That reminds me "The Devil Went Down to Georgia" by The Charlie Daniels Band. Some stations use the son of a gun edit while others use son of a b"#tch.
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Worst radio edit of all time
- Thread starter Theater of My Mind
- Start date
"Son of a gun" was actually the original recording. If you listen closely to the album version you can hear where they edited in the B-word line.
Really? I don't care much for profanity, and I don't really think the "B-word" fits too well anyway, but I always thought that that was just the way the song is. Now that I know better, I'm going to look for the "cleaned-up-for-radio" single version and listen to that.
c
That's my point. The song wasn't "cleaned up for radio". It was "dirtied up for the album".
On the other hand, Johnny Cash did use SOB in its raw form on his recording of "A Boy Named Sue" (done live at a prison, so no one was shocked), but it was bleeped on the radio single.
Does Hollaback Girl by Gwen Stefani count?
Yes I know they had to do it, Most people like the unedited version
Yes I know they had to do it, Most people like the unedited version
There was also a second edit in the single. "...any damn thing but Sue" became "anything but Sue."
Yeah, I hate that single edit, but I can also recognize that the album cut would would never made it on Top 40 radio at the time. However, when I heard it as an oldie of Top 40 stations in the late 70s, it generally was the album cut.
"Crush" by the Dave Matthews Band usually fades out mid-verse around 4:05 mark. That cuts out out almost four full minutes of the song.
"If It Makes You Happy" by Sheryl Crow fades out around 4:30 mid-verse. The full version last 5:23.
"Iris" by The Goo Good Dolls cuts out the instrumental break mid-song and eliminates portions of the last verse. 4:50 whittled down to 3:35.
Terrible edits in my opinion
"If It Makes You Happy" by Sheryl Crow fades out around 4:30 mid-verse. The full version last 5:23.
"Iris" by The Goo Good Dolls cuts out the instrumental break mid-song and eliminates portions of the last verse. 4:50 whittled down to 3:35.
Terrible edits in my opinion
Cutting out long solos and early fades have been the norm for single/radio edits since the early 1970s. Too much of a good thing is not necessarily a good thing. I like "Crush", but not enough to stand through eight minutes of it.
It was a bigger problem in the 30s and 40s before long playing records were invented. The 33 rpm record was invented in 1948.
In 1963 I interned at Grupo Radio Centro in Mexico City. Radio Éxitos 790 AM had regular "Bilingües 7-90" which were blends of Top 40 songs that existed both in English and Spanish. I got trained in how to tape the English and Spanish versions and then edit so they alternated with each verse from one language to another and then put on carts.
From 1964 on, I was in Ecuador where the lyrics of some American songs were "prohibited" in any language, and we edited those that needed it on tape and dubbed them to carts. And some of the English language Top 40 we played came in very long versions, so edited them to a shorter duration since nearly nobody understood the subtleties of the lyrics, anyway.
Here's a good one "Epic" by Faith No More. and any song that edit the 2nd verse out of three verse song for single release
Many years, I read that at one time WLS in Chicago made a radio edit of "Stairway To Heaven" that ran about 5 1/2 minutes. They played it one time and got so many complaints that they never played it again. Unfortunately, I can't find a link or a copy of that story, so I'm going by memory. Anyone else ever hear anything about this?
When I saw the title of this thread I thought it would be about edits that were technically flawed, rather than subjective opinion of the content. I've heard a few technically tortured edits over the years. Sometimes it is a thin line between technical flaw and bold sound production. I don't mean music arrangement or production, but edits that were more purely technical. Holland-Dozier-Holland did dramatic edits in some of their Invictus and Hot Wax productions. Also around 1970 some songs were released in stereo may have been put together from what they had, such as 8 track without bouncing or down mixing.
Check out the intro on this one. Other songs during that time had edits like this.
Here is an example of an edit with a purpose. No doubt Ron Dante and Barry Manilow were quite aware of how a mix would sound on the radio and on some speakers to some people. They mixed this song like pros. Killer voice sound. Then listen to what happens in the 2:45 to 3:15 segment. Specifically at 2:59. I think they decided "when can I touch you" might be heard as "when can I fu**ck you" on AM and to some listeners.
A more high end on the EQ and voice track remix to the rescue.
Check out the intro on this one. Other songs during that time had edits like this.
Here is an example of an edit with a purpose. No doubt Ron Dante and Barry Manilow were quite aware of how a mix would sound on the radio and on some speakers to some people. They mixed this song like pros. Killer voice sound. Then listen to what happens in the 2:45 to 3:15 segment. Specifically at 2:59. I think they decided "when can I touch you" might be heard as "when can I fu**ck you" on AM and to some listeners.
A more high end on the EQ and voice track remix to the rescue.
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This is not an edit, but either a mixing discontinuity or intentional decision. About 55 seconds in listen to the kick drum in the chorus. A bit loud. Next time the chorus comes around at about 2 minutes in, the kick drum is mixed back a bit.
This was in a time when unless the console had automation, a complex mix down could be several people on the faders, each handling a task. Sometimes mixing a section to two track, stopping if they made a mistake or needed to reconfigure the console. Then backing up the multitrack a few seconds, doing it again, and finally splicing the two track to make the final mix. Some engineers had no fear of editing multitrack tape, which could be one inch or two inches wide. Besides the fact they were cutting all the tracks at once, they had to deal with the angle of the cut and the width of the tape causing the edit to not happen at the same time on all the tracks. Some engineers recorded most time sensitive parts on the center tracks to minimize audibility of the edit. Or they did a 90 degree cut...
I realize much of this is performing for the camera and the video is edited. Part two of this is interesting
Here in part two watch a portion of the mix down from multitrack to two track at a 9:50. At about 10:15 you see Neil Kernon making the fade out with his right hand on the master while his left hand is on tracks. At 10:10 to 10:16 John Oates is reaching in and slighty raising vocal tracks on the tail end of the mix, as it fades, and they finish at about 10:30. Neil is a wise producer and does not object when one of the artists reaches in. And John Oates was correct, he did something that is was done frequently and sounded good on the radio.
Btw that is an AKG mic. My boss and I installed one of those at an AM R&B station in the late '70s or early '80s. Very crisp and present sound.
This is a better link to Weekend in New England. AnotherProf has the mono 45. I remember hearing this on AM and noticing it.
This was in a time when unless the console had automation, a complex mix down could be several people on the faders, each handling a task. Sometimes mixing a section to two track, stopping if they made a mistake or needed to reconfigure the console. Then backing up the multitrack a few seconds, doing it again, and finally splicing the two track to make the final mix. Some engineers had no fear of editing multitrack tape, which could be one inch or two inches wide. Besides the fact they were cutting all the tracks at once, they had to deal with the angle of the cut and the width of the tape causing the edit to not happen at the same time on all the tracks. Some engineers recorded most time sensitive parts on the center tracks to minimize audibility of the edit. Or they did a 90 degree cut...
I realize much of this is performing for the camera and the video is edited. Part two of this is interesting
Here in part two watch a portion of the mix down from multitrack to two track at a 9:50. At about 10:15 you see Neil Kernon making the fade out with his right hand on the master while his left hand is on tracks. At 10:10 to 10:16 John Oates is reaching in and slighty raising vocal tracks on the tail end of the mix, as it fades, and they finish at about 10:30. Neil is a wise producer and does not object when one of the artists reaches in. And John Oates was correct, he did something that is was done frequently and sounded good on the radio.
Btw that is an AKG mic. My boss and I installed one of those at an AM R&B station in the late '70s or early '80s. Very crisp and present sound.
This is a better link to Weekend in New England. AnotherProf has the mono 45. I remember hearing this on AM and noticing it.
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Agreed. Mono single version has horns and a hotter mix. AM radio ready. Keyboard and percussion on the intro is killer.
The amazing voice of Cass Elliot !
They did not use oboe-like instrument on the LP version middle section.
Stevie Wonder's You are the sunshine of my life single version has horns not present on LP version.
etc.
The amazing voice of Cass Elliot !
They did not use oboe-like instrument on the LP version middle section.
Stevie Wonder's You are the sunshine of my life single version has horns not present on LP version.
etc.
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Definitely!
Another thing is that on the stereo version, the end is faded out, whereas on the mono version, it isn't.
I just did a back to back listen between my copy of the mono record and the "common" stereo version, and the stereo version is much less dynamic and kind of boring and lifeless, plus those edits are much more annoying than I remembered them (there are loud pops where the edits are obviously very sloppy, plus the first of the various sound effects during the first verse starts panned hard on the left, but then toward the end, there's this jerky and sloppy cut over to center). As I listen, it actually feels like it was unfinished, as it has none of the polish of the mono version, which must have been done first (the stereo mix is, to me, an obviously hastily done afterthought).
At any rate, this reaffirms to me that the mono version is superior.
To me, that sounds somewhat more like a muted trumpet than it does an oboe.
c