HiRez Poll Hues Corporation, The - ROCKIN' SOUL & LOVE CORPORATION [SACD]

[rtbluray]

Please post your thoughts and comments on this 2018 Multichannel SACD release from Dutton Vocalion of the two classic albums "Rockin' Soul" and "Love Corporation" by The Hues Corporation.
This Multichannel SACD release features the Quadraphonic mixes of both albums, available for the first time since the 1970s!
The "Rockin' Soul" Quadraphonic mix is also available to stream in Dolby Audio on Apple Music:
https://music.apple.com/us/album/rockin-soul/1032798514


Rockin' Soul
LP APL1 0775 (1974) STEREO/APD1 0775 QUADRAPHONIC
1: ROCKIN’ SOUL (Holmes)
2: HOW I WISH WE COULD DO IT AGAIN (White; Relf)
3: WE’RE KEEPIN’ OUR BUSINESS TOGETHER (Holmes)
4: EASE ON DOWN THE ROAD (Smalls) from the musical The Wiz
5: I GOT CAUGHT DANCING AGAIN (Holmes)
6: LOVE’S THERE (Holmes)
7: ROCK THE BOAT (Holmes)
8: I’LL TAKE A MELODY (Toussaint)
9: NO END IN SIGHT (McManus; Pedrowski)
10: INTO MY MUSIC (Holmes)
Conductor: Tom Sellers
Arrangers: Tom Sellers [1-8, 10]; Tom Sellers (rhythm arrangement), D’Arneill Pershing (orchestral arrangement) [9]
Vocal arrangements:
The Hues Corporation, Wally Holmes [1-6, 8-10]; Tom Sellers [7]

Love Corporation
LP APL1 0938 (1975) STEREO/APD1 0938 QUADRAPHONIC
11: ONE GOOD NIGHT TOGETHER (Holmes)
12: FOLLOW THE SPIRIT (Moore)
13: LONG ROAD (Lambert; Potter)
14: GOLD RUSH (Holmes)
15: HE’S MY HOME (Holmes)
16: WHEN YOU LOOK DOWN THE ROAD (Holmes)
17: YOU SHOWED ME WHAT LOVE IS (Raleigh; Fox)
18: LOVE CORPORATION (Holmes)
19: SING TO YOUR SONG (Holmes)
20: SOUL SAILIN’ (Randall)
Arrangers: Michal Omartian, H.B. Barnum [12, 15, 18]; H.B. Barnum 11, 13, 17]; Larry Carlton [14, 16, 19-20]
Vocal arrangements: The Hues Corporation, Wally Holmes

Multi-ch Stereo
All tracks available in stereo and multi-channel

SA-CD
This hybrid CD can be played on any standard CD players

CDSML8539

 

[zimmy]

Oops, i thought i voted for Rick Derringer but this is apparently Hues Corporation on this one too?

 

[Eggplant]

Wow, does this sound great.

Had the RS Q8 and LC CD-4 for 40 years but found both unlistenable.
Even "Rock the Boat", a favorite track from my seventh grade summer, was just so blah.
So I wondered: would an SACD off the quad masters sound decent?

Um ... yeah.
Completely.

Pretty astonishing to hear both albums in 2018 quality.

Boat sounds nice (finally), but there's quite a few other tracks, particularly on Love Corporation, that got my attention. What a powerful sound they had, especially from the voice of Hubert Ann. Damn, do they sound good at their best -- especially in full-res discrete quad. I never even really got what they were: a gospel soul trio. The only thing they lacked was more hit material to follow Boat.

Sorry folks (some of you), but I just can't get into stuff with substandard sound, no matter how great the mix.
The Q8 of RS is dull as dishwater. Now that I think -- was there ever an RCA cart that sounded great? Q8's were never known for sound quality, yet there were substantial differences to be found between releases, even those of the same label. The Love Corporation CD-4 was also a dud. I remember playing it once and finding nothing to like. Here on this release, it comes alive.

What a shame -- and a revelation.

Minor complaint: it apears the rear channels are too low, by maybe 3-5d.
The horns are barely audible on Boat and some other tracks.
Have to dig out my dts conversions to check if it's a mastering error or in the mix.

If you like 70's soul pop, pretty hard to see how you wouldn't like this great twofer from Dutton Vocalion.

 

[sjcorne]

The Derringer twofer was my personal favorite of the new DV releases, but this one is also quite a revelation (especially compared to the old CD-4 LP of Rockin' Soul, as pointed out above). Mix and mastering by Dutton are excellent. I never heard the Love Corporation quad, which is mixed equally well. Great stuff! I just don't love all the songs, so thats why I'm giving it the 9 instead of 10.

Regarding the rear channel balance, the rears do appear lower in volume on the waveform representation, but I think it sounds pretty balanced overall.

Here's "Rock The Boat" on both the new SACD vs. a conversion of my CD-4 LP. It seems I recorded my needledrop a tad too hot

2018 D-V SACD:


CD-4 LP:

 

[4-earredwonder]

The Derringer twofer was my personal favorite of the new DV releases, but this one is also quite a revelation (especially compared to the old CD-4 LP of Rockin' Soul, as pointed out above). Mix and mastering by Dutton are excellent. I never heard the Love Corporation quad, which is mixed equally well. Great stuff! I just don't love all the songs, so thats why I'm giving it the 9 instead of 10.

Regarding the rear channel balance, the rears do appear lower in volume on the waveform representation, but I think it sounds pretty balanced overall.

Here's "Rock The Boat" on both the new SACD vs. a conversion of my CD-4 LP. It seems I recorded my needledrop a tad too hot

2018 D-V SACD:
View attachment 32896

CD-4 LP:
View attachment 32895

It would be my guess and from the way ALL D~V QUADS sound on my system that Michael Dutton exercises a hands~off philosophy in transferring the QUAD masters he is presented with without ANY attempt at EQ, further noise reduction or mucking with the volume levels...as opposed to a certain other reissue company who shall not be named.

Would love to know what tape deck he utilizes for the transfers.......STUDER?

Perhaps, sjcorne, the variances you are detecting could've been a result of how the original QUAD masters were encoded to SQ Vinyl or transferred to Q8 by those 70's engineers, and/or the limitations imposed by those formats.

IMO, D~V is producing some of the most astounding QUAD SACD transfers from 1970's QUAD masters that this listener has had the pleasure of 'experiencing,' which is why I have bestowed upon Mr. Dutton the moniker: The Wizard of Watford.

To achieve what this man has accomplished in such a short period of time is nothing short of a miracle and I have a 'fuzzy' feeling inside THAT THE BEST IS YET TO COME!!!

 

[lennon fan]

It would be my guess and from the way ALL D~V QUADS sound on my system that Michael Dutton exercises a hands~off philosophy in transferring the QUAD masters he is presented with without ANY attempt at EQ, further noise reduction or mucking with the volume levels...as opposed to a certain other reissue company who shall not be named.

Would love to know what tape deck he utilizes for the transfers.......STUDER?

Perhaps, sjcorne, the variances you are detecting could've been a result of how the original QUAD masters were encoded to SQ Vinyl or transferred to Q8 by those 70's engineers, and/or the limitations imposed by those formats.

IMO, D~V is producing some of the most astounding QUAD SACD transfers from 1970's QUAD masters that this listener has had the pleasure of 'experiencing,' which is why I have bestowed upon Mr. Dutton the moniker: The Wizard of Watford.

To achieve what this man has accomplished in such a short period of time is nothing short of a miracle and I have a 'fuzzy' feeling inside THAT THE BEST IS YET TO COME!!!

I wished for quad cds back when cd first came out, like 1983. Finally what I wanted is coming to pass...too bad it took decades...but I'm thrilled with these releases.

 

[kap'n krunch]

"ADD" PARS Code????
Shouldn't it be "AAD"???

Just askin'

 

[fredblue]

"ADD" PARS Code????
Shouldn't it be "AAD"???

Just askin'

I don't know.. but whatever it is, if its ADD it kicks the ASS of the AAA of the old CD-4's and Q8's..!! wocka.. wocka.. wocka!

 

[Q-Eight]

"ADD" PARS Code????
Shouldn't it be "AAD"???

Just askin'

I believe ADD is correct.

Analog Tape
Digitally Mixed/Remastered
Digitally Reproduced.

Or am I interpreting it wrong?

 

[4-earredwonder]

I believe ADD is correct.

Analog Tape
Digitally Mixed/Remastered
Digitally Reproduced.

Or am I interpreting it wrong?

First and foremost, it's a SPARS Code and if D~V is utilizing the original analogue masters, it's probably DSD remastered from the original analogue masters to SACD so I guess it would be ADD [A>DSD>SACD]

As far as being "digitally remixed" doubtful D~V took that route.....My guess would be a 1:1 DSD remaster from the originals!

 

[steelydave]

...sooo, any more thoughts on the music or mix on this nearly year-in-the-making disc, or is this thread just for arguing about the finer points of a pointless 40 year old manufacturing code?

 

[Mark Anderson]

I was first surprised to see the code, then had to wonder what it really meant. If it has an actual bearing to the original code I welcome it. At least it is something instead of nothing, but then again it could just be a reprint from the CD days

 

[4-earredwonder]

I was first surprised to see the code, then had to wonder what it really meant. If it has an actual bearing to the original code I welcome it. At least it is something instead of nothing, but then again it could just be a reprint from the CD days

Mark, here's some background on the SPARS Code: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SPARS_code

And I believe it does merit discussion since its appearance on the QUAD SACD probably did refer to an earlier ADD remaster on COMPACT DISC when albums were remixed/remastered for the 'new medium' from masters originally prepared for LPs.

 

[Eggplant]

There's no chance ADD is the correct SPARS code for any version of this title.
The middle "D" refers to the mix, and each of the only two existing ones are analog.
SPARS codes on CD's were frequently incorrect.

Any digital release -- stereo or quad -- should read AAD.

 

[fredblue]

Mark, here's some background on the SPARS Code: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SPARS_code

And I believe it does merit discussion since its appearance on the QUAD SACD probably did refer to an earlier ADD remaster on COMPACT DISC when albums were remixed/remastered for the 'new medium' from masters originally prepared for LPs.

sing it with me QQ..!!

"you showed me what SPARS is,
you showed me what ADD is,
you took away my sadness,
Ralphie, I'm so glad,
you showed me what SPARS is..!!"

 

[4-earredwonder]

sing it with me QQ..!!

"you showed me what SPARS is,
you showed me what ADD is,
you took away my sadness,
Ralphie, I'm so glad,
you showed me what SPARS is..!!"

Adam, you know your A B C's, your P's and Q's, your metric system, RIGHT from LEFT and now you know your Spars code......but truth be told, Bud~E, your poetry could use a lifeline.---dont blame ME, I'm only an emoji!

https://graceworksministries.net/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/56405208_l.jpg

As for Steelydave's Liner Notes ........ ADD ........A DOWNRIGHT DREAM!

 

[fredblue]

Adam, you know your A B Cs, your P's and Q's, your metric system and now you know your Spars code......but truth be told, your poetry could use a lifeline. https://www.bing.com/images/search?view=detailV2&ccid=wqKm0A4Q&id=460430AD48F127E96FB0A665AD034BE7DAE64367&thid=OIP.wqKm0A4QA4tl63qKEhgM4QHaDl&mediaurl=http://graceworksministries.net/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/56405208_l.jpg&exph=1424&expw=2945&q=a+lifeline+thrown+to+someone+photos&simid=608056230540607689&selectedindex=32&qpvt=a+lifeline+thrown+to+someone+photos&ajaxhist=0

As for Steelydave's Liner Notes ........ ADD ........A Downright DREAM!

i can't take the credit/rap for the lyrics, they're the Hues Corp's! i just took them and ruined, I mean, rejigged, them!

Dave's liner notes certainly give
ADDed value..

that guy really knows his ADD from his elbow!

 

[Scott65]

i can't take the credit/rap for the lyrics, they're the Hues Corp's! i just took them and ruined, I mean, rejigged, them!

Dave's liner notes certainly give
ADDed value..

that guy really knows his ADD from his elbow!

My brain is becoming ADDled by all this discussion. BTW is your mother Mammy Blue?

 

[Scott65]

My brain is becoming ADDled by all this discussion. BTW is your mother Mammy Blue?

send in the AADvarks to fix this...

 

[fredblue]

My brain is becoming ADDled by all this discussion. BTW is your mother Mammy Blue?

haha.. ..and for Father's Day, lets hear it for the Quadfather Hugo M.!