whitney houston "i will always love you"

Ed, I believe "dj 45" is actually referring to one of the promo CD singles. I can't imagine that the record labels were issuing too many (if any) promo 45s by the end of 1992. Todd points out in a "DJ edits" thread that there is more than one promo CD for this song. The short one that you are referring to has a "just in time for the holidays" message on the front. I think it cuts the first verse (acapella) and starts with "And Iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii..."

edtop40 wrote: thanks for the insight, aaron........does anyone have the 3:51 promo cd single version they could send me a wave file of?

I have a version that fits this description on a TM-Century GoldDisc. This is the version I'd always play on the air during the song's chart run. It was/is such a screechy, annoying song I just wanted to get it over with as quickly as possible. :-/

There is some information in the "DJ edits still at large" thread that is not correct. Here's what was reported:

WHITNEY HOUSTON - I WILL ALWAYS LOVE YOU (Radio Edit – 3:51) (Arista ASCD-2490) Believe it or not, there indeed appear to be two "I Will Always Love You" promo CDs with the same catalog number. One contains two tracks (which is probably the copy you have) and the other has just one track. You can see the one track promo disc here: http://eil.com/shop/moreinfo.asp?catalogid=86839 As you visit the aforementioned website, you'll notice above the picture of the promo CD the following text: "Scarce US special holiday reissue 1-track promo CD in unique custom picture sleeve - completely different to any other ASCD-2490". I do specifically remember a commonly played radio version of "I Will Always Love You" where the a cappella intro is edited out and instead the song begins with strings fading in and Whitney Houston softly crooning. I believe this is the shortened radio version that runs approximately 3:51. Unfortunately, I can't remember off the top of my head where I got that run time (the eil.com website I listed doesn't say), but I can get back to you on that.

As of today, I now own both promo CD singles, and the audio contained on them is identical.

ASCD-2490
1. actual time 4:23
2. actual time 4:31

Neither disc lists two tracks, but the artwork is totally different between the two, including the disc label. The only thing that differs is the matrix numbers:

Black disc label: ASCD2490 10/92 1DA1
Red disc label: ASCD2490 12/93 2DA2

The second disc was clearly issued a full year after the song had hit #1. First of all, the back insert reads "From the 10x Platinum #1 album The Bodyguard." Secondly, this one lists a copyright of 1992 & 1993. Third, Arista, around this time period, would often put the month and year in the matrix, and this one clearly has "12/93" indicating the disc was sent out "just in time for the holidays" in 1993 (not 1992).

As for the version that has the edited intro, I believe that version was done by TM Century, appearing originally on HitDisc 972A. It was subsequently included on GoldDisc 944 in their Hot AC library.

That's correct. The 4:23 version fades :08 early, and it does seem odd they would bother to fade it early.

Which library did the 9201 to 9208 discs belong to? I noticed they also have 9106 to 9108 in their database, which seems random.

Yes, none of the discs were specifically labeled for a particular library, but I know firsthand from working in radio many years that certain number sets were intended for certain formats. The 900 series, for example, was for Hot AC. Many of the discs in the 100 & 200 series were CHR. The 500 series was classic rock, and so on.