Psychedelic Furs - Pretty In Pink [OT]

I don't have either 45, but if we're comparing the original
1981 version to the 1986 "Pretty In Pink official
soundtrack" version, they are different recordings
altogether.

MMathews wrote: Correct, the movie version was a re-recording made just for the film. The Columbia/Sony Greatest Hits album is the 1981 version. MM

Then would the 4:02 from 1986 be on the soundtrack?

1981 version (3:59)

The 1981 version was produced by Steve Lillywhite. A big, brassy production, with no click track, so that the tempo varies a bit over the course of the song.

It was released as a 45 in the UK (where it only peaked at UK#43), and was not released as a 45 in the US.

It appeared in the US and the UK on the 1981 LP Talk Talk Talk, where it was the same version as the 1981 UK 45.

It found its way onto the digital world in 1987 when CBS finally released Talk Talk Talk on CD. It was then included on CBS's Psychedelic Furs best-of All Of This And Nothing (1988). I don't have either of those discs.

I do have the 1981 version on:

• the rare promo 5-CD box Best Of CMJ 1979-1989 Disc 2 (1989)
• Sony's Big Hits Skinny Ties (1994)
• Time-Life's 2-CD Modern Rock Vol. 2 1980-1981 (1999)
• Sony's 2-CD Rock Train Kept A Rollin' (1999) - uses same digital source as Modern Rock
• Sony's cheapie 3-CD Rockin' 80s (2004) - runs faster than other CDs

While I'm willing to bet that Big Hits Skinny Ties, Modern Rock Vol. 2 1980-1981, and Rock Train Kept A Rollin' are likely sourced from the CBS releases of Talk Talk Talk or All Of This And Nothing, I can't confirm. All three of these discs sound very nice.

1986 soundtrack LP version (4:39)

When the movie Pretty In Pink came out in 1986, the song "Pretty In Pink" wasn't available anywhere on CD yet.

The Pretty In Pink soundtrack rerecorded the song from scratch. Not sure why it was rerecorded (maybe because the soundtrack was on A&M and the band was on CBS?), but it was a really solid rerecording. The 45 release in 1986 hit the pop charts but missed the top 40. It's a live drummer playing to a click track, and runs at 132.4 BPM throughout.

It turned up first on A&M's Pretty In Pink soundtrack (1986). It sounds just fine here, but the levels are a little low. There's about 5 dB of headroom. The same analog transfer is used on:

• TM Century's track 14263 - differently-EQ'd digital clone, no added noise reduction
• Time-Life's Sounds Of The Eighties Vol. 28 Rolling Stone 1986-1987 (1995) - differently-EQ'd digital clone
• Rhino's Hang The DJ 1986 (1996) - differently-EQ'd digital clone
• Sony's Retro Lunchbox Flashback Flix (1998) - differently-EQ'd digital clone, but shows a lot of clipping around -1.5 dB
• Sony Germany's 2-CD Pop And Wave Vol. 8 (1999) - tail of fade is teeny bit shorter than others

The sound quality is very good on all of the above, with nice dynamic range, reasonable EQ, and no evidence of noise reduction. Go with whatever you can find.

1986 US 45 version

I started to reverse-engineer the 1986 45 version, thinking it was an edit of the 1986 soundtrack LP version. But I quickly realized that the 1986 45 ends with a free-form musical portion that has no drums behind it. That portion doesn't exist on the LP version. (More likely is that both originated from the same performance, but the LP fades before it reaches the free-form musical portion.)

I don't think the 1986 45 version exists on CD.

In case I need to return to this at some point, the 45 edits out the 32 beats, downbeat-to-downbeat, from 0:08.0 to 0:22.4, and the 32 beats, downbeat-to-downbeat, from 3:16.5 to 3:31.0, of the LP version, using the Time-Life disc as a source.

(Note: edited to add in the red words above)

Edited by crapfromthepast

The 1986 soundtrack version and the 1986 US 45 version are "Produced by The Psychedelic Furs and Charles Harrowell".

The Psychedelic Furs released the Midnight To Midnight LP in 1986 in the UK and in 1987 in the US.

The US versions of Midnight To Midnight (LP, cassette, and CD) did not include the song "Pretty In Pink".

The UK versions of Midnight To Midnight (LP, cassette, and CD) did include the song "Pretty In Pink". The album gives credits of "Recorded by Charles Harrowell, Produced by Chris Kimsey, Mixed by Chris Kimsey". This version uses the basic tracks of the soundtrack version, but overdubs a whole lot of guitar and is a much denser mix than the soundtrack version.

The UK 45 from 1986 is an edit of the UK Midnight To Midnight LP version. Same credits of "Recorded by Charles Harrowell, Produced by Chris Kimsey, Mixed by Chris Kimsey".

So there are three different mixes out there:

• 1981 - Produced by Steve Lillywhite
• 1986 worldwide Pretty In Pink soundtrack and 1986 US 45 versions - Produced by The Psychedelic Furs and Charles Harrowell
• 1986 UK Midnight To Midnight LP and 1986 UK 45 versions - Recorded by Charles Harrowell, Produced by Chris Kimsey, Mixed by Chris Kimsey