Snap - "The Power"

Besides the initial promo CD single we received in for this (ASCD-2014), containing the listed-timed, 1-Single Version (3:39), 2-Switch Mix (6:21), and the 3-Remake Bonus Dub (4:09), we also received in a second promo CD single for this song, (ASCD-2013). This second promo is the reason for my post. It has 2 versions: 1-New Edit (listed 3:15; actual 3:16), and 2-Single Edit (listed 3:39; actual 3:38). Right away, I noticed that the early-in-the-song rap, containing "I'm the lyrical Jesse James", has been edited out on the "New Edit."

Edited by jimct

the LP version is very different than any of the versions I used to hear on the radio and in clubs back then. There are several added female vocals, both lyrically and melodically, in every version I ever heard. I was sorely disappointed back then when I bought Snap's CD and found the LP version was very bare bones. I think the versions on the 12" single are far superior.

That's interesting. The replayed "horn" from "Let The Words Flow" has also been removed, which makes me think lawsuits were involved.

This is the first 3:00 of the US 7" version:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4o8E364B1ZQ

It's a different "I've got the power" vocal, which is directly sampled from a Jocelyn Brown song. She discusses the lawuit in this video:
https://youtu.be/GB23ZnXXgE4?t=100

The "horn" keyboard can be heard in both versions, so my earlier statement is incorrect. On the LP version, the "horn" plays again right after the repeated "it's gettin' kinda hectic" segment. There is an edit on the version appearing in the "official" music video that removes the "horn" section, which I was not used to hearing.

Have been going back through this post again this morning. The permutations are exhausting, but wanted to give a heads up. To probably no one's surprise, the 'digital download' versions of "The Power" currently available for sale, at least in the U.S., largely contain the awful re-dubbed "I've got the power!" vocals, as heard in the re-edited video that AaronsAmazing posted earlier in the thread. I say "largely" because there are two "The Power" singles available with a 'BMG Rights Management' copyright. The main release, "The Power" appears to emulate the original import CD single at first glance, leading with the supposedly original 12" version, but this release contains the replaced "I've got the power!" vocal throughout.

The other single release is labeled 'The Power (Remix)' and only Track 4, the "Jungle Fever" remix contains the egregiously executed vocal replacement carried out in the same style as discussed above (it almost sounds like they couldn't remove the original sample from the mix and therefore just tried to cover it up by layering the new vocal on top of it very loudly?). Now, the other 3 tracks on this release were remixes released only slightly later than the original 1989 EU single, so it could be that the vocals on the rest of this release were already re-recorded (e.g., were not the original Jocelyn Brown sample) and therefore did not have to be augmented. If I listen closely, they don't really seem to have the "grit" of the original sample. They sound fine enough though, as in, not newly-badly-edited. I think these first 3 tracks on the "Remix" release were probably released this way in 1990 and only the Jungle Fever mix has been recently changed.

Gross all the way around!