Mixology: The Mono/Stereo Mix Differences Podcast

Hello Friends! I've gone a little self-indulgent again on the show today, with a look at one of my favourite US-only LPs by The Dave Clark Five, 1967's 5 by 5. Issued with 'Nineteen Days' as the focus tracks, the 10 track 20 minute affair is an absolute blast, if wholly derivative of both the DC5 themselves and the music around them at the time. What is most important though is the fact that this...

Hello Friends! This time on show we're finally returning to the Fold-Down Chronicles, looking at a further three LPs originally issued in both mono and stereo, but with mono mixes that don't entirely deserve that title. With this in mind, today we will be covering the following albums: The Beach Boys - Beach Boys Concert (1964) Graham Gouldman - The Graham Gouldman Thing (1968) Michael Nesmith pre...

Hello Friends! After enjoying my time so much with Surfer Girl last time, I felt it only natural to continue on with it's sister LP, Little Deuce Coupe. Issued a mere 3 weeks after it's predecessor, the LP contains 8 new songs, as well as 4 tracks from previous LPs (including 2 from Surfer Girl), but in my opinion it all makes for a cracker of an LP. To top it off, while the mono mix remains supre...

Hello Friends! It's Beach Boys time again here on the show, as we continue to enjoy the backend of the summer down under. Somewhat inspired by the recent We Gotta Groove: The Brother Studio Years box set, this album was originally issued in mono and stereo in September 1963, and thankfully has never had any form of remix, though one track did received a mildly modified master for use as a flip sid...

Hello Friends! It's been a long time coming, but here it is - the Mixology look at The Velvet Underground & Nico, one of the most influential discs of all time, and one of my most requested LPs to cover. I wasn't sure what to expect when going into this album. For such a rough and ready production, stereo didn't feel like it would make sense, but after spending time picking apart both the mono...

Hello Friends! Much like last year, I wanted to round out 2025 with a look back over the year that was, reflecting briefly on the wonderful albums we looked at this year, the conversations had, and what could be to come in 2026. It's been a fun year with a number of episodes I'm deeply proud of, and to top it all off, I've got a treat to round out the episode I'm extremely excited to share with yo...

Hello Friends! After an extended break away from the Fab Five, we return to The Hollies on Mixology with a look at their 1966 album, 'Would You Believe?'. Their first issued in stereo in the UK (almost at the same time), this LP has always had a very curious mix situation, with the stereo being somewhat inventive with it's panning, and the mono being quite muddy for the most part. With this in min...

Hello Friends, This time on Mixology, we're back with another Mixology Conversation, this time with the delightful Andrew Batt, discussing the fantastic new Cast Your Fate to the Wind: The Complete UK Decca Recordings from Marianne Faithfull. Andrew's care and attention with Marianne's work made this one of my most anticipated reissue campaigns in many years, and with the fantastic results now ava...

Hello Friends! We're back in Hermits land this month with a look at the only LP issued by the group in true stereo from start to finish, Hold On! (Music from the Original Sound Track). Recorded as such for the titular motion picture, this meant that for the first time we got to hear Herman's Hermits in both mono and true stereo, and it is truly glorious. This is a stereo mix with a lot of care in...

Hello Friends! After many months of hoping to cover the DC5 on the main show, this has finally been realised thanks to the 1970 compilation, The Best of The Dave Clark Five. Issued on the Starline label in the UK, this was the first stereo Dave Clark Five material in the UK, and as such saw first time stereo mixes for the vast majority of its 14 tracks, and the other handful had only otherwise bee...

Hello Mr. Big Shot! After juggling around many ideas for forthcoming Mixology episodes, I landed on our follow-up to our look at Scott only a few months ago with the inevitable companion episode Scott 2. While stylistically very similar to the prior album in a number of ways, the concept feels like it reaches another level on this occasion, and as a result, brings in a few more notable differs tha...

Hello Friends! It's time to head back to California as I feel it's time to cover a huge fan-favourite in The Beach Boys' catalogue, The Beach Boys Today!. Released in 1965, this album was only originally issued in mono and duophonic, but starting with the release of the Endless Harmony Soundtrack in 1998, the 11 songs from the album were slowly remixed into stereo, with the last few gathered up wi...

Hello Friends! We've got something a little different on the show today. A few months ago I became very curious about a few stereo mixes I had used in my episode on the Zombies LP Begin Here, where a few tracks had turned up in poor SQ. At that point I assumed this was likely baked into the mix, until I put out a call regarding The World of The Zombies featuring these tracks, only to discover that...

Hello Friends! After many months of promising a new edition of Mixology Conversations, the time has finally arrived for our discussion with the wonderful Andrew from Parlogram. Best known today for the fantastic series of videos on YouTube under the Parlogram name, Andrew got his start in this world selling records online for many years, and has naturally been very deep down the rabbit hole of col...

Hello Friends! We're finally giving the inimitable Scott Walker a spotlight on the show today, with a look at his debut solo LP from 1967, Scott. Issued unchanged in the US under the title Aloner, to say I was surprised by how different these mixes are would be an understatement. From my experience with label mate Dusty’s catalogue on Philips, I assumed Scott’s would similarly be close sonically b...

Hello Friends! In today's episode we're heading out with a downright Australian classic, The Loved One's Magic Box. Issue in October 1967 as a collection of 10 of the group's previously released tracks and two warmup covers, this album is home today to classics such as 'The Loved One', 'Ever Lovin' man' and 'Sad Dark Eyes', but despite being issued in mono and stereo, the last 40 years have not be...

Hello Friends! We're kicking 2025 off with a bang today, with something relatively obscure to listeners today. Released in 1968, the 2nd LP by Paul & Barry Ryan, and their 1st on MGM, was issued only in the UK in both mono and stereo. Simply titled Paul & Barry Ryan, these original pressings remain the only issues of the material to this day, and all signs sadly indicate that the masters f...

Hello Friends! We're rounding out Mixology for the year today with a look back over everything we covered this year, including a couple of corrections and updates, as well as a look at a bunch of interesting emails I received through the year. 2024 has been an amazing year for the show that I am incredibly proud of, and while I can't imagine I can really follow-up on some of the highest highs I ma...

Hello Friends! As we move into episode 101 we bring you something quite special to follow-up the unfollowable. During my time working on Blonde on Blonde, I was approached by noted reissue producer and historian Andrew Sandoval to investigate a recent acquisition of a large number of Beach Boys 45s, both stock and promo, from across the Brother/Reprise years, and a number of anomalies present in h...

Hello Friends! Well, it's finally time for the big one - and not just that today marks Episode 100 of the show. After 6 months of planning, work, and research, we have arrived at what will surely be the peak of the Mixology format, our extensive look at Bob Dylan's 1966 classic Blonde on Blonde. Issued in both mono and stereo as a 14-track double LP, the album was subject to a partially revised st...

Hello Friends! Here we are, at episode 99, and what better way to hit the end of double digits with than The Kinks curio of a live album from 1967/68 [US/UK], Live at Kelvin Hall. Notorious for its overbearing loop of screams edited into the mixdown, the album is nothing if not an exciting listen. But what of the two mixes available for this sonic experience? Well, between the Stage Front of the M...

Hello Friends! It's Beatle time here on the show again, as we finally round out our look at all the catalog LPs in the Beatles canon with a look at 1963's With the Beatles. Originally issued in mono and stereo, this twin-track recording seems like a simple comparison on the surface - and yes, many of the tracks are - but there's some real hidden secrets in these mixes that demand your attention, i...

Hello Cabbages! This week on the show we're taking our first full-length look at Chad & Jeremy, addressed here by their full names, and their 1967 statement piece Of Cabbages and Kings. A tale of two sides, this takes an already very progressive baroque-folk set of songs on Side 1 and pairs it with The Progress Suite on Side 2 - a 5 part, most instrumental look at the rise and fall of society...

Hello Friends! We're moving into the land down under this month on the show, with a look at the fantastic 2nd LP from Australia's own The Twilight, Once Upon a Twilight. Issued in 1968 in mono and stereo exclusively in Oz, the album has since been reissued on CD, including a Mono/Stereo issue by Aztec. Sadly, this uses a fold-down of the stereo for the mono presentation, while the original LP is w...

Hello Friends! Today we're completing our look at the Bee Gees' catalog* here on the show, with their first international release Bee Gees 1st from 1967. Issued originally in both mono and stereo mixes, I was shocked at how much stronger the stereo mix here was than the rather poor showing on Horizontal, generally being comparable to the mono, with a couple of exceptions. But what are these except...