Blondie - "Heart Of Glass"
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Topic: Blondie - "Heart Of Glass"
Posted By: crapfromthepast
Subject: Blondie - "Heart Of Glass"
Date Posted: 10 February 2009 at 10:36pm
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Some surprising results for this song.
I started by digging out my bought-it-at-the-time pressing of the 45, Chrysalis CHS 2295, which has a very nice picture sleeve (picture of Deborah Harry in a heart-shaped frame in front of a white background). The 45 has a printed time of 3:22 and an actual run time of about 3:23. Two important things to note about the original 45:
I then dug out my original 12" single, Chrysalis CHR-1192, with Deborah Harry in a white dress on the record label. The A-side has a printed time of 5:50 and an actual time of about 5:50. The mix is the same as the 45 (no cats in heat), but with many edits and parts repeated. It runs about 114.9 BPM, slowing down a tiny bit but much less than the 45. It's tough to get a BPM meaasurement at the end due to the many repeated sections. The B-side of the 12", labeled "Instrumental", has a printed time of 5:17 and an actual time of about 5:16. The song structure is completely unrelated to the vocal version - parts are cut and pasted everywhere, which is kinda cool to hear. It, too, lacks the cats-in-heat sounds, but it's got even more elements removed. There's no "popcorn" drum machine intro - it just begins on the downbeat. The last 90 seconds or so is basically the same drum-fill riffing that makes up the end of the Best Of Blondie remix, which is interesting to me - until the Best Of Blondie LP, the B-side of the 12" was the only place to hear Clem Burke playing his heart out. There is some tape drag on this version, too going from 115.1 BPM at the beginning to 114.8 BPM at the end. I don't have the Parallel Lines album, but I would bet that the album version is the same mix as the 45 and the 12", because the "pain in the a**" verse that's cut from the 45 appears in the 12". I have the true 45 version (with the true 45 mix) on the following CDs:
Bottom line: For the true 1978 mixes, avoid the cats-in-heat synths! |
Replies:
Posted By: Hykker
Date Posted: 11 February 2009 at 7:00am
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This song has to hold the record for the number of different versions out there.
There were 2 different issues of "Parallel Lines", one with the 5:50 12" version, and earlier pressings with a shorter version (3:54 listed), both contained the PITA lyrics, but no cats-in-heat synth. I used to have copies of both versions of the LP, but since I have the 12" I got rid of the one with the 12" version on it (storage space is limited). There was also a CD called "Music of the Millenium" that contained a different edit of the song, the verse after the bridge was the "once I had love & it was a gas, soon turned out I had a heart of glass" line from earlier in the song replacing the PITA verse. I don't recall offhand whether it had the cats-in-heat synth intro or not. |
Posted By: AndrewChouffi
Date Posted: 11 February 2009 at 8:55am
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What I'm looking for is the original 'Parallel Lines' album mix on CD (Hykker mentions it above).
I have the vinyl of it, but I wonder if it's on a CD. Andy |
Posted By: Roscoe
Date Posted: 11 February 2009 at 9:04am
| The 12" version is also on the DCC gold "Parallel Lines" CD (very rare and expensive unfortunately). I edited this down to a very nice sounding 45 version, although I wasn't aware of the BPM differences noted above. |
Posted By: MMathews
Date Posted: 12 February 2009 at 4:17pm
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Hi folks,
Oh, I'm such a Blondie fan and this single was soo huge for me when it came out. Ok, for the other mix on The Best Of Blondie i believe was not created for that album, but i was happy they issued it on there. That is the mix that was in the original '78 video for the song. (Yes, there was a video.) As mentioned above, the first issue of Parallel Lines had the original mix (i thought it ran about 3:48, not 4:20, Hykker, can u confirm that time?) and the original mix had the softer drum track, and instrumental ending. I think what they did at remix time was remix the LP version punching up the bass drum big-time, and brought out the synths more, including the intro, and let it run a bit longer. This would be the creation of the video version, later issued on the Best-Of. Then they mixed the 12" Disco version with less of the synth effects and the long looped ending repeating over and over. And, as mentioned above, they edited this version for the 45. I guess they felt this was the hit mix to use, and i guess history says they were right. They then re-issued the album with the 12" replacing the original mix. (I bought that too!) Now, for Andrew: i too wanted the original LP version on CD, and was pleasantly surprised when i found my CD i bought does indeed have the original mix. It is an early cd issue of the album. It says clearly on the back "Disco Version" with a time of 5:50, as does the disc itself. But, in fact they used the first album master to press the disc, so it contains the original. Now, it does run 3:48 and i thought that matched my old vinyl but i no longer have the vinyl to compare. The disc info is: Catalog# F221192 on both spine and disc, and is dated 1985. It contains no bonus tracks like subsequent re-issues of the album have. Happy hunting. -MM |
Posted By: Hykker
Date Posted: 12 February 2009 at 6:10pm
Well you were closer than I was...listed time on PL is 3:54. I didn't have the record handy at the time I made my first post. |
MMathews wrote:Posted By: crapfromthepast
Date Posted: 12 February 2009 at 8:55pm
Hmmm... my UK Best Of Blondie CD has "Special mix for this album by Mike Chapman" listed underneath the producers' credits for "Heart Of Glass", "In The Flesh", and "Sunday Girl". It's not small print either - it's listed three different times and is supposed to get your attention on the back cover. The Best Of Blondie LP originally came out in '81, I think. Was the video out when the single was big, or did it come out later? |
Posted By: MMathews
Date Posted: 13 February 2009 at 2:50pm
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Hi
Hmm, well, i did see the video in '79, but i realize that i always saw it on TV - so it would be better to say it was more or less that "version"..meaning it had the strong beat like the single, but had the LP version ending. So i'll go with likely different mix, but roughly the same edit/structure. I'm glad they did it though, because i wanted the punchy mix with the rest of the original ending. -MM |
Posted By: Indy500
Date Posted: 10 September 2010 at 7:48pm
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There is a demo version under the original title "Once I Has A Love" on the Platinum Collection Cd. It runs 3:56. And a version of "Once I Had A Love" -- produced by Mike Chapman from the Parallel Lines sessions -- appears as a bonus track on the Parallel Lines remaster running 3:14.
This track first appeared on Blonde and Beyond (3:11) but now includes a drumstick into. And may be remixed from the original tapes as it sounds much clearer. |
Posted By: bwolfe
Date Posted: 11 September 2010 at 4:47am
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What about the version on Pure Disco 3 that was released back in the 90s?
I'm throwing this one out to the experts. ------------- the way it was heard on the radio |
Posted By: bwolfe
Date Posted: 14 September 2010 at 5:49am
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I don't know Brian, maybe I'll find out on my own...
Talking to yourself is fun... ------------- the way it was heard on the radio |
Posted By: Santi Paradoa
Date Posted: 22 June 2024 at 5:19pm
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The version that runs 4:09 could very well be the original UK 45. Here is a UK 45 where the listing reads: Label states time as 3:54 but its actual time is 4:09.
https://www.discogs.com/release/18950995-Blondie-Heart-Of-Glass - https://www.discogs.com/release/18950995-Blondie-Heart-Of-Gl ass Also, here is a recent UK various artists compilation where the note for the song reads: Original Single Version https://www.discogs.com/release/24523415-Various-Now-Yearbook-79 - https://www.discogs.com/release/24523415-Various-Now-Yearboo k-79 I believe this explains why that 4:09 edit appears so often on CD. ------------- Santi Paradoa Miami, Florida |
Posted By: crapfromthepast
Date Posted: 22 June 2024 at 6:24pm
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The 4:09 version that first appeared on CD The Platinum Collection (1994) is just an edit of the 12 inch version.
Specifically, it's 0:09-1:16 and 1:31-4:33 of the 12 inch version, edited on the downbeats, with about a 20-second-long fade that ends at the 4:33 point. It does seem be the UK 45 version, which is consistent with all the other 45 mixes that appear on The Platinum Collection. ------------- There's a lot of crap on the radio, but there's only one http://www.crapfromthepast.com" rel="nofollow - Crap From The Past . |
Posted By: garye
Date Posted: 06 July 2024 at 1:36pm
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And the promo edits the lyrics with some quick splicing.
Anyone like to hear it let me know. |