Info about Stevie Wonder's "Original Musiquarium"?

Are any songs on this album mixed or edited differently? Were any single versions used? Are the four songs from 1982 all exclusive to this album?

 

Pretty sure the four extra songs (or at least two of them) are on Song Review. A 90s comp.

 

"That Girl" and "Frontline" weren't on Song Review

"You Are The Sunshine Of My Life" is the single mix with the horns.

 

The rills between the songs are almost non-existant. Fortunately there's no seguing, but one song ends and 1/2 second later the next one begins.

 

"Living for the City" has some different chat in the "talking section." On this version the jailer doesn't say "******." Perhaps this was the single version, although I doubt it because it's still so long time-wise.

 

That's weird. I didn't even know about that! You're right, though, the single version fades well before any talking...

 

About the only single version is "You Are The Sunshine Of My Life". All others are the long versions.

 

All I know is that it sounds great on vinyl.

 

Wow...I have to re-listen, but I'm pretty sure "Living FOr The City" has the n-word comment intact on mine, which is the original US CD Master (not the remaster)

I also remember reading somewhere that Stevie himself provided the final master to Motown on this on the last day possible for release, which would lead me to believe that the tracks on here might be from slightly superior masters (Stevie's personal ones) than the ones in the Motown vaults...

 

The version of "Living For The City" that's on all pressings of "Original Musiquarium" including the vinyl LP use the same original LP version from "Innervisions" with the n-word intact.

You are right that the masters Motown used for the album were ones that were compiled from Stevie's original first generation tapes. They're technically still second generation masters but they're probably of better quality than the production masters Motown had in their vault. The transfers and mastering were done by Stephen Marcussen at Precision Lacquer. In fact there is a photo in the booklet of the Stevie Wonder box set, where he is presenting the finished masters to Berry Gordy.

 

Was "Living For The City" edited for the 24-bit remaster?.....

I'd check mine but I destroyed it before it destroyed my hearing - that version was BRIGHT!!!!!!!

 

Even my wife noticed!

 

I have to admit ORIGINAL MUSIQUARIUM VOL. 1 is one of the best compilations (by any artist) out there. Also, the then new songs were slammin', too.

 

I haven't played this comp for a while, but I don't think that Living For The City is exactly like the Innervisions track. The length and structure matches the original, but from what I recall there are some mix differences (and perhaps even additional overdubs) on the Original Musiquarium version.

The fade of Boogie On Reggae Woman is also slightly longer on OM.

There may be other minor differences, but those are the two I recall off the top of my head.

 

Trust me, it's the exact same.

 

The real reason I bought Original Musiquarium- was for "Ribbon In The Sky". I never found this trinket anywhere else.

I have my vinyl back from the early 80's, and I have the original CD release.

Chris

 

Is "Boogie On Reggae Woman" a different mix or just a longer edit?

Is "You Are The Sunshine Of My Life" definitely the single mix?

 

Same mix.

Yes.

 

Thank you Grant for that info. So are there any alternate mixes on this set at all?

My copy just arrived! I checked "Living For The City" and it does indeed have the n-word in it and sounds exactly like "Innervisions" version - so much for that. I will check out the rest of the CD when I have time. I now have all of the original CD's of Steve's 70's output - plus the "Innervisions" MFSL - and I'm excited about that. They're so much better than the ear-bleeding remasters. Time to make a mix CD....

 

Yep...that's where I must have remembered reading about the masters being delivered from Stevie.

I'm telling you...that's why the comp sounded so superior at the time (before the remastering). Stevie needs to do "definitive" remasters from his own tapes. For someone so fastidious about sound, to have inferior product available on the market just doesn't make sense.

 

It's also the only place where the full length version of the song was released, with a clean intro. On "Fulfillingness' First Finale", part of the intro has been crossfaded from the end of "Too Shy To Say".

 

Well, you can trust me (or listen for yourself if you don't want to trust me. I just compared the Original Musiquarium cd with the MoFi Innervisions cd. In addition to there being some mix differences during the spoken interlude (mostly more prominent synths, just as I remembered), there's actually an extra measure of music right after the n-word on the OM version compared to the Innervisions version so it's pretty easy to tell that the two are not identical. Just compare the section from approximately 4:45 to 5:20 seconds of the song and the differences should be obvious, particularly right before the last verse begins.

I recall this difference being present on the vinyl as well (which I no longer have) because the differences between the lp and what I was used to really stood out for me at the time, Stevie having been my favorite music artist throughout the seventies.

 

Playing LFTC off the remaster and original OM cd reminded me just how much those Stevie Wonder remasters were screwed up. Why, oh why, when they supposedly used lower generation tapes did they have the jack the upper frequencies up so much?