"Paradise By The Dashboard Light"

on my 45 the 45 version is just a fade of the cd/lp version faded to 7:55......

Edited by edtop40

Todd Ireland wrote: Doug: I have the 5:29 version of "Paradise by the Dashboard Light" on the Rock of the 70's (Sony Music Special Products 26069) CD, which the database states is the 45 version. (Note to Pat: Since you mention in the database there are two 45 versions, you might want to indicate that the 5:29 version on the aforementioned CD is the short 45 version and presumably also the short DJ edit.) I tried recreating the short 45/DJ version of this song a while back from the Meat Loaf Bat Out of Hell gold CD (Epic/Legacy 64404) so that I would have this single edit in superior sound quality. However, there is a mix difference at one of the edit points on the short 45/DJ version that prevents successful replication from the LP version. I don't remember exactly where in the song the problem edit occurs, but I think it was somewhere between the four and five minute mark. Sorry I can't recall more details than this. If anyone is interested, I can send you an mp3 of the 5:29 version on the Rock of the 70's disc and you can hear for yourself.

Please feel free--I'd love to hear it. You know the addy.

Wow. Post #200. And they said it wouldn't last.

Here's more than you want to know.

The LP version runs 8:27 and has turned up on a few compilations. I have it on:

• Bat Out Of Hell (Epic EK 34974, release date ?)
• Cleveland International Records 1977-1983 (Sony Music Special Products A26505 CIR-1007-02, 1995; different EQ from above Bat Out Of Hell - samples line up but don't cancel exactly)

The commercial 45 (at least my copy - there may be other pressings) is orange-label Epic/Cleveland International 8-50588, 1977, printed 7:55, actual 7:57). The full title is given as:

PARADISE BY THE DASHBOARD LIGHT
I. Paradise II. Let Me Sleep On It   III. Praying for the End of Time

The B-side is a non-album track called "Bat" Overture (printed 2:32).

I can now say, after years of wondering, that this 45 version is an early fade of the LP version. The fade begins at 7:42 at the beginning of the word "you" in the last sung line "so I can end my time with you". The 45 fade is 24 beats long and ends at 7:57 on Meat Loaf's sung word "long".

I should point out that there was a 3-inch CD single for "Paradise" that came out with the rest of the CBS 3-inch CDs in 1988. I saw it once in a store, and regret not having bought it, because I haven't seen one since. I would assume that the version on the 3-inch CD is the same as the commercial 45.

Today, I found (for a mere $1) a compilation called Rock Hits Of The 70's (Sony Music Special Products A 26069, 1995) that has the DJ edit for "Paradise" (printed 5:29, actual 5:29). I'll give you the edit points, but this one is not for amateurs. There are some truly awful-sounding edits done by the record company, and your edits, if done properly, will sound equally terrible. (I use the timings from Bat Out Of Hell.)

Keep 0:00.0-0:06.4.
Remove the 8 beats from 0:06.4-0:09.2.
Once the 8 beats are removed, your edit should fall right at the beginning of the word "Well".
Keep 0:09.2-1:15.2.
Edit on the snare after the snare that falls at the end of the word "blessed".
Remove the 48 beats from 1:31.6.
Keep 1:31.6-3:02.2.
There are two snare hits at 3:02.2 - edit on the second one.
Remove 3:02.2-3:16.0.
Once this edit is done, you should hear the first snare, going straight into "We're gonna go all the way tonight...". It's one of the worst edits I've ever heard from a big hit on a major label, but it's like that on the CD.
Keep the 24 beats from 3:16.0-3:26.9.
Edit at the beginning of the "We're gonna go all", just before the downbeat - just like previous edit.
Remove 3:26.9-4:27.4. That's right - you just cut out the entire baseball part from former Yankees announcer Phil Rizzuto. Criminal! And it may be the 2nd worst edit I've ever heard...
Once this edit is done, you go right into the beginning of the "s" syllable in "Stop right there!"
Keep 4:27.4-4:55.7.
Edit at the word "take" as in "take me away...".
Remove 4:55.7-5:54.6.
Keep 5:54.6-6:23.0.
Edit on upbeat stick hit after "sleep on it".
Now, an out-of-sequence edit - keep 5:24.0-5:29.7.
Edit on upbeat stick hit after "in the morning".
Now, ANOTHER out of sequence edit - keep 5:18.2-5:24.0.
Edit on upbeat stick hit after "sleep on it".
Keep 6:23.0-7:56.9.
Edit on Meat Loaf's word "long".
Put a 24-beat fade starting at beginning of word "you" from 7:42-7:57.

If you survived this, your mixdown will be 5:36.1, with edits at 0:06.5, 1:12.4, 2:43.1, 2:54.1, 3:22.3, 3:50.7, 3:56.4 and 4:02.2, with a 24-beat fade from about 5:22-5:36.

THEN, after you've done all that, pitch the whole thing up by about 1%.

Trudging through this, my friends, was truly awful. :)

(The Far Corporation's 7" version of "Stairway To Heaven" had 12 edits in it, but at least none of them were out of sequence.)

Edited by crapfromthepast

I just created the short 45 version for fun (wasn't actually very fun), and you're right about it being atrocious. I honestly cannot think of any song that has worse edits than this one. "House Of The Rising Sun" comes close with that truly poor edit near the end, but even that one doesn't quite take top honors.

Out shopping today, I saw a 12" white-label Epic promo with
three versions of "Paradise...". Unfortunately, it was
more than I wanted to spend and I didn't get to note all
the details, but wanted to share.

The first side apparently has the 7" 7:55 version, and the
other side had two versions listed at around 6:50, one
apparently without the baseball play-by-play calls.

Anyone familiar with these edits?