Jaggerz - The Rapper

Dave - Good to know.

I should also point out that for the mono-with-echo versions, the sound on the mono 45 is significantly better than everything that's available on CD. There's a hi-hat playing eighth notes during the verses, but you wouldn't know it from the CD versions.

Mono 45 version with echo from 1:47 to 1:51

The mono 45 version with echo seems to have appeared first on Pair's Best Of Buddah (1988). The volume levels are pretty low here, and there's a slight EQ difference between left and right channels. The same analog transfer is used on:

• Pair's Best Of Bubblegum Music (1988)
• Special Music's Best Of The Bubblegum Years (1988)
• Priority's Seventies Greatest Rock Hits Vol. 8 Super Songs (1991)

There's a different analog transfer on Essex's 3-CD The Buddah Box (1993). I prefer the sound on the Essex CD over the earlier releases - slightly better EQ, better volume levels, and more uniformity between left and right channels (the earlier discs have a slight EQ difference between channels). The same analog transfer is used on a budget Sony multi-artist compilation called Vintage Pop (2005).

It's safe to say that any CDs that include this mono version can trace their masterings back to the Pair disc or the Essex box set.

Mono 45 version without echo from 1:47 to 1:51

Doesn't appear to exist on CD.

Stereo LP version

The stereo version doesn't include the echo from 1:47 to 1:51. Dave: Can you check to see if your echo-from-1:47-to-1:51 version is stereo? I was under the impression that it didn't exist in stereo.

The earliest CD I have with the stereo version is PolyTel Canada's 2-CD Ready To Rock (1988). It's a pretty rare disc, and it's from a higher-generation tape source than everything that followed. Avoid.

The earliest (common) CD with the stereo LP version is Rhino's Billboard Top R&R Hits 1970 (1989). It sounds just fine, as you'd expect from this Rhino series. The same analog transfer is used on:

• Time-Life's Sounds Of The Seventies Vol. 1 1970 (1989) - digitally identical
• Time-Life's Guitar Rock Vol. 6 1970-1971 (1994) - digitally exactly 0.4 dB louder
• JCI's Only Dance 1970-1974 (1996)
• Time-Life's 2-CD Seventies Music Explosion One-Hit Wonders (2005) - digitally identical

There's a new analog transfer on Rhino's Have A Nice Day Vol. 1 (1990). The sound quality is basically the same as Billboard, but the track extends a wee bit farther (less than a second). The same analog transfer is used on:

• Rhino's promotional Have A Nice Day Sampler (1990, PRO2 90056) - digitally identical
• Rhino's cheapie Seventies Smash Hits Vol. 1 (1993)

My recommendations

For the mono 45 version with echo from 1:47 to 1:51, go with Essex's 3-CD The Buddah Box (1993).
For the stereo LP version (which doesn't have the echo), go with Rhino's Have A Nice Day Vol. 1 (1990).

Resurrecting an aincent thread....here's an interesting twist....

I was given a copy of a reissue 45 of The Rapper backed with I Call My Baby Candy. It's on Buddah BG 19, i assume BG means Buddah Gold....it has a given label time of 2:42 but actually runs 2:38. I see my above link for the promo version doesn't seem to work anymore so I can't re-download it for timing purposes but I did a raw rip of the stock copy Jim sent me with the added echo and it timed out to 2:40. The mastering on the reissue is definitely different, it didn't come from the original stamper...the reissue sounds a lot muddier, the original 45 has a hotter mix, also. The reissue 45 has a 1984 copyright as well, and I would assume all reissues were like it, for anyone who wants to try to find this odd version on vinyl (or rather styrene) easily...matrix in the dead wax says BG 19A followed by FW and what appears to be an O with a line through the top of it.....

I find it odd that the reissue sounds very muddy, they must have lost the original master and this must have come from a copy which must be the only one they held on to as this version on cd sounds quite muddy too.

Aside from the echo and other mixing differences, they are the exact same take. i didnt hear any additional or less instrumentation in one or the other when playing them side by side, just very different sounding mixes. On the stereo mix that I have, though, at the very end where the clapping is and you hear "thank you, thank you very much, love you (or 'thank you' again, i cant tell)" that spoken part is very faint, however it can be heard clearly on the mono mix from my promo 45 (mp3 should still be at that link for downloading).

However, for all practical purposes, the stereo version is the correct single version. i dont know why that other single version exists, but apparently it was a limited thing, maybe a west coast vs east coast thing?

Edited by TomDiehl1

I just got a Canadian pressing of the 45. It has the same version as my promo 45, oddly the ONLY marking in the trail out on the Rapper side is KA-502-S1 (it plays in mono so the S1 must mean side 1). Therefore a different laquer had to have been made for it, my guess is this is the version that was supposed to be released. I had another friend check his version of the single and it ended up being the same as mine.