Please HELP!

[Para]

Back in the late 80s, I bought a Led Zeppelin IV tape. The song order was quite different that it is now. Stairway to Heaven was the last song on side B, and Rock and Roll was the second last song. On side A, I think Black Dog was the first song (as it is now), but I can't remember the rest of the order. But I'm 100% certain that the last two songs on side B were Rock and Roll and Stairway to Heaven, respectively. Does anyone know what I'm talking about, and know what the track order was? Thanks!

[SteveAJones]

This is the correct track listing for Led Zeppelin IV cassette tapes and vinyl albums:

Side A: Black Dog / Rock And Roll / The Battle of Evermore / Stairway to Heaven

Side B: Misty Mountain Hop / Four Sticks / Going to California / When The Levee Breaks

[Para]

I'm starting to think that I may have had the ONLY tape with the track listing in which Rock and Roll and Stairway to Heaven were the last two songs (on side B ). Thanks anyway! Much appreciated the response!

Edited May 5, 2011 by Para

[SteveAJones]

I'm starting to think that I may have had the ONLY tape with the track listing in which Rock and Roll and Stairway to Heaven were the last two songs

Sometimes there were minor variations on pirated & obscure foreign releases but more so with vinyl as opposed to tapes.

[Jahfin]

Not sure about cassettes but a lot of 8-tracks repeated a song, I guess so you could hear it without the annoying "click-click" when the tape changed tracks. Maybe you had a counterfeit version, who knows? I've gone online trying to find a copy of the cassette that was printed in pink (though I've also seen yellow and orange copies) but my search was to no avail. I was trying to find it because the copy my brother had was pink but he bought it Europe. Not sure if that had anything to do with the colored aspect of it or not.

[SteveAJones]

Not sure about cassettes but a lot of 8-tracks repeated a song, I guess so you could hear it without the annoying "click-click" when the tape changed tracks. Maybe you had a counterfeit version, who knows? I've gone online trying to find a copy of the cassette that was printed in pink (though I've also seen yellow and orange copies) but my search was to no avail. I was trying to find it because the copy my brother had was pink but he bought it Europe. Not sure if that had anything to do with the colored aspect of it or not.

I have Led Zeppelin IV on pink cassette in my archive (it's in long term storage else I'd post it here). It slides into a hard plastic shell

(black) and the album graphics are on the shell. Matrix # M5 7208. Country of origin unconfirmed, possibly UK. I'm almost certain those preceeded the white (and occasionally) grey cassettes sold with j card inserts in clear plastic holders such as the one you have posted here. Even so, the track listing is the same.

Edited May 5, 2011 by SteveAJones

[Para]

My tape was bought at Sears and was a black cassette with white print.

[Texas Melanie]

Tapes??!! I remember those old relics.

[Chimpy]

Yes! I had that same tape - felt a tad ripped off (many years later) that my first exposure to the album was not in its intended order.  You are right about Black Dog being first and Rock and Roll and Stairway to Heaven being the last two tracks on the other side.  I believe Going to California was the third song on the first side, followed by When the Levee Breaks.

Misty Mountain Hop may have been the first song on the "other" side, followed by Four Stick or The Battle of Evermore. Gets a bit hazy, but now I know I wasn't dreaming. I hope you get this 10 years after inquiring. Can someone else verify this, as well?

[Chimpy]

I just researched the heck out of it and could not find anything else.  Your reference is the only one I've found, but I am here to tell you you certainly weren't imagining things. At least two of these pre-recorded cassettes existed, and not coincidentally, both were purchased in Canada.

[Chimpy]

Okay, so when they made the pre-recorded tapes, one of the faults was that there was the same amount of time on each side, unlike the vinyl versions.  So, some albums, including (I assume) Led Zep IV, had to be rearranged to fit the songs on 22 minutes per side.  After doing the math this order/format seems the most logical: 

 

      Side 1

Black Dog (4:57)

Battle of Evermore (5:52)

Going to California (3:31)

When the Levee Breaks (7:08)

 

     Side 2

Misty Mountain Hop (4:38)

Four Sticks (4:45)

Rock and Roll (3:40)

Stairway to Heaven (8:02)

 

 

 

[LedZep123]

How long can a record side take? Because there are some albums that last 45 minutes, others not even 30 minutes. 

[Fat Albert 72]

46 minutes ago, LedZep123 said:

How long can a record side take? Because there are some albums that last 45 minutes, others not even 30 minutes. 

It depends entirely on how close they cut the grooves. Hence EMI’s “Golden Hour” series in the 70’s. The closer the grooves the longer the play time and the worse the quality. 20 minutes per side is optimum.

Rebalancing a track listing for cassette or reel to reel was not uncommon in the 60’s/70’s, The White Album for example, saves on physical tape.

 

 

[LedZep123]

22 hours ago, Fat Albert 72 said:

It depends entirely on how close they cut the grooves. Hence EMI’s “Golden Hour” series in the 70’s. The closer the grooves the longer the play time and the worse the quality. 20 minutes per side is optimum.

Rebalancing a track listing for cassette or reel to reel was not uncommon in the 60’s/70’s, The White Album for example, saves on physical tape.

 

 

Thanks!