The Kinks 'Hit Singles' U.K. PRT 1987

First of all, if any Gorts feel this needs moving, please do so. As we all know, The Kinks 'pink' sleeve is the go-to CD for the singles. 'Hit Singles' is - to my ears - identical to this. Not loud and - more importantly - no noise reduction. I've just received a copy of this for £1.99 and the seller has another six copies. Just go to Amazon.co.uk and type in 'The Kinks Hit Singles'; it will bring up two options, one of which is '(import)' - this is NOT the one you want, choose the other one. I think they're actually a bit cheaper than the one I bought. The seller is 'zoverstocks'. They also have an eighties comp simply called 'The Hollies'; again, a straight transfer. This disc has the best-sounding version of 'Gasoline Alley Bred' I've heard on silver disc. Hope this stops some of you paying inflated prices. My early Christmas gift to you all. Well, six of you.

 

I believe the "Hit Singles" disc also has more tracks than the Pink disc.

-s1m0n-

 

No, same 20 tracks.

 

Simon sold me mine, and it's STILL the quietest CD in my vast collection.

http://forums.stevehoffman.tv/searc...=date&c[node]=28&c[user][0]=12665&c[prefix]=2

 

My PRT "Ugly Pink" has 18 tracks. My PRT "Hit Singles" has 20 tracks.

 

Really?. Blimey, my memory's shot already. Which two tracks are missing from the 'Pink', M?.

 

"Death Of A Clown" and "Susannah's Still Alive", I think.
BTW, I feel the "Pink" CD sounds much better than the Hit Singles. I sold mine after I got the Ugly Pink.
Here's a thread comparing tracks from these, among others: http://forums.stevehoffman.tv/threa...-cd-on-prt-ugly-pink-black-cover.42547/page-3
Scroll down to post #72 by Andreas.

 

Yup.

 

What is the difference between the one labeled import and the other? Zoverstocks is selling both for about the same price. The reason I wonder is I always expext to receive the wrong one when both versions look alike. Do you think Zoverstocks see a differnce between them?

They state they have 14 copies available.

 

There are three different masterings of Hit Singles. The good one, as vinylman says, is the PRT issue from the U.K., PYC 4001. There's also a German mastering from PRT/Teldec with absolutely no treble (2292-43968-2 / 8.26680), and a French mastering from Carrere with way too much treble (CA 96.472). The cover art is similar for all three, but the German version has two blue stripes at the top (as pictured in the Amazon art) and the French version says "CARRERE" in the lower right corner. Avoid both of those.

I'm only seeing the "import" (German?) version on Amazon U.K. right now, though the other one was there an hour ago. Then again, I'm not sure I'd trust the Amazon retailers to know or care about the difference.

The U.K. Hit Singles has a dullish version of "Waterloo Sunset" with a minor drop-out, but otherwise it's great. And yeah, it sounds very similar to the notorious "ugly pink" Greatest Hits, though Greatest Hits has a bit more low end. (In fact the U.K. Hit Singles is probably preferable for "See My Friends," "Till the End of the Day," and "Victoria," which have some small glitches on the "ugly pink" disc.)

 

Hrrnh? That thread doesn't talk about Hit Singles. (And some of the other information in there is a little out of date — e.g., the Japanese collection they're talking about is now known to come in two different masterings, one of them noise-reduced.)

 

The UK "Hit Singles" CD (PYC 4001) is a different mastering than the WG "Hit Singles" CD (PRT 2282-43968-2 or PRT 8.26680 ZR). There have been reports that the former equals or comes close to the ugly pink mastering.

http://forums.stevehoffman.tv/threads/questions-about-the-kinks-hit-singles-on-cd.233959/
http://forums.stevehoffman.tv/threads/kinks-prt-hit-singles.107712/
http://forums.stevehoffman.tv/threads/the-kinks-hit-singles-pye-pyc-4000-cd.71939/

 

I haven't checked those links, but I recall reading awhile back that the West German CD was to be avoided. It's been years since I've played it, and I frankly don't remember how it sounds. I obtained the U.K. pressing later on, and it sounds quite good.

 

Oh, that WG 'Hit Singles'................ I was fooled into buying that a couple of years ago. It's distinguishable from the UK PRT version by a couple of horizontal blue lines on the front booklet pic at the top. It's absolutely AWFUL. It's no-noised to the nth degree. Avoid at all costs. This is why in my OP yesterday I said that they had two versions listed on Amazon.co.uk, and that the one to avoid was the one marked '(import)'. I know this sounds OTT, but there is absolutely NO top end on the WG version. Leave well alone.

 

Sounds like the best bet is to buy the ugly pink and the correct hit singles cd and make a hybrid of both substituting the three songs from ugly pink with the hit singles masterings as Mathew B mentioned.

How do these two cds compare with the sound quality of the new/most recent masterings that seem to get high praise at SHFs?

 

Also, can someone kindly supply a couple of pics of the correct Hit Singles to have?

 

This is the one to avoid. Blue stripes at the top.

 

And this is the one you most definitely want.

 

That would make it one of the earlier no-noised discs (1987). Surprising. I thought maybe it was taken from a bad source tape. Interesting. I'll have to give the West German disc a spin. It's been a long time since I listened to it.

 

Please don't play it, Keith; you'll thank me for it, honestly. The German disc must be a later, no-noised version. Surely 1987 would be too early for that?.

 

The PYC 4001 copy I have - the disc is pressed by Nimbus. Which is always a scary thing.

 

Strange, I've never had a faulty Nimbus disc.

 

There isn't anything like digital noise reduction on the German PRT disc, it's more like they just EQ'd most of the treble out.

 

Thanks for the pics!

 

It could have been no-noised in '87, thought that would have been early. Some of the pre-Hoffman DCC aluminum CDs from 1986 are marked "Waring", which as I understand was an early form of noise reduction.