"Endless Love" - Diana Ross/Lionel Richie

Great question. Only the instrumental on the b-side was
shorter than the a-side (the listed time on the instro
is 2:50). No idea where the edit came from (don't have
either of the two discs with the edit so not sure what
was cut).

Good info Ron. So the note in the database should
actually be early fade (instead of "edited").

I imagine that (especially in the early days
of CD's) songs were sometimes edited or faded
early to fit as many songs as possible on a
disc, and I think at first CD's only held 74
min. of music, later on expanding to 80? That
might be the case with the "Heart Rock" comp
from 1988 that Ron mentioned. I have the 3:04
version of "Endless Love" on the "Duets" VA
Compilation, and I imagine it's the same one
as "Heart Rock".

There was another track, "Dreaming Of You," by Lionel and
Diana on the "Endless Love" soundtrack which received
some Pop airplay according to R&R. I always wondered why
this was not released as a single after "Endless Love."
Lionel's solo album was still a year away (and featured
neither song!) and Diana was off to RCA. Even though she
was about to release "Why Do Fools Fall In Love" on her
new label, that didn't stop Motown from releasing a
previously recorded track, "My Old Piano," as a single
and a new compilation, "All The Great Hits," that
contained "Endless Love" at about the same time.
Capitalizing on a nine week # 1 with another duet would
have seemed to be a better opportunity than an obscure
track from the "Diana" album.

In 1981, Diana had already signed with RCA where she recorded a solo version of this song. The label released this solo recording on a promo 45.

The promo 45 has a long version (same as the LP version found on her album "Why Do Fools Fall In Love") and a shorter edited version.

The rare edited promo 45 version can be found on the 2015 expanded version of the album as a bonus track. In 2003, Universal Music reissued Lionel's solo debut LP and included his demo as a bonus track.