Talk Talk - Talk Talk

Ron, I don't happen to own their 1982 LP, "The Party's Over", but I just
pulled out my "Talk Talk" promo 45 for you. The same stereo, listed
(3:19), actual (3:21) version appears on both sides (deadwax: "B-8136-S-
45-500891-P-1") (or 2, for the flip side.) My 45 does includes the 12-
beat synth drum intro, and, to my ears at least, sounds identical to the
Youtube vid of the song currently loaded by "emimusic", as a reference
point for you. Hoping this info was of at least some help to you.....

Edited by jimct

Ron,

I used to have the parent LP and it also had the 12 beat
intro. As much as memory serves I think 45 and LP were
the same, mix and all. Only the import 12" was a totally
different mix.

MM

There's one other possibility, but I don't have the physical media to prove it.

Discography lists three shorter discs, at least if you believe the labels:

U.S. Acetate, 7", 45 RPM The only U.S. release that claims to be 2:58 in length, although there's no pic of the label to prove it.

Canada Vinyl, 7", 45 RPM A Canadian single which very clearly claims to be 2:58.

U.K. Vinyl, 12", Single, 45 RPM This British release may be completely unrelated, as it is labeled "version" and is only labeled to run 2:35!

Could these be where the intros without the 12-beat synth drum section originated?

Good point, Aaron.

Just found something interesting in this Wikipedia article:

"it topped at no. 52 in the United Kingdom upon initial release. A remix of the song was released later in the same year where it peaked at no. 23 in the UK and number 75 in the United States."

It then goes on to list the original 7" as 2:58 and the "remix" as 3:23.

Doesn't that sound an awful lot like the original UK mix was 2:58 and the U.S. single remix (which added the drum beats?) was 3:23?

The 3:20 version is the 1st UK (non-hit) single version, released April 1982. It became the album and US single version. It was produced by Colin Thurston. Confusingly, some editions of this single erroneously have a 2:58 printed run time, e.g. the UK and CA 45s.

The 2:58 version is the 2nd UK (hit) single version, released October 1982. It is a re-recording produced by Rhett Davies. As far as I know, it was never released in the US.

The 2:58 version was released on CD on the 1997 UK/EU/AU/etc. compilation The Very Best of Talk Talk, the 2025 reissue of which on CD & digital contains the album version instead. The 2003 UK compilation CD Edge of the 80s: 1982–1983 also has the 2:58 version, albeit with the end slightly truncated.

The Wikipedia article had the durations swapped. That has been fixed.

On Discogs, I removed all the unverifiable U.S. acetate info that was copied from the UK 7", including the duration.

Regarding the B-side "Version" running ~2:35 on the UK 12", this was a unique version recorded for BBC Radio One. (It even says that on the release.)

The 3:15 album version minus intro, as on Natural History, is not a single version, as far as I know.

There is also a unique 1981 demo version on the 1998 UK/EU CD Asides Besides.


Edited by mjb50 - 46 minutes ago at 9:58am