Wait for the ending!

[firepoint525]

You know how it is. You are listening to one of your favorite songs on the radio (if radio still plays them) and you are hoping that they will let it play to the end, and not cut the ending short, like they sometimes like to do. Here is a list of songs with tricky endings, along with what makes those endings "tricky." The song isn't over until (and unless) you have heard that ending:

Supertramp, "Take the Long Way Home," the repeated "long way home"s at the end. Radio always seemed to fade them early
Three Dog Night, "Mama Told Me Not to Come," that very last note which is isolated from all the rest
Derek & the Dominoes, "Layla," it ain't over 'til you hear that bird chirp at the very end!
ELO, "Don't Bring Me Down," it has that "clicking noise" at the very end of it
Teena Marie, "Lovergirl," it fades down during that rap at the very end, so we hardly ever get to hear all of it.

I don't know if it is possible that single edits or radio edits eliminated some of these endings, but they didn't always get played in full on radio back when they were hits.

 

[Kent T]

Re: Don't Bring Me Down. That clicking sound is a door being shut.

 

[firepoint525]

Re: Don't Bring Me Down. That clicking sound is a door being shut.

Who cares? The question is, is radio playing it?

 

[Groove1670]

Oran juice jones - the rain. ........."Don't touch that coat"

 

[firepoint525]

KISS, "Rock and Roll All Night," the live version, it just isn't complete unless you get to hear Paul Stanley scream out "ROCK AND ROLL!!" at the end of it!

It also annoys me when the single version fades out 10-15 seconds before the album version does. Good example of this, another KISS tune, "Shout It Out Loud." It has a definite ending which came only 10-15 seconds after the single version faded out. What a cheap way to force you to buy the album to get the whole song! And another example from 1976, "Golden Years" by David Bowie. The single fades, but the album version continues just a few seconds longer, to a definite ending.

 

[Groove1670]

Many ending don't happen because it will not allow for a tight segue on those automation systems.

 

[firepoint525]

Had that happen with the intros of some songs on the automation (reel-to-reel) of a station where I once worked. The intro was too soft, the automation "read" it as "dead-air," threw the alarm, and went on to the next song. The engineer told me that he could adjust it, but then it wouldn't throw an alarm in the event of actual dead air.

 

[oldies76]

It's Still Rock and Roll to Me - Billy Joel (the wooooaaahho at the very end)
Lady - Kenny Rogers (the very last "ting" at the end of the song)

 

[firepoint525]

It's Still Rock and Roll to Me - Billy Joel (the wooooaaahho at the very end)

Good catch! I was going to mention that one, too, but forgot. I remember a dj playing it back when it was a hit, saying that a listener who called in to request it wanted to tape it! Yeah, he actually said that on the air. Then when he played it, he indeed waited for that "woo-hoo" on the end before he started talking, and even when he did, he said something to the effect of "I hope you got that" or something like that. It's nice when stations actually cater to listeners, but I don't think you will see much of that anymore.

 

[firepoint525]

Lady - Kenny Rogers (the very last "ting" at the end of the song)

"Beth" by KISS also has a "ting" at the end of it (best way to describe it). Usually, radio stations WILL wait for that ending, although it can seem a bit drawn out.

 

[RIN3GUY]

"Bad Case of Loving You" - Robert Palmer. The "pow" sound at the end.
"Go All the Way" - Raspberries. The drums which sign off at the close.
"On the Radio" - Donna Summer. Her echoing a capella vocals.
"Blow Away" - George Harrison. Little ornament at the end.

And songs with non-vocal but abrupt musical endings should not be an opportunity for DJs to chatter over the top of them, such as "Island Girl," "Gemini Dream," "Hey Deanie," "Please Please Me," "Heat Wave," "Magic" (both Pilot's & Olivia Newton-John's), "Blue Morning, Blue Day," and the longer version of "Isn't She Lovely." I hate the fade out on the shorter radio edit. Anybody have an MP3 of the nice radio edit which excludes the baby crying noises but splices in the abrupt ending?? WLS has always used it.

 

[oldies76]

and the longer version of "Isn't She Lovely." I hate the fade out on the shorter radio edit. Anybody have an MP3 of the nice radio edit which excludes the baby crying noises but splices in the abrupt ending?? WLS has always used it.

That's a tough one to get since it was never released on a 45. I have a promo CD single and it runs about 3 1/2 minutes and it fades out before the cold ending. Otherwise, any other edits are probably station done, including 4 minute+ versions with the abrupt ending (which is the one I prefer). I've never heard the baby version (album cut) on the radio. Great song though!

 

[jfrancispastirchak]

Surprised no one's mentioned Hey Jude, the Beatle's classic that seemingly never ends. And how about the mop-top's A Day In The Life? Actually, you can't blame DJ's for stepping on these exaggerated song-endings. You could lay an egg waiting for the end of Hey Jude. You could incubate it waiting on A Day... 's conclusion, assuming it even has one.

 

[firepoint525]

When playing the short version of Steve Miller Band's "Fly Like an Eagle," some stations don't wait for that last chorus ("time keeps on slippin' slippin' slippin' into the future") to finish, probably because it fades out at that point, but even stations that play the album version often do not let the "electronic space effects" (at the end of the album version) play out. Some also omit "Space Intro" from the beginning, but I cannot really blame them for that.

 

[satech]

Marvin Gaye - "Mercy, Mercy Me" -- a lot of stations fade out the creepy-sounding Mellotron chorus at the end.

And as for intros that get skipped over, a lot of stations edit out the long acapella intro to Whitney's Houston "I Will Always Love You", thus starting the song abruptly in mid-sentence!

 

[johnbasalla]

"Convoy" by C.W. McCall. Stations would often let it play to the bitter end and let C.W. say "Bye Bye" at the very end of the fade out.

 

[satech]

You could argue that radio stations cut off the entire second half of Chicago's "Hard To Say I'm Sorry" --- they fade it out at the musical bridge into "Get Away", which always sounds abrupt and awkward.

 

[firepoint525]

And as for intros that get skipped over, a lot of stations edit out the long acapella intro to Whitney's Houston "I Will Always Love You", thus starting the song abruptly in mid-sentence!

I heard that done a lot while it was a hit, but not much since then. They start with the first chorus. (That was also occasionally done with "American Pie," as well.) But the ending of that one is shrill and drawn out, and she actually holds that last note, and goes up two octaves! That rarely gets played, either.

You could argue that radio stations cut off the entire second half of Chicago's "Hard To Say I'm Sorry" --- they fade it out at the musical bridge into "Get Away", which always sounds abrupt and awkward.

The single fades out before going into "Get Away," so they may be playing the single (only) mix. One thing that I have often wondered is how very many stations (other than maybe classic hits) could "get away" with playing both parts. "Hard to Say..." is too "ballad-ish" for classic rock, while "Get Away" is too uptempo for some ACs (although the entire piece could be too LONG for some ACs).

 

[firepoint525]

A couple more examples of my own:

Parliament, "Flashlight," I have heard it cut before it gets to the repeating "under the sun, under the sun, under the sun..." part. How could anyone cut that?

George Benson, "On Broadway," some stations cut it right before it gets to that great jam session at the end. Another one that is just not complete without that!

 

[satech]

George Benson, "On Broadway," some stations cut it right before it gets to that great jam session at the end. Another one that is just not complete without that!

The "call/response" section of Ray Charles' "What'd I Say" also often gets edited out on Oldies stations. (Originally because it was "too racy"... and now just because it's too long!)