Quad LP/Tape Poll Wild Cherry: Electrified Funk [SQ/Q8]

[sjcorne]

Electrified Funk was Wild Cherry's second studio album and sole quad release, issued on SQ matrix-encoded LP and quad 8-track in 1977. Featuring Baby Don't You Know, a soundalike follow-up to their prior hit Play That Funky Music, the album ultimately failed to recapture the success of their platinum-certified 1976 debut album Wild Cherry.

Epic/Sweet City PEQ 34462 [SQ LP] EAQ 34462 [Q8]
Discogs links: Q8 / LP
Wiki for the album: Electrified Funk
Quadraphonic remix engineer: Don Puluse
Quadraphonic sound supervision: Larry Keyes

Side 1

1. Baby Don't You Know
2. Are You Boogieing Around On Your Daddy
3. Dancin' Music Band
4. Put Yourself In My Shoes
5. Closest Thing To My Mind

Side 2

1. Electrified Funk
2. Hole In The Wall
3. Hot To Trot
4. Hold On (With Strings)
5. It's All Up To You

 

[sjcorne]

Fabulous quad mix on this one, which is no surprise given that two of CBS’ best quad guys collaborated on it. The layout is pretty typical for a later-era CBS title, with the core elements (drums, bass, lead vocal, lead guitar) in the front channels and almost everything else in the rears.

Unfortunately, every quad pressing of this I’ve heard has horrendous sound quality. It’s bright and harsh, to the point where the vocals sound distorted towards the inner groove. The Q8 tape is a much better listen, though it basically has the reverse problem in lacking high-end response.

The rear channels on the Q8 are incredibly entertaining to listen to on their own - you'll get anything from rhythm guitars to backing vocals, organ, strings, and even isolated tambourine or cowbell(!) overdubs back there. There's one track where a sax solo plays in the rears, time-delayed between the two channels to avoid the dreaded 'rear center' position.

If you can get past the poor sound quality, the SQ LP does provide decent separation with a good decoder - the opening guitar riff to “Baby Don’t Know” in the left rear speaker starts things off with a bang - but the drums seem to wrap around the entire surround field when they should be solely in the front speakers. There’s also a few spots where the rear channels are supposed to drop out of the mix entirely, which doesn't really happen on the matrix decode. I attached two short samples below containing the same passage, rear channels only, from both the SQ LP and Q8. The difference is quite striking.

 

[fredblue]

CBS' Pop Quad releases went out on a high, a hugely underappreciated album with an absolute corker of a Surround mix.

one of my most hoped-for Quad re-releases not least since its yet another CBS Quad where the SQ LP's top end will slice your ears off and the Q8's like a high tog duvets been thrown over your speakers.

in spite of the legacy Quad formats' sound quality shortcomings, on the basis of the music and the mix, for me its a "10" and another great example of how CBS' guys had really nailed Quad mixing, albeit sadly towards the end of its life.