Between 1982 and 1984 I had accumulated several UK copies of Madcap. When I added a Japanese vinyl pressing to the collection in 1984 I was more than a little excited to discover that the version of Terrapin was a few seconds longer than the one I'd grown used to. (On the UK versions, the track fades out just before Syd's strumming speeds up at the end).
I remember writing to Opel fanzine about this and it was mentioned in one of the final issues. This was also picked up a couple of years later by Mark Paytress in a piece he wrote for Record Collector.
So, not including post-80s repressings, what I'd be interested to know is whether or not the 'faded' version appeared on all UK varieties of the vinyl album. Did the complete version make it onto vinyl at all before this? Every UK copy I've seen (including the Harvest Heritage double) carries the matrix number SHVL 765 A-2G on the run-out groove of side one. Are there copies out there with SHVL 765 A-1G or similar, and do they feature the faded version of Terrapin or the track in all its glory?
Of course, when 'Madcap' made its first appearance on CD in 1987, these were manufactured in Japan and so featured the longer take, and it's this version which has since become the norm with all subsequent CD incarnations.
Anyone??
