Sparks - I Predict

Ron, I just pulled out my 1982 Atlantic 4030 stereo/mono promo 45 for
you, and timed the stereo side. (FYI, there are no "remix" notations on my
45's label.) Listed time (2:55); actual time (2:52). You mentioned the
possibility of a 45/LP version difference here, but didn't provide any
timing info from any of your 3 CD sources, which would've made it easier
for me to help you. So I just lifted off a couple of stacked CD boxes, to
unearth my Sparks Rhino 2-CD set. This CD states an "I Predict" time of
(2:50), but has an actual time of (2:52), just like my 45 does. To my ears
(for what little that's worth!), the two sources sound 100% identical.

To me, your question is a total puzzler, since the Sparks 2-CD set on
Rhino was released in 1991, and the Rhino V/A Just Can't Get Enough Vol.
6 came out three years later. Why not just use their 1991 digital master
for their 1994 comp? I have no explanation for you, sir......

Hmmm, I've now detected a pattern here. Since you also recently started/revived threads for "I Ran" (A Flock of Seagulls), "Kids in America" (Kim Wilde), "Love Plus One" (Haircut One Hundred), and now "I Predict", I can only assume that - based on the perfect running order - as of late you've been obsessed(?) w/ your 1982 K-tel LP, The Beat, lol...

Actually, that compilation was where I myself first acquired "I Predict" (probably about 1986), although I'd heard the song through friends a few times previously. I don't recall hearing "I Predict" on the radio back in the day, either, but I know it must've gotten some play in SoCal, because I DO remember hearing their next hit, 1983's "Cool Places" (w/ Jane Wiedlin), on top 40 radio quite a bit - that song was my introduction to Sparks. In fact, when the Mael brothers switched to their "new wave" phase in the early '80s, they became quite popular in SoCal. Their trio of albums for Atlantic - Angst in My Pants (1982), In Outer Space (1983), and Pulling Rabbits Out of a Hat (1984) - were all big sellers there. I've since picked up about half of their '70s & '80s albums on cassette. Yet another act that should've done better here in the States (alas, no top 40 hits, and thus no entries in Pat's book/database)...

I don't have Rhino's 1991 2-CD set, Profile: The Ultimate Sparks Collection, mainly because it shockingly omits "Eaten By the Monster of Love" (also from 1982's Angst in My Pants, and was actually the follow-up to "I Predict"). And while not a hit here on the pop charts, what person our age doesn't remember that song from the 1983 teen classic, "Valley Girl"?!? Movie scene on YouTube: Sparks from "Valley Girl". What the heck was Rhino thinking?!?

Instead, for CD I have the 1993 two-disc set, The Heaven Collection and The Hell Collection, a French import from Sony Music that collects 38 of the duo's best tracks + other oddities (but sadly, still overlooks "...Monster of Love")...

crapfromthepast wrote: So why, then, does Rhino's Just Can't Get Enough Vol. 6 (1994) appear to take the song from vinyl? (Very dull high end, and no hiss at all on the fade.) Were the 45 and LP versions different, so that the 45 was available only on vinyl and not from a tape source?

Not sure I can help you here. "I Predict" has a listed time of (2:50) and an actual time of (2:49) on The Heaven Collection, which sounds like it's from a tape source to me; The Hell Collection also features an excellent (6:28) live version from 1985. I see that jimct also posted some good info above as I was typing this up...

Your timing is also somewhat interesting, as it just so happens that last month Universal released a new 79-track, 4-CD Sparks box set over in Europe, titled New Music for Amnesiacs: The Essential Collection (includes a fifth "bonus" disc, hardbound book, and other goodies) - and next week (Nov. 25), it seems a condensed, no-frills 40-track/2-CD version will also be hitting store shelves. Both versions include their most recent "hit", 2009's "Lighten Up, Morrissey", for which they even made a video, lol: Video on YouTube

"I Predict" your next thread topic will be "I Got You" (Split Enz) - although the cassette version of The Beat switches that song & Thompson Twins' "In the Name of Love" in the running order vs. the vinyl LP... :-)

80smusicfreak wrote: 1982 K-tel LP, The Beat,

Oh did I play that record for a year. Still have it in fact.