U2 - "Desire"

I found that the true 45 plays faster than the common CD version I'd been using for years.

The true US 45 plays at about 108.6 BPM, with an actual time of about 2:57.

The version on the compilation Gold & Platinum Volume Five (Realm 1CD 7898, 1989) plays about 1.2% slower than the true 45 - about 107.3 BPM, with an actual time of about 2:59.

A compilation that plays the true 45 version at the correct speed is Now 1988 (Virgin EMI PolyGram UK 8 27074 2, released 1993), which plays at about 108.6 BPM, with an actual time of about 2:57.

I seem to remember a 3" CD single being released for "Desire", but I'm not 100% certain.

Strangely enough, my radio promo-only collection The A-List has a horrendous 5:23 remix on it, which never got any airplay in 1988. It opens with sirens and other sound effects, and it's pretty terrible. Does anyone know where this came from?

Johann is correct about the mix being called the "Hollywood Remix." It ranks as one of my favorite '80s remixes (sorry CFTP), and there was even a separate video that got airplay on MTV. I don't recall hearing it on my top 40 station, though.

I never heard the 12" remix on top 40 either, although I do remember hearing it on the radio a year or two later when I began listening to the local rock and modern rock stations.

I don't have the Rattle And Hum CD, but I have no reason to suspect that it would be any different from the 45.

My comment above was just to point out that "Desire" on the particular compilation Gold & Platinum Vol. 5 runs unusually slow, and I used the 45 for reference. It's odd to find such large pitch/tempo variations on a late '80s track, so I thought it was noteworthy.

Edited by crapfromthepast