US Promo 45's Mono Mixes

I have a few US White Label Promo singles from the 70's (and one from 1980) which contain the stereo mix on one side with the mono mix on the other. Having done a search on the forum I am still looking for the answer to two questions. a) Why issue a mono mix at all in the 1970's and b) Were the mono mix's a fold down of the stereo or different mix's as found in the 60's on, for example, Beatles songs.

Your help is much appreciated. BTW all the promo's I have are of the great guitarist Jeff Beck.

 

Most people still listened to radio in mono in the early 70's, so a WLP in mono would still make sense. I can think of one instance where the mix was different for a mono mix (promo only), for Donovan's Hurdy Gurdy Man LP in 1969, with the voice mixed forward for the whole thing.

 

Thanks, Bob

 

Most mono/stereo promos from the early 1970's onwards contained folded down mono mixes, merely to prevent any sort of phasing issues with radio stations of the day that were still wired for mono.

By the time the 80's rolled around, some labels were still doing the mono/stereo thing (Atlantic comes to mind), but by then it was kind of a moot point, as most studios by that time had either been built "stereo compatible" or had been upgraded.

 

there are GREAT mono sides!

During the 1970s, when a lot of major record companies produced mono/stereo DJ 45s, sometimes the mono side did sound really great. In my estimation, Brown Sugar and Tumbling Dice are two such cases. I've had the promo 45s since they were released, and they have always sounded much better than the lp tracks, or than the stereo flip sides!

 

I've been digging thru my 45 collection lately and setting aside many promo "MONO" mixes. One in particular that soars in MONO is, "Shambala" by Three Dog Night, WOW is all I can say, compared to the STEREO version. I also found the ultra-rare STEREO version of Steely Dan's "Dallas" and the heavily edited 45 promo MONO version of Paul McCartney & Wings, "Jet".

Chris C

 

possibly much of WEA, as I have some elektras like that (late as 1986)

indeed! even after the turn of the century, I heard some songs used as bumper music on AM radio with only one channel audible

 

Semi-off topic, but I remember in Honolulu when there was an announcement that it was possible for AM radio stereo broadcasts. I think coincidentally, that was around the time a lot of people moved over to FM radio for listening. At least for me it was.

 

I can confirm that the mono 45 of "Tumblin' Dice" by the Rolling Stones is fantastic. I am STILL looking for a clean mono 45 of Brown Sugar. However, I do also have a mono 45 of Angie and that too is well worth having. Same also for the Rascals "People Got to be Free."

 

The stereo side is fake stereo.

 

Which version of "Shambala" was used on the 2 disc Three Dog Night 1965-1975 collection? I know the notes claim many original single mixes were used, but they are not identified as stereo or mono.

 

I believe it was mono, but former lead singer Chuck Negron told me a few years ago he thought it was true stereo. Uh, no...

 

The mono single mix was used on the 2-disc set.

There is no true stereo mix anywhere, vinyl or CD.

 

AM stereo came out in the 1980s, and a few stations still use it today. Most AM stations gave it up when they went to talk formats.

 

That's right, I remember my dad had a car in the early 80's that was AM stereo compatible.


See also-- AM radio in stereo - Does anyone remember this?

 

Many bits to reply to here:

Re: Steve's comment about radio platters only getting one side of audio. IMHO, someone dropped the ball when wiring it, because the only way a cart is going to get one side of audio is if it's a stereo cart that's half-wired only to one channel. I've heard it happen, too, )in the late days of TT's in the early 90's) and it drives you nuts!

Re: "Shambala". The only way to hear this song is to track down a mono source, as it was indeed mixed to fake stereo. I own an original reference acetate that was delivered to a friend who was a radio PD back when it was released, and it is in surprisingly great condition. It's the best sounding cut of that song I have ever heard. Too bad noone has gone back to the multi's for this one, 'cause it really is one of 3DN's best tunes.

Re: AM Stereo. Sadly, part of the reason that AM Stereo never took off was the fact that the FCC dropped the ball and procrastinated in choosing a "standard" system. Much like the RCA Color/CBS Color TV competition back in the 50's, there was the C-Quam AM Stereo system, the Kahn AM Stereo system, and 3 other lesser-ran systems which never really took off. Here's a link to Wikipedia which gives the technical lowdown:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AM-Stereo

For a while, a station in Conneticut which we could hear on Long Island was broadcasting in AM stereo. (There were others, but none of them were really playing music). I want to say it was WICC, but it's been a few years. I remember hearing a Carpenters song in wide stereo and saying "Wow!".

If you have a wideband AM reciever, it can sound almost as good as FM. I've heard it, so I can vouch, but in the days of digital that we're in, trying to promote ANYTHING having to do with AM is a moot point and a waste of time.

(Give me a highly compressed and over processed AM music station, any day. Sure, it goes against any audiophile principles, but it just sounded so damn cool! Ever hear "Whole Lotta Love" on WABC? Wow!)

 

All of 'em? How uniformly negligent!

I was involved in an AM radio station whose turntable was wired out-of-phase. It didn't get noticed until the station was actually on-air. The DJ put the fact it sounded crap down to the record being mono (rather than it cancelling out and him having to crank the gain right up!)

 

There are NO multis of "Shambala" to go back to.Tossed along with all the other Dunhill/ABC multis.--They never even had a chance to do a stereo mix,that's how quickly the multi got tossed.
...And I have at least three airchecks of WABC playing "Whole Lotta Love".

 

It's almost beyond belief, and yet having worked in radio engineering I know exactly what you mean.

I always kept a stereo copy of the "Please Please Me" album handy for the same purpose. (In fact, I still use two copies of the album if I ever have to make adjustments at home - stereo to check the channels are the right way round, mono to check phase and balance. My wife always knows when I'm tinkering, as the first few bars of "I Saw Her Standing There" can be heard blasting out repeatedly, with intermittent swearing. I've often threatened to have the track cut onto a dubplate specially for the purpose.)

Talking of which, I was so disappointed on finding the mono side of the Andy Fairweather-Low "Wide Eyed & Legless" promo single was a fold-down. I really wanted it to be significantly different. Oh, well...

 

I recall reading an article by Richard Carpenter in one of the radio trade mags in the mid 70s. He explained why it was important for AM stations to play the mono side of promo 45s instead of folding the stereo side, due to the center channel boost that happens when the left and right channels are mixed. I had never thought of that before. I worked in production then and carted all the music for the station. From then on I always used the mono side!

 

Are there any examples of post '69 mono/stereo promo 45s that have a unique mono mix?

 

I can't say I ever heard a dramatic difference between the stereo side and the mono side when summing to mono, but I figured if a guy like Richard Carpenter would go to the trouble to write a magazine article about it, there must be something to it. Maybe the real reason for the article was to make sure both channels got on the air, without insulting the intelligence of engineers from coast to coast. I wonder if the Carpenters used dedicated mono mixes on their promo 45s?