# Short & Long Versions of Pop/Rock Songs? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 25, 2005, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/short-long-versions-of-pop-rock-songs/318525 "2005-08-25T01:26:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Loopydude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e56c9b/32.png) [@Loopydude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loopydude)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2005, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/short-long-versions-of-pop-rock-songs/318525/41 "2005-08-25T14:28:28Z")
I watched my fingernails grow to the extended release of “Freebird” ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2005, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/short-long-versions-of-pop-rock-songs/318525/42 "2005-08-25T14:45:02Z")
> [@Squonk](#): > > Billy Joel’s “The Entertainer” is about 3:20 on the album. One of the lines is about how radio wants short songs: “If you’re gonna have a hit/ You gotta make it fit/ So they cut it down to 3:05” I always thought that verse referred to the radio edit of Piano Man which chops out a verse. Then again, I’m no Billy Joel expert and it was just my WAG. I don’t even know which song came out first 😃 ---
**Author:** ![postcards](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8e8cbc/32.png) [@postcards](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/postcards)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2005, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/short-long-versions-of-pop-rock-songs/318525/43 "2005-08-25T16:42:14Z")
Yea, BJ is referring to _Piano Man_. Don’t know what the running time on the 45 was, but there was either a verse or an instrumental break cut out. ---
**Author:** ![jsc1953](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@jsc1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsc1953)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2005, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/short-long-versions-of-pop-rock-songs/318525/44 "2005-08-25T17:16:29Z")
Led Zep’s _Whole Lotta Love_ was played on the radio without the psychedelic noodling in the middle, which improves the song greatly. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Roboto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/76d3ee/32.png) [@Mr.Roboto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Roboto)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2005, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/short-long-versions-of-pop-rock-songs/318525/45 "2005-08-25T19:04:48Z")
A few more songs bastardized for AM radio… Time…Chambers Bros. Bluebird…Buffalo Springfield Crimson & Clover…Tommy James Fire…Arthur Brown Going Home…Rolling Stones ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2005, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/short-long-versions-of-pop-rock-songs/318525/46 "2005-08-25T19:51:33Z")
> [@Mr. Roboto](#): > > Crimson & Clover…Tommy James > Fire…Arthur Brown > Going Home…Rolling Stones “Crimson and Clover” was the other way around–the single version was the original, and the extended version for the album was created by _editing in_ a long break (which is noticeably out of tune with the rest of the song). I don’t remember “Fire” being edited–it’s not a very long song to begin with. The mono and stereo mixes are very different, however. And I’ve _never_ heard “Going Home” played on AM radio. ---
**Author:** ![ChockFullOfHeadyGoodness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chockfullofheadygoodness/32/511_2.png) [@ChockFullOfHeadyGoodness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ChockFullOfHeadyGoodness)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2005, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/short-long-versions-of-pop-rock-songs/318525/47 "2005-08-25T20:18:16Z")
> [@Exapno Mapcase](#): > > "Money for Nothing"may hold the record, though. There was an album version, a single version, an MTV version, and maybe a couple more, all of different lengths. There were even 2 different album versions. The vinyl version of “Brothers In Arms” contained a shorter version than the “extended version” (mostly more synth noodling and “I want my MTVs” at the beginning) found on the cassette and CD. I still remember my parent’s shock when I cranked up “Get The Knack” for the first time and we all discovered that “Good Girls Don’t” had …um… different lyrics than the familiar radio version. Sort of related… I can remember David Lee Roth describing how “Intruder” came about. Supposedly, the video for “Oh! Pretty Woman” ran too long, so they came up with an instrumental introduction to fill the time, which was later given its own title when it appeared on the “Diver Down” album. ---
**Author:** ![Hal\_Briston](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a9a28c/32.png) [@Hal\_Briston](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hal_Briston)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2005, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/short-long-versions-of-pop-rock-songs/318525/48 "2005-08-25T20:24:04Z")
_My Sharona_. Lordy, do I hate it when the extended guitar solo is hacked out. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2005, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/short-long-versions-of-pop-rock-songs/318525/49 "2005-08-25T20:32:00Z")
> [@Rico](#): > > _Radar Love_ by Golden Earring had a particularly nasty edited radio version. As I recall, there were TWO radio edits of it, maybe more with each taking out more. > [@RealityChuck](#): > > Actually, choppin down “Light My Fire” did the Doors a favor, cutting out that terrible organ solo and vastly improving the song. That was an organ? It sounds like a calliope. Ray Manzarek must be the worst keyboardist this side of Lee Michaels. ---
**Author:** ![pinkfreud](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pinkfreud/32/17603_2.png) [@pinkfreud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pinkfreud)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2005, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/short-long-versions-of-pop-rock-songs/318525/50 "2005-08-25T20:33:52Z")
> [@Exapno Mapcase](#): > > People you know are a terrible sample for just about everything in the world. I guess that’s because I live in Oklahoma, which isn’t the hippest place around. Now that I have the Internet, maybe I can get a better sample. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2005, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/short-long-versions-of-pop-rock-songs/318525/51 "2005-08-25T20:41:12Z")
I hope you do because that album stayed on the Columbia House magazine inserts for decades and since Atco wasn’t owned by Columbia it wasn’t so they could clear out warehouse overstock. It was the Led Zep IV of the late 60s–something everybody owned but were embarassed to play after a while. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2005, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/short-long-versions-of-pop-rock-songs/318525/52 "2005-08-25T21:25:44Z")
> [@Hal Briston](#): > > _My Sharona_. Lordy, do I hate it when the extended guitar solo is hacked out. I’m with you on that. If you get a chance, check out the Knack’s “Live from the Rock & Roll Funhouse”. They do a great version of the song, long solo and all. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2005, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/short-long-versions-of-pop-rock-songs/318525/53 "2005-08-25T21:35:04Z")
A slightly different take: “Sultans of Swing” (the LP version) suffered having its final guitar solo talked over by DJs. When Mark Knopler heard about this, he and the band went back to the studio and recorded an AM-radio-friendly version with so prominent. It was only available as a promo single. It has yet to appear on CD, AFAIK. ---
**Author:** ![JohnBckWLD](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d6d6ee/32.png) [@JohnBckWLD](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnBckWLD)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2005, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/short-long-versions-of-pop-rock-songs/318525/54 "2005-08-25T22:20:39Z")
> [@Mr. Roboto](#): > > Fire…Arthur Brown [quote=BtES] I don’t remember “Fire” being edited–it’s not a very long song to begin with. The mono and stereo mixes are very different, however.[/quoteIMHO, the only way to listen to ‘Fire’ is playing all 3 tracks from the album: _Fanfare/Fire Poem/Fire_. Wasn’t **Focus** ’ \*‘Hocus Pocus’ \* edited down to single length? If I’m not mistaken, the middle of **Sweet** ’s _‘Love Is Like Oxygen’_ also got the chop. ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2005, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/short-long-versions-of-pop-rock-songs/318525/55 "2005-08-25T22:36:57Z")
> [@JohnBckWLD](#): > > IMHO, the only way to listen to ‘Fire’ is playing all 3 tracks from the album: _Fanfare/Fire Poem/Fire_. Well, for that matter, the whole first side of the LP should be listened to as a suite, being something of a rock opera (as we said in the olden days) about Hell, complete with the recurring “Nightmare” theme. ---
**Author:** ![dwc1970](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a183cd/32.png) [@dwc1970](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dwc1970)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2005, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/short-long-versions-of-pop-rock-songs/318525/56 "2005-08-25T23:18:45Z")
“Love is Like Oxygen” by Sweet has a long version and a short version with most of the bridge cut out of it. Bastards! ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2005, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/short-long-versions-of-pop-rock-songs/318525/57 "2005-08-26T00:39:12Z")
> [@bobk2](#): > > I seem to remember The Doors’ ‘Light My Fire’ being an early example. Anyone know who was first and when it really started catching on? From what I remember reading about The Doors, LMF was the first song to undergo that kind of editing. Other approaches had been used previously to adapt longer songs to a singles-oriented world. For instance, the Isley Bros. “Shout” was issued as a two-sided single. “Horrible organ solo?” That and the guitar solo that follows were the whole point of the song. If you think it’s horrible it must be the case that you don’t care for The Doors. That band frequently gets slammed (ahem) for playing repetitively, but when you listen closely there are usually subtle variations in the repeats. ---
**Author:** ![ouryL](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ouryl/32/6067_2.png) [@ouryL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ouryL)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2005, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/short-long-versions-of-pop-rock-songs/318525/58 "2005-08-26T01:51:35Z")
> [@Spectre of Pithecanthropus](#): > > From what I remember reading about The Doors, LMF was the first song to undergo that kind of editing. Other approaches had been used previously to adapt longer songs to a singles-oriented world. For instance, the Isley Bros. “Shout” was issued as a two-sided single. > > “Horrible organ solo?” That and the guitar solo that follows were the whole point of the song. If you think it’s horrible it must be the case that you don’t care for The Doors. That band frequently gets slammed (ahem) for playing repetitively, but when you listen closely there are usually subtle variations in the repeats. The edit was sanctioned by the Ray Manzarek, as I recall. ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2005, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/short-long-versions-of-pop-rock-songs/318525/59 "2005-08-26T03:47:24Z")
> [@JohnBckWLD](#): > > Wasn’t **Focus** ’ \*‘Hocus Pocus’ \* edited down to single length? (Had to wait until I got home to dig out the 45) Single, 3:18 Album, 6:43 So yeah, cut down to almost exactly half its length. ---
**Author:** ![Lisa-go-Blind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7c8e57/32.png) [@Lisa-go-Blind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lisa-go-Blind)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2005, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/short-long-versions-of-pop-rock-songs/318525/60 "2005-08-26T04:10:02Z")
An interesting case is Kraftwerk’s “Autobahn.” On the album, it’s 22:42 and takes up all of side A. According to [this website](http://www.fortunecity.com/tinpan/underworld/361/discoeng.html), there are five edited single versions, ranging in length from 3:06 to 9:00. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/short-long-versions-of-pop-rock-songs/318525.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/short-long-versions-of-pop-rock-songs/318525.md?page=4)