"Days Go By" - Dirty Vegas

Pat:

The 10th edition of T40MOCD shows Dirty Vegas' "Days Go By" with the comment: (45 version) on the Now 11 (UMG Recordings 440069720) and Got Hits (Virgin 81922) CDs. I'm curious... Was a commercial single ever actually released for this song? I don't remember ever seeing it issued as a CD single, so I'm wondering if maybe it was released on a 7" or 12" single format?   

Thanks, Pat. Does anyone have a copy of the 12" vinyl single who can verify if the single edit appears on it?

Thank you, Paul. So, Pat, since it doesn't look like the "single edit" of "Days Go By" has ever actually appeared on a U.S. commercial single release, do you agree it would technically be more accurate to replace the (45 version) comments in the 10th edition with (radio edit)?

Based on some private emails perhaps I should ask for more input from the chat board members as to what they consider the 45 version of "Days Go By" shoud be. What I have heard is that since radio did not play the 12" single version, that should not be considered the 45 or "hit" version. Let's get some feedback on this matter.

First off, I have to ask why people are confining their thoughts on this subject to private e-mails instead of openly discussing them on the board with the rest of us?? We won't bite. I promise!

Anyway, Pat, my own policy when it comes to identifying a 45 version or single version has always been this... If a song was made available commercially at retail on a standard 2-track CD single, cassette single, or 7" vinyl, then the version appearing as the A-side or leadoff track should be considered the single version. In cases where the B-side or backup tracks on a retail single release received radio airplay, I believe this should warrant mention in the book as well. Ok, no surprises here so far. I'd say this is pretty much the standard way of determining a single version.

Now, here's where I've started to modify my policy... It used to be that if no CD, cassette, or 7" vinyl single format were available for a Top 40 song, I would defer to the maxi-CD or 12" vinyl single release, if one was available, to determine the single version. But a common problem I've found with doing this is maxi-CD and 12" vinyl singles are often designed to showcase remixes rather than the more familiar hit versions of a song. Thus, in the case of Dirty Vegas' "Days Go By", I have a hard time classifying the Paul Oakenfold remix on the 12" vinyl release as being the "single version" when it clearly is not the version listeners are accustomed to hearing.

Therefore, in the absence of a standard 2-track commercial single release, I now believe the featured track on a maxi-CD single and 12" vinyl single can only be considered the single version if it is an edit or mix that is regularly played on Top 40 radio (such is the case with the Will Smith "Just the Two of Us" maxi-CD single, which features the radio edit). Again, with the "Days Go By" 12" single this is not the case. So I stand by our original conclusion that the "single edit" for "Days Go By" should be considered the DJ edit since this version never actually appeared on a commercial single release and has only been issued on a promo CD. Therefore, there is no 45 version. And should the Paul Oakenfold remix ever be issued on a domestic CD, I would simply associate it with the comment: (12" single version).

Any thoughts, comments, or criticisms with this policy?

Edited by Todd Ireland