Michael Bolton-Love Is A Wonderful Thing

Paul, I don't have a 1991 commercial 45 or cassette single for this; we may have to call in our distinguished Paul Haney, to clarify Mr. Whitburn's (4:34) book timing. I do, however, own TWO different, 2-track promo CD singles for this song. The first one we received in to the station was:

Michael Bolton-"Love Is A Wonderful Thing" (CSK 73719)
1-Edit (listed and actual time 4:16)
2-Album Version (listed 4:42; actual 4:43)

We later received in a 2nd promo CD single for this. Both mixes have much more of a "dance/gospel" feel to them. Cut 1 starts out with a dance beat, and maintains it throughout, with a female chorus present. I would describe Cut 1 on this promo CD as the "dance mix." Cut 2 begins with the female chorus doing a loud acapella sing of the song's title, and features the female chorus MUCH more prominently throughout. I would describe Cut 2 on this promo CD as the "gospel mix." I only offer up my own descriptions of these 2 tracks because, as you'll see, the actual titles for these two tracks aren't really very descriptive at all. Bolton grew up only one town over from me, in New Haven, CT, and I know that Bolton grew up hearing LOTS of this "Cut 2, gospel style" music, back in his neighborhood of his youth. Here are the particulars:

Michael Bolton-"Love Is A Wonderful Thing" (CSK 4015)
1-The Short One (listed 4:43; actual 4:54)
2-The Long One (listed 5:29; actual 5:30)

Edited by jimct

Correction:

Napster's time is listed as 4:19, but runs 4:43 (so it's the LP version.) My 4:16 edit must have been from another source, as I have bought alot of tracks over the years.

I timed our cassingle and it runs (4:38)...however, as edtop40 has often pointed out, the cassingles almost always run fast, so I A/B'd the cassingle against the version on his Time, Love & Tenderness album and the cassingle is identical to the album version, it just runs a bit faster. So, the "official" commercial single seems to be the (4:43) album version.

I have long contended that cassette singles actually do play at the same speed as their 45 and CD single counterparts. Paul and Ed, if you're finding that your cassette singles consistently run fast, then chances are the playback mechanism on your cassette deck is miscalibrated and needs to be adjusted. I have a cheap cassette deck at home that does play cassingles at a faster than normal pitch. However, when I play cassingles in my car's playback system, they all run at the correct speed. As a matter of fact, whenever I time a cassette single length, I make it a point to take a stop watch with me on my way to the car!

Yes, John, our station played the (4:16) promo CD single edit.