Contrarian points of view

Actually, I prefer the single edit.

See, I grew up on top 40 radio and 45s, so it's all in what you're used to. But, every case is different. Some I prefer long, some short. There are no absolutes with me. Sometimes the noodling distracts from the main point and flow of the song.

 

My commercial Harvest single runs over four minutes...

 

I actually prefer the song without the choir intro. You can hear Al Kooper's French Horn just fine on the single edit. The only thing I miss on the single is the extra verse.

 

Mine does, too, and it contains a 5-minute version on the B-side. It's the original single edit, that wasn't the hit version, that is 3:05. Unfortunately, it was used on the Decade CD, which is where I suspect many radio programmers get their Duran Duran tracks for airplay.

 

Exactly. I am a child of 1970s AM (and Top 40 FM) radio. I didn't buy albums, and I didn't listen to "album rock." So the single versions will be the most familiar if they got airplay where I lived. Thus, the first time I heard the album versions, it was disconcerting. Some of them still are -- I still can't get used to, for example, "Tell Me Something Good" by Rufus or "Midnight Train to Georgia" by Gladys Knight and the Pips in their full-length versions. And I remember how weird it was to hear "Won't Get Fooled Again" with the synthesizer solos, as it was seven years after I'd heard the 45 in regular rotation.

 

Uh, I guess this single was released in more than one form, because my 45's 4+ minute A side was exactly the same as the one Steve mastered for the "Rock The First" CD. It is the hit version. The 5 minute version is the B-side. There was no 3 minute version on my 45.

 

We are the older baby-boomer's worst nightmare!

 

Yes... The single was released twice. The first time, on Harvest 5134 in 1982, had "Careless Memories" on the B-side and was a shorter version than the re-release (actually 3:23). The second single, Harvest 5185, had a 4:11 version (the hit version) on one side and a 5:14 version (the Carnival mini-LP remix version) on the other side. Then, to make life even more confusing, the original LP version was 3:40!

The version most often appearing on CD is the 3:23 single version.

 

Good. I have the second issue.

 

I have the second issue too.

Joel