"Beach Baby" - First Class

Ok, I'm going to be delving pretty deeply here, so pull up a chair and get comfy...

In a recent discussion I had with Edtop40, he claimed his commercial 45 copy of First Class's "Beach Baby" is different than the version appearing on the Super Hits of the 70's Volume 13 CD (Rhino 70760). I had him e-mail me an mp3 copy of his 45 which is in mono and has an actual run time of 4:54, though Ed tells me the record label states a time of 4:59.

I compared his "Beach Baby" 45 to the one the Super Hits CD which interestingly does run 4:59. It turns out the 45 begins with a synthesizer fade-in, while on the Super Hits disc this fade-in is chopped off and the song instead begins at the point where the kick drums start. Also, the 45 fades out approximately :06 or :07 sooner than the Super Hits CD.

I'm wondering if there are two different commercial 45 pressings of "Beach Baby"? I looked through some photos of the 45 on eBay and have seen the 45 sport two different labels. One label is printed with a black font, while the other has a metallic silver font (both labels have light blue color backgrounds). Ed says his copy contains the metalic silver print. He also reports the matrix number on the runout groove reads: xdr55377 5.6.74 followed by the numbers: 90083, which are etched backward. Meanwhile, the xdr55377 number is also printed on the label.

So, Pat, if I may ask you three questions:

1) Do your DJ and commercial copies of "Beach Baby" really run 4:59, as you state in the 10th edition, or is this just the printed time on the record labels?

2) Does the version of "Beach Baby" on your commercial 45 match my aforementioned description of Ed's 45 copy?

3) Are your DJ and commercial copies in mono or stereo?

Meanwhile, I notice there are several CDs in the 10th edition where "Beach Baby" runs 4:53. Can anyone confirm if any or all of these CDs match the version on Ed's 45, albeit in stereo?

Thanks for shedding some light on this, Pat. Now, if I'm understanding correctly, does this mean that none of the "Beach Baby" CD appearances running 4:48-5:03 in the 10th edition have the correct synthesizer fade-in, or is this only the case with the versions that specifically run 4:59?

Also, am I accurate in assuming the version running 3:08 on the Dick Bartley Presents: Collector's Essentials: The 70's CD (Varese Sarabande 5706) is both the DJ edit and the short 45 version?

bringing this thread up front, we discussed the beginning of this song
extensively, however the 4:59 versions, running approx. 5 seconds later than
the 45, should it also be noted as to why? Am I correct in assuming that
these CD versions fade later than the 45, which likely ends before the "radio
sounds" at 4:54? I am hoping this is the case and not a speed variation.

Not sure what's happened but the database now states the following general comment for First Class' "Beach Baby":

(dj copies of this 45 ran (3:08) and (4:59); commercial copies were all labeled (4:59) but some ran (3:08))

It was established previously here that commercial copies were all labeled 4:59, but some ran 4:54 while others ran 3:07. Meanwhile, Jim claims his mono commercial 45 copy runs 4:52, not 4:59 as stated on the record label.

does anyone know what the edits or fade out is for the 3:08
dj version of the song?