"Boogie Wonderland" - Earth, Wind & Fire

There is one version of "Boogie Wonderland" listed in the database with a time of (3:32) on the CD "Funkdamentals" on Right Stuff 57073. Any chance this is the radio edit that I remember hearing back in 1979?

to add to the discussion.....my commercial 45's face states a run time of 4:55 and truely runs 4:55..........most of the cd versions in the db run in the 4:48 to 4:52 range/length......these cd versions are NOT the 45 version.....they run between 0:07 and 0:03 shorter than the 45.....the cd "old school boogie" conatins the full 45 version running 4:55....there may be a few other cd's that have the correct length 45 version but this one i have a/b'ed and they are identical......

Edited by edtop40

Pat:

I thought I'd point out that when conducting an artist search for The Emotions, the database states the following general comment for "Boogie Wonderland":

(actual 12" single time is (8:21) not (9:21) as stated on the record label; the LP length is (4:48) while the 45 length is (4:55))

However, when doing an artist search for Earth, Wind & Fire, the info regarding the 45 and LP length is missing. Only the 12" single info is currently listed.

I always saw "Boogie Wonderland" as the follow-up to "September" (from Best Of), even though it wasn't quite billed that way. It was even co-written by Allee Willis, who co-wrote "September".

It first appeared on CD on EWF's Best Of Vol. 2 (1988), where it runs 4:50 and sounds pretty good. The same analog transfer is used for:

• Time-Life's Sounds Of The Seventies Vol. 46 '70s Dance Party 1978-1979 (1997; differently EQ'd digital clone)
• EMI Australia's 5-CD Seventies Complete Vol. 1 (1997; absolute polarity inverted)

There's a new analog transfer on Silver Eagle's 2-CD Dancin' The Night Away (1988), where it runs 4:50 with a truncated fade. It's a little muffled, with not much high end, and probably doesn't use the lowestgeneration tape source. The same analog transfer is used for:

• Priority's Mega-Hits Dance Classics Vol. 4 (1989, mastered WAY too loud and clips severely)
• Warner Special Products' 2-CD Ultimate Dance Party (1992)

There's another analog transfer on Columbia's Seems Like Yesterday Vol. 3 (1990), where the fade starts and ends early, and it runs a bit short at 4:49. It sounds a little muffled, like a higher-generation tape source. The same analog transfer is used for:

• Razor & Tie's 2-CD Disco Fever (1991)
• Sony's Collector's Edition Disco (1995)
• JCI's Only Dance 1975-1979 (1995)

There's still another analog transfer on Club Columbia (1990), running 4:52, which sounds the best of any discs released to this point. It's a little loud and clips a bunch, but it sounds like lower-generation source tapes than anything to this point.

The new analog transfer on the 3-CD EWF collection Eternal Dance (1992) runs 4:48, is slightly compressed and has a muffled, boomy-sounding EQ. The same analog transfer is used for:

• Time-Life's 2-CD EWF Legends Of Soul Vol. 10 Earth Wind And Fire (2002, differently EQ'd digital clone)
• TM Century's GoldDisc 7506

Finally, the best-sounding version I found is also the longest: Sony's Forever Pop Vol. 1 (1995), running 4:55.

The 12" single version is on Rhino's Phat Trax Vol. 7 (1997), where it runs 8:20. It's a little bit compressed, with a little high-end boost, but still sounds very good - much clearer than most of the 4:5x versions.

The 12" single version runs a little fast and fades a little early on Columbia Germany's Mixed Masters Vol. 5 (1989), which is rare enough so that you probably don't have it.

Best Bets

For the 4:55 version, go with Sony's Forever Pop Vol. 1 (1995).

For the 8:20 12" single version, go with Rhino's Phat Trax Vol. 7 (1997).

Edited by crapfromthepast