Guns ’n Roses - "Paradise City"
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Topic: Guns ’n Roses - "Paradise City"
Posted By: RichM921
Subject: Guns ’n Roses - "Paradise City"
Date Posted: 07 November 2007 at 9:42pm
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Is anyone familiar with a radio edit of "Paradise City"? There was one but I can't seem to find anyone who remembers it. I prefered it much more than the long drawn out LP version. In fact I recorded it off the radio back when the song was out and I still have the tape. I'd be happy to dig it out and send someone an MP3 copy of it if they are curious (even though my copy chops off the beginning few seconds.) Does anyone have a good copy of this edit?
Thanks, -Rich |
Replies:
Posted By: aaronk
Date Posted: 08 November 2007 at 1:56am
| If the radio station you listened to played an edit, it must have been their own. I've looked for one, but the only Geffen promo copies I can find have the full-length LP version. Even on G'N'R discography web sites where all of their promo 45s and CDs are listed, there is no mention of a shorter "Paradise City." |
Posted By: 995wlol
Date Posted: 08 November 2007 at 7:27am
| I also taped the edit heard on the radio at the time and have recreated it from my copy Appetite for Desctruction. I didn't make notes at the time, but it involved removing pretty much all of the guitar solos and included an out-of-sequence edit. I think my version clocks in at about 4:10--I'll have to check tonight. Shoot me a PM and we can compare versions. |
Posted By: RichM921
Date Posted: 08 November 2007 at 7:27pm
| I have transferred my copy of the edit into an MP3, and listening to it again, I can now hear where that "out of sequence edit" is that you mentioned. I hadn't realized that they did that before. But I think it's what cuts out the middle guitar solo bridging "take me home" and "so far away." Anyway, if anyone wants a copy of what I have so they can recreate it, let me know. |
Posted By: eriejwg
Date Posted: 08 November 2007 at 8:44pm
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Rich:
Can relate to your search for edits of Guns N' Roses songs. Been looking myself for a long time, only to be disappointed when not only stock, but promos have the LP versions. I've located a seller online that has an edit of Paradise City....for $39.95. Can contact them, if you'd like, to see if they'd like to bargain... |
Posted By: aaronk
Date Posted: 08 November 2007 at 8:49pm
| Is it a USA promo that you found? If so, you've definitely uncovered a rare gem! Did the edits that you both taped off the radio come from the same station? If not, did they match up? |
Posted By: eriejwg
Date Posted: 08 November 2007 at 8:54pm
| No Aaron, It's a UK promo. |
Posted By: RichM921
Date Posted: 08 November 2007 at 9:13pm
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My recording was taken from WRBQ (Q105) in Tampa, FL. But upon further investigation (listening to more of the tape) I may have recorded it from "Casey's Top 40" since other songs on the tape have Casey Kasem's voice after them. ("American Top 40" by that time had Shadoe Stevens, so it had to be "Casey's Top 40")
$39.95 is a lot for that promo. And the edit he has may not even be the right one. I'd be happy with a good re-creation. |
Posted By: 995wlol
Date Posted: 08 November 2007 at 9:40pm
| I just listened to Rich's copy taken from WRBQ and it exactly matches the version that I taped off 99 1/2 WLOL in Minneapolis, so this appears to be more than just an "in-house" edit. Intersting... |
Posted By: aaronk
Date Posted: 08 November 2007 at 11:17pm
| Well, if either of you would like to send an mp3 of your cassette dub, I can probably re-create the edit in a matter of minutes. I agree that $40 is a lot to pay for something that might not even be what you're looking for. |
Posted By: 995wlol
Date Posted: 09 November 2007 at 7:23am
| An additional note--unlike Rich's copy, the version I have on tape was definitely not from Casey's Top 40 or any other syndicated show. It is part of an unscoped aircheck, so I can say with 100% certainty that it was the version used in normal rotation by WLOL. I suspect that KDWB, the Twin Cities other top 40 station at the time, also played this edit as I don't remember hearing different versions between the two stations. I could be wrong though. |
Posted By: RichM921
Date Posted: 09 November 2007 at 10:13pm
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aaronk - I'd be happy to send you a copy of the edit I recorded off the radio in 1989. Just let me know your e-mail.
995wlol - Glad to know the versions we recorded were the same. I'm not sure if I recorded it during Casey or not, but I certainly remember hearing that edit quite a bit on the radio. Either way, I think we can safely assume that this was a nationally distributed edit. After all, it's a long way from Minneapolis to Tampa! |
Posted By: Fetta
Date Posted: 08 September 2012 at 4:21pm
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I know it's almost 5 years later, but did we ever determine the source of
the edited version? |
Posted By: mainrhythm
Date Posted: 08 September 2012 at 6:30pm
| Found a 4:12 edit in the bowels on the interwebs. Seems legit. |
Posted By: Yah Shure
Date Posted: 08 September 2012 at 7:54pm
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I subscribed to Radio & Records at the time, which often arrived with DJ 45s stuffed inside the mailing envelope. "Paradise City" was among those, and the DJ 45 I received had the 6:46 LP version on both sides.
1988-89 was a period when many CHR PDs across the country actively networked with one another. The "rediscovery" and subsequent success of earlier U.S. stiffs from the likes of Benny Mardones, Sheriff and Synch was a direct result of their combined efforts. The likelihood of an in-house "Paradise City" edit making the rounds during this time frame isn't a stretch at all. |
Posted By: sriv94
Date Posted: 08 September 2012 at 9:09pm
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Hold on--let's be fair on Benny Mardones. "Into The Night" hit #11 the first time around (1980), #20 the second (1989). Hardly a stiff the first time out. ------------- Doug --------------- All of the good signatures have been taken. |
Posted By: Yah Shure
Date Posted: 09 September 2012 at 9:29am
| Whoops, I shouldn't have tossed Benny into the stiff pile (although his Curb remake was in there.) |
Posted By: aaronk
Date Posted: 11 August 2014 at 10:01pm
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Does anyone who was working in radio in 1988/89 know the reason that "Paradise City" was never issued on a promo CD? All of the other singles from Appetite For Destruction were issued on promo CD singles.
Welcome To The Jungle (PRO-CD-2668) Sweet Child O' Mine (PRO-CD-3077 & PRO-CD-3147) Paradise City (no known promo CD) Nightrain (PRO-CD-3625) ------------- Aaron Kannowski http://www.uptownsound.com" rel="nofollow - Uptown Sound http://www.919thepeak.com" rel="nofollow - 91.9 The Peak - Classic Hip Hop |
Posted By: jimct
Date Posted: 11 August 2014 at 11:40pm
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As you know, Aaron, that 1988/89 timeframe still had conflicted opinions
on the promo CD single vs promo 45 issue for radio. Industry confusion existed. I remember we were getting asked, by both a number of label reps and some trade magazines, during phone reports of our weekly playlist, about our station's own preference. Don't forget, there were still many veteran label execs, veteran label reps, and veteran radio PDs/MDs in the biz back then. The P CD single answer seems quite obvious now, but some folks weren't initially all that quick to embrace change, and abandon making (or getting in) promo 7" vinyl. Within a few months, however, these vinyl stragglers were quieted. Labels were trying everything then, trying to best gauge the situation. Like send out a promo CD single, but no promo 45 for a song, and then see if there was any radio outrage? And then do it vice versa? Any radio outrage that way? The labels surely didn't want to produce both media for radio for any length of time, as it added *major* expense. But they didn't want to be perceived as "dropping the radio ball", either. Several record reps told us this directly. Like "Can you please help me? My boss asked me to gather feedback for my territory's stations this week. What do you prefer to receive? Please be honest! Promo 45s, P CD singles, or these 'monthly label new release CD comps'" (which some label execs far preferred, feeling that P CD singles were horribly inefficient, since most used only 5- 10 minutes of their 80 minute audio capacity.) For "Paradise City", I just thought Geffen knew that we already had the full CD, and also knew that the LP Version would be the "single version". Maybe Geffen was hoping that radio would become comfortable playing "only one version" songs right off the full CD. (Which they didn't.) If they had, it would've saved the labels a lot of money, not having to press up P CD singles that were musically identical to the LP version. Or, after GNR's first two hits, maybe the band was finally feeling confident enough to express their "BTW-we hate radio edits of our songs - LP Versions only to radio, please" preference to Geffen. I mean, do we really know how long Geffen actually had GNR signed up for? It could've been as short as a 1-LP deal, with maybe a label option for a 2nd and/or 3rd album. That was the standard "let's see how it goes" label contract, for a new, unknown group's first deal. It actually suited both parties, if you think about it. Looks to me like Geffen liked how many LPs GNR's debut were selling, and wanted to keep them happy early on, hoping to lock them up for a while. I'm not sure we'll ever know exactly why there was no P CD single for "Paradise City", other than it came out during a time of label transition, for radio's promo sources. By 1990, the labels were basically all in lockstep. P CD singles were the standard promo label issue, and promo 45s were just about totally extinct. Experimentation over; format consistency arrives. |
Posted By: aaronk
Date Posted: 12 August 2014 at 8:56am
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Good info, Jim! 1988 was absolutely a year where several major hits
were only issued on promo 45. I've never seen promo CDs for songs like "Every Rose Has It's Thorn", "Father Figure", or "Never Gonna Give You Up". By contrast, nearly all major hits from 1989 were issued on promo CD. I just found it odd that a song like "Paradise City" would've been skipped over on the promo CD format, especially considering that nearly 7-minute songs don't fit easily on a 45 without dropping the volume level. ------------- Aaron Kannowski http://www.uptownsound.com" rel="nofollow - Uptown Sound http://www.919thepeak.com" rel="nofollow - 91.9 The Peak - Classic Hip Hop |
Posted By: NightAire
Date Posted: 13 August 2014 at 10:55pm
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I remember this time well because I finally had a CD player, and was shocked to find my "hot rockin, flame throwin" top 40 station in Tulsa was taking CD singles and recording them to CART (tape)!
Overnights I used to pot up the production room and covertly play the songs on the playlist I had on CD, from CD, over the air. It was a huge thrill at the time that I doubt today's young broadcasters could even imagine. (Nobody called to tell me how great the last song had sounded... darn it!) ;-) ------------- Gene Savage http://www.BlackLightRadio.com - http://www.BlackLightRadio.com http://www.facebook.com/TulsaSavage - http://www.facebook.com/TulsaSavage Tulsa, Oklahoma USA |
Posted By: Paul Haney
Date Posted: 14 August 2014 at 3:31am
| The last vinyl promo single our little radio station in Minnesota received (in the spring of 1989) was "I Drove All Night" by Cyndi Lauper. We were actually spinning vinyl (and an occasional tape cart) right up until I left the station in October of 1991. Never even had a CD player at the station, although I did have one at home. |
Posted By: aaronk
Date Posted: 14 August 2014 at 3:58am
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So if you didn't receive promo vinyl after spring 1989, what did you use
for the next two years? Stock 45s? ------------- Aaron Kannowski http://www.uptownsound.com" rel="nofollow - Uptown Sound http://www.919thepeak.com" rel="nofollow - 91.9 The Peak - Classic Hip Hop |
Posted By: Hykker
Date Posted: 14 August 2014 at 6:57am
The station I worked at for most of the 90s also did that (though by the time we transitioned to CHR, we'd gotten our first Scott Studios system). Wasn't even a CD player in the studio for many years (PD was paranoid that the jocks would bring in their own CDs). I doubt anyone noticed any sound difference (though there were a couple cart machines I avoided for music because they didn't sound very good...I think it was a slight head misalignment causing phase issues).
Promo 45s certainly were issued later than the spring of '89...I remember the station I worked at then getting promos for "Love Shack" and "We Didn't Start The Fire" as well as the Doobie Brothers' "Need A Little Taste Of Love" which AFAIK was never issued on a commercial 45. Dunno how much longer promo 45s were issued, this station switched to oldies in late '89 and went dark about a year later. Getting (somewhat) back on topic, the only G&R song we ever played there was "Patience", and it was serviced on vinyl. |
NightAire wrote:Posted By: Paul Haney
Date Posted: 14 August 2014 at 8:19am
We were an oldies station, so we had no need for any current product. For some reason, Epic was the only label that sent us their current 45s and that stopped after the Cyndi Lauper record was released. I think the station was Adult Contemporary until a few months before I got there in November 1988 and I guess we were just kept on the promo list for awhile after the switch to oldies. All of our oldies library was either stock 45s, albums or a few carts. |
Posted By: crapfromthepast
Date Posted: 14 August 2014 at 10:35am
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In 1990, there really weren't many broadcast-quality CD players.
My college station was probably near the forefront, by putting a homemade remote-start on an off-the-shelf Magnavox player around 1988 or 1989. It sounded good on-air when it worked, but it didn't start reliably and had difficulty finding the beginning of tracks. There was a lot of cursing and swearing involved, preferably with the mike off. The top 40 station I worked at in 1990 still carted up all the music. There was one Technics CD player in the on-air studio, and I just happened to be in the room when it stopped dead mid-track, leaving dead air and a panicked on-air host. By 1993, things had improved significantly. Denon had some nice CD players for broadcast. We used a "CD cart"-style player, which played CDs in jewel-box-like shells, so you couldn't handle the discs directly. They were very reliable. You could hook up little warning lights to them, which would go on when there was 30 seconds left in the track. You could also pitch them up, but not easily like a Techinics 1200 turntable - I think there were some switches on the inside of the machine. ------------- There's a lot of crap on the radio, but there's only one http://www.crapfromthepast.com" rel="nofollow - Crap From The Past . |
Posted By: Paul Haney
Date Posted: 14 August 2014 at 11:08am
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I actually remember recording some songs from my personal CD player onto cassette tapes and playing them over-the-air on the same cassette player we used for such popular shows as "In-Fisherman"! They sounded just fine on our little AM station.
I got out of radio just before CD players really became the norm. I still remember what a big deal many stations made out of playing CDs in the late 1980s/early 1990s. |
Posted By: Hykker
Date Posted: 14 August 2014 at 5:18pm
The CD carts were not without their downsides though...they had a tendency to create concentric scratches in the discs, which eventually made them unplayable. I worked at a station that had (I believe) Urei CD players. These were, without doubt the most poorly designed players I've ever seen! Instead of the drive and laser mechanism being inside and just a tray opening to put CDs in, the whole spindle/laser assembly slid out. Operation was very non-intuitive (and non-standard) as well. |
Posted By: NightAire
Date Posted: 14 August 2014 at 7:19pm
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...Ever drop one of those CD "carts?"
*SHATTER* ------------- Gene Savage http://www.BlackLightRadio.com - http://www.BlackLightRadio.com http://www.facebook.com/TulsaSavage - http://www.facebook.com/TulsaSavage Tulsa, Oklahoma USA |
Posted By: thecdguy
Date Posted: 27 December 2019 at 11:23am
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My local oldies station plays an
edit of "Paradise City". I've never timed it, but I'd say it runs about 4 minutes or so. I did notice that it cuts out a big portion near the end, mostly drums and guitar. I don't know if it's the exact same edit as the one that's been described, though. |
Posted By: Bill Cahill
Date Posted: 07 January 2020 at 4:51am
| The short version mentioned here was re-created for at least one broadcast group, so it's likely that you're hearing the one heard on WLOL/WRBQ. |
Posted By: PopArchivist
Date Posted: 17 August 2020 at 10:37am
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I have the 4:09 radio edit of Paradise City, it is from the UK and can confirm it exists. ------------- Favorite two expressions to live by on this board: "You can't download vinyl" and "Not everything is available on CD." |
Posted By: crapfromthepast
Date Posted: 17 August 2020 at 11:10am
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According to Discogs, the A-side of the white-label UK promo 45 Geffen GEF 50 (DJ) had a designation of "Edit" and a run time of 4:07. The B-side of had a designation of "LP Version" and a run time of 6:46. These are actual run times reported by the Discogs member, and are not printed on the labels. ------------- There's a lot of crap on the radio, but there's only one http://www.crapfromthepast.com" rel="nofollow - Crap From The Past . |
Posted By: PopArchivist
Date Posted: 17 August 2020 at 11:50am
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Ron,
I sent you the file for review. Hopefully you can tell us a bit more about the edit. ------------- Favorite two expressions to live by on this board: "You can't download vinyl" and "Not everything is available on CD." |