Radio Versions That Annoy

[firepoint525]

Paul McCartney's "With a Little Luck" should not have been cut. He even released it that way on "Wingspan." The full version is on "London Town."

This is interesting because you can also find the complete uncut version on the 45!

So it breaks down as follows:

FULL VERSION:
London Town album (1978)
single (1978)
Wings Greatest (1978)

EDITED VERSION
All the Best (1987)
Wingspan
video (on youtube)

 

[satech]

Billy Joel, "My Life." Even his greatest hits album contains the edit!

These days, most stations play a modified edit of "My Life" which includes the short piano solo which the original single version abruptly cut out (resulting in a very obvious hacked-off cymbal crash).

Some AC stations play a short edit of Whitney Houston's "I Will Always Love You", which cuts off the entire acapella beginning and starts abruptly with "...And I will always love you..."

But definitely the worst edit ever is the short version of Jackson Browne's "Stay"! Thankfully most stations have reverted to playing the entire live performance of "The Load Out / Stay".

 

[nutballgazette]

What 60s and 70s songs do you often hear on the radio as the short versions instead of the original longer versions?

"Beginnings" by Chicago. The 3 minute version is garbage...only the album version should ever be played. How can all those incredibly sounding horns in the 3-6 minute portion be ignored?? It's an incredible song, when played at full length.

Found just one uploaded version on You Tube

 

[nutballgazette]

What 60s and 70s songs do you often hear on the radio as the short versions instead of the original longer versions?

"Beginnings" by Chicago. The 3 minute version is garbage...only the album version should ever be played. How can all those incredibly sounding horns in the 3-6 minute portion be ignored?? It's an incredible song, when played at full length.

I have not heard the full version in many many years, Just found it on You Tube. They were known as Chicago Transit Authority back then,

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lxmD724H70Q

 

[oldies76]

I have not heard the full version in many many years, Just found it on You Tube. They were known as Chicago Transit Authority back then,

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lxmD724H70Q

Incredible, isn't it?

 

[firepoint525]

Billy Joel, "My Life." Even his greatest hits album contains the edit!

These days, most stations play a modified edit of "My Life" which includes the short piano solo which the original single version abruptly cut out (resulting in a very obvious hacked-off cymbal crash).

I have never heard that one. It's always been either the long version or the short version. I've always been one who says that if you buy the album (even if it's a greatest hits album), you should get the album version! Caveat emptor on that one! If you lay down your money, you should get the FULL track!

Some AC stations play a short edit of Whitney Houston's "I Will Always Love You", which cuts off the entire acapella beginning and starts abruptly with "...And I will always love you..."

I heard that done quite a lot back when it was a hit. I think they did that to avoid listener fatigue with the song. After all, it was #1 for three months!! At least they also cut off that interminably long last note in which she goes up a full two octaves!!

But definitely the worst edit ever is the short version of Jackson Browne's "Stay"! Thankfully most stations have reverted to playing the entire live performance of "The Load Out / Stay".

Yep, always play the single along with its supporting song(s)!

 

[surfdude]

But definitely the worst edit ever is the short version of Jackson Browne's "Stay"! Thankfully most stations have reverted to playing the entire live performance of "The Load Out / Stay".

Depends. When it came out, AOR listeners heard the whole version. The AC hit was the short "Stay"
portion. AC listeners, then and now, may have never heard the full version. You've got to know who your programming to. AC and Oldies stations still play the short "hit" version. Classic rockers play the full version.

 

[Oldbones]

Some AC stations play a short edit of Whitney Houston's "I Will Always Love You", which cuts off the entire acapella beginning and starts abruptly with "...And I will always love you..."

I'll plead guilty to that one! I so detested that song (still do for that matter) that I figured that anything that got me out of it :45 earlier was a good thing. No one ever complained.

I've always been one who says that if you buy the album (even if it's a greatest hits album), you should get the album version! Caveat emptor on that one! If you lay down your money, you should get the FULL track!

I go the other way on that one. If I buy the greatest hits album, I want the hit version.

 

[CTListener]

Lonely Boy -- Andrew Gold
I've Been Lonely Too Long -- Young Rascals

Both radio versions really shortchange the listener, and it's not like the songs were all that long to begin with. Shortening the Rascals' song takes it all the way down to 2:10!

 

[firepoint525]

I've always been one who says that if you buy the album (even if it's a greatest hits album), you should get the album version! Caveat emptor on that one! If you lay down your money, you should get the FULL track!

I go the other way on that one. If I buy the greatest hits album, I want the hit version.

In the case of "With a Little Luck" (which we were discussing earlier), the album version was the "hit" version. It was the one that you got on the single. Why shortchange listeners who spring for the full album, unless you need edits to fit in more hits. CDs hold up to 80 minutes of music, so that should not be a problem. I was also disappointed that the KC & the Sunshine Band greatest hits CD contained edits of the songs that I mentioned earlier, especially since there was still plenty of room to fit the full versions of both songs onto that CD. Fortunately, I have those full versions on other CDs, as well as on LPs.

The top 40 station in my hometown growing up used to play a version of "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" by the Beatles, that, instead of going straight into "With a Little Help From My Friends," it segued into the "Sgt. Pepper's...Reprise" from side 2 of the album. My cousin told me at the time that it was that way on the "single," but I later found out that there was no such single ever released.

 

[sdh483]

"I'm Not In Love" by 10CC is also an annoying radio cut. After the second "ooo it's been a long time" the abruptbly cut to the ending.

 

[Talk_Dude]

I notice no one has said that they like the cut-down radio version better than the longer original.

 

[oldies76]

I notice no one has said that they like the cut-down radio version better than the longer original.

Who would? When an edit is that obvious, like in "I'm Not In Love", who wouldn't notice?
The album version is so much better.

The edited version of "Crimson and Clover" is missing the extra two minutes.
Long version is better and complete.

Same thing with "Beginnings"..Gosh, I can't stand the cut-up 3 minute version. Once again, the full-length "piece" is what Chicago is all about.

 

[Talk_Dude]

I notice no one has said that they like the cut-down radio version better than the longer original.

Who would? When an edit is that obvious, like in "I'm Not In Love", who wouldn't notice?
The album version is so much better.

The edited version of "Crimson and Clover" is missing the extra two minutes.
Long version is better and complete.

Same thing with "Beginnings"..Gosh, I can't stand the cut-up 3 minute version. Once again, the full-length "piece" is what Chicago is all about.

And yet radio station operators for decades have insisted on playing the cut-down versions because they claim that's what the audiences want to hear.

 

[Les Stock]

I notice no one has said that they like the cut-down radio version better than the longer original.

Who would? When an edit is that obvious, like in "I'm Not In Love", who wouldn't notice?
The album version is so much better.

The edited version of "Crimson and Clover" is missing the extra two minutes.
Long version is better and complete.

Same thing with "Beginnings"..Gosh, I can't stand the cut-up 3 minute version. Once again, the full-length "piece" is what Chicago is all about.

And yet radio station operators for decades have insisted on playing the cut-down versions because they claim that's what the audiences want to hear.

To me, the long version of "Crimson and Clover" sounds like an afterthought. Instead of cutting something out for the short version, it sounds like they added something in for the long version. It's even slightly out of tune with the rest of the recording.

 

[Talk_Dude]

I notice no one has said that they like the cut-down radio version better than the longer original.

Who would? When an edit is that obvious, like in "I'm Not In Love", who wouldn't notice?
The album version is so much better.

The edited version of "Crimson and Clover" is missing the extra two minutes.
Long version is better and complete.

Same thing with "Beginnings"..Gosh, I can't stand the cut-up 3 minute version. Once again, the full-length "piece" is what Chicago is all about.

And yet radio station operators for decades have insisted on playing the cut-down versions because they claim that's what the audiences want to hear.

To me, the long version of "Crimson and Clover" sounds like an afterthought. Instead of cutting something out for the short version, it sounds like they added something in for the long version. It's even slightly out of tune with the rest of the recording.

The "album" version of the song was recorded after the "single" version. There was a technical glitch with the master tape that did make some of the guitar solos out of tune. That was fixed on the 1991 CD release. There are reports that the label released the song before James was satisfied that it was "finished" in terms of mixes, overdubs, mastering, and other production stuff.

It was also very typical of the kind of free-form improvisations that garage bands across the country were doing in live shows all the time, something that many suits in the radio business didn't have a clue about.

 

[firepoint525]

And yet radio station operators for decades have insisted on playing the cut-down versions because they claim that's what the audiences want to hear.

I don't know that radio programmers have ever offered us a choice like that. Seems more like they do whatever the record companies tell them to do. :

 

[Talk_Dude]

And yet radio station operators for decades have insisted on playing the cut-down versions because they claim that's what the audiences want to hear.

I don't know that radio programmers have ever offered us a choice like that. Seems more like they do whatever the record companies tell them to do. :

You are correct that it does seem like the record companies are calling the shots, quietly, behind the scene. But to hear any radio station programmer tell the story, they claim they make the decisions, and that they play the short versions because that's what the audience wants to hear.

 

[firepoint525]

And yet radio station operators for decades have insisted on playing the cut-down versions because they claim that's what the audiences want to hear.

I don't know that radio programmers have ever offered us a choice like that. Seems more like they do whatever the record companies tell them to do. :

You are correct that it does seem like the record companies are calling the shots, quietly, behind the scene. But to hear any radio station programmer tell the story, they claim they make the decisions, and that they play the short versions because that's what the audience wants to hear.

In some cases, particularly with the lead-off single from a new album, programmers may not have had much of a choice (at least at first). It was either that or nothing. The first single often came out weeks ahead of the album, and usually the single was even on store shelves way ahead of the album. But eventually, especially with album rockers, they gradually gravitated toward the album mix.

 

[Kurt Toy]

Slow Ride-Foghat. The single version ends with "Slow Ride, Easy" as it fades out. There was also a version where the fadeout occurs as the vocalist-I think it was Dave Peverett-belts out "You Know The Rhythm Is Right" just prior to the fast guitar riff at the end. The latter hasn't been heard in decades.