Top 40 Music on Compact Disc: DJ 45s with edited A *and* B-sides

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Topic: DJ 45s with edited A *and* B-sides

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Yah Shure
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Posted: 03 November 2008 at 9:43pm \| IP Logged

This grew out of the Wings - "Mull Of Kintyre" thread, after Hykker noted that the promo 45 that also included "Girls' School" (the U.S. pop A-side) featured edits on both the A and B-sides.

How about some others?

Here's an overlooked, but worthy U.S. non-charter from 1972. Brave Belt's "Dunrobin's Gone" was a minor hit in Canada, and can still be heard on Canadian oldies stations. The B-side, "Another Way Out", was a #1 hit at my college station during the Fall of 1972.

Both songs were included on the Brave Belt II LP, but for the 45, each side was edited and remixed, with the vocals being centered. The fade of "Another Way Out" was edited, but it sustains longer before fading than the comparable part on the album version.

Both sides feature lead vocals by Chad Allan, the original lead singer of the Guess Who / Chad Allan & The Expressions. These were the only two tracks on the LP on which he appears, having left the group during the sessions. "Another Way Out" is in the vein of what was to come when the band changed its name, direction and record company the following year, emerging as Bachman-Turner Overdrive.

After BTO had hit it big, Reprise dusted off the Brave Belt II LP in 1974, retitling it Bachman-Turner-Bachman As Brave Belt. A single was issued in Canada, with "Another Way Out" being promoted to A-side status. The unedited, original LP mix was used for this single, which was not released in the U.S. That artist credit is about as cumbersome as it gets... and with a period to boot! The intro was long enough to squeeze it all in, but Canadian radio by and large took a pass on it.

The edits (but not the mixes) of both sides of the U.S. Reprise 45 can be replicated from the import CD Brave Belt I / Brave Belt II (BLR-CD-4054).

I don't know whether or not commercial U.S. copies of the 1972 45 were edited and remixed like the promo, or were even available, for that matter; I'd special-ordered it at the time, but the local distributor could not get it.

Edited by Yah Shure on 17 February 2009 at 8:17pm

jimct
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Posted: 03 November 2008 at 11:07pm \| IP Logged

I thoroughly enjoyed your detailed synopsis, Yah Shure! One of my best buddies in high school had initially turned me on to Brave Belt when they were a current act, with "Another Way Out" being by far my favorite track; thought it should've been a smash, and I also had to splurge for that "2-for-1" import CD.

Hykker
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Posted: 04 November 2008 at 6:35am \| IP Logged

Not 100% sure on this one, but the only other instance where both A & B sides might have had promo edits is "She's A Rainbow" by the Rolling Stones. I don't have the promo single of this, but remember it running ~2:50 or so (I have the edited version on a juke box mini-LP). I think the B side might have been an edit too.

Anyone have the promo 45 of this that can verify?

MCT1
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Posted: 04 November 2008 at 11:36am \| IP Logged

Yah Shure wrote:

After BTO had hit it big, Reprise dusted off the Brave Belt II LP in 1974, retitling it Bachman-Turner-Bachman As Brave Belt. A single was issued in Canada, with "Another Way Out" being promoted to A-side status. The unedited, original LP mix was used for this single, which was not released in the U.S. That artist credit is about as cumbersome as it gets... and with a period to boot! The intro was long enough to squeeze it all in, but Canadian radio by and large took a pass on it.....

I don't know whether or not commercial U.S. copies of the 1972 45 were edited and remixed like the promo, or were even available, for that matter; I'd special-ordered it at the time, but the local distributor could not get it.

I notice the unusual catalog number on that 45. I take it this was part of a numbering sequence Warner/Reprise used in Canada for singles that did not have a parallel U.S. release, kind of like the Capitol 72000 series? If so, especially if the single wasn't a big hit even in Canada, there likely was no U.S. release.

Yah Shure
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Posted: 17 February 2009 at 11:08pm \| IP Logged

This one just missed the top 40, stopping at #47. The 1975 mono DJ 45 for Justin Hayward & John Lodge's "I Dreamed Last Night" / "Remember Me, My Friend" differed on both sides from the stereo commercial 45 release on Threshold 67019.

"I Dreamed Last Night" :

The A-side of the commercial 45 contains the unedited LP version from Blue Jays. Matrix # is ZXDR 57013. The listed time is 4:29.

The mono A-side of the DJ 45 remixes Justin Hayward's split-channel vocals, brining them forward. The edit is very nicely done, with the song ending cold. Matrix # is XDR 57392. The listed time is 2:49.

"Remember Me, My Friend" :

The B-side of the commercial 45 is both an edit and an early fade of the 5:27 LP version. The intro consists of five sets of three-note guitar strums, just as it does on the LP. Matrix # is ZXDR 57008-C. Listed time is 3:55.

The mono B-side of the DJ 45 remixes the split-channel lead vocals. The intro edits out the second, third and fourth sets of guitar strums. Immediately following the instrumental bridge, the song fades out very quickly, without giving the hook the opportunity to repeat itself. Matrix # is XDR 57008-EV-M. Listed time is 3:15.

Brian W.
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Posted: 18 February 2009 at 2:22pm \| IP Logged

It's not a DJ single, but the commercial 45 of Prince's "Little Red Corvette" b/w "All the Critics Love U in New York" contain edited versions on both sides. That's quite unusual for a commercial single.

The B-side of "U Got the Look," which is "Housequake," also is edited on the B-side of that single, though the A-side appears to be album length.

aaronk
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Posted: 20 February 2009 at 4:12pm \| IP Logged

Brian W. wrote:

The B-side of "U Got the Look," which is "Housequake," also is edited on the B-side of that single, though the A-side appears to be album length.

Brian, does the 7" version of "Housequake" contain "bulls***" or has that been censored? Being a big Prince fan, I'd be curious to hear what that edit sounds like.

eric_a
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Posted: 21 February 2009 at 10:34pm \| IP Logged

I can think of a couple other singles with edited A and B sides:

-Blood, Sweat & Tears - "You Made Me So Very Happy" b/w "Blues Part II"

-Chicago - "Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is" and "Questions 67 & 68," both backed with "I'm a Man" (one could argue these were all double A-side singles)

Also, speaking of Prince, many of his B-sides were non-album cuts, but they appeared in extended mixes on the hits' respective 12" singles. Knowing Prince's jams, one could argue that the long version cames first, and the 7" versions were edits.

Brian W.
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Posted: 22 February 2009 at 12:37am \| IP Logged

aaronk wrote:

Brian W. wrote:

The B-side of "U Got the Look," which is "Housequake," also is edited on the B-side of that single, though the A-side appears to be album length.

Brian, does the 7" version of "Housequake" contain "bulls***" or has that been censored? Being a big Prince fan, I'd be curious to hear what that edit sounds like.

I don't know, Aaron... I don't think I own the single. I'm going by what's on the label, which is MUCH shorter than the album version.

Hykker
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Posted: 22 February 2009 at 11:32am \| IP Logged

eric_a wrote:

I think the thread was more about both sides of the dj single being edited compared to the commercial single. Songs where either or both sides of the 45 being edits of the album version would be a very long list (especially in the 70s).

While I agree Q67&68 was a two-sided hit, I don't ever recall DARKWTII being one.

Speaking of DARKWTII, there were 2 promo issues of this...one basically a white-label version of the stock single, the other a 2:53 that had the intro shortened. The 2:53 was also a different mix than the commercial single.

Yah Shure
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Posted: 22 February 2009 at 9:18pm \| IP Logged

Hykker wrote:

Yes, that was the thread's intent. We've only unearthed a couple of those cases so far. In the case of the Brave Belt DJ 45, I've never found any evidence that a U.S. commercial 45 was issued.

Hykker wrote:

Speaking of DARKWTII, there were 2 promo issues of this...one basically a white-label version of the stock single, the other a 2:53 that had the intro shortened. The 2:53 was also a different mix than the commercial single.

I don't have the first promo you cited, but do have the white-label, mono/mono 3:17/2:53 promo, with both sides marked with the blue "A"-side designation.

I also have a "special rush reservice" copy that arrived a week after my white label copy. This one was a mono/stereo 2:53/2:53 white label/blue label copy. Columbia wasn't taking any chances, were they?

On another note, there have been some DJ 45s that don't qualify for this thread, but have nonetheless left me scratching my head. Case in point: Gordon Lightfoot's "Carefree Highway." The commercial 45 ran about 3:40, which was only about eight seconds longer than "Sundown," which had preceded it to the top without radio resistance. The B-side was "Seven Island Suite," an excellent, but lengthy track from the Sundown LP. It appeared in its full 6:00 length on the commercial 45.

Evidently, exceeding the the 3:30 mark must have concerned the folks at Reprise, so the promo copies of the 45 contained a somewhat clunky edit of "Carefree Highway," whittled down to a more radio-friendly 3:00.

Why the promo 45 even contained the B-side is a bit of a mystery, but it did. Odder still, the promo B-side version of "Seven Island Suite" was the full 6:00 version.

Fair enough, but there's more to it. Both sides of the DJ 45 were in mono, whereas the commercial 45 was stereo on both sides. Why would Reprise have gone to the trouble and extra expense of cutting "Seven Island Suite" a second time, just for the promo 45? I honestly don't think they were testing the waters for radio acceptance of the 5:57 (and later 5:23) promo 45s of "Wreck Of The Edmund Fitzgerald" two years down the road. Were they actually expecting any "Seven Island Suite" airplay from mainstream top-40 or MOR/AC radio? If an extra forty-some seconds of "Carefree Highway" caused concerns with radio, how would they be able to slip a 6-minute track under the door? It isn't that "Seven Island Suite" doesn't easily lend itself to being edited, as there are a number of possible places for nips and tucks. So why was there an unedited, mono promo B-side?

The answer probably comes from what is etched in the vinyl, but is not noted on the DJ 45 labels. Both sides are CSG-processed mono masters, the value of which completely escapes me. It wouldn't have surprised me if this had been done for contractual reasons with Haeco-CSG. WEA was probably signed on board to do a specific number of CSG releases, be they mono or stereo. And that may explain why a mono 6:00 B-side made it to this DJ 45. I'm actually glad that it did; "Seven Island Suite" is a favorite of mine, and the vinyl promo 45 has held up far better on the ol' jukebox than the styrene stock 45 ever would have.

Paul Haney
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Posted: 25 February 2009 at 12:50pm \| IP Logged

aaronk wrote:

Brian, does the 7" version of "Housequake" contain "bulls***" or has that been censored? Being a big Prince fan, I'd be curious to hear what that edit sounds like.

Aaron, yes the word is censored to "bull(blank)" on the 45.

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