Newbie here! Let me apologise in advance if this is the wrong forum for this enquiry (there's lots to choose from!).

I recently decided it would be prudent to rip my CD collection to mp3 after discovering one of my Crowded House CD singles had turned 'snowy' or 'crystally' on the playing surface - rendering it uplayable.

So I worked my way through 250 CD's no problem and have just started on my CD singles. When I got to the Crowded House selection I found to my disappointment that virtually all of the singles I purchased when on my OE in London, from NZ during 1993/1994 have deteriorated to the extent they wont play. Most are 2 part digipak sets such as Distant Sun, Fingers of Love, Locked Out & Nail in my Feet.

I was particularly cheesed off when I was telling my kids I saw Crowded House at Wembly and the Hammersmith Apollo 93 (I think) and that the track 'Hole in the River (live)' on the 2nd CD of the digipak was the gig I went too on 13 Nov 1993 (my claim to fame!). Unfortunately the bloody thing won't play anymore.

So I have done some Googling and find various descriptions of problems with CD manufacturing etc. but find nothing specific the the issue I find with mine. All my CD's have been stored together, yet only the Crowded House CD singles purchased in London have deteriorated.

Has anyone else had this problem? I would quite like to recover the material I paid for but can no longer play. Can supply pictures of the damaged discs as proof of purchase if anyone is willing to help. I am not trying to scab free music, just recover the lost stuff.

Many thanks, Matthew.

Hi,

Yep, I've had that problem with the two cd set for Locked Out too. Found it a couple of years ago and was lucky enough to find another copy on ebay which was starting to have the issue but was playable last time I checked... several years ago... Sufficient to say I subsequently backed the ebay one up as soon as I got it! not making that mistake again

I did a fair bit of research at the time and the issue seems to be related to cd-singles pressed at EMI Swindon plant in particular. The issue appears to be related to a change in the inks they used for printing on the digi-pack cd cases that were popular at the time.

Thanks for the reply. Did you get yours in London too?

Wozabe, when you say they aren't "playable" do you mean they won't play in your pc drive or your hi-fi?

You may find that even if they don't play, they can be ripped successfully. Programmes like RealPlayer, Windows Media Player and, even, iTunes can struggle with "damaged CDs" but I would suggest you try a free programme called Exact Audio Copy (EAC).

This does a very good job of ripping CDs and making sure it does so without errors so you get a perfect copy. It's settings can be adjusted to increase or decrease (or remove) the error correction and I've successfully used it on CDs that have really suffered from "CD rot".

That said, you've now got me worried because, although I made a comp of my CH B sides a few years ago, I did it via a minidisc player and I've never got round to ripping them to hard drive.

I feel a compulsion to check my little babies now.

I'm sure this is a well-known issue with the early CH singles. Been discussed on this forum before I reckon though I can't immediately find it. There is some way to clean them I think.

Yeah that happened with mine. Do the discs look shattered or as if covered by snowflakes? I remember finding that had happened to my Together Alone era singles and as far as I can remember I just gave them a good wipe and they were fine.

It was a reaction on the disc to the ink EMI was using on the disc, not on the packaging. Sometimes, if you turn over a disc, the frosting on the back can virtually match any artwork on the front. run them under a tap and get some liquid handsoap on them. They can also feel sticky but you'll be amazed at what you can get off under a running tap.

Yes, the discs do look shaterred or as if covered by snowflakes.

Tried the liquid soap and warm water option and managed to recover the first one. Thanks! Might take a few tries as the second one cleaned up considerably but still not playable yet (hi-fi or PC). Will keep going till I get a result - nothing to loose.

Thanks for the assistance guys.

BTW, a warning to others who may try this. Don't submerge the disc in a sink of water as I did, water got under the non playing side and caused some parts of the graphic to lift and flake off! Just run playing surface under the tap. Probably common sense, but wasn't to me!

I had that happen to my Distant Sun 2-disc CD single; nothing would get the goop off (I tried everything).

Just checked and my fingers of love and locked out sets are knackered. Unbelievable :-( If anyone has the mp3s would they be able to help?

My Instinct and Not the girl you think you are are immaculate still (and now going onto itunes!)

Also Birdhouse-Weather With YOu is spotless to..

The knackered ones look very bizarre though!

It certainly was a known issue with a certain time period of EMI UK pressings. Don't despair though, they can be cleaned up. Pretty much every one of my Crowded House singles from the Together Alone period have suffered but all have cleaned up and are still playable. If warm soapy water didn't cut it (it did get rid of the stickiness at least) then I used very mild abrasive polish, Duraglit IIRC. Worked for me.

Wow - I have the very same thing on Locked out and Distant sun I think . I thought it was something I did.

Yep, just wanted to chime in and say my "Distant Sun" import from the UK looks like a huge snowflake. I've known about it for a decade but just assumed it was a lost cause.

How weird...I haven't played my CD singles from that era in a while but just checked them out of curiosity after reading this thread. Locked Out is fine, but Fingers Of Love (which I got as an import from the UK) does indeed have the snowflake effect.

yeah it still happens in 2010, I bought 'Deep In The Shallows' by The Church only a few days ago and it wont play on the office CD player, it will on our others..... it happens with our Rolling Stones cd singles a LOT, our Uk Locked Out is fine but i remember a german release wouldnt play....on one player. I think it's to do with what sort of laser, where it's pressed etc.

Wasn't there an issue with some sort of coating ink, not just Crowdies but quite a few acts at the time. A careful wash of the side you play is ok... (same with dvds) and wipe it with a fine cloth. What direction do you wipe again???

Crazy we have to do this with so many bands cds.

Gryph

Well I've been through the lot and the results are:

* Fall at your Feet - all good
* Four Seasons In One Day - all good
* Distant Sun part 1 - 2 tracks not recovered
* Distant Sun part 2 - all good
* Locked Out part 1 - completely screwed
* Locked Out part 2 - completely screwed
* Nails In My Feet part 1 - all good
* Nails In My Feet part 2 - all good
* Fingers Of Love part 1 - all good
* Fingers Of Love part 2 - 2 tracks not recovered

I give up at this point. Not prepared to waste any more time on it. Interesting that a common theme seems to be appearing with what people are reporting. Worst affected seem to be Distant Sun & Locked Out.

If anyone can PM me the damaged ones, would be grateful.

Thanks again, Matt.

I've got some of these. I'll look into it.

quote:

Originally posted by Wozabe:

I recently decided it would be prudent to rip my CD collection to mp3 after discovering one of my Crowded House CD singles had turned 'snowy' or 'crystally' on the playing surface - rendering it uplayable.

Many thanks, Matthew.

Matt, please, don't rip to mp3. Rip to a lossless format like FLAC or Apple Lossless if you have a mac.

quote:

Originally posted by Webby:

quote:

Originally posted by Wozabe:

I recently decided it would be prudent to rip my CD collection to mp3 after discovering one of my Crowded House CD singles had turned 'snowy' or 'crystally' on the playing surface - rendering it uplayable.

Many thanks, Matthew.

Matt, please, don't rip to mp3. Rip to a lossless format like FLAC or Apple Lossless if you have a mac.

Thanks for the advice. Understand the in's/out's of a lossless format like FLAC and have extensive live music collection in FLAC format. The reason I'm ripping to mp3 is that it's convenient to put on the mobile phone. Too be honest I can't hear a huge difference and for commercially available music that is easily replaced, mp3 is fine for me. Live gems are a different matter! Obviously music enthusiasts want to preserve the best possible version of a gig - especially when in the old days before digital music formats we had nth generations of hissy cassette recordings that deteriorated with each copy.

Thanks for your comments - please PM get an opportunity to fill the missing track gaps for me. Will be happy to reciprocate in any way if I can.

All this talk of damaged CDs had me rummaging through my collection. Fortunately, everything is in excellent condition and plays fine.

I took the liberty of backing it all up to flac just to be on the safe side.

Matt, if you need help filling those blanks, send me a pm.