The Cyrkle - Turn-Down Day

"Red Rubber Ball" peaked at US#2 in 1966.
"Turn-Down Day" peaked at US#16 shortly after that in 1966.

They had a good run in 1966.

But that was all the top 40 activity for The Cyrkle. Five more songs hit the Hot 100 in 1966-67, and one bubbled under in 1967.

Mono

The 1966 45 is mono and runs 2:29. (Discogs shows that the 1966 LP is available in both stereo and mono. I don't know if the mono LP version is the same as the mono 45 version.)

It's a dedicated mix, and isn't a fold-down of the 1966 stereo mix.

1966 stereo mix

The 1966 stereo LP version is an extremely wide mix, with lead vocals being centered, with bass and piano in the left, and drums and sitar (I think?) in the right.

The oldest CD I have with the original stereo mix is Columbia's Pop Classics Of The 60's (1989). It sounds OK here, and runs 2:29. The same analog transfer is used on:

• Time-Life's Classic Rock Vol. 22 1966 Blowin' Your Mind (1990; RE-1 reissue; unclear if there was ever a version without the RE-1) - left and right channels are swapped, runs 4 beats shorter
• TM Century track no. 0012021 - runs 6 beats longer and has added noise reduction

The only other place I have the original stereo mix is on Sundazed's 19-track reissue of the full-length Red Rubber Ball album from 2001. The Sundazed disc runs about 7 beats longer than Pop Classics Of The 60's, but otherwise sounds pretty close to it. I'd expect that later releases of the full-length album also include the original stereo mix, but I don't have any to compare.

1991 stereo remix

Vic Anesini remixed all the tracks on Columbia/Legacy's stellar 18-track Cyrkle collection Red Rubber Ball (A Collection) (1991).

It's a tasteful remix with crisp sound, and is quite true to the spirit of the original mix, but it differs from the 1966 stereo mix. Listen to the drum fill in the right channel at 0:38. The 1966 mix has snare-tom-snare-hihats. The 1991 remix has snare-openhihat-snare-hihats. From 1:25-1:26, the original mix has no drums on the bass fill before the next verse, while the remix has an awkward drum fill. There may be some other differences in there, too, but these are the easiest to hear (or see if you have the waveforms on your screen). The mono 45 has the same drums fills etc. as the original 1966 stereo mix.

The remix extends about two beats longer than the Sundazed mastering of the original mix, running 2:32.

The same analog transfer as Red Rubber Ball (A Collection) is used on:

• Time-Life's Superhits Vol. 17 Mid-'60s Classics (1992) - shortens tail of fade by 5 beats
• Time-Life's History Of Rock 'N' Roll Vol. 2 Folk Rock 1964-1967 (1993) - shortens tails of fade by 3 beats
• Sony/Legacy's promo sampler Rock Artifacts 27 Cut Preview (1993) - doesn't shorten fade
• Realm Canada's mail-order multi-disc Greatest Hits Of The '60s Vol. 1 (1995) - doesn't shorten fade
• TIme-Life's AM Gold Vol. 16 Mid-'60s Classics (1995) - shortens tail of fade by 5 beats
• Time-Life's Spirit Of The '60s Singers And Songwriters (2000) - shortens tail of fade by 5 beats
• Time-Life's 2-CD Singers And Songwriters Vol. 21 The Folk Years Reason To Believe (2002) - shortens tail of fade by 6 beats

My recommendations

For the mono mix, find a nice dub of the 45 (or maybe the mono vinyl LP?)

For the original 1966 stereo mix, try Sundazed's 19-track reissue of the full-length Red Rubber Ball album (2001).

For the 1991 stereo remix, go with Columbia/Legacy's 18-track Cyrkle collection Red Rubber Ball (A Collection) (1991).

Great catch, Ron. All these years I did not have this indicated as a remix - back
in 1991, there was no "board", and my contacts were very limited at the time,
so I had to rely mostly on my own ears, and I never listened that closely.

Actually, something I hope the database might reflect more accurately in the
future, is these remixes, however slight. Pat has some of this info indicated,
but far from what I know to be true based on my years of collecting. I've raised
this issue before, but no-one seems to have been interested enough to pursue.