"Earache My Eye..." - Cheech & Chong

Oh, wow, man. That's a bummer, man.

Y'know, you were right, Jim: you never would've forgiven yourself if you'd passed on it. Bad as the edit turned out to be, at least you have a real rarity.

A really bad rarity, but a real rarity, nonetheless. ;)

Thanks very much for getting to the bottom of this mystery. In view of the TP edit's awfulness, I'll offer a few additional theories:

1) The edit was seriously considered for use on the probably-cancelled DJ 45 until it was auditioned for the artists, themselves. Tommy Chong's reaction upon hearing it: "Hey! You ruined my record, man!" Edit cancelled.

2) This TP - like the later ABBA TP - was floated to radio as an opinion-gathering vehicle. Radio spoke and the labels listened. The 3:15 edit was tossed.

3) Uh........... I forgot what I was gonna say, man.

4) Jim was correct: we now know who won Grammy's Worst Vinyl Editing categories for 1974 and 1978.

5) Paul Haney wins the grand prize (one complimentary punch on his Don Leary's Record Club card) and receives Milton Bradley's home edition of the Name That Edit game! Batteries not included.

6) The entire panel participates in a syndicated version of Name That Edit. The show is cancelled less than three minutes and fifteen seconds into its first airing.

7) Convinced that the concept still has hit potential, Fox retools the syndicated fiasco and re-releases it as a reality series: Name That Edit: Island Records. The panelists are divided into two tribes: Stereo and Mono. Rifts develop between the various DJ 45 version, commercial 45 version, 12-inch version, LP version and neither/nor factions. Tensions flare as participants are forced to survive on styrene kibble salvaged from abandoned jukeboxes and landfilled cutouts strewn about the island. Hykker unearths a rare promo copy of "Idol With The Golden Head" by the Coasters (Atco 6098), and then..... and then..... and then attempts to designate it as the official immunity idol. In a stunning turn of events. his tribemates vote him off the island because the record had fallen well short of the top 40. The show is an overnight sensation (hit record) and shows no signs of letting up in its eleventh season.

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Seriously, this one's been a fun ride. Thanks again, Jim!   

Yeah, okay... maybe a tie was in order. :)

At least the "Jet" edit made it onto a real DJ 45. As did "Junior's Farm" later that year with the obvious dropout on the mono side. Were Cheech & Chong's hazy atmospheres wafting down the same hallway or something?