O/T: Sam Brown - Stop!

There are two lengths of Stop! by Sam Brown that I'm familiar with: almost five minutes for the LP length and just over 4 minutes for the single edit.

I've found a 3:30 version on "Time-Life Europe The 80's Collection Vol. 6 1988" Disc 1, and I can't find any source for this version. It jumps at about 3:05 in the organ solo to the end fade.

Anybody know if this was a legitimate edit at the time (1988) or if Time/Life did this to squeeze more songs on the CD?

(Ironically, if they were trying to save time: this version plays slightly SLOWER than the edit I have, meaning they could have saved even more time just playing it at the right speed.)

Ron, I trust what you say almost without question... but you might check again and see if this is REALLY just a fade.

I'm 99 & 44/100ths percent sure that it's an edit.

I should clarify:

The album version runs 4:56. The true album version has a bit of strumming at the intro that's left over from the previous track on the album. It's minor. I have a file claiming to be from the UK CD single that has the album version with a clean intro, but I don't own the single.

The single version runs 3:59 (listed as "Edited Version" on the US promo 45). It is an edit of album version, not an early fade. The intro is clean.

The 3:27 version on the import Time-Life sets is an early fade of the album version (and not an early fade of the single version). It has the strumming on the intro from the previous track on the album.

:)

Not a problem, Gene! I'm glad someone is still interested in playing this 1988 gem on the air.