Only the beginning?

[vchimpanzee]

Seems like an appropriate title.

The actual title of the song is "Beginnngs" and when I heard the words "only the beginning" I was expecting the words "only the beginning" repeated many times as they were on a big FM in the 80s that played a lot of oldies. The song never got to that point.

This was not the Good Time Oldies affiliate that cut off Creedence's version of "I Heard It Through the Grapevine" or left out that organ part in "Magic Carpet Ride", but a station which is programmed locally.

 

[TheBigA]

The album version is 7:54. Then there are two edits. The Top 40 edit is 2:47. That's perhaps the version they thought they were playing. There's another edit on the "Only The Beginning" hits album, but it runs 6:26. I'm sure there are sources to get the single edit, so that it plays properly. The two edits were released by the label.

 

[tbolt909]

Seems like an appropriate title.

The actual title of the song is "Beginnngs" and when I heard the words "only the beginning" I was expecting the words "only the beginning" repeated many times as they were on a big FM in the 80s that played a lot of oldies. The song never got to that point.

This was not the Good Time Oldies affiliate that cut off Creedence's version of "I Heard It Through the Grapevine" or left out that organ part in "Magic Carpet Ride", but a station which is programmed locally.

Just because a station is "Programmed Locally" doesn't mean they always play Album versions of songs. FM Rock stations usually did, but AM Top 40 mainly played edits.

Van Morrison's "Brown Eyed Girl" had an edit version that replaced the line "Making love in the green grass" with "Laughing and running". There were all kind of Radio edits for language and length. Buy the album and you'll get what you're looking for...

 

[vchimpanzee]

Just because a station is "Programmed Locally" doesn't mean they always play Album versions of songs.

I never said it did. But the big FM AC/oldies station played the long version. I wasn't aware there was even a short version.

 

[AMRadioGuy]

Just because a station is "Programmed Locally" doesn't mean they always play Album versions of songs. FM Rock stations usually did, but AM Top 40 mainly played edits.

Van Morrison's "Brown Eyed Girl" had an edit version that replaced the line "Making love in the green grass" with "Laughing and running". There were all kind of Radio edits for language and length. Buy the album and you'll get what you're looking for...

Yup - the single edit of this tune is the one that would've been spun on AM top-40 radio back when it was on the charts. I prefer the single version of this song with one exception - I wish they left more of the intro intact. The album version is... too long. Especially for radio.

 

[tbolt909]

Yup - the single edit of this tune is the one that would've been spun on AM top-40 radio back when it was on the charts. I prefer the single version of this song with one exception - I wish they left more of the intro intact. The album version is... too long. Especially for radio.

Many album tracks clock in at 6 to 10 minutes. Songs by Yes, Who, Led Zeppelin, Traffic and many others were played on FM Rock Radio. I've worked at stations that promoted the fact that we never played Radio edits...

 

[TheBigA]

Many album tracks clock in at 6 to 10 minutes. Songs by Yes, Who, Led Zeppelin, Traffic and many others were played on FM Rock Radio. I've worked at stations that promoted the fact that we never played Radio edits...

That's one difference between classic hits and classic rock. Classic hits will follow Top 40, while classic rock usually follows AOR.

 

[CTListener]

Yup - the single edit of this tune is the one that would've been spun on AM top-40 radio back when it was on the charts. I prefer the single version of this song with one exception - I wish they left more of the intro intact. The album version is... too long. Especially for radio.

Chicago were so full of themselves. Some of their tracks were brilliant, but "Beginnings" and "Feelin' Stronger Every Day" were padded out with mindless noise as fade-outs far beyond what this listener could stand. Thankfully, "Beginnings" had a radio edit. I could edit "Feelin' Stronger" only by pushing another preset.

 

[tbolt909]

Chicago were so full of themselves. Some of their tracks were brilliant, but "Beginnings" and "Feelin' Stronger Every Day" were padded out with mindless noise as fade-outs far beyond what this listener could stand. Thankfully, "Beginnings" had a radio edit. I could edit "Feelin' Stronger" only by pushing another preset.

Many great bands had moments where they overindulged and turned out some clunkers. I love the Beatles, but
"Hey Jude" drones on too long. "Revolution #9" conjures up a Bad Acid Trip and left producer George Martin baffled.

The first 5 Chicago albums were far superior to what the band morphed into. Peter Cetera turned them into Air Supply with insipid ballads. The songs were hits and he cashed the checks, but I changed the station as fast as I could...😑

 

[AMRadioGuy]

Many album tracks clock in at 6 to 10 minutes. Songs by Yes, Who, Led Zeppelin, Traffic and many others were played on FM Rock Radio. I've worked at stations that promoted the fact that we never played Radio edits...

This is definitely true... When I said "too long for radio," I was talking about traditional top-40 AM radio primarily - I should have worded that better. Of course FM Rock Radio is going to play the elongated LP versions of tunes, and as you pointed out, often use that as a selling point to listeners.

 

[TexasTom]

This is definitely true... When I said "too long for radio," I was talking about traditional top-40 AM radio primarily - I should have worded that better. Of course FM Rock Radio is going to play the elongated LP versions of tunes, and as you pointed out, often use that as a selling point to listeners.

Some FM Top 40 stations also played the long LP versions of songs in the late seventies and early eighties -- I think that it was another way of distinguishing themselves from their AM counterparts. I have some old airchecks of KYYX(FM) in Seattle from their Top 40 days, and it was all extended album cuts, albeit with a very different mix of songs from what you'd hear on FM rock radio (I don't think too many rockers would have played the extended versions of Barry Manilow's "Could It Be The Magic" or George Benson's "This Masquerade").

 

[ted chittenden]

What is interesting is that with the advent of CDs, the music industry has released additional edits to older songs and (I suspect at the request of the artists involved) sometimes failed to put the 45 versions of some songs on CD. Some of the 45 versions I've been unable to find on CD are:

"Whole Lotta Love," by Led Zeppelin;
"One," and "Mama Told Me (Not to Come)," by Three Dog Night;
"Crazy on You,", "Magic Man,", and "Heartless," by Heart;

and there are more. I did finally find the 45 mixes of Yes' "Roundabout," and Cymarron's "Rings," but you have to look hard for these gems.

 

[yeoldeschool]

What is interesting is that with the advent of CDs, the music industry has released additional edits to older songs and (I suspect at the request of the artists involved) sometimes failed to put the 45 versions of some songs on CD. Some of the 45 versions I've been unable to find on CD are:

"Whole Lotta Love," by Led Zeppelin;

Check your private messages on this forum for a message from me, Ted. I sent you a link to where you can find a perfect sounding digital version of that Led Zeppelin 45.

 

[Gregg.]

Many great bands had moments where they overindulged and turned out some clunkers. I love the Beatles, but
"Hey Jude" drones on too long.

When WABC 770 was in its Top 40 golden years, it played the #1 song every hour a few minutes after the top of the hour, during both the Ron Lundy Show (10 a.m. to 2 p.m.) and the Dan Ingram Show (2 to 6 p.m.). "Hey Jude" was #1 for six weeks in September and October 1968. The song goes on for more than 7 minutes, unusual in that era.

At this point in my life, I'm so used to it that I would miss all the "Hey-na-na"s, even though they go on for many additional minutes. Let's give credit to WABC that the station still played the song every hour for a month and a half and never edited it.

 

[vchimpanzee]

"Twilight Zone" by Golden Earring was on the local oldies station. I was hoping it was the long version, but it wasn't.

 

[AMRadioGuy]

Sorry Chimp, but if I'm listening to an oldies station I want to hear the single version. Songs like "Blinded By the Light," "Baker Street," and "Beginnings" should be all single versions, all the way on oldies radio. On a classic rock station? Fine, play the long versions.

Oh, and "Radar Love" should also be the single, preferably the shorter radio edit of it, on oldies radio, too.

"Twilight Zone" by Golden Earring was on the local oldies station. I was hoping it was the long version, but it wasn't.

 

[kevtronics]

What is interesting is that with the advent of CDs, the music industry has released additional edits to older songs and (I suspect at the request of the artists involved) sometimes failed to put the 45 versions of some songs on CD.

Companies like TM Century who sell music libraries to radio stations have been guilty of that too -- taking the album version of a song and making their own edit of it in an (often botched) attempt at recreating what the original, not-available-on-CD single version sounded like.

For example, the correct single version of Billy Joel's "Piano Man" is a unique mix. It's not just the album version with the third verse cut out.

 

[John Gallagher]

What is interesting is that with the advent of CDs, the music industry has released additional edits to older songs and (I suspect at the request of the artists involved) sometimes failed to put the 45 versions of some songs on CD. Some of the 45 versions I've been unable to find on CD are:

"Whole Lotta Love," by Led Zeppelin;
"One," and "Mama Told Me (Not to Come)," by Three Dog Night;
"Crazy on You,", "Magic Man,", and "Heartless," by Heart;

and there are more. I did finally find the 45 mixes of Yes' "Roundabout," and Cymarron's "Rings," but you have to look hard for these gems.

Send me a private message. I can help with all of those.

Also, check out Aaron Kannowski's Top 40 Music On CD forum. It's an amazing collector's discussion forum and their subscription database tells you where to find those single versions you've been unable to find.

 

[TexasTom]

Sorry Chimp, but if I'm listening to an oldies station I want to hear the single version. Songs like "Blinded By the Light," "Baker Street," and "Beginnings" should be all single versions, all the way on oldies radio. On a classic rock station? Fine, play the long versions.

Oh, and "Radar Love" should also be the single, preferably the shorter radio edit of it, on oldies radio, too.

Not necessarily. To some extent, this is specific to individual markets.

For example, in the late 70s and early 80s it was pretty common for Top 40 stations in the Seattle/Tacoma market to play the album versions of the hit songs instead of the single versions. KNBQ and KYYX were both pretty consistent about doing so. Similarly, here in Dallas/Fort Worth it was pretty common at one time for the Top 40 stations to initially play the single version but switch to the longer album version after the songs had been out for a couple months. So in some cases, it is going to be the album versions that pop music listeners are going to remember.

That said, my suspicion is that not many programmers have the time in market to know which versions of the songs actually got played locally when the songs were current.

 

[davideduardo]

That said, my suspicion is that not many programmers have the time in market to know which versions of the songs actually got played locally when the songs were current.

More than that, in the "growth markets" much / most of the population was not there when the songs were currents. So the safe thing to do is play the single version.