Share: Erasure "Sometimes" rare (Oops! Re-upload!)

[Fred Taghon]

First, a quick apology! I uploaded these files earlier today before realizing I didn't upload the FINAL versions which I had tweaked slightly to correct the BPMs! Sorry to anyone who may have downloaded the earlier files!!! I also deleted one of the "Shiver Mix" files because it really wasn't necessary.

Following is my original post with a few edits and new links to the FINAL files…..

A short while back I made the disturbing discovery (sarcasm - I just have too much time on my hands) that some officially released versions of Erasure's classic "Sometimes" were of varying speeds and, as a result, not always in the correct key! The biggest offenders are the LP Version and the 12" Extended Mix - both of which happen to be my favorite mixes of this tune - much cleaner and brighter than the more commonly heard single mix.

I took the time today to correct this. I used Peak LE software to adjust the pitch of both tracks down 45cents. This put each mix in the right key (same as the single version and every live performance I have in my collection - which tells me this was indeed the intended key). This also slowed the tempo to match the BPM of the single version which made sense. Voila! I now have both mixes in the correct key AND at the originally intended tempo!

HOWEVER, it's also kinda nice to listen to these mixes at the faster tempo as they become a little dancier, right? But I still wanted them in the right key. Sooooooo, I kept the new corrected pitch and then sped the tempo back up, thus creating a set of pitch-corrected mixes, now at their sped up tempo! As this technology was probably not available (or too expensive) back in 1987, I assume whoever decided that these versions should be faster for the LP/CD and 12" releases, simply opted to speed up the tapes during mastering, despite the fact that it changed the key of the song in doing so.

After finishing these 4 tracks, I then decided to re-create the longer version of the Shiver Mix (which was mixed by Rico Conning (5:54) and then edited by Joe Watt for the 12" single (7:30)). This mix has never been commercially released on any CD, but I have both the U.S. 12" single AND the 1987 U.S. Promo CD "Hit It" which helped me recreate it perfectly. So I used the Shiver Mix and my Re-Pitched version of the 12" Extended Mix to create the longer Joe Watt edit! You may notice the Left and Right channels switch a couple times throughout the mix. This is exactly as it appears on the 12" and "Hit It" promo, so I assume it was intended and duplicated it as such.

Long story short, for those anal enough to care (as I do), here are the pitch-corrected and tempo-adjusted mixes of "Sometimes" as well as my recreation of the never-before-commercially-released-on-cd Shiver Mix (Joe Watt Edit) all in FLAC format.

1 Sometimes (LP Version/Re-Pitched) 3:40
(correct key and tempo)

2 Sometimes (LP Version/Re-Pitched/Faster) 3:38
(correct key with tempo as featured on the LP/CD "The Circus")

3 Sometimes (12" Extended Mix/Re-Pitched) 5:29
(correct key and tempo)

4 Sometimes (12" Extended Mix/Re-Pitched/Faster) 5:23
(correct key with tempo as featured on the LP/CD "The Circus" and "Sometimes" 12")

5 Sometimes (Shiver Mix/Joe Watt Edit) 7:30
(correct key with tempo as featured on the "Sometimes" 12" and "Hit It" U.S. Promo CD)


Link for Tracks 1,2&3:
‪https://www.sendspace.com/file/g0dy3v‬

Link for Tracks 4&5:
‪https://www.sendspace.com/file/cy862a‬

[obs]

Thanks for the hard work (although I have to admit that Sometimes isn't one of my favourite Erasure songs).

FYI, Sire actually got the mix names backwards.
"Shiver Mix" is the Rico Conning mix, which clocks in ~5:50.
"Extended Mix" is the Joseph Watt edit, which clocks in ~7:30.
This is using the UK 12" and CD singles boxset reference.

[crichert]

Appreciate all your hard work, Fred!!!

[Fred Taghon]

Thanks for the hard work (although I have to admit that Sometimes isn't one of my favourite Erasure songs).

FYI, Sire actually got the mix names backwards.
"Shiver Mix" is the Rico Conning mix, which clocks in ~5:50.
"Extended Mix" is the Joseph Watt edit, which clocks in ~7:30.
This is using the UK 12" and CD singles boxset reference.

Thanks for the input. The mix names always confused me especially with the "Sometimes" releases. Living in the U.S. and owning the Sire 12", I just became accustomed to referring to the mixes as they were indicated on that. After hearing that the 7:30 Joseph Watt edit was actually called the "Extended Mix" in the U.K., it didn't make sense to me since his edit is obviously just a re-arrangement of Rico Conning's "Shiver Mix", with the exception of 2 sections which were taken from Erasure's own 12" Mix - which ITSELF was actually referred to as the "Extended Mix" in the U.S. lol. What a mess!

I recall getting the Erasure CD Singles Box sets and listening to the "Shiver Mix" and thinking to myself, "Why is it so short? They're missing almost 2 minutes!" lol So I've been meaning to recreate this 7:30 mix for quite some time now - just finally made myself sit down and do it.

[obs]

I wonder if Mute had some kind of "communications" problem with the US back then. Two other mix name fuck ups that I recall off the top of my head were:
Nitzer Ebb - Control I'm Here (which they even fucked up on the UK CD5)
Depeche Mode - Policy of Truth

Maybe that's why Sire were commissioning their own remixes for Mode and Erasure .

[negative1]

thanks for these.

not sure if i noticed the key change.

i liked the remix versions and got used to those.

later
-1

[Fred Taghon]

thanks for these.

not sure if i noticed the key change.

i liked the remix versions and got used to those.

later
-1

If you listen to the first few seconds of the single mix from any cd, then listen to the first few seconds of the album version immediately after that the difference is very obvious. The worst is the 12" mix on the singles box set which is even more sped up than the same 12" mix on the "The Circus" cd. It's ridiculously fast.

Weird thing is that no studio version of "Sometimes" is tuned to an exact note. The single mix which is the most common mix is actually slightly sharp. Try playing a tuned piano to it and you'll see lol. But since the single mix is the same "key" on all releases, I matched the pitch-adjusted mixes to that rather than pitch adjusting every version of the single mix that I have in my collection. Again, anal I know lol.

[Bellenger1981]

Awesome! Thank you, Fred!

[Neil Kelly]

Thanks!