Whitesnake - Is This Love - LP or Edit?

I've seen commercial 45 copies of "Is This Love" by Whitesnake that have a printed run time of 4:44 (same as LP version). Are there two different commercial 45s, with one having a shorter version? In the book, listings for the song only indicate LP Version. Does anyone know the run time of the "edit" version and if it is only on a DJ 45?

My dj copy of "Is This Love" states a running time of 3:38 and Whitburn lists the running time as 3:38.

Aaron:

There have been a few cases over the years where a commercial 45 has the LP version time printed on its label, yet in reality the 45 actually contains a shortened version (Bobby Bloom's "Montego Bay" and Ray Charles' "Don't Change on Me" are two examples). You might be right about the 45 and LP versions of "Is This Love" being identical, but we should probably wait to make the final call until someone can confirm the actual 45 run time.

Paul Esch wrote: The only problem is that my 45 is the re-issue "Back-To-Back Hits" (Geffen 21902-SR 1). I think this would be reliable, though.

Actually, I've gotten dinged on the very same thing; the Sire reissue 45s of "White Horse" by Laid Back and "Tainted Love" by Soft Cell are the DJ edits and medley versions, respectively, which are different from the commercial 45s.

Back to "Is This Love"...

My commercial 45 has a printed time of 4:44 an actual run time of about 4:41, and a tempo of 90.3 BPM. By all accounts, it seems to be the LP version. (It lacks the "Original version available on the album ..." notation that "Here I Go Again" has on the label.)

This version appears on the following CDs:

Body Talk - Romantic Moments (Time-Life R834-18, 1998, mastered by Dennis Drake and the finest-sounding version I've found; total run time of 4:42)
Guitar Rock - Power Ballads (Time-Life R968-27, 1999, also m. by Dennis Drake and digitally exactly 0.5 dB quieter than above Body Talk CD; total run time of 4:45)
Sounds Of The Eighties - The Late '80s (Time-Life R988-19, 1996, slightly different EQ from above T-L CDs; total run time of 4:46)
Stud Rock - Wild Ride (Simitar 55762, 1998, mastering is slightly compressed; total run time of 4:45)
More Greatest Hits Of The 80's (Disky Communications [Europe] DB 854902, 2000, 8-CD set horrendously compressed/maximized mastering - to be avoided; total run time of 4:43)
Greatest Hits Of The 80s (Disky Communications [Europe] CB 791642, also an 8-CD set but not the partner to the above Disky set, also horrendously compressed/maximized mastering - to be avoided; total run time of 4:45)

There is a slightly shorter edit, which may be the UK single version; I say this because of the compilation CDs it appears on. This edit can be recreated by removing 32 beats of the guitar solo, beginning with the snare hit at 2:59 and including the region of 2:59-3:21, and a 32-beat fade starting at 4:01 (times are according to LP version). This edit appears to be the same mix as the LP version. It appears on:

Now 1987 (Virgin EMI PolyGram [UK] CD NOW 1987, released 1993, excellent mastering; total run time of 4:01)
The Hits Album 6 (BMG [UK] CD HITS 6, released 1987, mastering very good; total run time of 3:58)

There is an even shorter edit, which may be the US single DJ edit (which I don't have, but I guess due to this version's inclusion on The A-List). It can be created from the LP version by shortening the fade-in by about 10 seconds, removing 16 beats beginning with the snare hit at 0:17 and including the region of 0:17-0:28, removing 32 beats of the guitar solo, beginning with the downbeat after 2:59 and including the region of 2:59-3:21, and a 32-beat fade starting at 4:01 (times are according to LP version). This edit also sounds like the same mix as the LP version, is found on the following CDs:

The "A"-List Disc 42 (Swaitek a/v, released 1994, mastering may be from vinyl?, total run time is 3:44)
Rock This Way (Music By Mail/Warner Special Products OPCD-4562, released 1995, total run time is 3:41; mastering questionable - disc also includes unbelievably-bad-sounding version of John Parr's "Naughty Naughty")

Trying to think back to 1987 to what I heard on the radio, I heard either the UK single or the US DJ edit, because the guitar solo on the commercial 45 & LP is longer than I remember.

Edited by crapfromthepast

According to abagon, the actual commercial 45 run time of Whitesnake's "Is This Love" is 4:41 not 4:44 as stated on the record label.