https://top40musiconcd.com/forum/ Copyright (c) 2006-2013 Web Wiz Forums - All Rights Reserved. Sat, 02 May 2026 08:16:02 +0000 Tue, 17 Mar 2026 21:40:51 +0000 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss Web Wiz Forums 12.07 360 https://top40musiconcd.com/forum/RSS_post_feed.asp?TID=7052 https://top40musiconcd.com/forum//images/Top-40-Music-on-CD-Forum-Logo.png https://top40musiconcd.com/forum/ https://top40musiconcd.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=7052&PID=67950&title=ot-thomas-dolby-hyperactive#67950 Author: NightAire
Subject: 7052
Posted: 17 March 2026 at 9:40pm

I agree that I can't find a promo on Discogs running that length. The only two labels I can find mentioning a 3:45 length are:

12" Maxi-single from Spain:
https://www.discogs.com/release/2596747-Thomas-Dolby-Hyper-active

and

Perhaps the same 12" from South Africa:
https://www.discogs.com/release/4809772-Thomas-Dolby-Hyper-active-Heavy-Breather-Subversion

The Spain disc says "made in Spain." I can't see the label on the South African release, and don't have either vinyl to confirm they're actually that length... although if it is, I have to wonder if it was so they could fit two tracks on one side of a 45 RPM 12".

ChatGPT disagrees with me on this theory, though:

Just on physics, there wasn’t much need to hack the track shorter for groove safety. Using those printed times, the crowded side would only be 9:04 total; even if you’re thinking of the two Hyperactive cuts together at 8:45, that is still comfortably within normal 12-inch/45 territory. Mastering guides still describe 12-inch club/dance 45s as happiest around 9–12 minutes per side, with 9:15 still possible for a very hot cut. So the lathe was not exactly being asked to juggle chainsaws here. What really nudges me toward “bad printed timing” rather than “secret edit” is that the Spain/South Africa numbers also shave the other tracks a bit, not just the short Hyperactive. That looks like loose label timing, not a carefully prepared one-off audio edit.

]]> Tue, 17 Mar 2026 21:40:51 +0000 https://top40musiconcd.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=7052&PID=67950&title=ot-thomas-dolby-hyperactive#67950 https://top40musiconcd.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=7052&PID=67949&title=ot-thomas-dolby-hyperactive#67949 Author: mjb50
Subject: 7052
Posted: 16 March 2026 at 4:32am

Just to clarify, per Discogs and 45cat, the only promo 45 says 4:12 on it, so I think Gene's guess was wrong—the 3:40 version was never on a promo 45.]]> Mon, 16 Mar 2026 04:32:28 +0000 https://top40musiconcd.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=7052&PID=67949&title=ot-thomas-dolby-hyperactive#67949 https://top40musiconcd.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=7052&PID=35560&title=ot-thomas-dolby-hyperactive#35560 Author: NightAire
Subject: 7052
Posted: 29 September 2012 at 12:57am

Great, great info, CFTP... thank you so much!

I'm in total agreement about the original pressing of The Flat Earth (which I own). It's hard to imagine how it could be improved.

OTOH, I did purchase the remastered version of The Golden Age of Wireless, and it's extraordinary.

For some reason I had thought Retrospectacle was more compressed, but I guess I never compared just that track. 12x12 is one I've wanted to get but haven't yet.

I'm glad to know I'm not the only Thomas Dolby fanatic around; he continues to be put out fantastic music, far from the Billboard charts.]]> Sat, 29 Sep 2012 00:57:37 +0000 https://top40musiconcd.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=7052&PID=35560&title=ot-thomas-dolby-hyperactive#35560 https://top40musiconcd.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=7052&PID=35554&title=ot-thomas-dolby-hyperactive#35554 Author: crapfromthepast
Subject: 7052
Posted: 28 September 2012 at 6:42pm

Gene - Wish I had a little more info about the vinyl for you, but based on my memory and my past history as a Thomas Dolby fanatic, I think that all sounds right. (My vinyl is buried in the basement, still, many months after my move into the new house, so I can't verify firsthand.)

The good news is that I didn't run into any CDs where the song didn't sound very good.

The US '80s-era CD for The Flat Earth sounds pretty tremendous - highly recommended. It runs about 4:12. I've heard that the recent UK remaster sounds even better, which would be quite an accomplishment.

There are several others that use the same analog transfer as Flat Earth:

• Retrospectacle (1994; digital clone that's off by a fraction of a sample so can't get complete cancellation)
• Sony Germany's 2-CD Pop And Wave Vol. 6 (1996; differently EQ'd digital clone)
• Disky Europe's 8-CD Greatest Hits Of The '80 (1998)
• EMI Australia's 5-CD Eighties Complete Vol. 2 (1999)

The 3:40 early fade version was found first on CD on EMI's Living In Oblivion Vol. 5 (1995).

There's a differently EQ'd digital clone of Oblivion on Time-Life's 2-CD Modern Rock Vol. 12 1980-1984 (2000). There's a differently EQ'd digital clone of Flat Earth on EMI UK's Time To Remember 1984 (1997), with added compression and an added fade from 3:31 to 3:40.

The 12" version is great, and I think it's on a CD called 12 X 12, or something to that effect. All the Thomas Dolby 12" singles are pretty worthwhile listens, if you like Thomas Dolby.

Somewhere in the basement, I have both US and Canadian pressings of The Flat Earth. I think the Canadian pressing has a printed time of around 5:00, but actually has the same 4:12-or-so version as the US LP.

Edited by crapfromthepast]]> Fri, 28 Sep 2012 18:42:33 +0000 https://top40musiconcd.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=7052&PID=35554&title=ot-thomas-dolby-hyperactive#35554 https://top40musiconcd.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=7052&PID=35284&title=ot-thomas-dolby-hyperactive#35284 Author: NightAire
Subject: 7052
Posted: 12 September 2012 at 2:22am

Thomas Dolby's "Hyperactive!" only made it to #62 in March of 1984, but I'd like to see if anybody know what the shortest version released to radio was.

I've found 3 lengths:

3:40 - 3:43, which I suspect is the "short promo" for radio, & is simply an early fade of the 4:12 mix.

4:12 - 4:13, which I believe is both the album version & the commercial single version.

4:55 - 5:07, the 12" version, also labeled as the "Heavy Breather Subversion mix."

Can anyone confirm or deny any of this?]]> Wed, 12 Sep 2012 02:22:00 +0000 https://top40musiconcd.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=7052&PID=35284&title=ot-thomas-dolby-hyperactive#35284