"Sweet Dreams" - Air Supply

Whoops, both of these versions run (3:58). Should that be the correct time for the 45, or is it (3:47) as it says on the label?

And if anyone has the vinyl 45 to check, the edit I'm trying to isolate as being correct or incorrect happens around the (2:51) mark.

The edit and mix at the beginning was nailed correctly by both CDs. So I'm assuming both CDs used the 45 mix, but the Pure Pop CD improperly edited the guitar solo, while the Madacy one got it right.

You've actually produced compilations, Gordon, so maybe you're the right one to answer this. A song like "Sweet Dreams" has a single mix/edit and a full-length LP mix. That track gets licensed for use, and let's assume that both forms are at their disposal to use. How is the decision usually made to determine which version to use, or to fudge with the whole thing and create something custom (as in the Pure Pop CD using the 45 mix but doing a different edit on the guitar solo)?

Well, having done many compilation CDs, I can tell you that it's not as clear cut (or often thought out) as that. Most "caring" labels, like Rhino and Varese Sarabande, are usually aware of the different versions and have a policy as to what to use. For instance, at Rhino, for anything like "Super Hits of the '70s" or "Pop Hits of the '80s", the single version is chosen -- as long as it can be found in the vaults. Often, when labels like that do an artist comp, like a "Best of Andrew Gold", Rhino will go with the album versions of "Lonely Boy" and "Thank You For Being a Friend", figuring that's what his fans want. Whereas for V.A. comps, people usually want to hear the version they knew from the radio. The artist comp rule doesn't always apply, as one can look at Rhino's Marty Balin compilation where the single edit of "Do It For Love" was included. I wasn't working with them back then but I would have gone with the album version! So ... many times it's simply the taste of the compilation producer. And like I said, that's with CARING labels. For all other labels, most of these comps are put together by people that don't really know the music and they just grab the first thing they find. Sometimes the secretaries grab the tapes. And nobody knows what's going on. Nor are they aware that there are different versions.

In terms of these alternate mixes showing up, like "Sweet Dreams", I'm not really sure what happened there. It could have been another edit done back in the day (and never used), and someone just grabbed the wrong tape for the CD release.

But assuming that's NOT the case with "Sweet Dreams", I'm a little confused with the posts above. If both CDs used the 45 mix of "Sweet Dreams", as you say above, why would they even need to do an edit to approximate the 45? If they truly had the 45 master, there would be no editing to do. My guess is all they could find is this extended 45 mix (for lack of a better term) and they decided to edit it in an unsuccessful attempt to recreate the 45 version. I also have the short version of "Sweet D" on an import CD from the Phillipines -- I wonder if it has the true 45 version.

Edited by EdisonLite

Although I don't have a vinyl 45 copy of "Sweet Dreams", I've done an A/B comparison between the version on Sweet Dreams: The Pure Pop Collection (BMG Special Products 44683) and what I believe is the correct 45 version on the Air Supply best-of UK import CD Making Love... The Very Best of (Arista 210 757).

Doug, I think you're definitely onto something here... There indeed appears to be an improper (and poorly spliced) edit on "Sweet Dreams" at the 2:55 mark on the Pure Pop Collection disc. The import CD by comparison has a much smoother edit, which I'm guessing is the same as on your Love In The 80s, Volume 1 disc. I'll do my best to seek out an mp3 copy of the "Sweet Dreams" 45, listen to the edit on it, and determine which CD most closely mirrors the single.

Edited by Todd Ireland

Well, I've never been in a record company vault to know for sure, but I'd say that happens a lot, where a record company just pulls the song from a CD that's already out. I know of one case where the Owner (located in the UK) sent the reissue label a mono copy of the song, and due to how close the deadline was, someone knew of a CD stereo version which was available only on an import CD, and that's where the version came from. This, of course, is a bit of a different case because the label wanted the song in stereo and didn't expect the owner to send a mono copy. But at any rate, I believe labels do take from other CDs a lot.