The Who "Won't Get Fooled Again" 45 Inspires These New Edits!

The radio edit of Billy Joel’s My Life is as dumb and unnecessary as it gets.

 

Chicago - Beginnings (45 edit)
This one should be in this discussion.

 

Yes' "Roundabout." The edit at 1:26 is quite awkward. As with "Won't Get Fooled Again," this 45 version takes about 5 minutes off the full song and renders it...different

 

Don't you love how they moved Keith to the front in this video? The only way he would have it I'm sure.

 

those 45 edits of “won’t get fooled again”, “light my fire”, “reaper” are great and hit so much harder, love ‘em

 

Keep in mind that the single of WGFA preceded the album by two months. That was the purpose single edits often served at the time, they were teasers: You were supposed to absorb it first and then get all the surprises when you heard the album version.

 

I think Iron Butterfly's In-a-gadda-da-vida may be improved somewhat by its edit unless I'm in the mood to hear the whole song. But Don McLean's American Pie sounds better in the long version.

 

Grand Funk Railroad's "I'm Your Captain" was edited for 45 and titled "Closer To Home" and it's a disaster. Sounds literally like it's skipping.

 

I don't remember which '71 concert tape or cd I remember this from but when Townshend intros WGFA to the audience he seems to make it a humorous or sarcastic point in saying to the effect of and this one or this version is a lot longer, or some such.

 

Presenting... the radio friendly...

Can't You Hear Me Knocking

 

ELP’s Take a Pebble and Low Spark are great candidates for 45 edits that never were.

 

"Sweet Child O' Mine" was edited for 45 and for radio. I hardly ever hear or see the "edit" version any more. It seems 45 edits from the CD era didn't really catch on because everyone was already familiar with the album version.

 

Chuck Mangione Feels So Good, or as he put it "meatball surgery on a major work"

How about In A Gadda Da Vida? they cut almost fifteen minutes.

 

Sweet's Love Is Like Oxygen.

 

Was in a restaurant yesterday and Extreme More Than Words was on the PA. There's a radio / 45rpm edit that just ends on a chorus and a strummed G chord. There's this other version (the one playing) that has Nuno doing a Steve Howe esque flamenco burst on the guitar and then when that's over, the singing starts up again from basically nothing, like the end of Babe I'm Gonna Leave You or something. It's like it has three endings. Upshot is, the edit is better. (Mind you, some folks would probably like an additional edit done on it. Of a few minutes.)

 

Some single versions are better
The Jam “down in a tube station at midnight” 45 version is better than the lp version for me
U2 “New Years day” the 45 version again better than the war lp version and they play it live the 45 way

 

I remember Queen’s “I Want It All” to be superior to the album version.

There are some serious butcher-jobs out there, though.

 

What about The Who's US single edit of "Who Are You?".
Totally butchered I think.

 

Sympathy For The Devil 1973

Happened in Holland and pretty sure other countries too this same year.

Engineer clearly liked the beginning, ending and middle so randomly removed chunks from it to leave us with totally hideous edits!

 

Angry eyes loggins and messina both are good

 

This has to be one of the worst edits I have ever heard. Almost ruined the 4ever compilation. Listen to the first 30 seconds and you'll know what I mean:

 

To make it suitable for radio play. I first heard the single so it was already a favourite before I bought the album and heard the full version. Radio stations most often play the full version now probably because that is the file on their computers.

 

I will add Blue oyster Cult's Don't Fear The Reaper to this list of edited singles. I'm not sure it's a bad edit but it makes the song different. Also Layla is rendered different on the edited UK single (released in 1972 with The History Of EC album). Once you've heard the full album version you can't go back.

 

...I always, traditionally, LIKED single versions.........

 

Atco 1968
Vanilla fudge you keepin me hanging on
Iron butterfly the da vidda song

Atco was heavy