"Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now" - Starship

I feel like I've already typed this info in somewhere, but I couldn't find it on the forums. So here it is again...

I timed my 45 (Grunt 5109-7-G, 1987, printed 4:29), and it runs 4:29. More importantly, it runs at 95.8 BPM, with no significant drift from beginning to end.

The many versions on CD show a wide variety of errors. I'll start with the worst offenders, and work my way back to something that resembles the true 45.

Realm Records' Gold And Platinum Vol. 4 (1988) is missing the opening drums, has a very early fade, and has its left/right channels reversed. It only runs 3:46. In dealing with this CD, I discovered that half the tracks are digitally sourced from Columbia's The Heart Of Soul, with level changes, edits and early fades. (Bleh!) I assume the other half is from the companion The Heart Of Rock, which I don't have. On the plus side, it runs at the right speed.

The UK 2-CD set Now 1987 runs at the right speed, but fades at 4:03.

The 50-CD promo set The A-List runs at the right speed, but is missing the opening drums.

The version on Rhino's Billboard Top Hits 1987 would be just fine, but it runs about 1% slower than the 45 at 94.9 BPM.

I found five Time-Life collections that are digital clones of the Billboard disc, all with an EQ difference and/or a level change:

• Sounds Of The Eighties Vol. 9 1987 (1995)
• Body Talk Vol. 19 Always And Forever (1998)
• Guitar Rock Vol. 27 Power Ballads (1999)
• Sounds Of The Eighties Vol. 24 Everything '80s (2002)
• Another Lost Decade At The Movies (2005)

And out of fairness, I found one disc that runs too fast by about 1% at 97.0 BPM, and fades a little bit early - UK's The Hits Album 6, which is pretty hard to find and probably won't be in your collection.

There's a 2-CD set called Love Songs (1988) from Warner Special Products that runs at the right speed, but shortens the very tail of the fade by a few seconds. The same analog transfer is used for the Warner Special Products 2-CD set Lost In Love.

Finally, that leaves just two discs in my collection, both running at the proper pitch/tempo (about 96.1 or 96.2 BPM, which is close enough to the 45 at 95.8 BPM), and both having reasonable fades, although both are about two seconds short of my 45.

They're RCA's Greatest Hits Ten Years And Change 1979-1991 (1991), which runs 4:27, and EMI Australia's 5-CD set Pop Complete (1999), which also runs 4:27.

The Ten Years And Change disc is probably your best bet for coming as close as you can to the 45.

Edited by crapfromthepast

I recently purchased Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now from the remastered "No Protection"
and it has the opening drum beats. I wonder if it was omitted in error on the original release.

I also have The Hits Album 6 which I thought may have been a different mix because it
sounds fairly different, but upon closer examination it seems to only be a different mastering
treatment – high end EQ boost, stereo image of the lower frequencies narrowed to near
mono, and sped up. This same version is also featured on the Top Gun Deluxe Edition
Soundtrack, but with a different EQ treatment.