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Song you wondered how they they ever got played on Top 40 radio

ted chittenden said:
That's probably a very good guess. Another guess has to do with stereo singles. In the late 1950s and early 1960s when stereo 45s were introduced, one of the knocks against them was that you had to have a specially-designed needle to play them. If you tried playing them with your standard record needle at the time, it would actually ruin the single.

When Elektra (yes, it was Elektra) reintroduced stereo singles in 1968, it sometimes put the dual play notage on its 45s to indicate that bote mono and stereo needles could play them, something that wasn't an easy task to accomplish even in 1968 when the new stereo singles were introduced.

So I consider that a possibility. Now I'll use my search engine to find the correct answer...
Click to expand...

michael hagerty said:
Ted was close. "Dual 45" was Buddah/Kama Sutra's trademark for a compatible mono/stereo 45:

Click to expand...
Thanks, all.

There's a web page for almost everything.
 
The same DJ who played Sinatra using that word just said after Prohibition radio stations wouldn't play songs about alcohol for a while. So the song he was playing took a few years to make it to radio.
 
michael hagerty said:
I remember this one really clearly because I was in Ukiah, and KFRC (which came in like a local) went on "Fast Lane" right out of the box---as most stations did. And Asylum Records, in what can only be described as arrogance, didn't ship a radio version...ever. My promo rep:

[...]

Some stations beeped or blanked "goddamn", some took out the entire first stanza of the verse, coming out of the guitar solo into "He said "Call the doctor, I think I'm gonna crash", which made no sense, some took out the whole verse and some---notably KTNQ in Los Angeles, just went with the whole ("goddamn") thing.
Click to expand...
Regarding "Life in the Fast Lane", thanks for the detail -- I think I heard the version with the offending verse cut out and I just assumed that was the 45 edit, and never realized that the radio stations had to do their own edits. Really, at that point in time I didn't even know that radio stations would do additional edits to songs, although I found that out a short time later when a Tacoma station switched to Drake-Chenault's XT40 format, which included radio edits of a number of older songs that were impossible not to notice (think of edits of "Band on the Run", "Hey Jude", and "Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In" that came in at 3-ish minutes).
michael hagerty said:
[...]

And Atlantic Records, knowing Firefall wasn't the Eagles (I think I may have referred to this song on the air as "Crosby Stills Nash and Young just had a baby with Loggins and Messina"), shipped the promo copies with the edit:

I played it, but not for long---it wasn't a hit (stiffed at #34 in Billboard), the protagonist was an a**hole, and even at 21, I was just enlightened enough to understand that blaming a girl for getting pregnant---with your child---and telling her to go away was pretty much at the top of the list of terrible male behavior:
Click to expand...
I was 14 when that song came out, so it didn't really register on my how misogynistic the attitude of the protagonist in that song was until years later. But, yeah, even back then I noticed that song came and went pretty fast. And, yeah, Firefall certainly didn't get the same respect as the Eagles, as they had 45 edits of multiple singles ("So Long", which also stiffed was cut in half for the single, and "Strange Way" lost about a minute).

(And as an aside, that KFRC edit of Stevie Wonder's "Isn't She Lovely" without the baby noises would have been very welcome, because the crying baby in that song was so annoying)
 
TexasTom said:
Regarding "Life in the Fast Lane", thanks for the detail -- I think I heard the version with the offending verse cut out and I just assumed that was the 45 edit, and never realized that the radio stations had to do their own edits. Really, at that point in time I didn't even know that radio stations would do additional edits to songs, although I found that out a short time later when a Tacoma station switched to Drake-Chenault's XT40 format, which included radio edits of a number of older songs that were impossible not to notice (think of edits of "Band on the Run", "Hey Jude", and "Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In" that came in at 3-ish minutes).

I was 14 when that song came out, so it didn't really register on my how misogynistic the attitude of the protagonist in that song was until years later. But, yeah, even back then I noticed that song came and went pretty fast. And, yeah, Firefall certainly didn't get the same respect as the Eagles, as they had 45 edits of multiple singles ("So Long", which also stiffed was cut in half for the single, and "Strange Way" lost about a minute).

(And as an aside, that KFRC edit of Stevie Wonder's "Isn't She Lovely" without the baby noises would have been very welcome, because the crying baby in that song was so annoying)
Click to expand...

I have that on a KFRC aircheck. I'll see if I can find it, isolate it and link to it here. Might not be today.
 
TexasTom said:
Regarding "Life in the Fast Lane", thanks for the detail -- I think I heard the version with the offending verse cut out and I just assumed that was the 45 edit, and never realized that the radio stations had to do their own edits. Really, at that point in time I didn't even know that radio stations would do additional edits to songs, although I found that out a short time later when a Tacoma station switched to Drake-Chenault's XT40 format, which included radio edits of a number of older songs that were impossible not to notice (think of edits of "Band on the Run", "Hey Jude", and "Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In" that came in at 3-ish minutes).

I was 14 when that song came out, so it didn't really register on my how misogynistic the attitude of the protagonist in that song was until years later. But, yeah, even back then I noticed that song came and went pretty fast. And, yeah, Firefall certainly didn't get the same respect as the Eagles, as they had 45 edits of multiple singles ("So Long", which also stiffed was cut in half for the single, and "Strange Way" lost about a minute).

(And as an aside, that KFRC edit of Stevie Wonder's "Isn't She Lovely" without the baby noises would have been very welcome, because the crying baby in that song was so annoying)
Click to expand...

The original 45 of "Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In," was just over 3 minutes as it eliminated the second verse (actually a repeat of the first verse) and chopped off a few seconds from the end of the song as well. "Isn't She Lovely," was shortened, including the removal of the crying baby (Stevie's real-life daughter, actually), when it was released as the B-side of "I Wish." I heard that version several times in Phoenix, including on KOOL-FM (which didn't play the A-side of that one) long before I heard the longer album mix with the child.

Thanks, Michael Hagerty, for the Youtube link with the edited version of "Cinderella." I had forgotten that that version existed and my memory now says that is what I actually heard when I first heard the song in 1977. Regarding the song's lyrics, for the longest time, I thought that the narrator had married the girl anyway despite the pregnancy and was trying to explain to her why he was so angry at her telling him about her pregnancy in the first place. I certainly know better now, and yes, I very much agree that the lyrics are misogynistic. That said, I still like the song because 1) it didn't really get a lot of airplay when I was younger; and 2) it was primarily an acoustic number, and in my old age, I find myself (mostly) preferring acoustic songs to electric songs.

Finally, in a recent interview with one of the surviving Eagles, I learned that "Life in the Fast Lane," was supposed to be a fable about what not to do. However, many people, especially young people, who heard the song thought that living the lifestyle the song discussed would be more fun than living what they viewed as their boring humdrum lives.
 
ted chittenden said:
The original 45 of "Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In," was just over 3 minutes as it eliminated the second verse (actually a repeat of the first verse) and chopped off a few seconds from the end of the song as well.
Click to expand...

Ted, I hate to keep correcting you, but I'm not gonna let that stop me.

This is the original 45 of "Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In", and it's 4:49. It's the only version ever commercially available on 45, and it's identical to the album version (though that shows on the LP as 4:51).

sddefault.jpeg

The short version was for radio promo copies only---and it ran 3:50:


Now, the funny story behind that:

Bones Howe, who produced the Fifth Dimension, was friends with Bill Drake---he had access. So he took the record up to Drake's house in the hills and played it for him, offering KHJ (and by extension, the other RKO stations) an exclusive.

He expected Drake to be bowled over.

Drake: "It's good, Bones, but it's long. Can you get me an edit?"

Bones: "Sure, Bill. Can I come back tomorrow?"

Drake says yes, Bones goes back to the studio and creates the 3:50 edit. He goes back to Drake, who listens to the edit.

Drake: "Bones, it's still a little long. Can you get it down to 3:30?"

Bones: "Sure, Bill. Can I come back again tomorrow?"

Drake says yes, Bones goes to Liberty Records and asks for a single printing of the label with the time reading 3:30.

He goes back to Drake's house the next day, hands Bill the record so Bill will certainly see the timing on the label.

Drake plays it---the same record as the day before---just with a label that lies about the time by 21 seconds and says:

"Perfect. I'll call Jacobs and tell him you're on the way."

In those days, KHJ was still playing 'em straight off the vinyl, so the deception wasn't spotted in carting it. And after Bones dropped off that one of one 45, he asked Liberty to print up ten more labels showing 3:30, slapped 'em on ten of the 45s and had them delivered to KHJ for backup copies.


ted chittenden said:
"Isn't She Lovely," was shortened, including the removal of the crying baby (Stevie's real-life daughter, actually), when it was released as the B-side of "I Wish."
Click to expand...

The B-side of "I Wish" was "You and I", a track pulled from 1972's "Talking Book."

"Isn't She Lovely" was never commercially released as a 45 in the United States, and Stevie refused to shorten it. But there was a promotional 45 for radio only that had the full version on one side and the instrumental track on the other. Stations used that to create custom edits that didn't include the baby.

ted chittenden said:
Thanks, Michael Hagerty, for the Youtube link with the edited version of "Cinderella." I had forgotten that that version existed and my memory now says that is what I actually heard when I first heard the song in 1977. Regarding the song's lyrics, for the longest time, I thought that the narrator had married the girl anyway despite the pregnancy and was trying to explain to her why he was so angry at her telling him about her pregnancy in the first place.
Click to expand...

I think the lyrics are a hell of a lot darker than that:

Rockin' a chair on my front porch
Well, I'm thinkin' about
All the things that I did as a young man
Now that I'm old

And I remember her and the boy
Did he have all the toys and the joys
That a young man should have
Before he gets too old?

Cinderella, couldn't you see?
I didn't want your company
You should've left that mornin', left that day
Took your love and your child away


Before I pulled it entirely at KUKI, I remember discussing it with the other jocks...she hung around long enough for him to know it was a boy. They're clearly gone----and that last chorus at the end..."You should have..."

Holy crap, did he abuse them before they ran? Did he...kill them?


ted chittenden said:
Finally, in a recent interview with one of the surviving Eagles, I learned that "Life in the Fast Lane," was supposed to be a fable about what not to do. However, many people, especially young people, who heard the song thought that living the lifestyle the song discussed would be more fun than living what they viewed as their boring humdrum lives.
Click to expand...

Most of the Eagles' songs are cautionary tales. They were among the first bands to outright say "We may be rich, but we're miserable and you don't want to be like us."

Of course, it's a mixed message when you're saying that but you're flying Stevie Nicks on your own LearJet to spend the weekend with you.
 
Last edited:
michael hagerty said:
Ted, I hate to keep correcting you, but I'm not gonna let that stop me.

This is the original 45 of "Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In", and it's 4:49. It's the only version ever commercially available on 45, and it's identical to the album version (though that shows on the LP as 4:51).

View attachment 10683

The short version was for radio promo copies only---and it ran 3:50:


Now, the funny story behind that:

Bones Howe, who produced the Fifth Dimension, was friends with Bill Drake---he had access. So he took the record up to Drake's house in the hills and played it for him, offering KHJ (and by extension, the other RKO stations) an exclusive.

He expected Drake to be bowled over.

Drake: "It's good, Bones, but it's long. Can you get me an edit?"

Bones: "Sure, Bill. Can I come back tomorrow?"

Drake says yes, Bones goes back to the studio and creates the 3:50 edit. He goes back to Drake, who listens to the edit.

Drake: "Bones, it's still a little long. Can you get it down to 3:30?"

Bones: "Sure, Bill. Can I come back again tomorrow?"

Drake says yes, Bones goes to Liberty Records and asks for a single printing of the label with the time reading 3:30.

He goes back to Drake's house the next day, hands Bill the record so Bill will certainly see the timing on the label.

Drake plays it---the same record as the day before---just with a label that lies about the time by 21 seconds and says:

"Perfect. I'll call Jacobs and tell him you're on the way."

In those days, KHJ was still playing 'em straight off the vinyl, so the deception wasn't spotted in carting it. And after Bones dropped off that one of one 45, he asked Liberty to print up ten more labels showing 3:30, slapped 'em on ten of the 45s and had them delivered to KHJ for backup copies.




The B-side of "I Wish" was "You and I", a track pulled from 1972's "Talking Book."

"Isn't She Lovely" was never commercially released as a 45 in the United States, and Stevie refused to shorten it. But there was a promotional 45 for radio only that had the full version on one side and the instrumental track on the other. Stations used that to create custom edits that didn't include the baby.



I think the lyrics are a hell of a lot darker than that:

Rockin' a chair on my front porch
Well, I'm thinkin' about
All the things that I did as a young man
Now that I'm old

And I remember her and the boy
Did he have all the toys and the joys
That a young man should have
Before he gets too old?

Cinderella, couldn't you see?
I didn't want your company
You should've left that mornin', left that day
Took your love and your child away


Before I pulled it entirely at KUKI, I remember discussing it with the other jocks...she hung around long enough for him to know it was a boy. They're clearly gone----and that last chorus at the end..."You should have..."

Holy crap, did he abuse them before they ran? Did he...kill them?




Most of the Eagles' songs are cautionary tales. They were among the first bands to outright say "We may be rich, but we're miserable and you don't want to be like us."

Of course, it's a mixed message when you're saying that but you're flying Stevie Nicks on your own LearJet to spend the weekend with you.
Click to expand...

Interesting story about "Isn't She Lovely." If you look at the KRIZ chart for the week of February 26, 1977, the #1 song listed is "Isn't She Lovely/I Wish," by Stevie Wonder. And that is not the only ARSA chart where I've seen the two songs linked together.
 


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