Songs Where Short Version Is Better Than 12 Inch Mix

[PierreConstantin]

Cheryl Lynn - Got To Be Real because the short version has the "soo hoo, soo hoo, soo hoo" which is the best part of the song and the 12" does not (which I never understood!) :icon_cool:

"Shake your groove thing" (Peaches and Herb), "Looking for a new love" (Jody Watley) and "What have you done for me lately" (Janet Jackson) don't have the a capella beginning of the lp version in their 12" version.

Worse, in "I knew you were waiting" (Franklin & Michael) the whole bridge is missing in the Thompson/Barbiero 12". Never understood why.

[Noman]

I can think of a few.
Here is one that I come to think of because I recently ripped the single:
HOT RS - Slow Blow 7" version is great (appr 4 min) The album version 7:23 is too much.

[TheLordOfFlatbush]

Groove Line - Heatwave 7" version was better than the 12" version as far as I was concerned!

The 7" version sounded more compressed vs. the 12" version on Epic.

[kdavid13]

The 3'35 7" version of France Joli's Girl in the 80's (or the album version for that matter) is much better than the amputated 12" version that Epic commisioned.

I just don't get why the complete song (verses & chorus) couldn't be used as is.
And to add insult to injury - the "extended" version is only 4'43 !!!

[SandraDee]

I never liked the 12" mix of 'Medicine Song' by Stephanie Mills as much as the LP & 45 versions which were much better IMO. This mid-80s era was the start of remixers just messing around with (& messing up!) tracks for the sake of it & not adding anything to them. Creative marketing I believe is what it was called.:icon_evil:

[STEPHEN L FREEMAN]

I've always preferred the 'New Dimensions' LP version of 3 Degrees' "The Runner", over the "Extra Long Version" for the 12".
The 12" breaks-down so much, for so long, that it sounds like something from side 2 of the Munich Machine's 'Whiter Shade of Pale'.

Although... Those little sneakers, running around the 12" label, are pretty cool.

[JussiK]

The only thing I can think of is Marc Harris: Airport. That track is fine for the first 3 minutes. After the vocal bit is over the longer 12" goes into an instrumental section , with no return to the melody or the vocals. Usually I'm all for relentless, repetitive electronic beats but a 12" of such a catchy song as Airport should offer more.

But that's a rarity indeed. Love To Love You Baby or Try Me I Know We Can Make It? Gimme the long versions twice or three times in a row. That Munich stomp and those sleazy synths&strings, never can get enough of them. Macho's I'm A Man - some insignificant short dick version over the merciless lp workout that sorts the men out of the boys the women out of the girls and whips you into submission? You got to be joking!:-)

[disco1999]

I never liked the 12" mix of 'Medicine Song' by Stephanie Mills.:icon_evil:

I have to disagree here, this vinyl has to be among my favorites for '84
I always thought the album version had something missing.

[PierreConstantin]

Summer's "Hot stuff" has a great 12" version, something that actually was not a rule for her during the disco era, but there is a short version I prefer: it's a 4:30 mix I only have on the Rhino compilation "The disco years vol. 4 - Lost in music". I don't know where they found this mix but the end is with different ad libs I heard only here: she sings something like " I need a hot stuff, I want a hiot stuff".

During the 80's the annoying habit of changing the instrumentation appeared and it sure butchered many songs for the 12": Madonna's "Borderline" and Aretha Franklin's "I knew you were waiting" gain absolutely nothing in the process. Ross' "Eaten alive" and "Chain reaction" are more or less in the same case (especially that both songs have edited versions of the 12" remix superior to the long versions).

None of the 12" remixes of the songs taken from Summer's "Another place and time" add anything and the song is better in its short lp version. This a common for PWL/Harding/Hammond remixes (Thelma Houston's "What he has" is in the same case for example) because they dilute the strength of the song, but it's also true for the Clivillés and Cole's remix of "Love's about to change my heart". Again, the edited remixed version (4:20) is enough and the 7:40 doesn't add anything.

[kdavid13]

Summer's "Hot stuff" has a great 12" version, something that actually was not a rule for her during the disco era, but there is a short version I prefer: it's a 4:30 mix I only have on the Rhino compilation "The disco years vol. 4 - Lost in music". I don't know where they found this mix but the end is with different ad libs I heard only here: she sings something like " I need a hot stuff, I want a hiot stuff".

Totally agree about this particular version of Hot stuff. It's been my favorite ever since I first heard it -because of the ad libs and the way Donna sings like she really means it.When she goes - "I need it - I need it - I want your hot stuff...". :icon_cool:

[EricHG23]

And the worst of it is that the song seems made of bits and pieces, lacking the unity of "Love to Love You Baby".

So disagreed. I don't get the hate on for Try Me on here. I think it was Moroder taking what he did with Love to Love You (which was 12 mins plus a looped 5 mins) and making it far more seamless--the way the tune subtly modluates and moves from Try Me to I Know to We Can Make It is *amazing* and then the final bit--you don't get that as clearly in the edit

[remicks]

So disagreed. I don't get the hate on for Try Me on here. I think it was Moroder taking what he did with Love to Love You (which was 12 mins plus a looped 5 mins) and making it far more seamless--the way the tune subtly modluates and moves from Try Me to I Know to We Can Make It is *amazing* and then the final bit--you don't get that as clearly in the edit

I 'm with you . I have listened to this song/LP of Donna's probably more than any other.
As the years pass, it is becoming her best kept secret .

*****

[shives]

I find that most extended versions of pop songs from the 80s suck -- example, Hold Me Now by the Thompson Twins is waaaaay too long at almost 10 min....and does anyone else think that Enough is Enough by Summer/Streisand is too long too on the extended version?

[SandraDee]

does anyone else think that Enough is Enough by Summer/Streisand is too long too on the extended version?

Yes i do shives.

[Disco Funk]

There's a jazz disco track called Maintain by Steve Marshall. I like the short single version because it has more stuff going on, with the sax solo. The 12inch and LP version, while it's nice it's extended with breaks, it's kind of plain. I think they were completely different recordings, rather than edits or remixes, because the piano parts very different.

Single mix (this youtube posting only has a minute or two of the song. The second track in the vid is the flip side to the single).




LP version (Strangely, the intro break is removed from the 12 inch version, when you'd think it would be the other way around!).



Disco Funk

[shives]

While not strictly disco (actually hi-nrg) I also prefer the single mixes of Miami Sound Machine's I Need a Man, Divinyl's Pleasure and Pain and Mike and the Mechanics All I Need is a Miracle. The 12" mixes sound emptier to me, like they are missing tracks.

[SandraDee]

There's a jazz disco track called Maintain by Steve Marshall. I like the short single version because it has more stuff going on, with the sax solo. The 12inch and LP version, while it's nice it's extended with breaks, it's kind of plain. I think they were completely different recordings, rather than edits or remixes, because the piano parts very different.

Single mix (this youtube posting only has a minute or two of the song. The second track in the vid is the flip side to the single).




LP version (Strangely, the intro break is removed from the 12 inch version, when you'd think it would be the other way around!).



Disco Funk

That first version sounds so much better due to the liberal amount of string synths used IMO. I love my string synths, me.

[Disco Funk]

String synths are nice. Hard to believe they probably invested a lot of money just for a synthesizer that played on thing. Or did it have other sounds besides strings?

Disco Funk

[mrbmarco]

Remember, dancing to-- and listening to-- a song are two different things. Long intros, breaks, exits and cold endings help the DJ mix. Breaks create excitment on the dance floor. I can think of two songs that suffered from 45 to LP. BRAZIL lost all its energy when it was put on LP. It seems like it was slowed down for the LP. FREEMAN also lost energy when the LP came out. People left the dance floor during that thin, low break. If I remember correctly, we also had a problem with feedback because on how the album was pressed. But as a former DJ, the longer the better.

[KayJayEm54]

I find that most extended versions of pop songs from the 80s suck -- example, Hold Me Now by the Thompson Twins is waaaaay too long at almost 10 min....and does anyone else think that Enough is Enough by Summer/Streisand is too long too on the extended version?

Never did think of the TT as a disco track, but I have to disagree, Boogie Wonderland was one of THE tracks that got my juices flowing on the dance floor, complemented with Enough is Enough (Summer/Streisand), I Want Your Love (Chic), Stomp (Brothers Johnson), And the beat goes on (Whispers) and my ultimate favourite from BITD the extended 12" version of Dancin' the Night Away (Voggue) - hence my strap-line - I think the 12" version isn't long enough as the hook is hypnotic and could chug along for long enough!