KXXO, an AC station in Olympia WA I often listen to, airs a very different version of Smash Mouth's "I'm a Believer" than the one you always hear. This is what it sounds like. Most noticeably, the organ-like keyboard part is missing on this version. Was this a mistake or intentional? Where do they get a version like this? Do you listen to any stations who also air alternate versions of a familiar song? And what are good reasons for doing so?
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Stations that air alternate versions/mixes
- Thread starter installLSC
- Start date
The record label. All music that gets played on radio must be licensed, so the writers get paid. So the labels will sometimes get provide alternate versions of hit songs. The "good reasons" for having alternate versions is it keeps a hit from becoming over-played. If a station is playing a song 5-6 times a day, that's a lot of spins. At the same time, it demonstrates the creativity of the artist, and shows another side of what they do.
Hartford's Entercom owned AC station Lite 100.5 WRCH plays an edited version of UB40's Red Red Wine. Full Power Radio's Southern New England Classic Hits Network Kool Radio plays that same edited version.
Lite 100.5 also plays "Empire State of Mind" with JAY Z's rap part edited out.
When i-Heart owned stations play the throwback track "What would you do?" by City High they edited out the word "rape." I first noticed it on i-Heart's now-defunct Throwback Hip-Hop Station Real 106.1 out of Philly. The word was similarly edited out when I heard it a few weeks ago on "Club Control" on i-Heart's KC 101 in New Haven.
After Reggae Artist Sean Paul performed in Hartford many years back CBS's Hip-Hop station Hot 93.7 played a remixed version of his song "Get Busy" that included the lyrics "Hartford Girls" and "Hot 93 Girls."
Lite 100.5 also plays "Empire State of Mind" with JAY Z's rap part edited out.
When i-Heart owned stations play the throwback track "What would you do?" by City High they edited out the word "rape." I first noticed it on i-Heart's now-defunct Throwback Hip-Hop Station Real 106.1 out of Philly. The word was similarly edited out when I heard it a few weeks ago on "Club Control" on i-Heart's KC 101 in New Haven.
After Reggae Artist Sean Paul performed in Hartford many years back CBS's Hip-Hop station Hot 93.7 played a remixed version of his song "Get Busy" that included the lyrics "Hartford Girls" and "Hot 93 Girls."
I often talk about how great record label promo departments are, and this is an example. They will get their artists to do custom versions of songs mentioning town names or call letters, or a local sports team in the lyrics of a song.
Lucky Man by Montgomery Gentry was re-recorded several times for various NFL and NCAA teams. The original goes "last Sunday when my Bengals lost, lord it put me in a bad mood", the Bengals substituted in each market for whatever the locally popular team is.
Open house party with kannon sometimes plays special mixes of current and older music.
Seahawks on KDBL Yakima (92.9)...probably also on KMPS or KKWF back in the day too.
Taylor Swift's 'Tim McGraw' was re-recorded dozens of times for local stations. Maybe a few hundred different versions with local references, whether callsigns or branding. And 'Chicken Fried' Zac Brown Band too. I still hear their KDBL Yakima mix. 'Turn the Bull on upppppppp....'
And back in the '80s, Huey Lewis recorded a bunch of cities' names to be spliced into the fade of "The Heart of Rock and Roll." We here in Connecticut heard "Hartford" in the version that played on WKSS.
I remember "Charlotte! Raleigh too!"
Alternate versions
In St. Louis, the CHR's (KHTR and KWK) added "St. Louis. Champaign, Illinois!" I heard WLS use "Chicago. Kansas City!" On another board, I heard these custom drop-ins were sent on a reel and dubbed in the station's production studio. I have note seen any listing of custom 45's of "Heart Of Rock & Roll" myself, but maybe someone else can jump in to this conversation.
In St. Louis, the CHR's (KHTR and KWK) added "St. Louis. Champaign, Illinois!" I heard WLS use "Chicago. Kansas City!" On another board, I heard these custom drop-ins were sent on a reel and dubbed in the station's production studio. I have note seen any listing of custom 45's of "Heart Of Rock & Roll" myself, but maybe someone else can jump in to this conversation.
Something like that. These were "for promotional use only." The record labels sent them only to radio. They were never pressed on vinyl.
Well KXXO has struck again! Instead of playing the original hit version of Rod Stewart's "Forever Young" from 1988, they're playing this mellower version from a 1996 "love songs" comp.
Two more to add: I have heard many soft rock stations (and Delilah's show) using an acoustic version of 'The One That Got Away' by Katy Perry.
Multiple country stations I've heard use the edited version of 'Toes' by Zac Brown Band, 'toes in the sand' instead of 'a$$ in the sand'. This includes aforementioned 92.9 KDBL in Yakima.
Multiple country stations I've heard use the edited version of 'Toes' by Zac Brown Band, 'toes in the sand' instead of 'a$$ in the sand'. This includes aforementioned 92.9 KDBL in Yakima.
Three of the record company custom cuts immediately spring to mind.
Pointer Sisters' version of "Fire"- First line of the song "I'm ridin' in your car, you turn on (the radio) where "the radio" became a call out for sung station drops. In the case of Seattle, it even rhymed, as in "I'm ridin' in your car, you turn on KJR."
I specifically remember Shania Twain's "That Don't Impress Me Much" - where the spoken line of "OK, so you're Brad Pitt" was replaced by "Ok, so you're Kent and Alan" and in other locales I assume the same thing was done for other AM show talents. Funny part about that shout out is that in the context of the song it's actually kind of a put down of the morning show.
Billy Idol's "Hot in the City" had a shout of "New York!" in the original, but he must have done MANY local drops because I heard "Spokane!" (and rather laughed my butt off) and I actually played the version that said "Tri-Cities!" Mr. Idol definitely earned his airplay, darn it.
Pointer Sisters' version of "Fire"- First line of the song "I'm ridin' in your car, you turn on (the radio) where "the radio" became a call out for sung station drops. In the case of Seattle, it even rhymed, as in "I'm ridin' in your car, you turn on KJR."
I specifically remember Shania Twain's "That Don't Impress Me Much" - where the spoken line of "OK, so you're Brad Pitt" was replaced by "Ok, so you're Kent and Alan" and in other locales I assume the same thing was done for other AM show talents. Funny part about that shout out is that in the context of the song it's actually kind of a put down of the morning show.
Billy Idol's "Hot in the City" had a shout of "New York!" in the original, but he must have done MANY local drops because I heard "Spokane!" (and rather laughed my butt off) and I actually played the version that said "Tri-Cities!" Mr. Idol definitely earned his airplay, darn it.
In Memphis, "the radio" stayed in, but "W-H-B-Q" was sung in the brief pause before the next line.
More from WHBQ:
They had a version of Steely Dan's FM where FM was blanked out and all there was was the background music. I know they did that since they were an AM station and didn't want to promote FM in any way.
When Rick Dees was there they had a version of Olivia Newton John's Please Mister Please that had the line was Please Mister Dees instead.
WLS in Chicago had a version of Starship's We Built This City with clips from WLS DJs.
Or just didn't give the title, just the artist or nothing at all. Given that WHBQ was facing a serious challenge from WMC-FM in those years, the less the listener heard about that other set of frequencies, the better!
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