"Sweetheart" - Franke & The Knockouts

Pat:

You indicate in the 10th edition that the 45 version of "Sweetheart" by Franke & The Knockouts is on the following CDs:

Radio Daze: Pop Hits of the 80's Volume Five (Rhino 71894) (run time: 3:47)
Like, Omigod! The '80$ Pop Culture Box (Totally) (Rhino 78239) (3:47)

You also state the 4:09 version on the Sweetheart Collection CD (Razor & Tie 82185) is the LP version.

Edtop40 tells me his commercial 45 copy runs 4:09 just like on the Sweetheart Collection disc. I checked Whitburn's book and he lists 4:09 for the commercial single run time. Do we have another example here where the 3:47 is really a DJ edit and not the 45 version?

The reference vinyl 45 that I used was indeed a dj edit that runs 3:46. Sometimes the dj copies are quite obvious, with the label being white in color but in this case, the Millennium Records dj copies have the same multi colored labels as the commercial copies. In any case I made the wrong entry and I will correct the comments in the database immediately.

Now with regard to the more general question, if I detect a dj copy I almost always compare the time with what Whitburn lists as the running time in his Pop Annual series of publications. I assume that Whitburn is using the commercial 45 printed time so if the dj and commercial printed times are the same then I don't look any deeper, I just assume they are identical.

Now in the case of Franke & The Knockouts "Sweetheart", I am sure what happened was that the very first cd to be released that included this song was Rhino 71894 referenced above. When I timed the cd and came up with a time of 3:47, I pulled my 45 (which was a dj copy that looked like a commercial 45), saw the time stated was was 3:46, compared the 45 and LP to see if this was really a 45 version or length, determined it was an edit and proceeded to enter 45 "version" in my database. Obviously in this case I did not check Whitburn's entry as he lists the running time as 4:09.

Aaron:

I just listened to "Sweetheart" from my Franke & the Knockouts Sweetheart Collection CD on Razor & Tie 82185 and it definitely sounds like it comes from a tape source. I also took a quick listen to the DJ edit from the Radio Daze: Pop Hits of the 80's Volume Five disc on Rhino 71894 and I agree that it was probably mastered from a 45 (I can hear some vinyl static in the left channel during the intro). There is a very clear sound quality difference between the two CDs.

I can confirm that both the Rhino CD is from vinyl and that the Razor & Tie CD is from master tape.

I actually worked on that Rhino series ("Radio Daze: Pop Hits of the '80s) and distinctly remember being told by my co-producer that "Sweetheart" was the only song on the 5 volumes that had to be taken from vinyl. After the R&T CD came out, I was told by a friend who worked at R&T that the songs came from master tape.

So in both cases, the news came from the horse's mouth, so to speak. Or in one case, the rhino's mouth.

Why Bill Inglot couldn't find a tape for "Sweetheart", I don't know.

Edited by EdisonLite

Mark - It's one easy edit.

Delete 32 beats from 2:38.88 to 2:58.66 from the LP/commercial 45 version on Sweetheart Collection. The end of the edit should pick up on the long, sustained high keyboard note that ends the solo.

(I should note that I didn't do the rip of Sweetheart Collection, so I can't guarantee that the times are exact.)

The promo 45 fade matches the fade on the LP/commercial 45 version.