Sexual Healing question..

hey guys,

I'm wondering about the various versions of Sexual Healing on the Midnight Love reissue. I have a 12" single version (a CBS reissue) that runs about 4:44, and begins with the "get up, wake up" whispered echoes shortly into the percussion intro.

I have a version on the Canadian SPG Music compilation "Old School Jams 4" that runs 4:49 and is called the "alternate Vocal Mix", and the opening lines soon after the percussion intro are "oh baby let's get down tonight". This version comes in oddly on the opening percussion, as if it cuts into it rather than starts cleanly on the beat. Also, whereas there's a huge blank spot in the middle of the vinyl mix that has just background vocals, the SPG mix has a load of extra lyrical ad-libs by Marvin that aren't on the original versions of this song.

so my questions are:

1) is the "alternate vocal version" I have the same as the one on the Midnight Love reissue--including the added ad-libs and the odd opening of the song?

2) is the vinyl 12" version I have the same as the "original vocal version" Pat has listed on the Midnight Love reissue, which says it runs 4:39?

3) finally, what makes the LP version different from the 45 version, and why is the 45 version slightly longer? I have the "LP version" on Chart toppers 80s, romantic hits of the 80s."


Any help would be greatly appreciated.

okay. thanks Pat. This 12" vinyl version is really a mystery. I don't even know if the song was ever released on a 12" version before this re-issue.

yeah. the mixed master version is the one I have. Upon listening to it, it's actually not very interesting. The "alternate take", which runs just as long, is more about the Marvin's vocals creating the length, rather than repetitive dub-type filler to create an "extended version", which is what the 12" version is guilty of.

I think CBS must have just been throwing darts at a clock when deciding what timings to list on releases of "Sexual Healing."

Discogs says that UK release claims the "Club Mix" is 4:40. A friend sent me an mp3 of that same record... and it runs about 6:28.

The Mexican release of the 12" claims IT runs 6:51!

Then, supposedly, there is a US-only promo that was released with an instrumental-only version for that A-side... that's supposed to run 5:30.

Another UK 12" lists the album version and the alternate versions mentioned above, none of the lengths matching previously claimed OR confirmed lengths.

There's another European 12" with a "long version" on one side and a "short version" on the other... the short version is said to run 3:59, and that sounds right... but the long version is listed as 4:47... could that be the alternative version? Who knows!

This supposed US release claims a long version at 5:10!

I've found mp3s of the song online that run 6:30 (Club Version), 7:41 (Rock Savage Mix), 4:49 (Alternate Vocal Mix), 4:40 (Original Vocal), and 6:54 (Long Version).

I've also seen mentions online of a "Thiago Correa Samba-rock Mix," an "Ultimix," and a "Dreamtime Mix." Obviously many of these could be mixes created in later years... but who knows?

Who knows where those labels came from, if they are the original description of the versions...

...Will the REAL 1982 12" extended version please stand up?!? :-(

I had the promo 12" single on the turntable today, so I thought I'd report on its contents.

Side A
Long Version (printed 5:10; actual 4:49)
Side B
Short Version (printed 3:52; actual 4:08)

The Long Version has a different vocal take in places when compared with the Short Version (aka 45 version). This version does not appear on the Midnight Love/Sexual Healing Sessions at all. I'm wondering, however, if we can trace its origins by listening to the "Original Vocal Version" on that disc. This version is actually an acapella that is double-tracked in a few places. The final LP and 45 mix doesn't appear to have those double-tracked vocals, and neither does the promo 12" Long Version. I think what may have happened when the Long Version was mixed is that they chose the other vocal in some places (the one that didn't get chosen for the LP mix).

All that said, it seems that the Long Version was never really intended to be an "extended mix" done after the fact. I think it was possibly one of several mixes created at or around the same time that the 45 and LP mix was done.