the first compact disc 'hidden track'

Nirvana's Nevermind came out in Sept/01 and Revenge ep Gun World Porn came out in '91, though I can't track exactly when.

They both have hidden tracks at the end of the cd. They are the first ones I'm aware of that did this. Does anybody know of a release that did this earlier?

The telephone message at the end of Gun World Porn really startled me because 'hidden tracks' weren't common knowledge yet, I couldn't for the life of me figure out why an answering machine message had suddenly blared out of my cd player for no good reason!

bound to be love vigilantes on substance.

Orblivion which came out in 1998 has a hidden track, as do several mid 1990's NIN albums.

When did NIN's 'fixed' and 'broken' eps come out? around 1992? One of them had the annoying 99 tracks with 'hidden' track at the end nonsense. Hidden tracks are a silly gimmick anyway.

Hooky took the piss out of hidden tracks quite nicely at the end of Music For Pleasure didn't he?

Also, does anyone know what the hidden bit on the Shine CD single is all about?

Revenge's Pineapple Face (CD-single, 1990) had a hidden remix.

yo, you can turn it off now.

The X-files soundtrack had a -1 track

Are you guys 'taking the piss'?

Is Love Vigilantes actually included as a hidden track on some versions of Substance? Bullshit!

And I have both the uk and us release of the Pineapple Face cd single and there are no hidden tracks on them. Liar!

I really want to find out, who was the first artist to include a hidden track on a cd? We could be establishing a historical fact here. I've done some research online and nobody seems to know. Apparantly there's a hidden track on REM's Green cd, which I believe came out in 89/90?? If that's true that would be the first one I'm aware of.

Nirvana's 'Nevermind' came out in 9/91 and, I believe, the first 50,000 copies did NOT have the bonus track, making them rarer (which is the one I got).

Nine Inch Nails 'Broken' originally came with a bonus 3" CD that had the extra tracks. After initial pressings, to save money, they made them "extra" tracks. 98th and 99th, or whatever.

'Pineapple Face' US CD Single HAS a sixth track that is clearly listed on the disc itself but not on the rear insert, so I guess in this particular case, it is an error.

The Orb's 'Orblivion' came out in 1997.

NIN Broken came out in '92, too late.

REM's Green was originally released in '88, and only released on cd in 1990. But, looking at a pic of the actual cd, there is a 'track 11' listed, it's just untitled, thus disqualifying it from hidden track status.

So, unless contrary evidence is presented, we are left with a tiebreaker between Nirvana and New Order (well, Revenge, but why complicate things).

Without the specific release date for the 'Gun World Porn' cd, it is impossible for this judege to come to a conclusion, therefore we will take the liberty of declaring:

NEW ORDER WERE THE FIRST BAND TO RELEASE A HIDDEN TRACK ON CD!!!!!!! yaaaaayYYYy!!!!! WHAT PIONEERS!!!!

Somebody call Guiness!

the stone roses included a hidden track on their long awaited 2nd (comeback) album in 1994. This sounded like a backward cajun / folk tune on track 99. Ive never met anyone who is actually aware of this track. What actually is the point? Is it just to stop people from playing the CD tracks in a random order?

I don't know what the point is. You'd have to ask Peter Hook, as I've established, he invented it!!!

FtotheDoubleOff wrote: Are you guys 'taking the piss'?

Is Love Vigilantes actually included as a hidden track on some versions of Substance? Bullshit!

And I have both the uk and us release of the Pineapple Face cd single and there are no hidden tracks on them. Liar!

I really want to find out, who was the first artist to include a hidden track on a cd? We could be establishing a historical fact here. I've done some research online and nobody seems to know. Apparantly there's a hidden track on REM's Green cd, which I believe came out in 89/90?? If that's true that would be the first one I'm aware of.

sorry that is just a very old joke around these parts. every time a hidden track is mentioned.

As far as later releases in the 90s are concerned, the very fine Super Furry Animals had no less than three albums all featuring a track hidden at the beginning - you had to fast-reverse the search button backwards from track 1 to find them. They were bloody good tracks too - well worthy of inclusion on the normal album tracklisting.

Ash also had a hidden one at the end of their first album 1977 - featuring them puking or summat. :)

I think the most freaky hidden track is on the Mercury Rev album Deserters Songs - some short time after the final track Delta Sun Bottleneck Stomp we have this crazy fractured orchestral meltdown which sounds like a string octet soundchecking and being recorded but then being played back via the fast search button - very very bizarre but completely loopy!

The band "They Might Be Giants" put a hidden track on one of their early 3" CD singles back in 1988 or 1989 (I don't remember which one). The hidden track was...an answering machine message. In 1987 Depeche Mode put a hidden track at the end of their Music for the Masses CD entitled "Interlude #1: Mission Impossible", well actually at the end of the albums proper songs but before the bonus tracks. On the vinyl it's at the end. If you exclude compact discs, artists infrequently put hidden tracks on vinyl LPs. Examples are "Train in Vein" at the end of The Clash's London Calling and an unlisted track at the end of The Beatles Abbey Road, so the practice goes back to the sixites at least.

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!

They Might Be Giants?!@? I hate those twee, smarty-pants fuckers. 'Instanbul, not Constantinople, now its instanbul not constantinople ....'

The distinction of releasing the first hidden cd track CANT go to them!!

FtotheDoubleOff wrote: Are you guys 'taking the piss'?
And I have both the uk and us release of the Pineapple Face cd single and there are no hidden tracks on them. Liar!

What are you talking about? I have the CD-single right in front of me: the back cover has 5 tracks, while the CD has 6.

Manny Grillo wrote: Hooky took the piss out of hidden tracks quite nicely at the end of Music For Pleasure didn't he? Also, does anyone know what the hidden bit on the Shine CD single is all about?

The lines at the end of Monaco's 97- SHINE- Someone Who Needs Me - are from from Bernard Shaw's stage play Pygmalion. The film adaptation is My Fair Lady. from when they go to the races and Eliza Doolittle is shouting at the horse Rover..

No idea about the first recordings to use hidden tracks mind.

What are you talking about? I have the CD-single right in front of me: the back cover has 5 tracks, while the CD has 6.

Take a look at the actual cd, track 6 is printed right on it "Pineapple Face Calls it a Day". (Must be one of the weirdest song titles ever).

a band did an odd thing, here. Imagine an ordinary cd with ten songs and ten blank tracks. When you first listen to this, having forgotten to disable the random option, you have the feeling that you have found the hidden track at once... but this is a trick... no hidden tracks at all, just blanks. Listening to this with random is curious. A song, five or ten minutes of silence, then one, two, three songs, then silence and so on and so on...

FtotheDoubleOff wrote:

What are you talking about? I have the CD-single right in front of me: the back cover has 5 tracks, while the CD has 6.

Take a look at the actual cd, track 6 is printed right on it "Pineapple Face Calls it a Day". (Must be one of the weirdest song titles ever).

But concur, the sleeve art is of much more importance than what's printed on a compact disc.

Jiphy wrote: a band did an odd thing, here. Imagine an ordinary cd with ten songs and ten blank tracks. When you first listen to this, having forgotten to disable the random option, you have the feeling that you have found the hidden track at once... but this is a trick... no hidden tracks at all, just blanks. Listening to this with random is curious. A song, five or ten minutes of silence, then one, two, three songs, then silence and so on and so on...

That's way too dadaist.

Front 242's 1991 release "Tyranny For You" contained a hidden song beyond the last track on the CD. Can't think of any other examples at the moment although I do remember another industrial type band around the same time who hid a song before the first track of the cd and was the first time I had ever heard of creating a pre-index point like that. Not sure who came up with this sort of thing first. I've heard also of hiding things within song through phase inversion and cancellation tricks only to be revealed through reversing the process. It's been so long that I read about that trick that I've forgotten who's music contained such a thing so I could never confirm whether it was true or not. Interesting concept though.

darran clarke wrote: the stone roses included a hidden track on their long awaited 2nd (comeback) album in 1994. This sounded like a backward cajun / folk tune on track 99. Ive never met anyone who is actually aware of this track.

many pub CD jukeys would roll onto this track after a gap of silence while rolling through the track markers to track 99 post-Love Spreads to the hidden track... conversely selecting Love Spreads on other jukeys would hang the selection...

Danimal wrote: If you exclude compact discs, artists infrequently put hidden tracks on vinyl LPs.

To be pedantic, is it a hidden track or an unlisted track on an LP? I have only one LP with an unlisted track but it's very obvious that it's there - you can see the fact that side 2 has six songs when the sleeve lists only 5.

Though I suppose in these modern times you can't hide a track after 10 minutes of silence at the end of a CD anymore, as you'll see it as soon as you stick it into a PC media player. The only true hidden track left is in the pre-gap for track 1 (a la Ash, 1977, and the Hoodoo Gurus, In Blue Cave.)

Sigh.

mk

By 'Eck! My Neck! wrote: As far as later releases in the 90s are concerned, the very fine Super Furry Animals had no less than three albums all featuring a track hidden at the beginning - you had to fast-reverse the search button backwards from track 1 to find them. They were bloody good tracks too - well worthy of inclusion on the normal album tracklisting.

Ash also had a hidden one at the end of their first album 1977 - featuring them puking or summat. :)

On first editions of the Ash album, their first A Side/B side was hidden at the beginning of the album as well as the Sick Party at the end

On the SFA front, I know Out Spaced and Guerilla had hidden tracks at the beginning but which other?

david gray white ladder & 2 many djs this is radio soulwax vol 2 both have hidden tracks at the start as well.

the 2 many djs seems to be a mix of can't get blue monday out of my head.

Manny Grillo wrote:

By 'Eck! My Neck! wrote: As far as later releases in the 90s are concerned, the very fine Super Furry Animals had no less than three albums all featuring a track hidden at the beginning - you had to fast-reverse the search button backwards from track 1 to find them. They were bloody good tracks too - well worthy of inclusion on the normal album tracklisting.

Ash also had a hidden one at the end of their first album 1977 - featuring them puking or summat. :)

On first editions of the Ash album, their first A Side/B side was hidden at the beginning of the album as well as the Sick Party at the end

On the SFA front, I know Out Spaced and Guerilla had hidden tracks at the beginning but which other?

Off the top of my head, Radiator may have had one as well...

SHEDi xxx

Bentley wrote: Front 242's 1991 release "Tyranny For You" contained a hidden song beyond the last track on the CD.

That track scared the shit out of me when I 1st heard it, there I was lying in drunken/stoned stupor about to nod off when this really heavy, industrial, growling stuff comes on! Personally I think that's why hidden tracks were invented. To scare the crap out of stoners and piss heads

darran clarke wrote: the stone roses included a hidden track on their long awaited 2nd (comeback) album in 1994. This sounded like a backward cajun / folk tune on track 99. Ive never met anyone who is actually aware of this track. What actually is the point? Is it just to stop people from playing the CD tracks in a random order?

You have never met me then Darren!! I tend to leave cd's playing as carn't be arsed to press remote. REF: S/Roses cd This is indeed a wierd violin masterpiece none-theless

Well, They Might Be Cunts claim to the first cd hidden track - I've looked at a discogrophy of theirs and there's a 1988 3" cd single called 'Hotel Detective' that has a final, "untitled" track, but since it is not described as a hidden track, it cannot be verified to be the first hidden cd track and is thus disqualified.

And verifiability is more important then truth.

Sorry, THey Might Be Giants, but nobody likes a smarty-pants.

SHOCKING UPSET!!

The Front 242 album is listed on Amazon as being released in Jan/91!!, boldly stealing the claim to fame from New Order and Nirvana. SHOCKER!!

Is this all over now?

No, it's not. Nine Inch Nails' 'Head Like A Hole' CD Single, which was released in 1990 on TVT, had a hidden track at at the end of the disc where some chick says "Nine Inch Nails!!!! Woooo! They're good". It's about 3 seconds long.

However, it DOES meet the requirement of being a hidden track. It isn't listed on the disc or the insert and predates the 'Tyranny For You' album by a few months at least.

wikipedia doesn't seem to help that much

but Songs For The Deaf by QOTSA, has a hidden track where you rewind the CD on track one, about 1:30 to hear some deaf people rubbing balloons. fucking ace idea [rewinding the first track] just thought I'd mention that.

First "hidden" tracks have to be the whole of the 1985 Dire Straits "Love Over Gold" cd that a friend had which wouldn't play anything. How lucky was that!

The one Revenge "hidden track" everyone's missing is the "gig" sample featured at the end of the UK Facd230 release of One True Passion

WAIT A MINUTE, WHAT'S THIS????

He scores!! A triumphant victory for New Order, they retain their title in a tie with Nine Inch Nails.

According to my CD copy of the Beatles "Sargeant Pepper" album (yeah, I like both the Beatles and New Order, it's not a big stretch), the original vinyl album had a recording in the center groove so that any record player without an arm that lifts itself off the vinyl at the end of the side would slip into the center grooves and play the recording continuously. The CD ends with several seconds of that loop. (Sure, the thread is about "the first compact disc 'hidden track,'" but it's basically the same idea.) Somehow I doubt the Beatles were first with that idea, though.

I can't remember what year CDs started coming out, but my favorite hidden track has always been REM's "Superman" off of Life's Rich Pageant, in 1986.

Andrew Sayer wrote:

darran clarke wrote: the stone roses included a hidden track on their long awaited 2nd (comeback) album in 1994. This sounded like a backward cajun / folk tune on track 99. Ive never met anyone who is actually aware of this track. What actually is the point? Is it just to stop people from playing the CD tracks in a random order?

You have never met me then Darren!! I tend to leave cd's playing as carn't be arsed to press remote. REF: S/Roses cd This is indeed a wierd violin masterpiece none-theless

I knew there was a good reason I forgot about this. The Second Coming hidden track is shite. Played again today and the cat even left the room. Really.

Michael Patrick wrote: According to my CD copy of the Beatles "Sargeant Pepper" album (yeah, I like both the Beatles and New Order, it's not a big stretch), the original vinyl album had a recording in the center groove so that any record player without an arm that lifts itself off the vinyl at the end of the side would slip into the center grooves and play the recording continuously. The CD ends with several seconds of that loop. (Sure, the thread is about "the first compact disc 'hidden track,'" but it's basically the same idea.) Somehow I doubt the Beatles were first with that idea, though.

Before that, a couple of seconds of a very high-pitched tone that was supposed to be out of the range of a human's hearing. This was supposed to upset dogs, aparently.

Oh those crazy Mop Heads!

[black]Diamond[/black] wrote:

Michael Patrick wrote: According to my CD copy of the Beatles "Sargeant Pepper" album (yeah, I like both the Beatles and New Order, it's not a big stretch), the original vinyl album had a recording in the center groove so that any record player without an arm that lifts itself off the vinyl at the end of the side would slip into the center grooves and play the recording continuously. The CD ends with several seconds of that loop. (Sure, the thread is about "the first compact disc 'hidden track,'" but it's basically the same idea.) Somehow I doubt the Beatles were first with that idea, though.

Before that, a couple of seconds of a very high-pitched tone that was supposed to be out of the range of a human's hearing. This was supposed to upset dogs, aparently.

Oh those crazy Mop Heads!

(moderate) Horseshit.

As compact disc uses a PCM sampling rate of 44.1KHz, and Nyquist theory states that the highest recordable frequency is precisely 50% of that sampling rate (i can draw diagrams of why if you like LOL). this means the highest sound possible on a compact disc is 22050Hz, which while on the very edge of human earing is not actually completely beyond it (it's only a perfect 5th above the noise of a CRT television's scanner whine). Of course, there are the ringmod side bands that PCM creates, (a constant ring at the sum and difference of the recorded frequency and the sampling rate), but the DAC's filter those frequencies out as they are pointless to out ears.

oh and not many speakers go much about 20KHz.

I believe canine hearing extends nearly an octave about ours....so those of you with Protool or cubase configured for recording at 24bit 96Khz can record dog annoyances (not withstanding there's sod all that will play them back).

End morning technorant.

Someone here has mentioned a Beatles track on the vinyl version that ends in a locked groove - that would evidently be the vinyl equivalent of the hidden CD track then!

Which gets me thinking - I have a few records where this sort of thing happens. The most memorable being Penthouse and Pavement by Heaven 17 - whereby the final track "We're Going To Live For A Very Long Time" just repeats over and over again :

"for a very long time! for a very long time! for a very long time! for a very long time! for a very long time! for a very long time! for a very long time! for a very long time! for a very long time! for a very long time! for a very long time! for a very long time! for a very long time! for a very long time! for a very long time! for a very long time! for a very long time! for a very long time! for a very long time! for a very long time! ...." unless the pick up automatically lifts off at the end like on some record players, this could go on forever... ;)

Didn't forgotten old late 70s new wavers The Look have something similar with their single "I Am The Beat" - which ends like this: "Beat!! - stomp stomp stomp!!! Beat!! - stomp stomp stomp!!! Beat!! - stomp stomp stomp!!! Beat!! - stomp stomp stomp!!! Beat!! - stomp stomp stomp!!!...."?

Any other locked grooves people can come up with? :)

Danimal wrote: The hidden track was...an answering machine message. In 1987 Depeche Mode put a hidden track at the end of their Music for the Masses CD entitled "Interlude #1: Mission Impossible", well actually at the end of the albums proper songs but before the bonus tracks. On the vinyl it's at the end. If you exclude compact discs, artists infrequently put hidden tracks on vinyl LPs..

My wife has that album too and I've heard it as well - so THAT's the title of it - it's after that really doomy Omen-like gothic instrumental Pimp (title!!!) isn't it? Sounds like the band dicking around in the studio - with what sounds like a football being kicked in the background. Is that right?

There's a hidden bonus track on side 3 of the final virgin, err, vinyl version of Joy Division's "Still": 24 Hours isn't listed on the cover or the label, but it's there!

Of course, we all know that it's even more hidden on the CD version of the album.

Further to an earlier post, I lied - there is no hidden track at the beginning of SFA - Radiator...

SHEDi xxx

Steve Campbell wrote:

[black]Diamond[/black] wrote:

Michael Patrick wrote: According to my CD copy of the Beatles "Sargeant Pepper" album (yeah, I like both the Beatles and New Order, it's not a big stretch), the original vinyl album had a recording in the center groove so that any record player without an arm that lifts itself off the vinyl at the end of the side would slip into the center grooves and play the recording continuously. The CD ends with several seconds of that loop. (Sure, the thread is about "the first compact disc 'hidden track,'" but it's basically the same idea.) Somehow I doubt the Beatles were first with that idea, though.

Before that, a couple of seconds of a very high-pitched tone that was supposed to be out of the range of a human's hearing. This was supposed to upset dogs, aparently.

Oh those crazy Mop Heads!

(moderate) Horseshit.

As compact disc uses a PCM sampling rate of 44.1KHz, and Nyquist theory states that the highest recordable frequency is precisely 50% of that sampling rate (i can draw diagrams of why if you like LOL). this means the highest sound possible on a compact disc is 22050Hz, which while on the very edge of human earing is not actually completely beyond it (it's only a perfect 5th above the noise of a CRT television's scanner whine). Of course, there are the ringmod side bands that PCM creates, (a constant ring at the sum and difference of the recorded frequency and the sampling rate), but the DAC's filter those frequencies out as they are pointless to out ears.

oh and not many speakers go much about 20KHz.

I believe canine hearing extends nearly an octave about ours....so those of you with Protool or cubase configured for recording at 24bit 96Khz can record dog annoyances (not withstanding there's sod all that will play them back).

End morning technorant.

All I can say is, I can hear that high-pitched tone. Woof!

Danimal wrote: The band "They Might Be Giants" put a hidden track on one of their early 3" CD singles back in 1988 or 1989 (I don't remember which one). The hidden track was...an answering machine message. In 1987 Depeche Mode put a hidden track at the end of their Music for the Masses CD entitled "Interlude #1: Mission Impossible", well actually at the end of the albums proper songs but before the bonus tracks. On the vinyl it's at the end. If you exclude compact discs, artists infrequently put hidden tracks on vinyl LPs. Examples are "Train in Vein" at the end of The Clash's London Calling and an unlisted track at the end of The Beatles Abbey Road, so the practice goes back to the sixites at least.

it wasn't a hidden track it was just untitled

There's the weird bit of nonsense at the end of 'a day in the life' on sgt pepper's, after the orchestral climactic bit, if that counts (is it a 'hidden track' or is it part of the song?) Also the Weedy Burton track on the end of the Cure's 3 imaginary boys lp.