Missing Top 40 hit from Eddie Rabbitt

Question for you, Fetta -- When you say: "IS there a thread that discusses songs that hit the top 40 on Billboard but did not make Pats Database?"

do you simply want a LIST of those specific songs - or do you want database type entries for those hits (i.e. some examples where the single versions can be found on CD??)

Either way, it does sound like a LARGE amount of work for Jim. I agree it would be great to have a list but would also understand if Jim feels it would be too much work.

Perhaps Jim could provide the list and others could chime in on where the single mix can be found in those cases where it's only on, say, 1 or 2 CDs (e.g. Paul Davis "Love Or Let...") - or if it's on 0 CDs. In that way, it could be more a community project, and not just on Jim's plate.

And btw, Jim, any rough guesses as to how many songs we're talking about here? for instance, would it be under 25 per decade? Over 50? You might have a better idea since you've actually taken notes. Maybe it's not as many as we think.

And a suggestion: Maybe we should copy key posts in this thread into a new thread. It dawns on me that if a person is not looking for a low-charting, missing Eddie Rabbitt top 40 hit, they wouldn't even open this post and be part of this conversation as to whether they want Jim to do this or not.

Edited by EdisonLite

If I may return to the original topic at hand.....

Warner Brothers owns the masters to the first five albums Eddie Rabbitt recorded for their Elektra label, but the masters to the Step By Step album (his sixth for Elektra) are either owned or controlled by the Eddie Rabbitt estate. The album's only release on CD was in 1990 on Capitol Records shortly after Rabbitt signed with that label. (He had spent the second half of the 1980s on RCA.) Wikipedia claims that Capitol purchased the masters from Warner Brothers, but I doubt this is true.

Since Eddie Rabbitt's death in 1998, his estate has shown no eagerness to have the recordings it controls re-released. A couple of years ago, Rhino prepared for release the album Seventeen Number Ones, containing all 17 of his number one country hits. ('I Don't Know Where To Start' is not one of them.) The Eddie Rabbitt estate objected and the album was withdrawn either right before or right after its scheduled release date. Enough copies were sold somehow for the album to reach #71 on the Billboard Country Albums Chart. I note that this album is not listed in the database, but then it is not clear whether it can be considered to have been officially released.

Paul C wrote: Since Eddie Rabbitt's death in 1998, his estate has shown no eagerness to have the recordings it controls re-released. A couple of years ago, Rhino prepared for release the album Seventeen Number Ones, containing all 17 of his number one country hits. ('I Don't Know Where To Start' is not one of them.) The Eddie Rabbitt estate objected and the album was withdrawn either right before or right after its scheduled release date. Enough copies were sold somehow for the album to reach #71 on the Billboard Country Albums Chart. I note that this album is not listed in the database, but then it is not clear whether it can be considered to have been officially released.

I don't know the history of its release, but I bought a copy of "Eddie Rabbitt - Number One Hits" at Wal-Mart for $7.00 last year. They had several copies. So, it appears that it came out at some point.

jimct wrote: The only thing to keep in mind is that Pat, on occasion, has "changed his mind" on a db track. (I recall Melanie's "Ruby Tuesday", which used to appear in his db, but no longer does, due to a later re-evaluation. His prerogative, obviously, and this was a very rare case, as best I can tell.)

Jim is correct. The song "Solitaire" by the Embers (from '61) never hit the BB Hot 100, but Pat had it listed in his book (I remember it in the sixth edition). Another listing not in the current online database.

Getting back on topic, I just obtained the 1990 re-issue CD of Eddie Rabbitt's Step By Step album, on Capitol 90531...

Paul C wrote: Warner Brothers owns the masters to the first five albums Eddie Rabbitt recorded for their Elektra label, but the masters to the Step By Step album (his sixth for Elektra) are either owned or controlled by the Eddie Rabbitt estate.

Thanks for this tidbit, Paul C. Like Todd Ireland, I'd been looking to obtain his Billboard top 40 hit, "I Don't Know Where to Start", on CD, but had always been frustrated (and somewhat puzzled) by its omission from ER's numerous hits CDs. (I'd always known it wasn't one of his bigger hits, but w/ so many ER collections available, you'd think it would've appeared on at least ONE of them by now! Oh, and for the record, it hit only #65 in Cash Box, which helps explain why the song doesn't appear in Pat's book/database.) And I, too, had always noticed that "Step By Step" and "Someone Could Lose a Heart Tonight" never seemed to appear on any of the hits CDs that featured ER's earlier material, but now it makes sense...

So w/ "IDKWTS" only ever appearing on CD on its original parent album, and "SBS" and "SCLAHT" being my favorite ER hits (along w/ "Suspicions"), after reading your post last year, I decided it would be worth the few extra bucks it would likely cost me to track down the long OOP Step By Step CD. (A shame ER passed away at a relatively early age back in '98, because if he were still alive today, I'd go see him in concert in a heartbeat - something I unfortunately never did.) "IDKWTS" has an actual time of (3:24) on Capitol 90531; that actually matches the timing given in Joel Whitburn's Pop Annual book, as well as the label on the 45 itself - so I assume the LP and 45 versions were the same...

The album's only release on CD was in 1990 on Capitol Records shortly after Rabbitt signed with that label.

Sorry, but that is definitely NOT true! While that IS the version of the CD that I just acquired, it was actually the second time the Step By Step album had come out on CD here in the U.S. It was originally issued on CD circa 1983-84, on Warner Bros. 64532; in fact, it was one of the first titles ever released on CD here in the U.S., and is one of the collectible "target" CDs. (Of course, since there weren't yet any CD pressing plants in the U.S. at the time, all copies of those Warner Bros. originals state "MADE IN WEST GERMANY" on them, even though they were produced for the U.S. market.) Full documentation here, complete w/ detailed pics: Original U.S. 'Step By Step' CD on WB label I noticed that Warner Bros. 64532 was NOT included in the listings for "Step By Step" (the song) and "Someone Could Lose a Heart Tonight" in the 10th edition of Pat's book, so he will need to add it to the on-line database under both songs. (For the time being, I'd assume that the timings for both songs on Warner Bros. 64532 match those on Capitol 90531...)

Also note that the artwork on Warner Bros. 64532 matched the original 1981 vinyl LP/cassette/8-track issued on Elektra 532, while for whatever reason, it was changed by Capitol for their re-issue on cassette & CD in 1990 (many of the printed song timings were also slightly revised). I scour record stores across the entire northeast for vintage/audiophile/collectible CDs (my brother has been one of the biggest sellers of them on eBay for a decade now, so I'm always contributing to his inventory), and have yet to run across a copy of Warner Bros. 64532 myself, so it's definitely a toughie. However, I wouldn't hesitate to grab the first one I find, even if it wasn't in perfect condition - will report here should that ever happen, unless somebody else beats me to it...

JMD1961 wrote: ["IDKWTS"] is on the "Step By Step" CD... if you're willing to pay out the butt for it. I had a friend who bought the CD and spent about $40 dollars for it, though he had to do a lot of negotiating to get it down to that. To start with, they want about a hundred bucks.

Of course, there are two ways to buy CDs. If you want it right then & there, you can do a "Buy It Now" for one of the copies that always seem to be listed on eBay or several other sites, such as GEMM, etc. - and yes, if you go that route, expect to currently pay at least $40-$50 for the Capitol re-issue of Step By Step, and over $100 for the Warner Bros. original (since it's one of those coveted "target" CDs). Or, you can wait patiently until one gets listed auction-style on eBay - which is what I did - and almost always pay a bit less. (For the record, I got mine for only $30, inc. shipping.) Ultimately, it of course comes down to just how bad you want something - but the Step By Step CD CAN be had for less, at least on today's market. (I realize you made the above comment almost six years ago.) Or better yet, you might just get lucky like BradOlson did, and find one in a used record store or thrift shop for a mere $4 (I find stuff that way all the time) - but as much as I still enjoy hitting the road and getting my hands a bit dirty, in the case of ER, I wasn't willing to be THAT patient, lol... :-)