Quad LP/Tape Poll Isley Brothers: The Heat Is On [SQ/Q8]

[EMB]

T-Neck PZQ/ZAQ 33536 from 1975.

Side 1:

Fight the Power (Part 1 & 2)
The Heat Is On (Part 1 & 2)
Hope You Feel Better Love (Part 1 & 2)

Side 2:

For the Love of You (Part 1 & 2)
Sensuality (Part 1 & 2)
Make Me Say It Again Girl (Part 1 & 2)

ED

 

[fredblue]

Ok let's smoke the lurkers out...

DOES THIS EVEN EXIST IN QUAD..???

 

[Philip Spinner]

I don't think I've ever seen it. A good one for Audio Fidelity to hunt down for sure.

 

[fredblue]

I doubt anyone has.. people who have been at this game for decades longer than me have never even seen a copy of the SQ LP let alone the Q8 (and they've been looking.. )

 

[fredblue]

This to me is the true "Holy Grail" of Columbia's Quads..
there are very few of their seemingly "unobtainable" titles that I'd throw myself under a bus on fire to hear in Quad..
maybe Boston's 1st album.. possibly Neil Diamond's "Beautiful Noise".. or Lou Rawls' "Unmistakably Lou".. but this is THE one.. several incredible tracks on The Heat Is On, one of The Isley's greatest albums imho.

 

[zabble]

Ok let's smoke the lurkers out...

DOES THIS EVEN EXIST IN QUAD..???

I know nobody who owns it. Tad (QQ member Quadtrade) said that he knows someone who owns it.

The following Billboard from article August 9, 1975 implies that it was released and was #2 in sales that week. Read the last paragraph.



https://books.google.com/books?id=W...KAhUBMj4KHbvzDCwQ6AEIIzAB#v=onepage&q&f=false

This would be a perfect title for Audio Fidelity to release (if the master exists, etc.).

 

[steelydave]

I saw that press clipping as well and I suspect it might be a bit misleading. It's my impression is that the 'chart positions' they're citing are just for the stereo versions titles that have quad counterparts, because the three titles they list are positions #1, #2 and then #6, so presumably positions 3-5 didn't see quad release. If it were some kind of dedicated quad chart, surely they would just list the #1, #2 and #3 sellers?

I've been buying quad stuff on ebay since about 1998, and the Isley Brothers have been on my radar for the majority of that time and I've never seen a copy of either the SQ or Q8 of this title, and I've seen multiple copies of all the other Isley Bros. quads in that time, including being outbid on at least 3 copies of the Q8 of Go For Your Guns, a title that was the dying wheeze of CBS's quad program in 1977 and probably only in print for a year or so at most.

In an interview in Billboard circa 1975, Al Lawrence (who was head of Columbia Quadraphonic A&R by that point) said that all their quad releases had a 'built-in audience' of about 25,000 and that sales between vinyl and 8-track were split about 60/40. That means for even the lowest sellers from the CBS associated labels catalog, there should have been at least 15,000 LPs and 10,000 8-Tracks created. Surely if 'The Heat Is On' was a #2 top seller, at least one quad copy in either format would have surfaced by now. Even noted quad collector Nick Perugini has The Heat Is On listed in both his matrix vinyl and Q8 want lists.

A quad mix of The Heat is On may very well exist, and maybe it even made it to the point of being pressed somewhere, but to me the evidence says that this album never saw any kind of full-scale quad release. It's my hope that there's a pristine discrete 4 channel master of this album sitting the Sony vaults (along with the other Isley Bros. quads) just waiting for digital release, because as FredBlue won't shut up about, er, I mean has said before on here, it's amongst the very best of the albums that The Isley Brothers ever did.

 

[zabble]

I saw that press clipping as well and I suspect it might be a bit misleading. It's my impression is that the 'chart positions' they're citing are just for the stereo versions titles that have quad counterparts, because the three titles they list are positions #1, #2 and then #6, so presumably positions 3-5 didn't see quad release. If it were some kind of dedicated quad chart, surely they would just list the #1, #2 and #3 seller?

I think you might be right about the chart positions in the article not pertaining to the quad versions. If you look on page 74 of that Billboard issue, you'll see the Top LPs and Tape charts on which The Eagles' One of These Nights is at #1, The Isley Brothers' The Heat is On is at #2 and Paul McCartney and Wings' Venus and Mars is at #6. Interestingly, the quad version of The Captain and Tennille's Love Will Keep Us Together was not listed as #3 in the article; perhaps it had been yet to be remixed and released in quad at that point (?).

 

[fredblue]

It does make me kinda sad (and frustrated, gotta say) to think that there might be one rogue copy, I'm guessing of the SQ record that slipped out in a promo or something, in the hands of someone who actually knows and realises what they've got... and yet none of you long-time Quad guys have seemingly heard this one, even though one of you knows someone who has that copy.. wow, that hurts to think QQ is THAT close to tracking this ultra rare Quad down for posterity.. and yet.. so far

ah well.. if its not meant to be, its not meant to be.. I'll just have to imagine the mix in my head!

 

[britmarc]

I remember having both 'Beautiful Noise' and 'Unmistakably Lou' in the British CBS stereo sleeves with a sticker mentioning that there was a quad version inside - I think (but without seeing a picture of the album cover) that I had this Isley's in the same style. I used to manage a record shop in England during the mid seventies so has 'contacts' to get me special items and I also seem to remember Gloria Gaynor's Experience being available too...

 

[fredblue]

I remember having both 'Beautiful Noise' and 'Unmistakably Lou' in the British CBS stereo sleeves with a sticker mentioning that there was a quad version inside - I think (but without seeing a picture of the album cover) that I had this Isley's in the same style. I used to manage a record shop in England during the mid seventies so has 'contacts' to get me special items and I also seem to remember Gloria Gaynor's Experience being available too...

Wow! Thanks for the info! :upthumb
I better get scouring the local record shops for Neil, Lou and the Isleys then (all 3 are easy to find in UK CBS/Epic LP form)... I'm guessing the matrix in the deadwax would have a Q in it somewhere..?

 

[EMB]

I think you might be right about the chart positions in the article not pertaining to the quad versions. If you look on page 74 of that Billboard issue, you'll see the Top LPs and Tape charts on which The Eagles' One of These Nights is at #1, The Isley Brothers' The Heat is On is at #2 and Paul McCartney and Wings' Venus and Mars is at #6. Interestingly, the quad version of The Captain and Tennille's Love Will Keep Us Together was not listed as #3 in the article; perhaps it had been yet to be remixed and released in quad at that point (?).

No, more likely Billboard was either not sent or somehow ignored the quad info. This was similar to 1968, when, despite many stereo Lp's having monaural counterparts, these were not always listed (possibly, in part, because some labels didn't want this done, figuring they could either press less copies or allow the existing mono stock to quietly be sold through and allowed to go out of print).

THE HEAT IS ON is listed here because it's in Mark's discography. I don't have a copy but have always presumed that one exists, since both SQ and Q8's are listed. And if either does, many here would love to hear it, I'm sure...

ED

 

[Q-Eight]

If it does exist, it has to be the most rare Columbia Q8 .... ever!! I know I've seen "Go for your Guns" two or three times in the last 15 years, but I've never seen this title. It's right up there with Canned Heat's "Future Blues". Some people say they have it, but I've never seen it. I would really like to see a picture of one.
(I used to think Cosmic Slop didn't exist but someone posted a picture and then the next week eBay exploded with something like three or four copies!)

I've always said If I own it, it can't be that rare. But then some folks tell me that some of the Q8's I own are extremely uncommon. *shrug*

But until I see evidence otherwise, I'm going to assume that this title never came out. In 40 years, nobody has seen either an SQLP or a Q8? Makes me wonder....

It's almost gotten to the point where I'd like to start an online database with pictures of Quad LP's and Tapes that we KNOW exist. Would be quite the project, though.

 

[EMB]

There are no votes in the poll to date, although that doesn't necessarily mean anything (nudge, wink).

I hope Mark chimes in on this one, if only because (hence the listing here) he has listed this as a released title, and unlike FUTURE BLUES, is therefore NOT listed on his NEVER RELEASED IN QUAD page. If it turns out to be unreleased, I can just delete the thread, of course. Otherwise, I'll keep it around for now.

ED

 

[boojidad]

If it does exist, it has to be the most rare Columbia Q8 .... ever!! I know I've seen "Go for your Guns" two or three times in the last 15 years, but I've never seen this title. It's right up there with Canned Heat's "Future Blues". Some people say they have it, but I've never seen it. I would really like to see a picture of one.
(I used to think Cosmic Slop didn't exist but someone posted a picture and then the next week eBay exploded with something like three or four copies!)

I've always said If I own it, it can't be that rare. But then some folks tell me that some of the Q8's I own are extremely uncommon. *shrug*

But until I see evidence otherwise, I'm going to assume that this title never came out. In 40 years, nobody has seen either an SQLP or a Q8? Makes me wonder....

It's almost gotten to the point where I'd like to start an online database with pictures of Quad LP's and Tapes that we KNOW exist. Would be quite the project, though.

I have been working for several years on just such a project. Got a lot, just have to figure out how to create an online site to house and display them.

 

[Q-Eight]

I have been working for several years on just such a project. Got a lot, just have to figure out how to create an online site to house and display them.

If you need pictures of Q8 tapes, let me know. I would gladly photograph/scan my collection and support your endeavor.

 

[sjcorne]

After years of rumors and debate about whether or not this album was actually mixed to quad, it appears we finally have definitive proof that it does exist in the form of the "Dolby Audio" streaming version that quietly became on Apple Music a few weeks ago. At first, I thought this was some kind of upmix - there's not a whole lot of front/rear separation, along with what sound like gain-riding logic(?) artifacts in the rear speakers - but it's definitely a different mix than the stereo version, some of the vocals and rhythm guitar parts in "Hope You Feel Better Love" are from different takes.

I'd guess that, as with Live It Up (which is also available to stream on Apple Music - it matches what's on the Q8), we've been given an SQ matrix decode of the quad mix instead of the discrete version. I wonder why Sony doesn't have the discrete 4-channel masters for these two Isley albums? In any case, it's cool to have some version of the formerly-unreleased quad to listen to.

 

[steelydave]

The most likely scenario (to my thinking anyway) is that because these were recorded at outside studios (Kendun Recorders and The Record Plant in LA) and paid for by the Isleys themselves, CBS didn't have the same oversight they did for albums by artists they had directly under their control, which were recorded at studios they owned, by engineers in their employ.

As a result, for whatever reason it seems that they mixed these two albums directly to an SQ-encoded 2-track master and never made discrete masters. It seems that sometime after the fact CBS tried to make 4-channel masters by doing a SQ decode to 4-channel tape. Given that these versions both seem to have been done in 1975 (predating the release of the Tate by more than 18 months) the decodes are very poor - Live It Up fares a little better than The Heat is On, but I'd be surprised if either of them has more than 8 or 10dB of separation at most, and the busier the mixes get, the worse the front-rear separation becomes. A new decode of the SQ-encoded 2-channel master through a Tate or Surround Master would yield an almost night-and-day difference to what's currently available on Apple Music currently.

 

[sjcorne]

Fortunately, the Harvest For The World quad mix on Apple Music is from the discrete 4-channel master and is a revelation in comparison to the old SQ LP.

 

[steelydave]

Agreed, and I think it perfectly illustrates the ironic Achilles heel of SQ: that the more complex and nuanced the mix, the worse the decode. I don't think the quad mixes of LIU and THiS are quite as refined as Harvest for the World, but nevertheless the massive difference in quality between the discrete version and the old SQ LP of Harvest makes your mouth water for how good a true discrete mix of either of the other two could've sounded.