Songs Where Short Version Is Better Than 12 Inch Mix

[paul]

I'm a big fan of having the longest versions of all my disco songs. I'm talking about the original 12" mixes, not some of those newer deconstructed ones.
Examples include Loving Is Really My Game, Boogie Oogie Oogie, and Turn the Beat Around.
Now there are some exceptions in my opinion where the shorter versions are better musically.

My first example is Diana Ross' Boss. I have both album and extended versions. While I feel the longer version is still ok, it loses a little of it's musical flow when compared to the shorter album version. Again, I'd recommend the 54 soundtrack here if you wanna get that version at a low price.

My next example is even profoundly superior. It's a 5:29 version of "You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real)." I have that version along with the longer original 6:30 version and the much shorter radio edits.
That 5:29 version found on the Disco Nights, Vol 6 cd sounds exceptionally good. From the quick get out of your seat openning, to the deep disco embracing break in the middle, to the closing with Sylvester's sensous moans at the end. Nice work. I suspect that version probably was released a year or two after the original release but I have no idea.

Anyway, those are my recommended versions. Feel free to chime in with some of your favorite song versions.

[Cory Ander]

the only example I can think of where I prefer the short version of a particular song to the longer version is "Love to Love You Baby". The unedited 16 minute version is so obviously mostly filler, especially the synthesizer solo and the vocal refrain being repeated over and over and over until I find it annoying. But in most other cases, if I like a song, I almost always prefer the unedited versions to the point where I'd rather just not hear a song at all then hear some chopped up version of it.

[paul]

Originally Posted by Cory Ander

the only example I can think of where I prefer the short version of a particular song to the longer version is "Love to Love You Baby". The unedited 16 minute version is so obviously mostly filler, especially the synthesizer solo and the vocal refrain being repeated over and over and over until I find it annoying. But in most other cases, if I like a song, I almost always prefer the unedited versions to the point where I'd rather just not hear a song at all then hear some chopped up version of it.

I'm reluctantly inclined to agree with you. Aren't there a couple of short versions though?

[drlove]

Paul, I also highly recommend hearing Vickie Sue Robinson's Spanish-language recording of "Turn The Beat Around". It takes that latin percussion to a whole new level of international appeal. Not sure if there's a 12" of that; I just have a 45 rpm version.

[paul]

Originally Posted by drlove

Paul, I also highly recommend hearing Vickie Sue Robinson's Spanish-language recording of "Turn The Beat Around". It takes that latin percussion to a whole new level of international appeal. Not sure if there's a 12" of that; I just have a 45 rpm version.

Really, I wonder if it's on cd. I would love to hear it.

[SandraDee]

I completely agree with you re 'The Boss' - I much prefer the LP version to the extended version.
I always much preferred the LP/45 version of Narada Michael Walden's 'I Dont Want Nobody Else (To Dance With You)' to the 12" version - the 12" doesn't seem to have the exciting energy & atmosphere somehow. I also prefer the edited version of Cerrone's 'Je Suis Music' as it omits the rock guitar of the LP version.
Oh & I also have a 5.15 edit of 'Im a Man' by Macho which I always play instead of the LP version 'cos, although I love the track, it just goes on too long with too little variation for my liking - the same could be said of 'Try Me I Know We Can Make It' by Donna - it just goes on for too long while the 45 version is so succinct & preferable IMO. It has to be said that nobody can create a 15-20 minute track quite as well as Alec Costandinos - his long tracks never get boring or overly repetitive do they?

[PierreConstantin]

EWF's "Boogie Wonderland" 12" version doesn't add nothing to the lp version.

"Here Comes That Sound" by Love DeLuxe is an excellent song but the last 5 minutes of the 17 minute lp version are so repetitive! The same occurs with Santa Esmeralda's "Another cha-cha". Macho's "I'm a Man" is also repetitive but not in the same way: every musical line is repeated a little too many times (and not just one part like "Here Comes That Sound"). The Prelude edit [7:30] is just the right length.

Donna Summer's "Je t'aime (moi non plus)" is awfully long and boring. Many Summer 12"s are especially unimaginative, "I Feel Love", "Down Deep Inside" and "Dim All the Lights" being the worse.

I've always hated the side-long "Get On The Funk Train" by Munich Machine. (Generally I don't find the one-side-long songs very creative.)

I don't see the point in some RSO extended versions like "You should be dancing" or "Shadow dancing".

In the obscurities department "I put a spell on you" by Dee Dee (1979) is very repetitive in its 5 minute form while the 3:40 7" version has all the good elements. The same can be said for CKB's "Superman" (1978).

But those are isolated cases because short versions of disco songs are basically very frustrating. And the worst long remixes are not from the 70's orchestrated disco music but from the 90's and the 00's synth dance music. That began in the mid-80's: remember all those mixes that Thompson/Barbiero did for Aretha Franklin or Whitney Houston diluting all the original song in a meaningless unmusical synthesized noise .

[Disco Funk]

Some remixes are good and some are horrible or uninspiring. For example, I'm a huge fan of David Todd, the guy who remixed a lot of the RCA stuff in the late 70s for artists like Faith Hope & Charity and New York Community Choir. But he dropped the ball on Lou Courtney's Stubborn Kind of Fella. The original 12 inch mix had nice snappy drums, but for some reason Todd's remix made them sound muted and bland.

I also prefer the original mix of Philly Devotions 'I Just Can't Say Goodbye' when it was released on Don De. Moulton remixed it for CBS but made it sound too tinny and trebley. I think it was due to too much reverb. I notice John Davis' style was to have very little reverb in the mixes for his tracks, so perhaps Moulton was trying to make it sound too much like PIR?

Here my list of what I prefer with the < sign referring to the better one is in the 'greater than' side of the sign

BCG - Street Talk - 12inch > LP
Gentlemen & Their Lady - Like Her - 45 instr. flip > 12inch
Loleatta Holloway - Hit & Run - LP > 12inch
Instant Funk - I Got My Mind Made Up - LP > 12inch
Faith Hope & Charity - Life Goes On - LP with slow intro > 12inch
Trammps - S/T - 1974 LP > 1977 remix LP
First Choice - Let No Man Put Asunder - Shep Pettibone's Remix >> LP > Walter Gibbon's remix
Barbara Pennington - 24 hrs a Day - LP > 12in (edited to be longer, was way too repetitive)
Philly USA - Speak Well - 5 min 12inch > 7 min 12inch
Taana Gardner - Heartbeat - 6 min > 9 min mix

Oh yeah, and thumbs down on the RSO Bee Gees 'extended versions', with the exception of Stayin Alive, they're all lame re-edits. Same goes for the extended version of Bay City Rollers 'Don't Stop The Music' and Jacksons 'Enjoy Yourself', both were just re-edits. And 'Gotta Get It' by Tony Valor in it's 12inch version was the same mix as the LP, only edited to repeat the first part of the song. Why Tom why?! :)

That's it for now.

Disco Funk

[paul]

Seeing Shep Pettibone in that last post reminds me of his remix of "Come Let Me Love You." I love his extended remix which I have never seen on cd.
Pierre, SD, I know the lp version of "I'm A Man" is a little long especially for those new to this music but I still like it. That said, I never heard a shorter version. I guess both of you are saying that shorter length would be easier to listen to.

Disco Funk, did you mean ">" in this sentence below?
Here my list of what I prefer with the < sign referring to the better one is in the 'greater than' side of the sign

[Disco Funk]

Originally Posted by paul

Disco Funk, did you mean &quot;>&quot; in this sentence below?
Here my list of what I prefer with the < sign referring to the better one is in the 'greater than' side of the sign

That's my math nerdness coming out. In math 1 > 0 is the same as saying 1 is greater than 0. I was just using it to mean A > B or A is better than B. I probably could have just typed it in LOL! Disco Funk