Prince 45 lengths & versions

I noticed in my 8th Edition, many of Prince's songs are listed as "45 Version" and "LP Version," when in fact they should be simply 45 length. Correct me if I'm wrong on any of these, but here's my observations:

I Wanna Be Your Lover - should indicate "length" instead of "version"

Little Red Corvette - On the full-length CD, the songs 1999 and Little Red Corvette segue together. The first five seconds of the "Little Red Corvette" track (track 2) is the part where the segue is. For the single, they lopped off the segue and made an early fade. Technically, I suppose you could consider this a 45 "version," but that's only because the segue occurs at the beginning of track 2 (the part they edited off), and not at the end of track 1.

When Doves Cry - Another early fade of the LP Version. My book says that commercial copies ran (3:59), but I believe it should read (3:49).

Purple Rain - early fade of the LP Version

I Would Die 4 U - Here's one that I would say "45 Version" (as the book does), only because on the LP, the song segues into the next track. On the 45, they cut the song right at the segue and added a whole bunch of reverb to the last note to give it an ending.

Take Me With U - I discussed this in another post, but if your copy of the book does not indicate, the 45 actually had one edit, trimming the song down by about 10 seconds.

Kiss - This one is up for debate as well. Typically, the book lists songs as "length" even if the LP length is shorter (i.e. Daryl Hall's "Dreamtime" as EdisonLite points out in another post); however, neither this song nor "I Would Die 4 U" are songs that fade out on the LP. So I'd agree that this is a 45 "version." On the LP, "Kiss" ends at 3:37, where it segues into the next track. On the 45, there is a short acapella guitar solo that fades out, and it adds an extra seven seconds to the song. Other than that, the two versions are the same.

Mountains - Not noted in my book, but this song actually segues into the next track at the very end of the fadeout on the CD. I'll have to pull out my 45 to confirm, but I'm pretty sure they didn't just fade the LP version before the segue to create the 45; however, it is really only a matter of one or two seconds of overlap at the most.

Sign 'O' The Times - This is an early fade of the LP Version.

I Could Never Take The Place Of Your Man - This one is an early fade of the LP Version.

Alphabet St. - The same thing was done with this single as was done to "I Would Die 4 U." At the 2:21 mark of the song, they chopped off the rest and added a bunch of reverb to the last note to make an ending. I would probably also call this a 45 "version."

Diamonds And Pearls - My book does not indicate, but the 45 version is an edit of the LP version. CDs listed with a 4:19 run time have the 45 version (or at least the version that was issued on the CD promo single).

7 - My book doesn't mention it, but the version on the full-length CD has a five-second "gong"-like sound effect. The version on The Hits 1 cuts the first five seconds off, and the vocal starts cold. I do not know if the intro was removed for the 45 & commercial copies of the CD/cassette single. (Brian notes below that the commercial CD single removes the 5 second intro.)

The Most Beautiful Girl In The World - My book doesn't indicate, but the version on The Gold Experience is not the hit version. It was remixed on this CD and has a completely different ending.

Edited by aaronk

Yes, I remember reading that in one of your other posts, Brian. For those of us who would like to make our own 45 version, it's basically just fading out the version on The Hits 2 from 2:56 to 3:08. On The Hits 2, the song does not start out with the tail end of "1999" at the beginning (where the drums of "Little Red Corvette" are fading in). Correct me if I'm wrong, the 45 is also missing this "fade in" at the beginning, and it simply starts with the drums and synthesizer like on The Hits 2 CD.

Todd, I'm not sure about DJ copies, but I quite certain that commercial copies of "When Doves Cry" have a printed run time of (3:49). I just don't have my copy in front of me to reference for sure.

The mix of "The Most Beautiful Girl In The World" on The Beautiful Experience is the hit version. (Well, at least the last track is the hit version--the others are remixes.) I don't own the full EP; I only have the single, which contains a shorter version of the song, rather than the full (4:36) version on the EP. I believe the shorter version on the commercial CD single would be considered the "45 version"; this was also the version played by most radio stations.

As I stated in my earlier post, the version of "The Most Beautiful Girl..." on The Gold Experience is remixed. It is not an edit or early fade of the one appearing on The Beautiful Experience. They are similar, but there are obvious differences in the keyboards, the drums during the second verse, and the way the song ends.

To recap, "TMBGITW" appears in the following versions on each CD:
The Beautiful Experience (LP Version)
2-track CD Single of "TMBGITW" (45 Version)
The Gold Experience (remixed)

A few more songs I should add...

My Name Is Prince - My research shows that commercial and promo CD single copies have the "Edit" as the lead track. The book should probably indicate "LP Version" next to the listings for Prince & The New Power Generation (aka The Love Symbol Album).

(Eye) Hate U - No version is indicated in my book, but it probably should read "LP Version." I can say for certain that the promo single and import CD singles have the (7" Edit w/o Guitar) version as the lead off track. I do not remember if there was a commercial US CD single released.

Letitgo - No version is indicated in my book, but it should probably read "LP Version." If anyone can verify, I believe the CD single's lead track is the "Edit Version," which was the same one issued on the promo single.

To make the thread complete, I might as well identify the rest of the Prince top 40 hits...

1999 - The book correctly identifies which CDs contain the LP and 45 versions.

Delirious - The book correctly identifies which CDs contain the LP and 45 versions.

Let's Go Crazy - The book correctly identifies each CD as having the LP version. To my knowledge, the 45 version of "Let's Go Crazy" has never been issued commercially on CD anywhere in the world. The only CD I know of that has the 45 version is a TM Century Gold Disc. It sounds like the song on their disc is from a CD source, but it was most likely edited by TM to match the 45. The 45 version is a (3:46) edit of the LP Version (although it actually runs closer to 3:48).

Raspberry Beret - The 45 contains the LP Version.

Pop Life - The 45 contains the LP Version.

U Got The Look - The 45 contains the LP Version.

Batdance - The book correctly identifies each CD as having the LP version. (...I think...) I own the commercial CD single, which has only remixes of the song. The version that radio stations played (and I'm guessing the one on the commercial 45) is a (4:06) edit of the LP Version. The commercial cassette single contains the full LP Version. (Posted below, the conclusion is now that the cassette single has the "Edit," and that my initial thoughts are probably not correct.)

Partyman - I don't own any copies of the single, (other than the 12" which has remixes) so I can only assume that since the book doesn't list a comment, the (3:11) LP Version is also on the 45.

The Arms Of Orion - I don't own any copies of the single, so I can only assume that since the book doesn't list a comment, the (5:02) LP Version is also on the 45. (Thanks to Brian and Todd's help below, the singles contain an "edit," but it is still to be determined whether this edit is just an early fade or not.)

Thieves In The Temple - I own the CD Single, which contains remixes only. I'm guessing that the vinyl 45 contains the (3:19) LP Version, since no comments are listed in my book.

Gett Off - I will assume that since no comments are listed in my book, the 45 has the (4:29) LP Version. (See Brian's reply below for an update.)

Cream - I will assume that since no comments are listed in my book, the 45 has the (4:12) LP Version.

Money Don't Matter 2 Night - I will assume that since no comments are listed in my book, the 45 has the (4:46) LP Version; however, I know that a promo single exists with an edited version. I do not know if the edited version ever appeared on any commercial formats of the single. (Thanks to Todd's post below, we have verified that the commercial cassette single has an edit of the LP Version, and hence the "45 version" would be the "Edit.")


Edited by aaronk

aaronk wrote: (Eye) Hate U - No version is indicated in my book, but it probably should read "LP Version." I can say for certain that the promo single and import CD singles have the (7" Edit w/o Guitar) version as the lead off track. I do not remember if there was a commercial US CD single released.

There was, both a maxi and a two-track, and I just ordered the two-track, so I'll let you know when I receive it.

aaronk wrote: Letitgo - No version is indicated in my book, but it should probably read "LP Version." If anyone can verify, I believe the CD single's lead track is the "Edit Version," which was the same one issued on the promo single.

Just ordered that one, too. I've been meaning to get these Prince singles for a while.

aaronk wrote: Let's Go Crazy - The book correctly identifies each CD as having the LP version. To my knowledge, the 45 version of "Let's Go Crazy" has never been issued commercially on CD anywhere in the world.

Yeah, I have searched exhaustively for this on CD, and I've never found it. I ended up making my own edit from the LP version as well. A poster on the Steve Hoffman site swears the single was a different mix, but I'm just not hearing it. I'm skeptical, especially since he said, "The single mix isn't even similar to the album mix." I have seen some indication that the promo 12" did contain an edit of the extended dance mix, which IS a noticably different mix, but I've never actually bought one to find out.

aaronk wrote: BatdanceThe commercial cassette single contains the full LP Version.

Wow, I didn't know that! Are you positive? I do own the promo CD single with both versions, though.

aaronk wrote: Partyman - I don't own any copies of the single, (other than the 12" which has remixes) so I can only assume that since the book doesn't list a comment, the (3:11) LP Version is also on the 45.

Well, Whitburn does list the running time as 3:11. That's another cassette single that I wish I hadn't thrown away, because I just don't remember what was on it. I know there was a Video Mix of Partyman that was on most of the import CD singles, but I do seem to recall the cassette single being the LP version. Hmm...

aaronk wrote: The Arms Of Orion - I don't own any copies of the single, so I can only assume that since the book doesn't list a comment, the (5:02) LP Version is also on the 45.

Well, Whitburn lists 3:40, but the edit version on my import CD single runs 3:52, so I don't know.

aaronk wrote: Gett Off - I will assume that since no comments are listed in my book, the 45 has the (4:29) LP Version.

Now this I do know: I picked up the cassette single a few weeks ago, and it's NOT the LP Version. I THINK it's the "Single Remix," which is the leadoff track on the US maxi CD single. I personally can't tell any mix differences, but the word "ass" on "Move your big ass round this way" is scrambled. (And if you've never heard the Extended Remix of this song, pick up that maxi single -- it's got several extra verses.) It's also possible it's simply a "clean" album version. Like I said, I don't HEAR any other differences.