I've never heard any of the 'Blue Monday' vinyl pressings with the missing beat(s) (my 12" is the same as the 'Substance' version), but there were 7 beats missing from the versions on 'Blue Monday 95', 'International', and the first version of 'Singles'. A very strange mistake, meaning the first beat of the track in these erroneous versions is actually the 4th and final beat of the second bar of the song.

Speaking of; Dead or Alive is getting their Recycle: TownsendMusic.store

So that means those pressings start with the 8x 16th note fast bass beats then?

I'm sure it must be the Nelson Mandela effect, but we used to listen to the Blue Monday 12" obsessively circa 1985/86 when we were round at a mates playing on his BBC Micro and I always remembered the distinct bass drum intro has having SIX single beats before the double-time beats. Like it was burned into my brain

Hence it was always confusing when I heard later digital versions that didn't have all the beats. However - it now transpires that there were only ever TWO single beats at the start and I'm losing my mind

AAAAARGH! Don't do this to me man! (heads to discogs to look for mid-80s pressings)

None of the pressings have extra beats. Some have one (or more missing). The version on 'Substance' is the musically correct version, with two beats before the 16th note beats. That's the version that starts on the first beat of the first 4/4 bar, as they play it live.

Edited by user 21 November 2023 12:40:08(UTC)  | Reason: Not specified

Those versions are actually almost two bars shorter, having 7 beats missing from the start, meaning the first beat is actually the 4th and final beat of the second bar of the song.

and here are the remastered 12 inches, front and back.






i never had the original UK true faith remix 12 inch,

i'm surprised they put 1963 on there again, instead of remix or something else.

i saw the australian one with the paradise remix, so of course i got that with
the limited money i had. i didn't get the UK true faith original either, because
i got the US 12 inch with the same cover. however it had the remixes on it,
and not the 12 inch versions.


later
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ne gative 1

Edited by user 22 November 2023 17:09:19(UTC)  | Reason: Not specified

Just verified the above with the 'Blue Monday 95' version of this. Here's where the following sections start;

First synth line starts fading in

• 'Substance' version: 0:15
  
• 95 version: 0:11
  

Bassline and full drums start

• 'Substance' version: 0:30
  
• 95 version: 0:27
  

Hooky's bass guitar starts

• 'Substance' version: 1:17
  
• 95 version: 1:14
  

So the versions that appear to have extra beats at the start, are actually shorter at the start, missing earlier beats.

Top sleuthing - still amazes me that we're continuing to identify the vagaries of the catalog after all this time!

As the single came out in May 82 and the 1981-82 comp came out in the November, I guess they must have just sent the wrong master mix to the US for the compilation. Are you tempted to do the forensics on the rest of the 1981-82 mixes to see if any other differences leap out?

Based on my above findings, I've actually created my own 'Alternate Expanded Edition' version in my own digital music library, editing three tracks, and switching out two tracks in favour of their original 1987 'Substance' originals (with the average volume levels carefully matched to those of the newer 2023 remastered counterparts using the Wavehammer plugin in Sound Forge, to give the playlist a consistent volume). These are my changes, that provide me with what I feel is a slightly more authentic version of the remastered 'Substance':

Disc 1:

• Edited the end of the remastered 'The Perfect Kiss' and the start of the remastered 'Subculture', to reproduce the the gap between the end of 'The Perfect Kiss' and 'Subculture' (which is around 3 seconds shorter on the original 'Substance'). On the original, 'Subculture' kicks in just as that funny "goblin" sound at the end of 'The Perfect Kiss' begins to fade out (it's either a very tight edit, or a slight crossfade). I've heard the album so many times, I find myself getting impatient waiting for 'Subculture' to start - so I recreated this gap in SoundForge to give me a remastered version that reproduces this shorter segue. Yes I know, very sad.

Disc 2:

• Replaced the remastered 'Hurt' with the version from the original 'Substance' CD2 version (with a volume boost), as this correctly edits down the master from the original 12", rather than the alternate take from '1981-1982' and the 2019 remastered 'Temptation' single
  
• Edited the remastered 'Murder' to remove the first 11 beats that never appeared on the original 12", the original 'Substance', or the 2020 remastered single
  
• Replaced the remastered 'Thieves Like Us Instrumental' with the original 'Substance' CD2 version as the 2023 remaster and the 2020 remastered version on the re-released 'Murder' single are re-created edits of 2 x alternate takes ("Take 1" from 'Power, Corruption & Lies' Collector's Edition; "Take 2" from US 'Shellshock' 12"), digitally editing Take 1 into Take 2 at around 1:49-1:53, plus reproducing a looped section from 3:35 that repeats at 3:52. The edits at 1:49-1:53 are actually more in time with the beat of the track than in the original 12"/'Substance' version (these would have been clumsy tape edits). The loop edit at 3:52 is ever-so slightly different and later than the tighter tape edit in the original. In the interest of authenticity, I've used the original version from the 1987 'Substance' (with a volume boost) - as I kind of like hearing those mistimed tape edits.
  

Disc 3:
I made no changes to these tracks, although I noted:

• 'Temptation (Original 12'): as with the re-released single digital remaster, this has a slightly longer fade in, which starts at an earlier point than the original release - trivial minor difference
  
• 'Bizarre Dub Triangle': there's a slight dulling in the high frequencies between 6:27 and 6:30 (most noticeable in the hi-hats). I have another digital version of this on the Canadian 'Bizarre Love Triangle' CD single, but the 2023 'Substance' remaster has a warmer sound, so I've stuck with this version in my 'Alternate Expanded Edition', as I can live with that brief fluctuation. Hope they can fix this when the digital re-release of the 'Bizarre Love Triangle' 12' single comes out with the 'Brotherhood' definitive edition.
  

So, I adore the track selection and remastering for this new version, but my attention to detail made me make some tiny adjustments to the timings and versions in my digital audio library to get the proper, authentic, definitive version of it at long last! I have this on my digital music library and iPod as a playlist reproducing the running order of the original 28 track cassette - great to have a remastered version to listen to that has versions all sounding exactly as they originally did in 1987!

This actually means that the original, FAC63 UK 12" version of 'Hurt' has never been released on CD or digitally, even after well over 40 years. Wonder if the master tape still exists?