New Kids On The Block - Didn’t I (Blow...

The fourth single from Hangin' Tough was the title track b/w "Didn't I (Blow Your Mind)." "Didn't I" was a re-issue of an earlier 1986 non-charting track from their debut self-titled album. While the original 1986 45 fades to the 3:36 mark, the 1989 "Hangin' Tough" B-side appearance runs the full 4:24 length (same as the album). At the time, I was too young (and not yet working in radio) to know any of the details behind the success of the B-side, but at some point in 1989, Columbia issued a promo CD single (CSK 68960), which also contains the full-length 4:24 version. Whitburn shows that "Didn't I" and "Cover Girl" (CSK 1815) debuted on the Hot 100 on the same date of 9/16/1989.

It was recently brought to my attention (by PopArchivist) that a promo 45 with the 1986 short version of "Didn't I" exists, which coincides with the non-hit stock 45 release. I purchased a copy, and I can confirm that this is an early fade of the full-length version, running an actual 3:36 (printed time is 3:40). The song fades out just before the spoken part near the end. This promo 45 has "Didn't I" on both sides and shares the same catalog number as the 1986 45 (38 06619).

Does anyone who was in radio in 1989 recall playing this shorter version from the promo 45?

The reason I ask is because I haven't been able to find any evidence of a different, full-length 4:24 promo 45 that may have been issued in 1989. That would mean either 1) only the promo CD single was sent to radio, or 2) Columbia pressed up additional copies of the short promo 45 from '86 to use for promoting the song in '89. If it's the former, the 3:36 early fade remains a non-hit version. If the latter, that would mean we have a 1989 "DJ edit" that should probably be mentioned in the database. Can anyone help fill in the blanks?

Edited by aaronk