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TimNeely
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| Posted: 08 February 2008 at 3:53am | IP Logged
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MCT1 wrote:
| Did Top 40 radio play "Stairway To Heaven" when it was new? |
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Definitely. Top 40 radio treated it as if it was the "third single" from Led Zeppelin's fourth album, after "Black Dog" (the first) and "Rock and Roll" (the second).
I have a chart from WFIL, the big Top 40 station in Philadelphia at the time, dated November 13, 1972. The #1 song on that survey was "Stairway to Heaven" by Led Zeppelin, and the "last week" column also had it at #1. It had a note under it saying "(Based on Requests & LP Sales)".
Most of the Top 40 stations didn't play the full 7:55 version, even though that is all they had available to them. Different stations created different edit versions to cut the song to between 4:30 and 5:00. I'm sure that once one station in a chain (such as Capital Cities) came up with a workable edit, it was "shared" with other stations in the same chain.
As my initial experience with "Stairway to Heaven" was with the "WFIL edit," and I didn't listen to FM rock on the radio at the time, it wasn't until I checked out a copy of LZ IV from my local public library that I discovered there was more to "Stairway" than met the ears.
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mstgator
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| Posted: 08 February 2008 at 7:45am | IP Logged
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*never mind*
Edited by mstgator on 08 February 2008 at 7:47am
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Santi Paradoa
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A track from 1978 that was a big dance and radio hit in south Florida was "Ain't Nothin' Gonna Keep Me From You" by Teri DeSario. The single only reached #43 in the summer of '78 (BB Top 100) but should have been bigger (especially since it was written and produced by Barry Gibb). Maybe if it had been released just five months earlier when Samantha Sang, Andy Gibb and the Bee Gees were all in the top 10. I don't think the 45 version has been released domestically on CD.
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KentT
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"More Than A Woman" by The Bee Gees was originally an LP track in the USA. The US 45 single debut was on the RSO Top Line reissue single "Night Fever" the flip side. In some European countries "More Than A Woman" was released as a single. "Isn't She Lovely" was an album track only. Stevie Wonder didn't want it edited so refused to issue it as a single. Was an airplay hit on Top 40 radio.
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Hykker
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| Posted: 07 January 2010 at 7:00am | IP Logged
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KentT wrote:
| Stevie Wonder didn't want it edited so refused to issue it as a single. Was an airplay hit on Top 40 radio. |
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Anyone know why he was so adamant about the song not being edited? Shortening the long harmonica solo at the end wouldn't have really cut anything "important" out (and many stations that played the song did their own edits anyway).
OTOH, it was the 70s when artists recorded long songs because they could.
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Hykker
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| Posted: 07 January 2010 at 7:04am | IP Logged
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TimNeely wrote:
Most of the Top 40 stations didn't play the full 7:55 version (Stairway To Heaven), even though that is all they had available to them. Different stations created different edit versions to cut the song to between 4:30 and 5:00. I'm sure that once one station in a chain (such as Capital Cities) came up with a workable edit, it was "shared" with other stations in the same chain.
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I don't ever recall hearing edits of this song played at least here in New England (any station I worked at that played the song played the full version). It's not a song that lends itself to editing in the first place.
I read somewhere once about WLS creating a 6:30 edit, but received so many complaints about it that they relented and played the LP version.
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jimct
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| Posted: 07 January 2010 at 12:42pm | IP Logged
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There was a 1972 promo-only, mono/stereo 45 of the full 7:55 version issued to radio for "Stairway To Heaven". When I first started working for my Top 40 station in 1977, an unplayable, cracked copy was, for some reason, still filed in with our station library. This promo had a "stock" # of PR 175, according to old notes I made at the time. One of my research books also shows a second, promo-only, 1973 mono/stereo 45 release for "Stairway...", # PR 269. Although I have never seen a copy of this second promo, my best info is that this 45 also featured the full, 7:55 version on both sides.
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Yah Shure
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| Posted: 07 January 2010 at 2:24pm | IP Logged
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jimct wrote:
| One of my research books also shows a second, promo-only, 1973 mono/stereo 45 release for "Stairway...", # PR 269. Although I have never seen a copy of this second promo, my best info is that this 45 also featured the full, 7:55 version on both sides. |
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Jim, I think I'd posted a label scan link to my copy in another thread some time back, but here it is again.
Perhaps it was a simply a reservice of the 1973 PR 269, but Atlantic sent my copy no earlier than the fall of 1974. In any event, I didn't program it at my college station, for the simple reason that it wouldn't have remained in playable condition for more than one day (then again, we always marveled that our stereo promo 45 of Roberta Flack's "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" lasted for years with nary a scratch. Go figure.)
Your timing hunch was correct: PR 269 is 7:55/7:55, but it is stereo/stereo, with the same robin's-egg blue label present on both sides.
Edited by Yah Shure on 07 January 2010 at 2:26pm
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jimct
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| Posted: 07 January 2010 at 3:41pm | IP Logged
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Your first-person info is always very much appreciated, John. The incorrect info for the PR 269 promo 45 I referenced was taken from the usually-reliable, 1998 edition of Goldmine/Tim Neely's "Standard Catalog Of American Records: 1950-1975". I know that Tim is a fellow chart boarder here (he has even posted earlier inside this very thread!) So, if Tim hasn't yet updated his incorrect year & mono/stereo info previously published for PR 269, he may want to do so at this time.
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Yah Shure
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Thanks, Jim. It would appear that Tim has already corrected the PR 269 configuration info: in my 2003 copy of the Goldmine Price Guide To 45 RPM Records, Tim has it listed as "stereo/stereo."
I can't vouch for the 1973 issue date; PR 269 could very well have been first issued that year, but my copy did not arrive until at least the fall of '74 or maybe even 1975. The station's date stamper's range ran from the years 1968 to 1974, but I wasn't about to tarnish that record's label with a date stamp in any event! :)
Edited by Yah Shure on 07 January 2010 at 4:00pm
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EdisonLite
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KentT wrote:
| "Isn't She Lovely" was an album track only. Stevie Wonder didn't want it edited so refused to issue it as a single. |
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I heard a completely different story - I heard that Stevie felt "Isn't She Lovely" (about the birth of his newborn child) was much too personal and didn't want it released for that reason. I've heard this story many times. Never heard the one about him not wanting it edited. Anyone else hear why this song was never a single? Looks like, either way, it was a Stevie decision, but just what was his reason?
Edited by EdisonLite on 07 January 2010 at 10:36pm
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anthology123
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Couple that come to mind:
White Bird - It's A Beautiful Day
Baba O'Riley - The Who
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Hykker
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"White Bird" was released as a single, albeit in a highly edited form (just over 3 min as I recall vs 6 for the album cut). David LaFlamme also recorded a solo version in the mid-ish 70s.
"Baba O'Riley" was strictly an album cut.
Edited by Hykker on 11 January 2010 at 8:20pm
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anthology123
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Hykker wrote:
"White Bird" was released as a single, albeit in a highly
edited form (just over 3 min as I recall vs 6 for the album cut). David
LaFlamme also recorded a solo version in the mid-ish 70s.
"Baba O'Riley" was strictly an album cut.
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Sorry if I misunderstood the OP , but doesn't white bird fit this thread? It was
released as a single in 1969 and it did not chart as a hit, but became well
known much later.
And doesn't Baba O' Riley fall into a similar realm as Stairway to Heaven? Not
released as a single, but it did received as much airplay as most songs
released as singles.
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aaronk
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| Posted: 13 January 2010 at 7:24pm | IP Logged
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anthology123 wrote:
| Sorry if I misunderstood the OP... |
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I don't think your post was being disputed. I think Hykker was just adding that extra info to the discussion.
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anthology123
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| Posted: 25 January 2010 at 11:05am | IP Logged
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Oops, sorry, my bad, glad to get any new info!!
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aaronk
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Brian W. wrote:
Quote:
Brian W. wrote:
| Pinball Wizard - Elton John (promo single only) |
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Was that an edited single, or a straight reissue of the LP version?
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Running time matches the album version, according to Eltonography.com. |
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I can confirm that the actual running time of the promo 45 is 5:13. The printed time is 5:14.
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Aaron Kannowski
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The Hits Man
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Hykker wrote:
Georgy Porgy - Toto
Showdown - ELO
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What station plays these songs today? [/QUOTE]
I have heard the above two songs on oldies radio.
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Jody Thornton
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| Posted: 08 March 2022 at 7:10am | IP Logged
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TimNeely wrote:
Did Top 40 radio play "Stairway To Heaven" when it was new?
Definitely. Top 40 radio treated it as if it was the "third single" from Led Zeppelin's fourth album, after "Black Dog" (the first) and "Rock and Roll" (the second).
I have a chart from WFIL, the big Top 40 station in Philadelphia at the time, dated November 13, 1972. The #1 song on that survey was "Stairway to Heaven" by Led Zeppelin, and the "last week" column also had it at #1. It had a note under it saying "(Based on Requests & LP Sales)".
Most of the Top 40 stations didn't play the full 7:55 version, even though that is all they had available to them. Different stations created different edit versions to cut the song to between 4:30 and 5:00. I'm sure that once one station in a chain (such as Capital Cities) came up with a workable edit, it was "shared" with other stations in the same chain.
As my initial experience with "Stairway to Heaven" was with the "WFIL edit," and I didn't listen to FM rock on the radio at the time, it wasn't until I checked out a copy of LZ IV from my local public library that I discovered there was more to "Stairway" than met the ears.
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I was speaking about this very thing on a newer thread, and so far, all I've received is banter on how bad editing "Stairway ..." is because it ruins the song flow (all the while I never asked about that .... lol).
Anyway, if you read this, do you recall at all what edit points they used back then? It sounds like it would be interesting.
Edited by Jody Thornton on 08 March 2022 at 7:10am
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AdvprosD
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| Posted: 08 March 2022 at 10:16pm | IP Logged
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Jody Thornton wrote:
I was speaking about this very thing on a newer thread, and so far, all I've received is banter on how bad editing "Stairway ..." is because it ruins the song flow (all the while I never
asked about that .... lol).
Anyway, if you read this, do you recall at all what edit points they used back then? It sounds like it would be interesting.
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You have now gotten my curiosity up on this subject of "Stairway." I don't think any stations here in the Saint Louis area would even consider the idea. KSHE is and
seemingly always "Has" been a classic rock station. Though, the more recent tunings I have had seem to deal a lot more with 80's & 90's Metal. I don't think they cater
as much to the old 60's and 70's standards that made them a pillar of rock music in the past.
I do remember they used to play White Bird back in the day. Probably, not anymore and especially never an edited version. That's a good song!
I haven't yet looked, but is there anything on youtube that resembles any of the radio station versions?
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Topic: 50s/60s/70s non-top 40 hits
