dlgladwin wrote:

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joemc5054 wrote:

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As for the Caff single, not sure what to do with that, nor with the Gift stuff either. Think the Peel Sessions would be up to the BBC and that's a whole bigger matter than just an accessible record label

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James Nice of LTM/Les Disques du Crépuscule managed to get the tracks from the Field Mice single on Caff released as part of their CD reissue programme, so maybe he's a good place to start?

He's on Facebook as james.nice.37

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 Ooo that sounds good, Ill drop him a message on Facebook and see what he can do. Update on Fire Records - got a reply back saying that Fire records people are looking into it, but she didnt say anything else about if they were actually going to make the changes. Ive got some hope but im not sure if theyll actually do anything. Lets hope they prove me wrong though.

Well I think I see what you mean. I've just checked the contrast between the quietest parts of some tracks and the loudest parts. There's certainly some variation, showing that they were mastered differently.

Street Lites - quiet bit from the intro, loud from the chorus
1 DYRTFT, 2 Second Class, 3 His 'n' Hers Deluxe, 4 Digital EP

1 - quiet -30.93 | loud -13.27 | contrast 17.66 dB RMS
2 - quiet -27.84 | loud -10.87 | contrast 16.97 dB RMS
3 - quiet -30.27 | loud -12.59 | contrast 17.68 dB RMS
4 - quiet -29.01 | loud -11.45 | contrast 17.57 dB RMS

Your Sister's Clothes - quiet bit from just before "but you're so perfect, you don't interest me", loud bit from the last chorus
1 Sisters EP, 2 Second Class, 3 His 'n' Hers Deluxe, 4 Digital EP

1 - quiet -20.61 | loud -12.65 | contrast 7.96 dB RMS
2 - quiet -19.30 | loud -11.64 | contrast 7.66 dB RMS
3 - quiet -18.70 | loud -11.23 | contrast 7.46 dB RMS
4 - quiet -18.48 | loud -11.09 | contrast 7.39 dB RMS

Mile End - quiet bit from the "da dum" bridge, loud from the chorus
1 Something Changed, 2 Second Class, 3 Different Class Deluxe, 4 Digital EP

1 - quiet -20.64 | loud -11.77 | contrast 8.87 dB RMS
2 - quiet -20.71 | loud -12.24 | contrast 8.47 dB RMS
3 - quiet -20.86 | loud -12.25 | contrast 8.61 dB RMS
4 - quiet -15.78 | loud -8.52 | contrast 7.26 dB RMS

This is a bit imprecise as I'm simply highlighting parts of each track in Audacity and checking the dB level.

The new digital EPs are all being mastered at Abbey Road, which seems to be standard process for getting Universal tracks ready for digital release, but they're not consistently louder.

joemc5054 wrote:

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dlgladwin wrote:

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joemc5054 wrote:

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As for the Caff single, not sure what to do with that, nor with the Gift stuff either. Think the Peel Sessions would be up to the BBC and that's a whole bigger matter than just an accessible record label

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James Nice of LTM/Les Disques du Crépuscule managed to get the tracks from the Field Mice single on Caff released as part of their CD reissue programme, so maybe he's a good place to start?

He's on Facebook as james.nice.37

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 Ooo that sounds good, Ill drop him a message on Facebook and see what he can do. Update on Fire Records - got a reply back saying that Fire records people are looking into it, but she didnt say anything else about if they were actually going to make the changes. Ive got some hope but im not sure if theyll actually do anything. Lets hope they prove me wrong though.

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With the Caff single being a one-off archive release, I doubt the label (ie Bob Stanley from St Etienne) will actually own anything. It'll most likely have been licensed directly from the band at the time, and that's where ownership of the recordings would sit.

Bob Stanley is on Twitter if you want to ask him...

Sturdy wrote:

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joemc5054 wrote:

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dlgladwin wrote:

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joemc5054 wrote:

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As for the Caff single, not sure what to do with that, nor with the Gift stuff either. Think the Peel Sessions would be up to the BBC and that's a whole bigger matter than just an accessible record label

---

James Nice of LTM/Les Disques du Crépuscule managed to get the tracks from the Field Mice single on Caff released as part of their CD reissue programme, so maybe he's a good place to start?

He's on Facebook as james.nice.37

---

 Ooo that sounds good, Ill drop him a message on Facebook and see what he can do. Update on Fire Records - got a reply back saying that Fire records people are looking into it, but she didnt say anything else about if they were actually going to make the changes. Ive got some hope but im not sure if theyll actually do anything. Lets hope they prove me wrong though.

---

With the Caff single being a one-off archive release, I doubt the label (ie Bob Stanley from St Etienne) will actually own anything. It'll most likely have been licensed directly from the band at the time, and that's where ownership of the recordings would sit.

Bob Stanley is on Twitter if you want to ask him...

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 I'll venture into messaging him too, thank you for all this. 

Ansaphone - the original version, is finally on streaming! Along with Disco 2000 7" mix, Live Bed Show extended and a "Motiv 8 Gimp (!)" mix. They still managed to get the original release date wrong on Spotify (27th of December 1995?!) but good to have all of them on here.

Oh I don't believe it. We spotted this in advance and it was supposed to have been fixed.

That's safe, they had the correct version of Cocaine Socialism already. The worst clanger still to come, if it's not been fixed, is that Tomorrow Never Dies (the demo) appears mis-labelled in place of Tomorrow Never Lies. I've heard a preview of the fixed version of that, unlike Disco which was just on trust...

Weeks. I was warned the audio files needed to be delivered at least two weeks before, but seems more like four or more to go through the entire process. It was too late for Mis-Shapes and Sorted, and we tested a month ago.

I've been assured that the team are trying to fix the 7" problem... lots of emails flying around between the consultant and Universal music! Seems to have been muddled up but they're doing what they can to reissue it. (And the rest of the reissue corrections should follow at a later date - these are in the works, though less urgently.)

-- Edited by hawalius1 on Friday 21st of July 2023 01:32:05 PM

hawalius1 wrote:

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I've been assured that the team are trying to fix the 7" problem... lots of emails flying around between the consultant and Universal music! Seems to have been muddled up but they're doing what they can to reissue it. (And the rest of the reissue corrections should follow at a later date - these are in the works, though less urgently.)

-- Edited by hawalius1 on Friday 21st of July 2023 01:32:05 PM

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 Pulp's own twitter account said something similar - in fact they even dm'ed me with the tweet! Never would I have thought my favourite band ever would be messaging me on twitter...

Sturdy wrote:

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joemc5054 wrote:

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dlgladwin wrote:

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joemc5054 wrote:

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As for the Caff single, not sure what to do with that, nor with the Gift stuff either. Think the Peel Sessions would be up to the BBC and that's a whole bigger matter than just an accessible record label

---

James Nice of LTM/Les Disques du Crépuscule managed to get the tracks from the Field Mice single on Caff released as part of their CD reissue programme, so maybe he's a good place to start?

He's on Facebook as james.nice.37

---

 Ooo that sounds good, Ill drop him a message on Facebook and see what he can do. Update on Fire Records - got a reply back saying that Fire records people are looking into it, but she didnt say anything else about if they were actually going to make the changes. Ive got some hope but im not sure if theyll actually do anything. Lets hope they prove me wrong though.

---

With the Caff single being a one-off archive release, I doubt the label (ie Bob Stanley from St Etienne) will actually own anything. It'll most likely have been licensed directly from the band at the time, and that's where ownership of the recordings would sit.

Bob Stanley is on Twitter if you want to ask him...

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 Bob got back to me and said this:

The correct Disco 2000 single mix is now available !! with a length of 4:52, is the video version

and now theyve doubled up the singles/EP section so weve got a similar situation to They Suffocate at Night now.

www.instagram.com/p/CvE80e2qqKj/

"I can't believe this is happening. This is really it.

Pulps Disco 2000 Digital EP is now available on all streaming platforms, with the remastered video replacing the previously available version on YouTube. [link in bio]

 

Finally making its way into the digital realm is the Disco 2000 single mix by Alan Tarney, produced at RAK Studios in late 1995. Alan is the legend who wrote We Don't Talk Anymore and produced Wired for Sound (and Take on Me). I guess this mix was an experiment for us - we'd written a catchy pop song that we perversely tried to beef up with noisy guitar in the LP sessions with Chris Thomas but what if we went the other way, down a commercial pop rabbit hole? Now you can hear the result. We preferred the original in the long run, but this one has its charm.

The video was directed by Pedro Romhanyi and features our friends Pat & Jo Skinny - they were always around at the time but we haven't seen them for ages. As a special treat we've uploaded not one but FOUR versions, also making it available with French, German, and Japanese subtitles. (Some of which we didn't even know existed.)

Rounding out the tracklist are the extras that featured on the two original UK CD singles: two stonking dance mixes by Motiv 8 (Steve Rodway), the extended take of Live Bed Show (with an instrumental verse up front), and a version of Ansaphone recorded during the sessions for Different Class.

1. Disco 2000 (7 Mix)
2. Ansaphone
3. Live Bed Show (Extended)
4. Disco 2000 (Motiv 8 Discoid Mix)
5. Disco 2000 (Motiv 8 Gimp Dub)
6. Disco 2000 (Album Mix)

PS - Did any of you out there win the lifesize cut-out of Jarvis in the lucky draw that was advertised on the Poster Offer flyer ?

PPS - Sorry so many wrong versions have gone out so far in this Digital EP series. We are working with @universalmusicgroup to try to get this all fixed.

Thx to AcrylcAftrnoons for the MTV Awards image."

-- Edited by lipglossed on Monday 24th of July 2023 02:35:11 PM

I imagine this is written by Mark Webber, who seems to be hands-on with the Pulp socials. Certainly haven't heard any of that before. Fascinating!

100% the 7" mix is the best. Much more of a disco feel!

Jean wrote:

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100% the 7" mix is the best. Much more of a disco feel!

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 i think so too. The guitar sound in the album version used to remind me of Status Quo (dont worry - this extended to Oasis too), though Ive got over that (though not for Oasis)

There's a lovely keyboard-y sound, I dunno what it is or how to explain it via text... you know the 'do, do, do' sound. That's very clear isn't it? You know exactly what I'm talking about! It's 10 seconds in on the video/7" version. Sounds nearly like a flute kind of sound. That's part of what makes it for me but also the spoken word bit and that whispered 'I remember every single thing' and the drums have a punchier disco sound. It also almost sounds like backing vocals on this though it's just like Jarvis' vocals double tracked or something. The album version is much more guitar driven and more empty. Love this.

Any chance you can proffer your services to them for curation of worthwhile physical reissues? They must know that the Pulp fan can be tapped further now that they've stocked up on tea caddies, tea towels and Tatty Devine tat.

Tempted to do some of my own restoration work on Sickly Grin. There's a restored version on youtube, but it's still pretty far off finished.

They can have everything i own if they did something like that with that track list.

-- Edited by joemc5054 on Wednesday 26th of July 2023 11:43:40 AM

I know that if youve saved the previously old version of the Disco 2000 EP to your library on spotify, it will not be correct so youll have the wrong version of it

Eamonn wrote:

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Pulp really should have had a compilation album on vinyl by now* It's outrageous (it's disgraceful).

*I don't mean like Intro. That's really a genius lp in its own right.

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 It's difficult pulling together a Best Of compilation because Pulp's songs have many singles and pop hits that, while amazing, the band might look down upon a little (like Mis-Shapes and even Disco 2000), while their statement songs are quite length (This Is Hardcore, Sheffield: Sex City, Wickerman, David's Last Summer, My Legendary Girlfriend, Deep Fried in Kelvin, The Fear in its superior extended guise, even Common People in full nearly reaches 6 minutes) - which can be awkward for vinyl.

It's also genuinely very difficult if you're limiting yourself to a single disc! Achieving the balance of hits / album stuff / b-sides is very hard, so it's even harder with only the length of a single LP. You need Common People and Disco 2000 - but how far down the hits route do you continue? Sorted, which they've played in basically every live gig since it was released (they dropped it briefly during October 2001)? Something Changed? Underwear? I Spy and F.E.E.L.I.N.G. are obviously good enough for a Best Of, but now you've basically got Different Class.

I mean vinyl in particular. There's still a buoyant market for it, prices are going-up all the time on new releases. Hits or some sort of Best Of would do great business now everyone remembers how great they were.

Just tweak Hits (omit Underwear and Miner's Strike - insert Misshapes, Mile End and After You if poss - or do a more creative one that Sam mentioned i.e Blur's Midlife).

Double vinyl, updated artwork, liner notes from Mark and Jarvis, with Steve's remastering from 2019/20. £39.99. I'd be a sucker for it and so would 10,000 other people.

Got an update on Fire Records. Will post it soon, just on holiday at the mo so everythings on the slow.

the released date of Something Changed EP has been corrected

Whats the difference between Help the aged single and album versions? I always thought they sounded similar?

The release dates from the early fire singles are now corrected

I suspect that the Hardcore singles would have charted higher had they released new songs instead of remixes on both CDs, which we now know they could have done with all those outtakes on the Deluxe. I know that I checked out of buying remix CD2s by then (not just for Pulp) and I suspect quite a few others felt the same.

I honestly think the new streamed version of Help The Aged is remastered. The treble in the mix is far higher than the Hits and Jardcore versions?

hugomrtnzz wrote:

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The release dates from the early fire singles are now corrected

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Looks like all the badgering has finally paid off, My Legendary Girlfriend is still wrong as is the countdown one but theyre closer to what they should be than what they were.  Hoping Masters Of The Universe is put up too. 

Scottbloodyfrazer wrote:

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I honestly think the new streamed version of Help The Aged is remastered. The treble in the mix is far higher than the Hits and Jardcore versions?

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It does sound a bit different. Bit brighter, bit clearer than the version of the 2006 re-release. 

 

Could this mean TIH could be re-released and only that ? 

-- Edited by andy on Friday 4th of August 2023 01:19:48 PM

Yes, it is so much better than the album version and as the CD is at my parents house, I have to Youtube it when I fancy a listen.

Eamonn wrote:

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Yes, it is so much better than the album version and as the CD is at my parents house, I have to Youtube it when I fancy a listen.

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 Funny, you mentioned in the other thread how Jarvis' songs can be slightly too long. I love the cut verses/lines in this version, but I do wonder if clipping them might have aided the song's replayability. Seems like a shrewd choice from Ed Buller (unlike his constant marginalisation of Russell's violin), and shows that they saw it as a potential single.

He knows your friend called Heather but he never touched her never. Listened to the Peel version recently and it is ace.

I think that the "Help the Aged" single is a decent package. The title track is a bit of a slow-burner, true. But it does have a soaring chorus and I remember how I had really gotten into it after the third or fourth listen. It's certainly not a disastrous comeback single like "The Trees" (nice song but only works on the album). It's great to have the final version of "Tomorrow Never Lies" and it's great how they pursued this rather than abandoning it altogether after it was rejected as a Bond theme. It is interesting to speculate how it might have turned out if it had been selected as the Bond theme, I presume that it would have been recorded with a different producer and released as a single in its own right. We'll never know. Again, a bit of a slow-burner that is great once you get used to it. "Laughing Boy" is great as well, better than some of the slower songs that made it onto the album. I remember Jarvis saying at the time that he wanted to make a low-key comeback and this single does exactly that. One CD, fairly limited promotion. Great video though.

As for b-sides and remixes in general, I think that they could have done a bit better at times. For comparison, Pulp released 4 b-sides on the "Different Class" singles (including "Underwear") and Suede released 14 on the "Coming Up" singles although there were 5 of them. There were definitely some demos that could have been used instead of those awful remixes. I'm not saying that they should have released all of them (see Blur; some of their b-sides really weren't worth the paper they were written on) but some of Pulp's singles could have been a bit better. "Party Hard" was probably one of the worst offenders, especially now we've heard "It's a Dirty World" which could have replaced the nice but pointless extended version of "The Fear" or the god-awful Stretch and Vern remix of the title track. Also, releasing two CDs with the same tracklisting for "Something Changed" was quite ridiculous. Sure, "Mile End" is great and the Moloko remix is interesting but sticking "Catcliffe Shakedown" and "Don't Lose It" on CD2 would have made it much better.

Ian wrote:

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As for b-sides and remixes in general, I think that they could have done a bit better at times. For comparison, Pulp released 4 b-sides on the "Different Class" singles (including "Underwear") and Suede released 14 on the "Coming Up" singles although there were 5 of them. There were definitely some demos that could have been used instead of those awful remixes. I'm not saying that they should have released all of them (see Blur; some of their b-sides really weren't worth the paper they were written on) but some of Pulp's singles could have been a bit better. "Party Hard" was probably one of the worst offenders, especially now we've heard "It's a Dirty World" which could have replaced the nice but pointless extended version of "The Fear" or the god-awful Stretch and Vern remix of the title track. Also, releasing two CDs with the same tracklisting for "Something Changed" was quite ridiculous. Sure, "Mile End" is great and the Moloko remix is interesting but sticking "Catcliffe Shakedown" and "Don't Lose It" on CD2 would have made it much better.

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 There's artistic, clever, meaningful career suicide (see: the This Is Hardcore single) and then there's inept career suicide (releasing CD2 of Party Hard with two remixes, the second one of which was too long and made the CD chart ineligible).

Is it known what specifically Russell disliked about HTA / what he would've wanted to release instead?

Anyone know if theyve sorted out the other EPs apart from Disco 2000 and onwards? Just the Babies Single mix and the Sorted EP versions? Also was listening to my His N Hers 25 anniversary remaster LP the other day and couldnt believe how different that version of Babies sounds to the common one thats widely available, especially in the chorus parts where there was little guitar whatsoever.

I agree with your points about "Tomorrow Never Lies". I'm guessing that they had a prototype Pulp song, or at least an idea at the time that they used as the basis for the Bond theme then when it was rejected, they decided to see it through to completion.

It's good to see that Fire have corrected some of the release dates. I'm not sure if the "Master of the Universe" single and "They Suffocate at Night" 7" will ever appear. These have never been reissued so I'm guessing that the only place the tracks exist are the master tapes and the original releases. Also, Jarvis would probably put his foot down with regards to "Silence".

joemc5054 wrote:

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Anyone know if theyve sorted out the other EPs apart from Disco 2000 and onwards? Just the Babies Single mix and the Sorted EP versions? Also was listening to my His N Hers 25 anniversary remaster LP the other day and couldnt believe how different that version of Babies sounds to the common one thats widely available, especially in the chorus parts where there was little guitar whatsoever.

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Not as far as I know. The new masters have been delivered - every EP needs some replacements - but I've been given the impression that the tidy-up will happen at the end, once the last EP (Bad Cover Version) is out. I'll keep badgering until they're all corrected.

He must be teasing it for the reissue of Freak Out The Squares which is now out of print.

PaulTMA wrote:

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Been searching around but can't find it, how can I read Stephen's Russell interview if it ever got put together?

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 I've been given the delightful task of turning it into a proper article - it's nearly done now! That article will be heading zinewards, so it'll be on the Web somewhere. Not long now...

It is genuinely on it's way, Eamonn. A lovely article - so I'm told! - with the full transcript also being made available shortly after. Definitely available before its 8th anniversary:)

On Spotify, if you add up the total streams of "Common People (Full Length Version)" and "Common People (7" Edit)"...

...you get 199,616,240.

Disco 2000 hit 100,000,000 streams recently - looks like Common People's about to hit 200,000,000!

This Is Hardcore EP released today. All tracks are taken from the original CD singles, so any differences with the versions already put out on the Deluxe Edition should be apparent.

The 4 Hero remix has been correctly credited to them, oddly the credits for Tipsy and Stock, Hausen & Walkman didn't make it.

That YouTube version removes the tape hiss and vinyl crackle pretty well, I'm not sure you'll be able to do much about the poor quality of the track itself as that's just what you hear on the record - probably what Pulp supplied them with. Similiar to the version of You're Not Blind on His 'n' Hers Deluxe, it just sounds like the source was a tape that had been played a lot...

I had a listen on my way to work this morning, it's nice to have the full End of the Line remix available. Does anyone know why this was shortened on the deluxe edition?

As for the other remixes, I haven't listened to these for years and with good reason. To be fair, the 4 Hero remix isn't too bad but the other two are terrible. Granted, a Motiv-8 style dance remix wouldn't have worked for "This is Hardcore" but anything would be better than these. Well, save for the Stretch and Vern remix of "Party Hard", maybe.

A Little Soul EP is back out now! Everything is perfect about it.