Last night while my mind was on hold for a while, a random thought ran through it. I realize a lot of people on this board aren't old enough to have heard anything in the 70s, but for those of you who were around then, here is a question and observation. As I remember, Paul Simon's "Kodachrome" was played by WMPS with the word "crap" edited out from the first line in the song. I don't remember WHBQ or any other station ever playing a similarly edited version, so my guess is that no "radio edit" was ever issued by the record label like that, but rather, WMPS edited it themselves. Anyone remember hearing it that way on WMPS? I always thought it was pretty goofy of them to do that. It makes me wonder if Plough told them to, and if so, did they do that at their other stations, or was it just the local management?
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No "crap" in Memphis!
- Thread starter CatFM
- Start date
I also remember them editing the "crap" out of it! At the time, Q was carping on how many songs they played in an hour, and edited solos out of singles to make them shorter to cram in more songs. During my time at the Q, we edited the second verse out of "Tonight's The Night" on orders from RKO mgt.
I can't remember if it was WHBQ or WMPS, but it seems like I can remember one of them editing "FM" out of the Steely Dan song, like they didn't want people to know it existed.
As old as I am getting, I don't remember 'crap' any more...
But, I seem to remember a small bit of excitement when Rod Stewart's "Hot Legs" came out. Q played the long version, although with the infamous word bleeped out.
When "Jet Airliner" came out, I was doing a short summer stint on the air down in Florida. We took the extended intro from the album and spliced (1) it onto the single, matching the tempos (2). That instumental at the front was way too cool to keep off the air.
The footnotes are for you youngsters.
(1) With a grease pencil and a razor blade.
(2) Tape on the capstan
But, I seem to remember a small bit of excitement when Rod Stewart's "Hot Legs" came out. Q played the long version, although with the infamous word bleeped out.
When "Jet Airliner" came out, I was doing a short summer stint on the air down in Florida. We took the extended intro from the album and spliced (1) it onto the single, matching the tempos (2). That instumental at the front was way too cool to keep off the air.
The footnotes are for you youngsters.
(1) With a grease pencil and a razor blade.
(2) Tape on the capstan
T
Tenn Radio Boy
Guest
Mary Hopkins sang...
"Those were the days my friend, we thought they'd never end."
It's 2008, the word crap and other profanity is a staple of the rap stations.
Editing tape is a lost art that no one of the x, y or millenium generation appreciates. If it don't have ear buds attached to it, it's not real for these kids.
BTW, everyone used to rag on how Koss Pro 4-A headphones would destroy your hearing, much less your neck muscles, what about these ear buds?
"Those were the days my friend, we thought they'd never end."
It's 2008, the word crap and other profanity is a staple of the rap stations.
Editing tape is a lost art that no one of the x, y or millenium generation appreciates. If it don't have ear buds attached to it, it's not real for these kids.
BTW, everyone used to rag on how Koss Pro 4-A headphones would destroy your hearing, much less your neck muscles, what about these ear buds?
I always wondered how that verse of Tonight's The Night was received in the Bible Belt... I mean, let's face it he did get pretty descriptive... And I doubt he was talking about spreading Buffalo Wings....
P
PedroOrange
Guest
Tenn Radio Boy said:
I cut tape back in college. I hated it.
I'd rather use an audio software to edit.
I think our class was one of the last ones to learn how to use the grease pencil and razor.
PeDrO
one of my claims to editing fame was editing Gilda Radners "Let's Talk Dirty to the Animals" from her one woman Broadway show album for radio airplay circa 1978
With razor blade and tape no less.
when I could get a razor blade away from the bolivian marching powder users that is
With razor blade and tape no less.
when I could get a razor blade away from the bolivian marching powder users that is
As well as I can recall, WHBQ and WMPS both edited out "crap" but unless you knew what you were missing it was kind of hard to tell it had been changed.
WMC FM100, then still pretty much in its progressive rock era, did play the album version with "crap" still in it. They were also the first station I heard to let the "S" word play on "Money" by Pink Floyd.
While on the subject of changing the sound of a record, I always liked WHBQ's version of the Pointer Sisters' "Fire" with the added "W-H-B-Q" behind the "you turn on the radio" part.
WMC FM100, then still pretty much in its progressive rock era, did play the album version with "crap" still in it. They were also the first station I heard to let the "S" word play on "Money" by Pink Floyd.
While on the subject of changing the sound of a record, I always liked WHBQ's version of the Pointer Sisters' "Fire" with the added "W-H-B-Q" behind the "you turn on the radio" part.
WLS did that, too. They also did it with "Life is a rock, WLS rolled me!" ;DAlbumOldies said:
R
RoyBoy
Guest
The Flinns have their own idea of what a "radio edit" is. When I was music director for a Flinn station back in the late 80's, Doc's brother asked me to edit out the bridge of a particular song because "he didn't care for it." Later, he thought several of the songs in rotation "faded out too slowly" and wanted me to cut them off sooner. I refused to do it.
His other "out of the box" ideas were:
to continue playing Christmas songs on through the first couple weeks of Janaury - his thinking was that people won't notice the abrupt cut off of holiday music if we fade them out over time.
He wanted more space (dead air) between commericials. He said that people need a pause to clear their mind before moving on to the next thought. When I reminded him that he was causing his commercials breaks to be longer and that dead air was the number one tune out factor, he told me to ask what our consultant thought. Of course, the consultant disagreed. I recorded our conversation and gave it to Flinn. Never heard another word about it.
His other "out of the box" ideas were:
to continue playing Christmas songs on through the first couple weeks of Janaury - his thinking was that people won't notice the abrupt cut off of holiday music if we fade them out over time.
He wanted more space (dead air) between commericials. He said that people need a pause to clear their mind before moving on to the next thought. When I reminded him that he was causing his commercials breaks to be longer and that dead air was the number one tune out factor, he told me to ask what our consultant thought. Of course, the consultant disagreed. I recorded our conversation and gave it to Flinn. Never heard another word about it.
Giving it a second thought... seems like one station edited Kodachrome by moving the line "When I think back on all the girls" into the opening verse, substituting girls for the offensive word. The other station just made an abrupt edit jumping from "all the" to "I learned". I forget whom did which. Either way, Lloyd Binford would have been proud.
The edit version I remember best went "When I think back on all I learned in high school." If you had heard the unedited version then you'd notice the jump where "crap" was omitted. If you had not heard the full version, it most likely went unnoticed. I think this may be the one Rob G is thinking about. The other version which substituted "stuff" for "crap" now seems a little more familiar than when I first read the post. Maybe the Q used one and WMPS used the other. I used to listen to WLS a lot at night back then, but I can't remember what they did with the song.
Incidentally, I use that song in a multi-media dual projector slide show that salutes Kodachrome film which I have used since, believe it or not, 1973. When the part about "all the crap I learned in high school" comes around, I use a slide of a Kentucky state line highway sign that says "Kentucky, Where Education Pays."
Fun post!
Incidentally, I use that song in a multi-media dual projector slide show that salutes Kodachrome film which I have used since, believe it or not, 1973. When the part about "all the crap I learned in high school" comes around, I use a slide of a Kentucky state line highway sign that says "Kentucky, Where Education Pays."
Fun post!
Must've been late '80s. That's when I learned how to do it. Interestingly enough, I almost never used it once I got into radio! I liked digital because I could edit out breaths, pops, etc., and still make it sound clean!PedroOrange said:
Mix 92.9 (the AC here in Nashville) plays Billy Joel's "Big Shot," but they changed the "bitching" in the first verse to "crying"! My question is, did they bring Billy Joel in just to change that line, or did some soundalike sing that line?
Is WRVR playing "Big Shot"? If so, have they changed that line?
Is WRVR playing "Big Shot"? If so, have they changed that line?
K
KennyBosak
Guest
Dan:
WMPS never had a custom version of "Fire."
The flip to country was in March 1978, almost a full year before the release of "Fire."
WMPS did have a custom version of a country song from 1978. Tommy Overstreet had a moderate hit called "Fadin' In, Fadin' Out."
In the first verse, he customized the line "tooling down Interstate 40, listening to WMPS."
In the early 80s, Billy Idol did a custom version of "Hot In The City" for Memphis stations (I assume FM 100 and Rock 103), where he replaced the "New York" reference with "Memphis."
I think record companies did these to entice important stations to add a record more quickly.
Let's face it, the Pointer Sisters WHBQ version of "Fire" sounded like a million bucks!
Poor Anita Pointer probably spent a whole day in the studio singing call letters.
Rob:
I'm pretty sure the versions went like this:
WHBQ: "When I think back on all ... I learned in high school." (Taking out the words "the crap.")
WMPS: "When I think back on all the girls I knew in high school." (Moving a small part of the second verse into the first verse.)
Both edits were likely done by the stations. I'm not aware of a special recording of the song. That doesn't mean there isn't one -- I just don't know of one.
I put "Kodachrome" into Adobe Audition and recreated both edits as I recall them.
If anyone wants an MP3 to give 'em a listen, toss me an e-mail at:
[email protected]
WMPS never had a custom version of "Fire."
The flip to country was in March 1978, almost a full year before the release of "Fire."
WMPS did have a custom version of a country song from 1978. Tommy Overstreet had a moderate hit called "Fadin' In, Fadin' Out."
In the first verse, he customized the line "tooling down Interstate 40, listening to WMPS."
In the early 80s, Billy Idol did a custom version of "Hot In The City" for Memphis stations (I assume FM 100 and Rock 103), where he replaced the "New York" reference with "Memphis."
I think record companies did these to entice important stations to add a record more quickly.
Let's face it, the Pointer Sisters WHBQ version of "Fire" sounded like a million bucks!
Poor Anita Pointer probably spent a whole day in the studio singing call letters.
Rob:
I'm pretty sure the versions went like this:
WHBQ: "When I think back on all ... I learned in high school." (Taking out the words "the crap.")
WMPS: "When I think back on all the girls I knew in high school." (Moving a small part of the second verse into the first verse.)
Both edits were likely done by the stations. I'm not aware of a special recording of the song. That doesn't mean there isn't one -- I just don't know of one.
I put "Kodachrome" into Adobe Audition and recreated both edits as I recall them.
If anyone wants an MP3 to give 'em a listen, toss me an e-mail at:
[email protected]
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