I believe that The Singles is the only release which justifies the 50th anniversary title till now.Also the price is better than expected.
Now that looks like a decent Doors release. I skipped the expensive Japanese singles box that was released a few years ago so i'm looking forward to finally have the single versions on CD.
I have no interest in the edited versions, and obviously not for the album versions. All I want is the unique single MIXES. For the price, I'm happy to buy the CD (otherwise, I would likely consider iTunes/Amazon mp3 to cherry-pick.) Thanks for the clarification! Since the Japan set had the single version without the count-in, perhaps the original Japanese single had chopped it off? There was a great page, I think on the Doors official site, full of info about the Japanese set, that sadly I can no longer find.
Is there a mono edit and stereo edit of Light My Fire? Was the edit of LMF ever released on CD in the US some time after the Oliver Stone movie? I seem to recall a cd single I no longer own(2 track, no front cover and generic black/yellow cd art and possibly "promo" written on it), different than the Euro and Japan ones I can find on discogs.
"Light My Fire" is edited on all single releases as far as I know. The mono edit was on the original singles and can be found on the Japanese Singles Collection. I know at one time it was also available through iTunes. The stereo edit first appeared in the early 1970's backed with "Love Me Two Times" as part of Elektra's Spun Gold series. It is a slightly different edit than the mono and runs just over three minutes. The time printed on the record label is wrong. One variation can be seen here. This edit was issued on the CD single. The version of "Love Me Two Times" seems to vary on the back-to-back hits releases. Some copies use the stereo LP version and some use the mono 45 edit.
They barely touched the studio outtakes Stand alone mono CDs of the first 2 albums. Vinyl box of these singles
the japanese singles box all had pic sleeves on the vinyl, only the four american pic sleeves in this box. kinda sux.
In the early '80's I picked up 4 Gold Standard Doors singles put out by WEA in Canada. One of the singles was - A Side: Light My Fire (stereo) 2:52 min / B side: People Are Strange (stereo) 2:10 min. The label says remastered in 1980. Were these singles widely available at the time?
Does anyone know how the mono radio versions would differ from the original single mixes? Wouldn't the single mixes - at least for tracks released before 1968 or so, also be in mono? The reference to original single versions instead of original single mixes makes me a little nervous.
45's vinyl box is $150 on Amazon US. Too rich for my blood; I'll go with the CD set, plus the reissue of the Japanese 45 of "Light My Fire" just as a bit of fun for my 7" collection.
Yeah, never mind that The Doors were one of the best photographed groups and Jim one of the most photogenic singers, but they went with a photo from a period of time when the group was having its LEAST amount of success with...singles.
Someone over at Imwan posted this list of the single version differences. These are the original single versions, gathered from multiple internet sources. 1a. Break On Through, mono 1b. End of the Night, mono 2a. Light My Fire, mono, edit 3:58 shorter missing the long middle jam 2b. The Crystal Ship, mono 3a. People Are Strange, mono, different mix 3b. Unhappy Girl, mono 4a. Love Me Two Times, mono, edit 46 sec shorter, the 'knees got weak' verse removed 4b. Moonlight Drive, mono, edit 44 sec shorter 5a. The Unknown Soldier, mono, different mix, edit early fade 19 sec shorter, different gunshot, no bells nor cheering crowd at the end 5b. We Could Be So Good Together, mono, different mix, 5 sec longer, musical quote at 1:21 of Thelonious Monk's 'Straight With Chaser' 6a. Hello I Love You WYTMYN, stereo, different mix, edit 9 sec shorter, more white noise at the end, trivia: this was promoted as the first rock 45 in stereo, interesting! 6b. Love Street, different wider stereo mix, edit 16 sec shorter 7a. Touch Me, different wider stereo mix, instruments differently positioned, missing the 'stronger than dirt' vocals at the end, 6 sec shorter (?) 7b. Wild Child, different wider stereo mix 8a. Wishful Sinful, different stereo mix 8b. Who Scared You, stereo, non-LP b-side 9a. Tell All The People, stereo, one source said a longer fadeout, but the time is only 1 sec longer (?) 9b. Easy Ride, stereo, 5 sec longer 10a. Runnin' Blue, stereo 10b. Do It, stereo 11a. You Make Me Real, different mono mix 11b. Roadhouse Blues, different mono mix, edit 14 sec shorter 12a. Love Her Madly, stereo, edit early fade 33 sec shorter 12b. (You Need Meat) Don't Go No Further, stereo, non-LP b-side, one source says an early fade (compared to what, the Weird Scenes LP?), but time is the same 13a. Riders On The Storm, stereo, multiple jam edits 2:39 shorter 13b. Changeling, stereo, edit 53 sec shorter 14a. Tightrope Ride, stereo, edit 45 sec shorter 14b. Variety Is The Spice Of Life, stereo 15a. Ships w/Sails, stereo, edit 3:56 shorter 15b. In The Eye Of The Sun, stereo 16a. Get Up and Dance, stereo 16b. Treetrunk, stereo, non-LP b-side 17a. The Mosquito, mono, edit 2:29 shorter, but 2nd verse is also repeated 17b. It Slipped My Mind, stereo 18a. The Piano Bird, stereo, edit 2:19 shorter 18b. Good Rockin', stereo 19a. Roadhouse Blues (live), stereo, edit 1:10 shorter 19b. Albinoni: Adagio, stereo 20a. Gloria, stereo, edit 3:06 shorter 20b. Moonlight Drive incl Horse Latitudes (live), stereo To sum up my earlier post, the original singles would be this: --4 mono --4 mono edited --2 mono different mixes --2 mono different mixes edited --1 mono different mix longer --10 stereo (assuming regular LP versions) --8 stereo edited --1 stereo longer --2 stereo different mixes --3 stereo different mixes edited --3 stereo non-LP b-sides
The songs you're referencing, "Hello, I Love You", "Wishful Sinful" and "Tell All The People", were issued in stereo on the commercial singles. The mono radio releases might be dedicated mono mixes or just fold-downs.
I was on the fence, but the press release suggests they are at least doing this release right from a content standpoint. I'm not sure how compelling it will be for repeat listening. So 16 tracks appear to be shorter. Chunks edited out with razor blades to encourage AM radio airplay back in the day. That's kind of mixed bag. Some mix differences - but at the same time you'll notice verses and content that have been cut out to make run shorter. I've heard the stereo 45 of Touch Me and if I recall correctly the drums are centered instead of hard panned to one side (like the album mix). So that Touch Me mix is interesting and the drums give it more kick. Other unique mixes may be interesting and worthwhile. I guess we should be encouraged that an archival release has been done correctly, since the bar has been lowered for so long with the Matrix debacle.
The album version is 3:22. The single label says 3:25, but the actual track, at least sourced from the Japan set, is 3:34.
