what in the WORLD is this clicking noise on 'rocket man' on my US gr hits LP????

Thread caught my attention.

Went back and listened to my original MCA CD with Sennheiser phones on.

Sounds like it's just the stick hitting the cymbal. Maybe a little high up in the mix.

Plastic tips??

 

for what it's worth, on my system it clearly sounds like Nigel doing it. It is quite natural sounding and doesn't in any way distract from the piece. I like it, it sort of signals his entrance...

 

It is not from the session or it would be present on every pressing & format of the song. It isn't audible on my Elton John Greatest Hits Canadian vinyl.

 

Four pages for a ****** MCA pressing

Only on Steve Hoffman Music Forums

 

Well, if nothing else we are thorough about our discussions.

 

I think it's interesting to figure stuff like this out.

 

Exactly

 

I truly believe it is some type of artifact on one of Nigel's cymbals; pretty sure the mic was too hot on the hi-hat...I have always noticed this.

 

I think it's Nigel on the cymbal. I've heard that since Honky Chateau was released in '72.

On a side note, generally I find that Nigel's use of cymbals very restrained. Listen to a lot of EJ from the 70s and his crashes are very limited. Lotta tom, little cymbal.

 

I think he's a highly underrated drummer; really follows the vocals well and just sits so well within the songs.

 

if it were nigel on the cymbal, you'd be able to hear it on the cd version

 

i'm convinced that some of the people commenting on this thread have read my description about where the clicks start and stop, and then go and listen to their CD of the song instead of the sample

 

I hear it. That's obviously a sound either in the vinyl pressing itself - possibly from prior damage - or in the stamper. It's not on the master tape, as I have two master tape sourced digital copies, (DCC's GH and MoFi's HC) and it's not on my UNI original US vinyl pressing of HC.

It's also not on my Nautilus vinyl pressing (Japan?) of Greatest Hits.

So, it's either damage to your pressing (I would guess) or a bad stamper (unlikely.)

Btw, Thanks for taking the time to make the sample and post. That's a very clear-sounding setup you have. A little bright, but not a bad needle drop at all. Your cart or table seems to be intolerant of any surface noise, though. Some of the better carts are that way. (You used your Thorens and the Ortofon, yes?) Or maybe that lp's dirty? I'd like to hear another needle drop of a better pressing if you have the time.

 

I don't think it's just my copy, there are more than one instances from the replies above of people who have copies w the same clicks.

Yeah ortofon 2m blue and thorens table. It's just a noisy copy with really bright mastering.

 

Wow, just listened to the download and that is one of the most annoying things I have ever heard. Sounds like a mastering error, not on the 2 versions of the song I have. I have the song on Honky Chateau, I do not own the greatest hits LP.
I would look for another copy.

 

yeah i'm thinking it's some kind of mastering anomaly based on the fact that other people are hearing it on their copies

i PMd steve to see if he'd check this thread out. i'd like to hear an opinion on what could cause this in the mastering, if it's triggered by the cymbals etc, and how this could get through QC.

i got this for like 50c and i have all of the source LPs for these songs (my honky chateau on UNI sounds pretty great) so i'll just wait for a better looking 50c copy!!

 

nope. DJM UK first press.

 

My brother had the UNI label release of Honkey Chateau when it first came out. I got the pre-recorded cassette a couple of years later. I don't remember any issue with the sound of Rocket Man on either of those.

Then in about 1980 I bought the then-current MCA reissue with the "clouds" label (and non-gatefold cover...grrr), and it had the anomaly that the OP describes. So I found an earlier MCA reissue in another store (MCA 2017 "formerly 93135") on the tan/brown MCA label (gatefold cover, but not the original with the foldover flap) and it had the same problem.

Sounds to me like whatever frequency the closed-hi-hat is at was jacked up so high that it's distorted and impossible to track properly.

A couple of years ago I bought a VG+ UNI issue of HC and it does not have this problem.

 

On Tumbleweed Connection - Love Song seems to have the same thing.

 

nope. my OP is discussing the US MCA pressing of EJs greatest hits

 

http://www.sendspace.com/file/17yzjp

if anyone is interested, here is a needle drop of my UNI 45 of rocket man done on the same system

 

I think that is an actual metronome on 'love song'. Someone suggested that the clicking on my LP on rocket man was metronome or a click track leaking through, but that's not the case

 

have you considered sending the LP to another member who can needledrop it on their setup and compare? I have the feeling it's attributed to a worn, or misaligned stylus. I'm also not sure what type of stylus you have on your cart, but that can play a roll too. When I used to have an Ortofon cart, the ORG reissue of Nirvana's Nevermind was near unplayable. You could have a hard time tracking extreme transients.

 

Posts in this thread from other members with the clicking sound on their copies have shown that the problem is from somewhere within the mastering chain.