Pre-1985 digital recordings in pop(ular) music

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It would be interesting to list this. Pre- ca. 1990 it was fairly easy to see which CDs were digitally recorded, as they would be marked DDD rather than AAD or ADD. Warner and CBS (now Sony Music) didn't follow this practice, but it was still fairly easy to tell which Warner CDs were full digital, as otherwise they would always put a disclaimer on the CD that it was originally recorded using analog equipment.

1985 was when at least a few more CDs were starting to become digitally recorded. Not that it was the norm from then on either (it didn't become until the mid 90s), but DDD CDs were starting to become somewhat more usual. "Brothers In Arms" is the most famous one, but there is a general increase. From 1984 or earlier, there are still very few DDD CDs though.

So I'm devoting this thread to those few that I know about, and I hope the list will be completed after a while.

These are CDs that I know for certain were digitally recorded:

Stevie Wonder: Hotter Than July
ABBA: Super Trouper
ABBA: The Visitors
Roxy Music: Avalon
Frida: Something's Going On
Yello: You Gotta Say Yes To Another Excess
Dire Straits: Alchemy Live
Jean Michel Jarre: Zoolook
Stevie Wonder ++: The Woman In Red

There are CDs that I am pretty certain were digitally recorded:
Stevie Wonder: Journey Through The Secret Life Of Plants
Fleetwood Mac: Tusk
Donald Fagen: The Nightfly
Michael Jackson: Thriller

Anyone got anything to add?

― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Friday, 7 April 2006 20:01 (twenty years ago)

DAD is where it's at, fule

― Washable School Paste (sexyDancer), Friday, 7 April 2006 20:07 (twenty years ago)

The only DAD CD I know was Erasure's "The Innocents" (which will be DDD once Mute decide to remaster it, maybe when they are finished with the Depeche Mode remasters)

― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Friday, 7 April 2006 20:09 (twenty years ago)

The first fully digitally recorded album was Ry Cooder's "Bop Til You Drop" from 1979. At least I read that once.

― Brooker Buckingham (Brooker B), Friday, 7 April 2006 20:16 (twenty years ago)

Peter Gabriel - Security was DDD.

― Mark (MarkR), Friday, 7 April 2006 20:27 (twenty years ago)

Madonna's 'Like A Virgin' was recorded 1984 , yes? I recall having problems listening to 'Material Girl' on a nice sound system and noticing the DDD on the c.d. case. I found the vinyl version more pleasing to the ears.

― Bill Jarboe, Friday, 7 April 2006 20:35 (twenty years ago)

DAD motherfuckers

― Washable School Paste (sexyDancer), Friday, 7 April 2006 20:36 (twenty years ago)

DDA, even-uh

― Washable School Paste (sexyDancer), Friday, 7 April 2006 20:36 (twenty years ago)

DAD meant digital recording and analog mastering. A bad idea in other words...

― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Friday, 7 April 2006 20:42 (twenty years ago)

DDR motherfuckerz!

http://www.usuarios.lycos.es/tatarigami/ddr.gif

― latebloomer: someone's been drinking my youth! (latebloomer), Friday, 7 April 2006 20:43 (twenty years ago)

xpost: no. digital recording, analog mixing, digital mastering

― Washable School Paste (sexyDancer), Friday, 7 April 2006 20:46 (twenty years ago)

http://www.dustygroove.com/images/products/m/morode_gior_emc2~~~~~_101b.jpg

― milton parker (Jon L), Friday, 7 April 2006 20:51 (twenty years ago)

i have tons of classical recordings that were recorded digitally before compact discs arrived. they sound fine.

― scott seward (scott seward), Friday, 7 April 2006 20:55 (twenty years ago)

the japanese rca direct-to-disc digital stockhausen record i have that plays at 45 rpm is one of the phattest fucking records i own. sounds suhweeeeeeeet and bigger than god.

― scott seward (scott seward), Friday, 7 April 2006 20:58 (twenty years ago)

The 8-year old me wanted that shirt so, so badly.

― Sparkle Motion's Rising Force, Friday, 7 April 2006 22:45 (twenty years ago)

All Stevie Wonder albums from ...Secret Life of Plants onward were digitally recorded. I know that particular album just barely missed being the first digital recording made publicly available.

― Rodney's motives are beyond the comprehension of men (R. J. Greene), Saturday, 8 April 2006 02:43 (twenty years ago)

three years pass...

DDR motherfuckerz!

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0b/Bundesarchiv_Bild_183-1984-0603-019,_Dagmar_R%C3%BCbsam,_Gesine_Walther,_Marita_Koch,_Sabine_Busch.jpg
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3359/3288796598_b3865f0bcd.jpg

Anyway... add "Offramp" by Pat Metheny Group to the list. Possibly several more ECM titles too?

― Geir Hongro, Thursday, 16 July 2009 04:35 (sixteen years ago)

The first digitally recorded single and album in the UK were by the (English Beat):

ZANI – You made history by recording Mirror In The Bathroom as the first digital single and Just Can’t Stop It as the first digital album in the UK. How did that feel at the time?

Dave Wakeling – We were guinea pigs for Bronze Records. Uriah Heep had tried using the system they but were having problems. So we got the Roundhouse studio for half price. Digital was fantastic, except for a few pops now and then. Sounded brilliantly deep in the studio, but we lost a lot of bottom end mastering it to analogue disc. Never heard it like it was in the studio until London Records made new digital masters in 2000. Sounded so clean, we ran white or pink noise into the mixes to give it ambience

― deedeedeextrovert, Thursday, 16 July 2009 05:52 (sixteen years ago)

The very first digital album was Stevie Wonder's Secret Life... The second was Canadian proggers True Myth (1979). Not sure if it's third, but soon after was Hawkwind's Levitation.

http://www.progarchives.com/progressive_rock_discography_covers/732/cover_2328111722009.jpg

― Fastnbulbous, Thursday, 16 July 2009 15:00 (sixteen years ago)

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