Talk Talk's Laughing Stock extra bit??

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by Phil Tate, Aug 16, 2015.

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  1. Phil Tate

    Phil Tate Miss you Indy x Thread Starter

    Location:
    South Shields
    This is one of my favourite albums of all time, so I was intrigued to read this on Wikipedia:

    'There is a brief, untitled instrumental fragment preceding "Taphead" at the beginning of side 2 on the LP/cassette version. This is present on the US CD, but the UK omits it with "After The Flood" crossfading into "Taphead".'

    Can anyone confirm this? I recently got a cheap original (I think - catalog number 847 717-4) UK cassette copy off eBay so I could hear this extra bit, but there's no more than on my CD (847 717-2) - the end of side one just fades out at the end of "After The Flood" and side two fades into "Taphead". Does anyone know anything more about this extra fragment? Anyone got the LP (or the US CD)?
     
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  2. richard a

    richard a Forum Resident

    Location:
    borley, essex, uk
    I've never had Laughing Stock on vinyl, only on CD, but a friend ripped the vinyl for me years ago, just so, for completeness, I could hear the un-crossfaded "Flood" / "Taphead". I can't lay my hands on it right at the moment, but from memory all you heard was a clean a fade out on "After The Flood" and a clean intro on "Taphead" - just as you've described from the cassette. It may have been fractionally longer at the beginning, but I don't remember it being any different than that. And certainly no individual separate track.
     
  3. Raf

    Raf Senior Member

    Location:
    Toronto, Ontario
    You can see the track-time differences in the iTunes listings for the US and UK editions of the album.

    Here's what I wrote in 2008:
    http://forums.stevehoffman.tv/threa...o-colour-of-spring.126207/page-4#post-3161201
    http://forums.stevehoffman.tv/threa...o-colour-of-spring.126207/page-4#post-3161295
    I tried editing that Wikipedia entry to remove the wrong info, but someone added it right back. This thread is the first time I've heard anything new about this (i.e., that the cassette and vinyl are the same as the US CD and don't contain a "brief, untitled instrumental fragment"). If there is a definitive answer regarding this, I haven't seen it.
     
    Last edited: Aug 16, 2015
  4. Bob J

    Bob J Forum Resident

    My US CD and my EU pressed double LP both have the fragment.
     
  5. Phil Tate

    Phil Tate Miss you Indy x Thread Starter

    Location:
    South Shields
    Really? Can you describe it? How long is it?
     
  6. synthfrog

    synthfrog Forum Resident

    Location:
    Amsterdam
    Do you refer to the 4-second string strum that precedes Taphead? It's on my US cd.

    You can hear it here if you listen closely:

     
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  7. Bob J

    Bob J Forum Resident

    At first, there's a muted strum of a guitar. Then, there's what sounds like a couple of bent notes on a guitar and then maybe a couple of notes on a bass guitar. The whole thing lasts for 4 seconds.
     
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  8. penguinzzz

    penguinzzz Forum Resident

    Location:
    Charlton, London
    I've never been made aware of this issue, but 4 seconds of Talk Talk is worth a few hours of most other bands!
     
  9. Squealy

    Squealy Forum Hall Of Fame

    Location:
    Vancouver
    And was the final result of 100 hours of studio time.
     
  10. Phil Tate

    Phil Tate Miss you Indy x Thread Starter

    Location:
    South Shields
    Thank you! I've definitely never heard that before.

    Couldn't agree more!
     
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  11. Raf

    Raf Senior Member

    Location:
    Toronto, Ontario
    I've always considered that a part of "Taphead," not a "brief, untitled instrumental fragment."
     
  12. Bob J

    Bob J Forum Resident

    On both the CD and the LP that I have, that "fragment" is actually at the beginning of "Taphead" but it's apparently not on all editions of the album so is it really a part of the song or not? Would be fun to know for sure.
     
  13. jamesc

    jamesc Senior Member

    Location:
    Dallas, TX
    It does seem like maybe it's not supposed to be there because it ends abruptly and then there's a brief pause before Taphead starts. It's on my US CD from the week it was released (847 717-2 02!). I will treasure it now that I know it's there. Maybe the band can revisit it and form a complete song out of it like the Beatles did with Real Love. :p

    It reminds me a bit of the couple of notes that precede Carnage Visors on the UK Faith cassette. They were left off of the later US Elektra cassette and the Deluxe CD edition.
     
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  14. Phil Tate

    Phil Tate Miss you Indy x Thread Starter

    Location:
    South Shields
    Hooray! I found a sealed US copy on eBay for £3.70 including postage, so I've finally got the extra fragment! It's playing now... what an astonishing album this is. Also so strange to hear "After The Flood" fading out without the guitar intro to "Taphead" creeping in. (Of course if you consider that as £3.70 for 4 seconds of music, it works out at around £2,400 for the whole album...)

    Incidentally, if anyone else is hungry for more Laughing Stock era Talk Talk, the three singles from that album are well worth hunting out. They include a different version of "After The Flood" and two new tracks, "Stump" and "5.09". They're also on picture CDs which fit in a beautiful 12" box. The whole set can be found for a reasonable price on eBay quite often.

    Edit: Just noticed that "After The Flood" on this version continues for about 12 seconds after the point where the UK version cuts off. So that's a whole 16 seconds of extra Talk Talk loveliness!
     
    Last edited: Aug 27, 2015
  15. Bob J

    Bob J Forum Resident

    Phil, glad that you were able to grab a copy of the US issue and wallow in those extra 16 seconds of TT.
    "Stump", "5.09" and the single version of "After the Flood" (as well as "Piano") are also on the "Missing Pieces" CD and my double-vinyl LP. I love the single version of "ATF". Treasured parts of my collection.
     
    Phil Tate likes this.
  16. It's Felix

    It's Felix It's not really me

    Great thread. I agree 4 seconds of TT is more pleasure than many bands create in a career. The singles from laughingstock you mention. Are they really singles? Never heard of them
     
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  17. Phil Tate

    Phil Tate Miss you Indy x Thread Starter

    Location:
    South Shields
    Yes, three singles were released:
    "After The Flood" (alternate version)/"Myrrhman"
    "New Grass"/"Stump"
    "Ascension Day"/"5.09"
    I don't think they troubled the charts much, sadly.

    The box set, featuring the original Laughing Stock artwork, can be seen at the bottom of this page
    http://jamesmarsh.com/design/singles/
     
    It's Felix likes this.
  18. Six String

    Six String Senior Member

    I just pre-ordered this with Music Direct. Release is in two weeks. I usually don't risk it but I'll take one for the team and report asap. I didn't risk the Ba Da Bing copies because of what seemed like a large number of defective pressings,
    so we'll see what happens this time. Hopefully the excellent pressing of Spirit Of Eden will spur on greatness. Yeah, right. I can dream.
     
  19. It's Felix

    It's Felix It's not really me

    Hi. Have you found out any more details of this release!
     
  20. Six String

    Six String Senior Member

    I have my copy of the newly reissued Laughing Stock. What kind of details are you looking for?
     
  21. It's Felix

    It's Felix It's not really me

    It isn't for sale anywhere in the Uk - I wondered if it was US only, and whether it was another Ba Da bing, or a new one like the 2012 reissues on Polypro. cheers
     
  22. Six String

    Six String Senior Member

    Yes, it's a U.S. Polydor mastered at Capitol lp.
     
  23. It's Felix

    It's Felix It's not really me

    cheers
     
  24. rollo5

    rollo5 Forum Reprobate

    Location:
    Altadena, CA
    Did you like this pressing? Is it still available?
     
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