https://top40musiconcd.com/forum/ Copyright (c) 2006-2013 Web Wiz Forums - All Rights Reserved. Thu, 07 May 2026 11:27:50 +0000 Wed, 22 Apr 2026 13:13:53 +0000 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss Web Wiz Forums 12.07 360 https://top40musiconcd.com/forum/RSS_post_feed.asp?TID=1501 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=1501&PID=68090&title=peter-gabriel-sledgehammer-issue#68090 Author: aaronk
Subject: 1501
Posted: 22 April 2026 at 1:13pm

Thanks to all who helped get this sorted out! I updated the database (again), but I’m not sure what appears on the later Real World releases. I don’t have those for reference. ]]> Wed, 22 Apr 2026 13:13:53 +0000 https://top40musiconcd.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=1501&PID=68090&title=peter-gabriel-sledgehammer-issue#68090 https://top40musiconcd.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=1501&PID=68087&title=peter-gabriel-sledgehammer-issue#68087 Author: mjb50
Subject: 1501
Posted: 22 April 2026 at 5:29am

Thanks for that 1986 MTV reference. I downloaded and extracted the audio. Other than being a lossy mono transfer, it's a perfect match for what's on the MixMash DVD I mentioned. So that DVD is actually a decent PCM source for the original video mix, although it is EQ'd a little weird; there's a significant dip around 1100 Hz.]]> Wed, 22 Apr 2026 05:29:06 +0000 https://top40musiconcd.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=1501&PID=68087&title=peter-gabriel-sledgehammer-issue#68087 https://top40musiconcd.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=1501&PID=68083&title=peter-gabriel-sledgehammer-issue#68083 Author: Brian W.
Subject: 1501
Posted: 21 April 2026 at 11:04pm

Oh, here's another one. It says 7/22/86. "Sledgehammer" starts at around 50 minutes in (not sure the listed times are accuarte):

https://archive.org/details/1986.07.22_MTV_1_Hours_with_Guest_VJs_Moody_Blues_GTR_July_22nd_1986]]> Tue, 21 Apr 2026 23:04:09 +0000 https://top40musiconcd.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=1501&PID=68083&title=peter-gabriel-sledgehammer-issue#68083 https://top40musiconcd.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=1501&PID=68082&title=peter-gabriel-sledgehammer-issue#68082 Author: Brian W.
Subject: 1501
Posted: 21 April 2026 at 10:58pm

This video on Archive.org appears to show a rebroadcast of a complete 1986 episode of "MTV Guest VJ Hour" with the complete "Sledgehammer" video:

https://archive.org/details/1986.08.00_MTV_Guest_VJ_Hour_Hosted_with_GTR_August_1986]]> Tue, 21 Apr 2026 22:58:16 +0000 https://top40musiconcd.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=1501&PID=68082&title=peter-gabriel-sledgehammer-issue#68082 https://top40musiconcd.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=1501&PID=68078&title=peter-gabriel-sledgehammer-issue#68078 Author: crapfromthepast
Subject: 1501
Posted: 21 April 2026 at 5:19pm

Some more random info; maybe it can help us make sense of all this.

For what it's worth, the ending of the song (LP version, 45 version, 2002 remix) is looped. Same 32 beats of audio, cut and pasted at the proper volume.

The 45 and UK 12 inch single end at the 5:00 point, with "c'mon c'mon" being audible but "help" being absent or drowned out by surface noise. I assume that the "LP version" on the promo 12 inch single (printed 4:58) ends at the same point.

The 1986 So CD runs out to 5:09, so that the first syllable of "feedin'" is audible but the last syllable isn't.

BPM Analyzer says that the 1986 So version runs at 96.43 BPM. It stays at that tempo until an edit around 4:46, and continues at that tempo after the edit.

Edited by crapfromthepast - 22 April 2026 at 5:50am]]> Tue, 21 Apr 2026 17:19:06 +0000 https://top40musiconcd.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=1501&PID=68078&title=peter-gabriel-sledgehammer-issue#68078 https://top40musiconcd.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=1501&PID=68077&title=peter-gabriel-sledgehammer-issue#68077 Author: aaronk
Subject: 1501
Posted: 21 April 2026 at 2:21pm

OK, it looks like I've been fooled by swapped audio on YouTube. I managed to find a 6-hour VHS recording of MTV from December 1989.

https://archive.org/details/1989.12.16_MTV_6_Hours_Rewind_Weekend_December_16th_1989

While the audio is mono and very hissy, it's clear that there are no extra synths during the dancing egg/chicken segment. Also, given that the remixed version was available on the 2002 remasters (pre-YouTube), it becomes totally plausible that the audio was swapped. That's frustrating, but it appears to be the case.]]> Tue, 21 Apr 2026 14:21:27 +0000 https://top40musiconcd.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=1501&PID=68077&title=peter-gabriel-sledgehammer-issue#68077 https://top40musiconcd.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=1501&PID=68075&title=peter-gabriel-sledgehammer-issue#68075 Author: aaronk
Subject: 1501
Posted: 21 April 2026 at 12:54pm

One other possibility is that the music video that has been on YouTube since 2006 replaces most of the original audio track with the 2002 remastered "remix" and then cuts to the unique segue toward the end. I would also love to find an '80s-era source of the music video to see what's really on it.]]> Tue, 21 Apr 2026 12:54:22 +0000 https://top40musiconcd.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=1501&PID=68075&title=peter-gabriel-sledgehammer-issue#68075 https://top40musiconcd.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=1501&PID=68073&title=peter-gabriel-sledgehammer-issue#68073 Author: aaronk
Subject: 1501
Posted: 21 April 2026 at 12:28pm

mjb50 wrote: Now as for the original video mix, I can't say with 100% certainty that what I have is it, because both copies are from later sources. One copy I just ripped the official Peter Gabriel channel on YouTube, where it is the soundtrack to the 'HD Version' of the video. The other is from the circa 2008 UK DVD MixMash Party Classics Volume 15. This has PCM audio. These both match each other. But what I can say is this video mix is based on the original album version—except, of course for the ending, which is from the end of the Dance Mix. It does not have any features of the remix. So Aaron, when you imply there is only one video version and that it's based on the remix, I have to question if that's what you meant. In any case, I wouldn't mind finding a pre-1990 VHS rip from MTV or something, just to be sure.

The HD version of the music video and the SD version on Peter Gabriel's YT channel both have the same remix elements. There are extra synths at the egg/dancing chicken part of the video, as well as other subtle differences throughout. I don't hear a difference in the first :46 of the music video soundtrack vs. the 2002 remaster. In fact, I also don't hear a difference between the original LP version and the remix during this segment. The remixed elements in both the music video soundtrack and the 2002 remaster don't become apparent until during the first verse. Listening in headphones, the synth "organ" flourish at the end of each line has a faint echo in the right channel of the remix that is absent on the LP version. I can hear it in the music video:

HD Version

SD Version

Now, whether or not this is the "true" original soundtrack the video, I also cannot say with 100% certainty, because anything could've happened between 1986 and when the video was uploaded to YouTube. I think there's strong evidence that it is the original soundtrack, though, because

1) I can hear film or videotape noise during the opening and trailing silence, and it seems unlikely Geffen would've added that in, and

2) There's a unique segue where the ending percussion comes in that cannot be created using the released versions, and again, I doubt Geffen would've gone to the trouble of going back to the original multi-tracks for one second of audio if they had replaced the original track with something new.

What is odd, though, is that the tail end of the HD version has a strange overlap of the second half of ending percussion that is not in the SD version. I'm chalking that up to a mastering error, since the unique segue is in both the HD and SD videos, and one doesn't have the overlap.]]> Tue, 21 Apr 2026 12:28:33 +0000 https://top40musiconcd.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=1501&PID=68073&title=peter-gabriel-sledgehammer-issue#68073 https://top40musiconcd.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=1501&PID=68071&title=peter-gabriel-sledgehammer-issue#68071 Author: mjb50
Subject: 1501
Posted: 21 April 2026 at 11:30am

When comparing all these versions, it's very easy to get mixed up. Aaron is right, of course, about the edited Dance Mix ending being on both Shaking the Tree releases. Hopefully the rest of this post is correct.

Something that became clear after listening to the 2012 So remaster (which is on a non-US CD/DVD box set release containing the original album version) is that the master tape has acquired some bleed-through at the end of the flute intro. This explains why the end of the intro varies from release to release. On the 2000s remasters they tried to either redo the last bit of reverb or just go to silence so that you won't hear the faint horn spoiler.

The 2002 So version is still just the album version for the first 46 seconds. The edit where it switches to the remix is right at the snare/tambourine hit after 0:46. In fact that beat hits about 11ms too early. So while I agree that there's a remix and an original mix, I don't agree that this version is "full-length unedited" rather than just another pastiche. I think we have yet to hear the first part of the remix.

I am trusting davidlg1971 from the SH forum that the version on Spotify currently is a 2016 remaster, mislabeled 2012, so that's what I'm calling it. This 2016 version's flute intro ends with a unique reverb reconstruction which is still not quite right. Aside from that botched 1.5-second snippet, though, it is identical to the 2002 So version.

As for the video versions:

The 2004 Play has a new stereo mix (in Dolby Digital 2.0), and a new surround mix (in Dolby Digital 5.1 or DTS). The stereo version is quite different from any of the ones we are discussing.

The surround mix, though, if downmixed to stereo, is nearly indistinguishable from the 2002 So version, minus two sections that were cut out to match the original video edit. (And ~10ms was cut out of a few other spots presumably to maintain sync.)

Now as for the original video mix, I can't say with 100% certainty that what I have is it, because both copies are from later sources. One copy I just ripped the official Peter Gabriel channel on YouTube, where it is the soundtrack to the 'HD Version' of the video. The other is from the circa 2008 UK DVD MixMash Party Classics Volume 15. This has PCM audio. These both match each other [edit: no they don't; the YouTube one has the synth stabs].

But what I can say is this video mix is based on the original album version—except, of course for the ending, which is from the end of the Dance Mix. It does not have any features of the remix. So Aaron, when you imply there is only one video version and that it's based on the remix, I have to question if that's what you meant. In any case, I wouldn't mind finding a pre-1990 VHS rip from MTV or something, just to be sure.

Edited by mjb50 - 22 April 2026 at 5:15am]]> Tue, 21 Apr 2026 11:30:52 +0000 https://top40musiconcd.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=1501&PID=68071&title=peter-gabriel-sledgehammer-issue#68071 https://top40musiconcd.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=1501&PID=68070&title=peter-gabriel-sledgehammer-issue#68070 Author: aaronk
Subject: 1501
Posted: 21 April 2026 at 10:09am

This has been out since 2014. It's a very odd version if you haven't heard it.]]> Tue, 21 Apr 2026 10:09:16 +0000 https://top40musiconcd.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=1501&PID=68070&title=peter-gabriel-sledgehammer-issue#68070