Remember when songs had a short version (for AM radio) and the long (album) version (for FM radio)? Some I remember were Edgar Winter's Frankenstein, Hocus Pocus by Focus, Black Betty by Ram Jam. Sometimes they would take a verse out to make it shorter.  If a song had a swear word in it, example Jet Airliner by Steve Miller or Heart Of Glass by Blondie. They would play the "clean" (usually edited) version on AM and the other version on FM.

How many do you remember?

There's a radio version of "Light My Fire" that eliminates the entire instrumental middle part  ???

The radioplay and single version of My Ding-A-Ling by Chuck Berry is much shorter than the version sang at a university gig that verses continually were added on.

There were also long and short versions of American Pie by Don McLean.

And remember the 12 inch versions of disco classics like Donna Summer's Hot Stuff and Bad Girls?

The version of Where Do You Go To (My Lovely)? by Peter Sarstedt on my WMP has etra verses in it than the released single.

Quite a few songs were 'butchered' to make for better radio play...

Some were released to the general public in this way (e.g., 'Beginnings' by Chicago and 'Lyin' Eyes' by The Eagles), while some were only provided to the radio stations (like 'Are You Ready' by Pacific Gas & Electric)...

(Oddly, while 'Lyin' Eyes' was subjected to a harsh hatchet job, 'Hotel California' was left uncut for the single...yet both originally clock in at over 6 minutes!)

And then there were a select few which had a different mix on the single than on the album ('Joy To The World' - Three Dog Night)

There's a radio version of "Light My Fire" that eliminates the entire instrumental middle part  ???


That there is, but there's some rumour going around that the original 1967 single had a different vocal mix as well as the edit...

Not unless you have that single (and a good set of ears!) could you probably differentiate!

That there is, but there's some rumour going around that the original 1967 single had a different vocal mix as well as the edit...

Not unless you have that single (and a good set of ears!) could you probably differentiate!


Any version of that song is way too long for my liking!  :P


On the radio, I always hear a shortened version of 'Blinded By The Light' (Manfred Mann's Earth Band)...

IMO, the album version (which contains an instrumental part in the middle) is much better!
 

All By Myself by Eric Carmen, the LP version has a longer full blown Rach 2 Piano Concerto as a middle eighth, the single is some what shorter.

That there is, but there's some rumour going around that the original 1967 single had a different vocal mix as well as the edit...

Not unless you have that single (and a good set of ears!) could you probably differentiate!
I wonder if it was included in the difinitive boxed set, as they have a cd of rare material included.  I will have to check when I get home.  Thanks for the info.

IMO, the album version (which contains an instrumental part in the middle) is much better!

"Mama always told me not to look into the eyes of the sun, but Mama, that's where the fun is"

That's my favorite part.

I wonder if it was included in the difinitive boxed set, as they have a cd of rare material included.  I will have to check when I get home.  Thanks for the info.


Probably not, as the record companies' attitude to the single edits/mixes seems to play second fiddle to the album versions (especially when it comes to rock groups like The Doors)...

With that in mind, there's probably been no CD reissue of the single versions of 'Touch Me' and 'Riders On The Storm' either... :-\\

Probably not, as the record companies' attitude to the single edits/mixes seems to play second fiddle to the album versions (especially when it comes to rock groups like The Doors)...

With that in mind, there's probably been no CD reissue of the single versions of 'Touch Me' and 'Riders On The Storm' either... :-\\
Actually, they have reinstated the word "high" (as originally sung) on "Touch Me" in that boxed set, which is why I'm anxious to listen to "Light My Fire" when I get home.

Actually, they have reinstated the word "high" (as originally sung) on "Touch Me" in that boxed set, which is why I'm anxious to listen to "Light My Fire" when I get home.


Remember, it's only a rumour...so it may well be the same vocal mix treated with a bit of studio trickery to make the 45 sound brighter for AM radio - a common trick in those days!

The last two verses of Seven Drunken Nights by The Dubliners were never broadcast for some reason.

The last two verses of Seven Drunken Nights by The Dubliners were never broadcast for some reason.


Heh! They weren't actually recorded, for they were rather naughty!

Heh! They weren't actually recorded, for they were rather naughty!
Written down, but not recorded?

Written down, but not recorded?


Yes...they do exist, a quick bit of Googling will point the way, but you'll have to be a bit broadminded!  ;)

Three more 70s slice-ups for those with short listening spans...

'Roundabout' - Yes (five minutes whittled from this)

'Autobahn' - Kraftwerk (a whole LP side condensed into 3 minutes!)

'Tubular Bells' - Mike Oldfield (basically the first few minutes of the LP's first side...)

As you can see, singles weren't very friendly to the 'prog' lot!

Three more 70s slice-ups for those with short listening spans...


And a few years later in 1982...

...somewhere in a lonely DJ booth there's a DJ starting to realize that the recording industry has turned its back on him.  It's 2:00 am...

(Golden Earring: Twilight Zone, with a 4:33 radio version, and a 7:52 album version.  25 years later and I still keep the 7:52 version handy on the MP3 player for the possibility that I might have to drive 24 hours without stopping.)

One of the pleausres of the MP3 era is that one can get every mix of every track, and instantly compare them.  It was only a few years ago that I realized that "rock" music had been doing the same thing as "dance" music when it came to remixes adjusted to fit a timed format, and for almost as long.