.
 
The release date of 1983 for don't cry for me Argentina on page 1 is incorrect. It was released as a forget me not in 1979 with calling occupants on the b side. Forgot me nots ran from 1968 to 1979 and don't cry was the last forget me not issued by a&m. In 1980 a&m recycled forget me nots into the memories series with the same catalogue numbers. Don't cry came out as a memories series in 1981. Then, Honolulu city lights came out as a memories series in 1986. I'm not sure whether I'd really consider don't cry as a bona fide single, just because it was released retroactively as a forget me not. When Honolulu was released that was the first time in USA so I can give that one the benefit of the doubt. It had previously only been released in Japan on the anthology. Also not on the list is little altar boy, released only as a promo 45 in 1984
 
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The release date of 1983 for don't cry for me Argentina on page 1 is incorrect. It was released as a forget me not in 1979 with calling occupants on the b side. Forgot me nots ran from 1968 to 1979 and don't cry was the last forget me not issued by a&m. In 1980 a&m recycled forget me nots into the memories series with the same catalogue numbers. Don't cry came out as a memories series in 1981. Then, Honolulu city lights came out as a memories series in 1986.

You are 100% correct. Welcome, friend. I'm always happy to meet such knowledgeable fellow travelers.
 
Forget me nots had an interesting marketing strategy. Each one (not just carpenters, but all am artists) was released within a year of the original single release. It was a clever way to keep the records on the market without the stigma of them being old. Plus, you got two hit songs for the price of one!
 
One more useless bit of information: forget me nots were in the 1970s, memories were in the 1980s and collectables were in the 1990s. The latter category was pressed by the collectable record company in Pennsylvania under license of a&m. In this series, touch me when we're dancing appears.
 
I never knew that Touch Me When We"re Dancing was released outside of its original in 1981. I never knew this song drove that much attention. I guess it adds to the interesting history of this song.
 
The release date of 1983 for don't cry for me Argentina on page 1 is incorrect. It was released as a forget me not in 1979 with calling occupants on the b side. Forgot me nots ran from 1968 to 1979 and don't cry was the last forget me not issued by a&m. In 1980 a&m recycled forget me nots into the memories series with the same catalogue numbers. Don't cry came out as a memories series in 1981. Then, Honolulu city lights came out as a memories series in 1986. I'm not sure whether I'd really consider don't cry as a bona fide single, just because it was released retroactively as a forget me not. When Honolulu was released that was the first time in USA so I can give that one the benefit of the doubt. It had previously only been released in Japan on the anthology. Also not on the list is little altar boy, released only as a promo 45 in 1984

The dates on page one of this thread were copied and pasted directly from the PBS station site of the day.
 
I checked the PBS Store earlier this week and couldn’t find anything Carpenters for sale there. That’s why I said to keep checking during pledge weeks. That’s when it may come up for sale again, for those who missed out or want more plus the DVD’s.
 
I finally (FINALLY!) bought a new copy of this only to find that the second disc was cracked and unplayable. Did anyone else have this problem? Extremely disappointed...all three discs seemed rather flimsy.
 
My discs were all manufactured by Universal and feel as sturdy and solid as any other CD. The US Mail these days though seem to be really mishandling the fragile plastics of jewel cases and CDs, so I can sort of understand.

Do you have any recourse with the seller of your set?
 
So far...mailed it back for refund. Never had this happen before with a CD - even the outside case had a big crack in the cover as well. The other two discs were fine, but also frankly cheap. They did not seem more substantial than the blank CDs you can buy in bulk to create your own. Expected better quality from a company like Universal especially for the price.
 
When I got my set a few years ago, disc 2 was on the spindle so tight that it cracked when I tried to remove it. I contacted my local PBS station, and the shippped me a brand-new Disc 2 (the disc came from Universal not PBS, so the envelope had a different address from my local PBS).
 
I took a look at my set again and it IS very difficult to remove discs lifting at an angle. However, if you use your thumb and press the center spoke lightly, it pops right out. I've noticed this a lot with blu rays/dvds.
(Mobile Fidelity's locking disc mechanism sure was cool on the A Song For You CD...that's how it's done.)
 
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