Radio Edits in the 80's...?

[Robert Bass]

Here's my uninformed theory about why editing was done. In the 80s, many stations carted their library. Longer songs required longer cart lengths, and I wonder if some stations were afraid to use any cart longer than about 4 1/2 minutes for fear of tape drag induced wow / flutter.

Unlikely by then, since by the '80s, most top 40s were on FM and were bragging about being "all-CDs" by then.

When I had a chance to tour their studios, Y95 in the DFW market was still using carts in the early 90s.

R

 

[billyg]

How bout a edit of Prince - Erotic City.

I remember KJ-103 in Oklahoma playing for a few weeks a heavily edited (but smooth) version of "Erotic City" with
"I just want your creamy thighs".. edited to "I just want you In my Eyes" and "We can f--- until the dawn, making love til cherrys gone" replaced with "If we cannot make babies, maybe we can make some time".. over and over.

At my college station we couldn't tell if Prince was saying "Funk" instead of the F-Word.

Also the old AC K-LITE in OKC played REO's "One Lonely Night" with the Guitar solo edited out..

 

[RobynWattsV2.0]

I did find out later that a 12 inch version of "Tainted Love/Where Did Our Love Go?" was available, but nothing as far as a radio edit for consumers.

Does anyone know where the radio version of "Tainted Love / Where Did Our Love Go" can be purchased or downloaded?? The 12" version is way too long (over 7-8 minutes) and the 45 has only "Tainted Love"

E-bay or a used record dealer would be your best bet for vinyl as the only CD copy that I'm aware of that was available (outside of TM's Golddisk service) was a import compilation that now out of print.

Robyn

 

[boombox]

Not sure if this fits in with the thread, but the actual Milli Vanilli radio hits were quite different from the album versions. I recall looking for the radio hit versions in CD stores during the early 1990's and no such luck.

Of course by then they'd fallen out of favor.

 

[Robert Bass]

Not sure if this fits in with the thread, but the actual Milli Vanilli radio hits were quite different from the album versions. I recall looking for the radio hit versions in CD stores during the early 1990's and no such luck.

Of course by then they'd fallen out of favor.

Still have that album, and I got the radio versions from TM Studios GoldDiscs. I'm hoping the album with be worth something someday... Like "most valuable bombed album".

R

 

[GeneSavage]

If you're looking for radio edits on CD, you really ought to check out http://www.top40musiconcd.com/. Their paid service gives you access to an incredible database of CDs, telling you which versions of the top 40 hits are on each CD, but even the free discussion board is a treasure-trove of information about various versions of various hits.

As an example, this thread:

http://www.top40musiconcd.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=1320&KW=soft+cell

mentions that the reissued commercial 45 had the medley on it.

If you paid for access to the database, you would also read that the re-released / medley version is available on Rhino / Hard Rock Records #72894 and #7243 "Hard Rock Cafe: New Wave" and that the version on this CD is :09 longer than the special dj 45 edit that was issued in 1981.

For $29.95 a YEAR, it's a deal that's hard to beat for a hit version junkie like myself!!!

 

[deltas69]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=srtuQU20QXA Is this the extended 'Tainted Love" ??

 

[firepoint525]

Here's my uninformed theory about why editing was done. In the 80s, many stations carted their library. Longer songs required longer cart lengths, and I wonder if some stations were afraid to use any cart longer than about 4 1/2 minutes for fear of tape drag induced wow / flutter.

Unlikely by then, since by the '80s, most top 40s were on FM and were bragging about being "all-CDs" by then.

That would only be the case from the mid 80s (from about 1985 onward) that stations started to use CDs for music. Even then it was limited as the CD players on the market were not designed for the rigors of broadcast use and there was the risk of the disks being scratched. It remained that way until Denon came out with a line of CD cart machines like the DN 950FA that allowed CDs to be loaded like a cart.
Even into the early 90s, you could still find a few major market CHRs that still used carts for music as most PD didn't want to run the risk of their air talent of cueing up the wrong track or have the CD skip live while on air.

I seem to recall that it was indeed about 1984 or 1985 when they started making that (all-CD) claim. And this was in rural west Tennessee, so I'm sure that it was even earlier elsewhere.

 

[Robert Bass]

Most stations are so over-processed that I'm surprised any of them would even bother promoting the fact of switching to CD's. I bet the average listener probably couldn't tell the difference between a CD, two track open reel or a cart, by the time it reached their radio.

R

 

[firepoint525]

I remember one top-40 FM in rural northwest Tennessee making that all-CD claim. They had their own custom edit of "Reflex" by Duran Duran, which featured the instrumental intro from the album version, coupled with the stuttering "fle-fle-fle-flex" from the a capella intro from the single, that they played while that one was a hit. When it became a recurrent, they switched to playing the single version, which had only the a capella intro. A dead giveaway that the mix that they had played while it was a hit was a carted version. But I likely wouldn't have even noticed this, except that my sister, who was a big Duran Duran fan, and LOVED "Reflex," pointed it out to me. (Not sure if they were already making that "all-CD" claim by then, or not.)

In the early '90s, I worked at a station which was still playing reel-to-reels. It was automated. As far as I know, no listeners ever detected that we were (still!) playing reel-to-reel tapes!

 

[RobynWattsV2.0]

NightAire: Thank you VERY MUCH for the tip on "Tainted Love/Where Did Our Love Go?". I had the 12 inch version of the song from one of the Richard Blade New Wave compilations, but wasn't aware that Rhino had finally got around in releasing an edited version of the song. I wound up doing my own edit that was close, but (and I would be the first to admit it.) wasn't as good as the original. Also, thanks for the tip of Top40MusicOnCD website. I'll sign up for membership when I have the spare funds to do so.

Deltas69: Yes, that is the 12 inch version of "Tainted Love/Where Did Our Love Go?".

OK, back to hits from the 80s:

One song that I've loved when it was released, but was very disappointed when I bought the single and album, was "Chains Of Love" by Erasure. The radio edit had a intro with a cold ending while the single and album version had about a :01 intro before the vocal started. I've later found out that the "radio edit" was an Shep Pettibone remix edited down to 3:35.

Here's what was played on CHR radio back when it was a current, the Shep Pettibone Radio Remix Edit:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I9Andf7kb7Y&playnext=1&list=PLECE47AF761DC497C&feature=results_main

And, here is the single version that was used in the music video and the album "The Innocents".

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V9QPcouMSAg&feature=related

Later, many stations played the album version as more people were familer with that version than the Shep Pettibone edit.

OK, here's another one: UB40's "Red, Red Wine"

Here is the original single edit that was released in 1984. It hit #34. This version did not include band member Astro's toast on the single edit ("Red red wine, you make me feel so fine/ you keep me rockin' all the time..."). That version was on UB40's album "Labour Of Love".

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V9QPcouMSAg&feature=related

And here is the 1988 version of the song (essentially the original album version). This hit #1.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L6gya6Fzurw

Initially, some stations did played the 1984 version by mistake when it was re-released until A&M serviced stations with the 1988 single.

Robyn

 

[oldies76]

Not sure if this fits in with the thread, but the actual Milli Vanilli radio hits were quite different from the album versions. I recall looking for the radio hit versions in CD stores during the early 1990's and no such luck.

The original radio versions are on the 45's released in 1989.

 

[Robert Bass]

UB40's RRW was re-issued in the late 80s and my 45 RPM is that version. It does have the "RRW you make me feel so fine" section.

R

 

[RobynWattsV2.0]

And another one that's worth mentioning: "Rock Me Amadeus" by Falco.

There were 2 versions that were released that wound up on one version of the 45 issued for the song. "An American Edit" (which a similar remix of the song was used in the video):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y17IDFZLRA0

And a "Canadian Version":

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bMuDtfxAIKk

By far, the "Canadian Version" was air on the majority of CHRs back then. When the song was used again for 80s flashback shows, only the "American Edit" was played.

Robyn

 

[oldies76]

Here I Go Again - Whitesnake....prefer the 45 release, but radio continues to play the album version from 1987.

 

[RobynWattsV2.0]

And another one by Whitesnake: "Is This Love?". The original radio edit, IIRC, had a cut down edit of the intro that some stations played, but most just edited out the first part of the song and started the song where the drums and guitar part of the intro kicked it. Sorry, I can't find a radio edit on YouTube to share.

Robyn

 

[RobynWattsV2.0]

Another one that's worth mentioning is Expose's "Come Go With Me". I remember 4 versions of the song used on the radio in regular rotation when it was a current. The song hit #5 in 1987.

The album version (from "Exposure"):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5EM-XcBAkhg&feature=fvsr

The single edit:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3prH6kAdu8U

A "CHR Radio Edit" (with a very short intro time):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ERmaclHzSQU

And, the 12 inch version:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vGhxlRVwO7U

Most stations went on to play the single edit when it was moved into the recurrent/gold status but many opted for the album version later on.

Another song from the 80s that wasn't a big hit when it was initially released, but has enjoyed a second life thanks to exposure from Dance, Alternative and Variety Hits stations is "Situation" by Yaz. When it was released in 1982, it made it to #73 on the "Hot 100", but hit #1 on the "Dance" charts and #31 on the "Urban" charts.

"Situation" was remixed in 1990 where it fared poorly hit #46 on the "Dance" charts. But around this time, Mainstream and Dance CHRs in several markets began to play the song again, giving it some exposure. I had an dayparted aircheck of KXXX/San Francisco from October, 1989 that had the original 12 inch version of the song in heavy rotation at one point. Also, WEGX/Philly, KKBQ and KRBE/Houston and WQHT/NY played the song around this time as well.

In 1999, "Situation" was remixed yet again, which led the song to go to #1 on the "Dance" charts for the second time.

Here is the original single edit that was released in the US:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HPecGUzs_iw

Here is the 12 inch version that is now played regularly.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_D3udbawA1Q

And here is a 1990 single remix that is even shorter than the original single edit (2:22)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0_ZpJPXaoTI

Robyn

 

[billyg]

Another CHR edit I just discovered was El Debarge's "Who's Johnny".. the 45 has a longer and different intro than the LP version.

Single edit: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yA9WhYnsD_4

 

[RobynWattsV2.0]

And two more songs from 1989, both by Seduction.

We'll start with one of my faves "My One And Only (True Love)": There were two versions of the single played at the time, the one that was in the video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6PuCCLBJ3ZI

And here's a version that has a different musical remix:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EgUclOCvrpc

The other Seduction song is "It Takes Two (To Make A Thing Go Right)".

Here is the single version that was played on the majority of radio stations and syndicated shows at the time.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LJvv83jskqA

And here's the original version that was on their album "Nothing Matters Without Love":

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2yLOWi8vAV0

Robyn

 

[RobynWattsV2.0]

Here's another one: Thomas Dolby's "She Blinded Me With Science".

The original single version that was included on the "Blinded By Science" EP (and later included with the "Golden Age Of Wireless" release) was about 5:09.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y8IkO-G5ai4

Then the song was remixed down to 3:42. This was the version that was used in the video as well as most of the syndicated countdown shows back then.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nMWGXt979yg

For the most part, radio did play the 5:09 version at first, but switched to the 3:42 version during the chart run of the song.

Also another good one (even though it is very overplayed) is "Another Brick In The Wall-Part 2" By Pink Floyd. Most CHRs back then played the single edit (about 3:18)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nMWGXt979yg

While some, like WLS/Chicago, opted for a slightly edited album version that included a portion of another track, "The Happiest Days Of Our Lives" (skip ahead to 4:43).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jmaa0oGgVUE

Robyn