Chat Board - O/T: The GAP Band

O/T: The GAP Band - Party Train

Printed From: Top 40 Music on CD
Category: Top 40 Music On Compact Disc
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URL: https://top40musiconcd.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=10257
Printed Date: 10 June 2025 at 5:33pm
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Topic: O/T: The GAP Band - Party Train

Posted By: NightAire
Subject: O/T: The GAP Band - Party Train
Date Posted: 09 June 2025 at 8:19am

Discogs is confusing me on what the "LP Version" of this song really was:

https://www.discogs.com/release/168683-The-Gap-Band-Gap-Band-V-Jammin" rel="nofollow - This release says it was 6:10.

https://www.discogs.com/release/5582904-The-Gap-Band-Gap-Band-V-Jamminm" rel="nofollow - This CD release lists a time of 5:45.

Ron's library lists the LP version as 5:13.
There's a TMC MBD Series "Mobile Beat Best Of Dance 6" file that runs 5:20.
The GAP Band Ultimate Collection has a 4:41 length.
The Best Of The GAP Band / Millennium Collection has a 5:42 - 5:49 length.
The 12" versions run 5:55, a "Special Dance Mix" which runs 6:10, or "The Special Party Train Dance Mix" which runs 7:47.

Of course the 7" was significantly shorter, running 3:59 for both "Party Train" and "Edited Version Of Special Dance Mix."

--

I'm wondering:

1) Which version / length was on the original LP version?
2) Did the version on the LP change over time?
3) If the other lengths exist, where did they originate?
4) How many of these have made it to CD?

(This has come up because I have a listener who says the version he "always" heard was the 5:49 / Millennium version, & that's how I fell down this rabbit hole.)

THANKS!!!

-------------
Gene Savage
http://www.BlackLightRadio.com - http://www.BlackLightRadio.com
http://www.facebook.com/TulsaSavage - http://www.facebook.com/TulsaSavage
Tulsa, Oklahoma USA

Replies:

Posted By: crocodile
Date Posted: 09 June 2025 at 5:57pm

It looks like all of the initial 1983 LP and cassette versions of Gap Band V - Jammin' contained the 6:10 version which while containing no mix or version name, was listed on 12" singles as the "Special Dance Mix", though sometimes shown as "LP Version".

This 6:10 version is the outlier, it contains an acoustic guitar overdub not present in the other versions, which all sound very similar. The longer 7:30 version doesn't really differ from the 5:45 version - the beginning is the same and just extends the song a bit longer without doing anything of note.

The first reissue was from PTG records in 2009 which contained both the 5:45 version and the 7:30 12" Special Dance Mix, both (re)mixed by Jim Stader.

The second reissue was from Big Break Records in 2014 and had the 5:47 version, the 6:11 12" Special Dance Mix and a 4:03 Single Version, all mixed by Jim Stader.

This is where it gets odd. One of the original US 12"s released listed a "Special Party Train Dance Mix" running 7:47 and remixed by Michael Evans, but I can't find this version on YouTube or any release beyond the original 12" and a vinyl only 1986 release called The 12" Collection (NOT the 12" Collection and More release from 1999 which has the 7:30 version from Jim Stader), and the time difference would suggest it isn't just a mis-timed 7:30 Special Dance Mix, though without hearing it it's hard to say for certain. The 7:30 mix is relatively easy to find on CD and YouTube.

All of the versions I see on various artist compilations are typically the 5:45/5:47 version or the 7:30 version.

The 6:10 version's only CD release seems to be the 2014 Big Break Records reissue of the album.

All versions shorter than 5:45 are similar edits of various sorts. Gold has a 3:48 edit. Ultimate Collection as you noted is 4:41, and although it is listed as a single version, seems a bit long for typical radio airplay.

Clear as mud, but at least most of the versions sound basically the same outside of the 6:10 original album version and a 3:58 edit of the Special Dance Mix.

Posted By: AndrewChouffi
Date Posted: 10 June 2025 at 6:15am

Hi Crocodile,

I own an early vinyl pressing of the Jammin' album (I am not sure if it's a first pressing although I had it when "Party Train" was going up the Billboard 'Black Singles' chart as I was programming it in the clubs).

The outside jacket claims 6:10, the label states 5:50, the actual playing time is 5:45.

I had never even heard the version with an acoustic guitar before, although I found a shorter version of it on YouTube.

Would you have access to what you claim is the original 6:10 version with that acoustic guitar? I would love to hear it. Please PM me if you need to.

Thanks!

Andy

Posted By: crocodile
Date Posted: 10 June 2025 at 12:33pm

I don't actually have a copy of the file or the album, I just found it on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BnYUfyynqPg" rel="nofollow - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BnYUfyynqPg and assumed based on the time and all of the entries on Discogs that it was the same.

That's quite interesting. Perhaps they were going to put the remix on there and decided to just leave the LP version instead. It also explains why the guitar isn't on the album version, seems like it was added to give the track a bit of extra flavor.

In that case I'm tempted to think that all of the initial copies are misprints and contain the 5:45 version and not the 6:10 Special Dance Mix.

It does make more sense that it wasn't labeled as a remix since it actually wasn't.