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aaronk
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| Posted: 03 March 2014 at 11:58pm | IP Logged
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Although not mentioned in the database, there is a short promo edit of "Lady" by Styx. The actual run time is 2:32. Perhaps someone with the promo 45 can post the printed time for Pat's inclusion in the database.
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jimct
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| Posted: 04 March 2014 at 7:11am | IP Logged
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Thanks, Aaron. This is the first info I've ever heard about the existence a
(2:32) short promo 45 for "Lady". However, my mono/stereo promo 45
copy, confirmed as Wooden Nickel 10102, is different. My promo copy
includes a listed and actual length of (2:58) for both sides. Mono side
deadwax: handwritten "WA10102C", followed by a machine-stamped
"TML-M", followed by a handwritten "3S". Stereo side deadwax:
handwritten "WB10102A 3S', followed by a faint, machine-stamped "TML-
M".
I immediately started sniffing around, to see if I could find where Aaron
spotted his short promo version info. I think I just found it. There's both a
listing and scan for it on 45cat. Listed time both sides is (2:33). But this
promo does not have the "hit" stock #, which I've already listed above.
This one says Wooden Nickel 0116.
For those not familiar, "Lady" was first released on 45 in 1973, as Wooden
Nickel 0116. It got a small amount of Chicago-area airplay then, but
quickly dropped off radio's radar. These findings lead me to conclude that
the 1973 short promo 45 is from an "earlier, non-hit 45 release" of the
song, and shouldn't actually be added to Pat's db.
For anyone wondering how "Lady" became a big "from the vaults" hit in
1975: The night DJ on powerhouse Chicago Top 40 station WLS, Dick
Biondi, loved the song, thought it should've been a smash, and started
playing it every single night, at exactly 8PM. It started getting huge
reaction from his audience, leading to demand for it at retail, prompting
its 45 re-release. This was both good and bad news for Wooden Nickel,
however. Yes, the label scored their only-ever Top 10 hit. But Styx had
already left the label, signing with A&M, leaving Wooden Nickel/RCA to
re-issue their old 1972-74 tracks. It was A&M that got the huge Styx
boost from the belated success of "Lady", serving as a major "launching
pad" for the band. They were now a "known" act, instead of the still-
unknowns they were when they'd signed with A&M the year before.
Edited by jimct on 04 March 2014 at 8:13am
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MPH711
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| Posted: 04 March 2014 at 9:30am | IP Logged
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That would be a great story, but Dick Biondi was not on Chicago radio
at that time. It is true that it became a hit from WLS playing the song.
I'm not sure that they played it each night at 8pm but they did create a
hit by playing it when no one else was at the time. It had gotten nice
exposure on FM radio in Chicago on WBBM-FM when it was first
released off the Styx 2 album. 'BBM-FM also played their earlier single
Best Thing prior to Lady.
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MPH711
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| Posted: 04 March 2014 at 10:05am | IP Logged
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I have the stock copy of the original release 73-0116. The dead wax
has hand written BFKS 9123. There is a very small machine stamp that
says Sterling. The label has a time of 2:33. I can not time it out because
of a nasty warp at the beginning of the song but when I match up the
rest of the song with the full version, the edit is near the the end of the
song when they are in full swing.
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aaronk
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| Posted: 04 March 2014 at 10:12am | IP Logged
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Yes, the edit cuts out 2:19 to 2:44 of the full version, with the edit on the beat where they sing "sparkling" in both places. (The edit leaves the "s" of the first "sparkling" and picks up with the "parkling" of the second instance.) I believe the short version also runs slightly faster in speed to get it to 2:32.
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jimct
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| Posted: 04 March 2014 at 4:06pm | IP Logged
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MPH711 wrote:
That would be a great story, but Dick Biondi was not
on Chicago radio at that time. It is true that it became a hit from WLS
playing the song. I'm not sure that they played it each night at 8pm but
they did create a hit by playing it when no one else was at the time. It had
gotten nice exposure on FM radio in Chicago on WBBM-FM when it was
first released off the Styx 2 album. 'BBM-FM also played their earlier
single, Best Thing prior to Lady. |
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Sorry for the apparent bad info, MPH711. I was doing a quick "soup to
nuts, overall research sweep" on the song this morning, after Aaron's
initial post. I did want to try to provide some background info on the
genesis of the 1973 & 1975 45 releases, since it was key to my "earlier,
non-hit 45" assertion. I had previously known that WLS was responsible
for the 1975 resurgence of "Lady". So when I saw its Wiki entry (which
currently does have the Biondi/8PM info on it), I just went with it (which I
normally wouldn't have, without a double/triple check), because it
basically jived with what I did know to be true. And also due to
its "basically FYI" nature. I've spent my life in CT, not Chicago, so I much
appreciate your personal WLS airstaff/timeline knowledge, MPH711, to
refute the info on Wiki.
Do any of our midwest "regulars", with good 70's knowledge (like my
buddy Doug, aka "sriv94", for example) have more accurate WLS/Lady
details? Like was there just one specific DJ who was playing it? Or was this
a decision made by the MD and/or PD at WLS? Doing things like this could
often cause positive buzz for a radio station-especially if the song catches
on. Knowing the inner workings of Top 40 radio myself, it was very
uncommon back in 1975 for a DJ of a 50,000 watt, major market station
to be playing a two-year old, stiff 45, on his own, and without prior
MD/PD approval. Doing things like that would usually get a DJ in big
trouble - if not fired.
Edited by jimct on 04 March 2014 at 4:11pm
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sriv94
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| Posted: 04 March 2014 at 4:45pm | IP Logged
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You rang? :)
Actually, it was then weekend disc jockey Jeff Davis who convinced
management to give the song a shot. Management agreed, and "Lady"
picked up steam from there. Believe it pretty much was confined to
nights at first. John Records Landecker was doing weeknights and
Saturday nights at that point.
Edited by sriv94 on 04 March 2014 at 4:48pm
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All of the good signatures have been taken.
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jimct
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| Posted: 04 March 2014 at 5:27pm | IP Logged
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Well that was quick! :)
Thank you for answering my "gong", Lurch!!! You are now free to rejoin
Morticia, Gomez, Uncle Fester, Wednesday, Pugsley, Thing, Cousin Itt and
Grandmama, from my beloved, iconic "Addams Family" 60's b/w sitcom....
Edited by jimct on 04 March 2014 at 5:27pm
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MPH711
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| Posted: 04 March 2014 at 7:59pm | IP Logged
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I can tell that living in Chicago all this time it was a cool thing when
WLS started playing it. My friends and I all knew it should have been a
hit. I can't tell you how many great songs we knew that didn't get major
airplay that we all felt if WLS or another major station would just start
playing some of these songs that they would catch on.
Back to Aaron original comment about the promo edit of Lady. Now we
also know the original stock 45 had the edit. The original 45 also had a
different b-side (You Better Ask) than the later release.
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crapfromthepast
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| Posted: 11 December 2016 at 12:04pm | IP Logged
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The sound on RCA's Nipper's Greatest Hits The '70s (1989) is quite nice. There's a digital clone on Simitar's Love Rocks 2 Tonight's The Night (1998; 1.684 dB louder).
Using Nipper's Greatest Hits The '70s as a source, you can create the non-hit 1973 45 version by removing 2:20.1 to 2:44.4. The edit is on the first syllable of the word "sparkling", as Aaron noted.
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Hykker
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| Posted: 12 December 2016 at 7:06am | IP Logged
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Huh. Learn something new every day. Never knew there was
a short version (hardly expected one given that the "long"
version is less than 3 minutes). Checked my Wooden Nickel
promo, and it turned out to be the 2:33 one. I must be
losing it...40+ years and I'd never noticed.
My RCA reissue single has the 2:58 on it.
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eriejwg
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| Posted: 14 December 2016 at 1:39am | IP Logged
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Once the song was a hit in 1975, did all stations play
the 2:58 version or did some play the 2:33 edit?
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Yah Shure
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| Posted: 15 December 2016 at 10:40pm | IP Logged
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John, as you no doubt know, most stations had limited storage space in the MD's office for retaining new promo 45s until they either did or didn't prove themselves worthy of airplay. That usually meant the oldest ones that never made the grade were culled after three or four months and tossed or consigned to the reject pile.
The likelihood that any station that hadn't already played the original 1973 0116 (2:33) single would still have a copy on file nearly two years later was pretty slim. The revamped 10102 (2:58) promo 45s that hit MDs' desks in November '74 was the one that got the airplay when it finally hit.
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eriejwg
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| Posted: 16 December 2016 at 10:21am | IP Logged
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That's what I figured but I thought I'd ask.
I was in radio in 1974, but it was as a 15 year
old volunteer for a closed circuit service for visually
handicapped individuals. Most of the listeners were in
their 60's. We played some music, but it was mostly Big
Band and Easy Listening as filler between reading
segments. That volunteer position was enough to propel
me into a 23 year radio career. 25, if you count the 2
years I voicetracked for a small AM station in Ohio from
2012-2014, co-owned by a former radio boss of mine.
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Top 40 Music on Compact Disc : Chat Board
Topic: Styx - Lady
