Updating the Running Order

The rest of the remastering went fairly smooth. But around this time, a nagging doubt began to manifest itself in my cranium. If I had “This Occupation [extended version]” on 12″ and the “Collection” B-side disc, that surely implied the existence of “This Occupation” in a non-extended version, so it was off the the web to shake down a copy of this while I was in the midst of this project. This is the kind of thing that happens far too often than I’d like to admit. After you research a project like this, you had better sit back down and let some time pass, then you research it again! Repeat as necessary.

I bought a copy and when it arrived in the mail, I was treated to a far different, more linear mix of the song that was almost as dramatic as the difference between Visage’s “Frequency 7” single mix and “dance mix!” This was well worth the time and cost to add to this project, but after what I’d learned thus far in plowing through this work, the time was ripe for updating the spreadsheet that was guiding my hand. This was the new “bible” that I was working from.

This new running order was adjusted slightly and while “This Occupation” was added, several tracks were omitted due to the way things played out. The “African + White” indie 7″ turned out to be the LP version, so that was struck from the list. Also missing was “The Instigator” in the regular mix. I had the 12″ and CD5 of this title at one time, but when I got the “Collection” 2xCD, I traded in the CD5 of “Best Kept Secret” in the early 90s since I didn’t think I needed two discs with “The Instigator [Italian fuzzbox ver.].” It was my understanding that the CD had the remix and the 12″ had the original mix. Unfortunately, my understanding was wrong!

The 12″ had the “Italian fuzzbox mix” as did the B-side disc, so the copy I once had, a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away, was now long gone. And in 2007, I could not find a new CD5 of “Best Kept Secret to buy. So I did what anyone else would; I swept that data under the carpet knowing that my BSOG was no longer canonical! In the cold light of 2013, and with years of Discogs.com membership under my belt, I can now find this CD for under $4.00 domestic [plus shipping]. Could it be time to remaster this set? Possibly yes, since now I know that only on the CD5 of “Best Kept Secret” can one find “The Instigator” in a different mix from the ubiquitous “Italian Fuzzbox Version” available everywhere else!

Also, I now know that “Cucumber Garden” on the “Scream Down At Me” 12″ and the B-side CD is a 5:50 mix while the “Scream Down At Me” 7″ offers a 4:45 version of “Cucumber Garden.” If I wanted to be canonical [and why bother, otherwise], then I’ll need to revisit this set at some time in the future… if I live long enough. If I make these additions, I may as well add the “Animalistic” 7″ edit while I’m at it!! Oh the perils of Monkdom! So at this point in the project, two thirds of the vinyl has been digitized and remastered. It bears mentioning at this point that I like to remaster at 44.1 KHz/24 bit since I can hear the slightly better quality of the files that 24 bit offers. I archive the projects to DVD when finished with the raw and de-noised files in case that I upgrade my software capabilities when it comes time to remaster said project in the distant world of the future.

next: …time to get crafty on the noise reduction…