Tell Me About Your Mono's

[Harry]

The single is from Paul Simon only.

A recording of Art Garfunkel singing "American Tune" can be found on the CONCERT IN CENTRAL PARK album - their first big reunion back in the early '80s. It's available on both CD and DVD.

Harry
...early on a Monday morning, online...

 

[Rudy]

Didn't get any mono promos today...I have a serious addiction to Mobile Fidelity LPs, and made another stop at a nearby vinyl shop to get a few more. One I did find was Nazareth's "Greatest Hits" on an A&M Audiophile pressing. "Now you're messin' with a...son of a b****!"

 

[Rick-An Ordinary Fool]

Well glad this thread is not locked yet. Wanted to share my latest find.

Won this bid off ebay recently for a Mono/Stereo Promo 45 and found something neat. There may not be alot of Olivia fans here but I grew up listening to her just as much as the Carpenters.

RSO White Label Promo 45
I Can't Help It-duet Olivia Newton-John/Andy Gibb 1980

The mono 45 side clocks in at 3:46 there is about 20 sec that is cut off comparing it to the original LP version. It is cut from the end of the song. The mono side is labled 3:33 with intro of :13 this equals 3:46. It sounded really strange to me hearing it like this, I was so use to the LP version. The mono side also sounded alot more up front vocally especially Olivia's, so much so that I had to turn the volume down just a tad coming from listening to the stereo side.

The stereo 45 side clocks in at 4:07. The label is marked, 3:54 w intro of :13 equals 4:07. This is the same version as the LP.

The song was only available from Andy's album, "After Dark"

Mono-RS1026-AM CT-1 (I'm assuming the AM stands for mono?)
Stereo-RS1026-AS-CT-2 (I'm assuming the AS stands for stereo?)


It's funny how the label sometimes really told alot back then, I can remember when I was younger & hearing this song on the radio back in the early 80's and the DJ talking for those 13 secs (intro) then there vocals would start. This time allowed the DJ's to get in a few extra words like maybe announcing the new single with there names?

 

[Harry]

Promo singles often had timings up to the vocals. This allegedly saved the DJ from having to time it himself, though I can't imagine anyone actually trusting the timings printed on labels. Many times they were accurate, but it seems like there are an awful lot of discrepancies in track timings, some by VERY large amounts.

Most stations by the '70s had lists or cards with timings, or even typed right on a cartridge label, with digital timers that started immediately upon the presssing of the button to start the song.

BTW, the radio station lingo for a DJ talking just up to the start of vocals is called "hitting the post."

Harry
...with a little 'inside' stuff, online...

 

[Rudy]

I thought I'd heard of a record label once putting a shorter time on the label of the single, so it would be more attractive to radio programmers. Can't recall which single it was, though...

 

[CarpentersToYou]

Hmm...I have
BARBRA STREISAND "My Father's Song" and "Jubilation".

 

[W.B.]

I really want the mono version of "Everything That Touches You" by The Association but so far, it's only available on that really expensive Japanese import of "Birthday".

Another thing about the mono 45 of that single (Warner Bros. 7163, 1968) is that it's sped up about 2 or so percent in pitch from the stereo. I should know; I have both the single and the stereo version as on their Greatest Hits compilation album (Warner Bros.-Seven Arts WS 1767, 1968).

I thought I'd heard of a record label once putting a shorter time on the label of the single, so it would be more attractive to radio programmers. Can't recall which single it was, though...

There may have been a few instances of that happening with different records. I know one such case being Pacific Gas & Electric's "Are You Ready" (Columbia 4-45158, 1970).

RSO White Label Promo 45
I Can't Help It-duet Olivia Newton-John/Andy Gibb 1980

The mono 45 side clocks in at 3:46 there is about 20 sec that is cut off comparing it to the original LP version. It is cut from the end of the song. The mono side is labled 3:33 with intro of :13 this equals 3:46. It sounded really strange to me hearing it like this, I was so use to the LP version. The mono side also sounded a lot more up front vocally especially Olivia's, so much so that I had to turn the volume down just a tad coming from listening to the stereo side.

The stereo 45 side clocks in at 4:07. The label is marked, 3:54 w intro of :13 equals 4:07. This is the same version as the LP.

The song was only available from Andy's album, "After Dark"

Mono-RS1026-AM CT-1 (I'm assuming the AM stands for mono?)
Stereo-RS1026-AS-CT-2 (I'm assuming the AS stands for stereo?)

Indeed, indeed ("A-" was the plug side). And "CT" was the shorthand used for Columbia's Terre Haute, Ind. pressing plant (if for Pitman, N.J. it was "CP," and for Santa Maria, Calif., "CS").

 

[AM Matt]

There was a short version of Pacific Gas & Electric "Are You Ready" from 1970 (which I think ran 3:20 in stereo but I don't have the CD) on Dick Bartley Presents Collector's Essentials: The '70s back in 1996 but Varese Sarabande took it off the market & it is no longer made!! Also "Collector's Essentials: The '60s" from 1996 is also out of print. Also, Rhino "Didn't It Blow Your Mind: Soul Hits Of The '70s" Volumes 1-20 from 1991 is also no longer made in which has the long 5:49 version of "Are You Ready" on Volume 2. Matt Clark Sanford, MI

 

[AM Matt]

When I went to: www.allmusic.com (All Music Guide) the song "Are You Ready?" by Pacific Gas & Electric ran 2:43 playing time on the Dick Bartley CD Collector's Essentials: The '70s. Matt Clark Sanford, MI

 

[Tim Neely]

I thought I'd heard of a record label once putting a shorter time on the label of the single, so it would be more attractive to radio programmers. Can't recall which single it was, though...

The Righteous Brothers' "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'" was the most notorious. When it was released in late 1964, Phil Spector put a time of "3:05" on the label. At 3:05 of the actual song, it was just getting into the heart of the impassioned crescendo; there was no WAY anyone could fade down the record at that point!

Less well known is that in 1983, Columbia issued "Total Eclipse of the Heart" by Bonnie Tyler on 45 in an edit that the label claimed was "4:29." Anyone who ever tried to record it (me me me!) soon discovers that the time is a ruse; it's closer to 5:29. I think that's why there have been some ham-handed radio edits distributed in recent years; someone saw that the song had a listed time of 4:29 and tried to create an edit that was 4:29.