https://top40musiconcd.com/forum/ Copyright (c) 2006-2013 Web Wiz Forums - All Rights Reserved. Tue, 28 Apr 2026 00:08:08 +0000 Wed, 23 Jun 2021 05:37:30 +0000 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss Web Wiz Forums 12.07 360 https://top40musiconcd.com/forum/RSS_post_feed.asp?TID=1340 https://top40musiconcd.com/forum//images/Top-40-Music-on-CD-Forum-Logo.png https://top40musiconcd.com/forum/ https://top40musiconcd.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=1340&PID=58460&title=johnny-gill-fairweather-friend#58460 Author: thecdguy
Subject: 1340
Posted: 23 June 2021 at 5:37am

Thanks Andrew. I somehow missed that when scrolling down previously.

Now it's just a matter of confirming if that version is on the Cassette Single. It would obviously be very easy to tell if it has that
"Uhhh" that Jim mentioned at 1 second into the song. ]]> Wed, 23 Jun 2021 05:37:30 +0000 https://top40musiconcd.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=1340&PID=58460&title=johnny-gill-fairweather-friend#58460 https://top40musiconcd.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=1340&PID=58454&title=johnny-gill-fairweather-friend#58454 Author: AndrewChouffi
Subject: 1340
Posted: 22 June 2021 at 3:51pm

To Dan:

The late, great Jim Abbott mentioned there
was a difference earlier in the thread
(post 3).

Andy]]> Tue, 22 Jun 2021 15:51:50 +0000 https://top40musiconcd.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=1340&PID=58454&title=johnny-gill-fairweather-friend#58454 https://top40musiconcd.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=1340&PID=58449&title=johnny-gill-fairweather-friend#58449 Author: PopArchivist
Subject: 1340
Posted: 22 June 2021 at 10:12am

Dan,

There were a lot of remixes of this song back in the day , so not sure if I can spot any differences.]]> Tue, 22 Jun 2021 10:12:14 +0000 https://top40musiconcd.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=1340&PID=58449&title=johnny-gill-fairweather-friend#58449 https://top40musiconcd.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=1340&PID=58444&title=johnny-gill-fairweather-friend#58444 Author: thecdguy
Subject: 1340
Posted: 22 June 2021 at 5:32am

Has anyone ever compared the 7" Remix on the Promo CD Single to the Album Version? The reason I ask is because I was just looking at the front and back cover
of this Cassette Single on Discogs and while there is no specific version notation, it does say on the back cover "Original Version Appears On The Johnny
Gill Album, MOT-6283" which would lead you to think that the version on there is different than what appears on the album. I know Ed said in the first post
that the cassingle is the same as the full album version, but since the LP and 7" Remix versions seem to have the same running time, I was wondering if there
might be a possibility that the Remix is actually on the single, and that maybe the differences between it and the LP Version are so small that they wouldn't
be immediately noticeable. Again, I'm wondering this just because of how they worded it on the back of the cassingle. ]]> Tue, 22 Jun 2021 05:32:11 +0000 https://top40musiconcd.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=1340&PID=58444&title=johnny-gill-fairweather-friend#58444 https://top40musiconcd.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=1340&PID=7121&title=johnny-gill-fairweather-friend#7121 Author: aaronk
Subject: 1340
Posted: 02 September 2006 at 10:55am

jimct wrote: No, Todd. We took one look at the long times, and had no use for it. If they had put the CORRECT time on Track 1, we would've given it a listen - I just noticed this (2:02) time difference today - obviously WAY too late to help Johnny with radio airplay!

I'm sorry, Jim. When I made my post, I had not noticed that you typed this message above. I was not trying to say that you weren't good programmers. The point is that you had already heard the song (prior to receiving the remixes), and you had already determined that your station was not going to play it.

My argument is simply that long run times don't necessarily prevent a song from becoming a big radio hit. If it's a great song, radio will play the long version or shorten it themselves.]]> Sat, 02 Sep 2006 10:55:40 +0000 https://top40musiconcd.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=1340&PID=7121&title=johnny-gill-fairweather-friend#7121 https://top40musiconcd.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=1340&PID=7117&title=johnny-gill-fairweather-friend#7117 Author: aaronk
Subject: 1340
Posted: 02 September 2006 at 9:33am

jimct wrote: Just because we had made a decision, right or wrong, to pass on that song and focus on many other worthy song candidates to possibly start playing, doesn't necessarily mean we weren't "a good PD/MD."

I'm not saying that programmers who passed on the song were not good. I'm saying that a good PD/MD would have at least given it a listen and not just thrown the single in the trash without hearing it first.

jimct wrote: Since we'd probably already come to a "final" decision on it, barring a "late chart resurgence", the remixes CD would've been of no real concern/interest to us.

Exactly my point. You had already heard the song and decided it was not worthy of adding.

The thing I was trying to say is that even if the run time had been correct, top 40 programmers and audiences just didn't like the song enough for it to become a huge hit.

Edited by aaronk]]> Sat, 02 Sep 2006 09:33:19 +0000 https://top40musiconcd.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=1340&PID=7117&title=johnny-gill-fairweather-friend#7117 https://top40musiconcd.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=1340&PID=7115&title=johnny-gill-fairweather-friend#7115 Author: jimct
Subject: 1340
Posted: 02 September 2006 at 9:18am

aaronk wrote: It's possible; however... 1) the record promoters were (or should have been) pushing the song, and 2) it did hit the top 40, therefore, a good PD/MD would have at least put the CD in to listen to it. If they liked it enough to listen all the way through, they would've realized the time was wrong. Even if it had actually run over six minutes, any station with a reel-to-reel and cart machine could've made their own edit. While you could argue that a long run time may discourage a PD from even giving it a listen in the first place, I would argue that a he/she could press the stop button at any moment while previewing it.

Aaron, for the heck of it I just pulled out my old station playlists for Nov/Dec 1990. Despite it's Top 40 peak, we never did add "Fairweather Friend" at our station. Since we'd probably already come to a "final" decision on it, barring a "late chart resurgence", the remixes CD would've been of no real concern/interest to us. Although the early 90s were Motown's last real "hot streak" chart-wise, their 1990 promotion team was FAR from being among the most "relentless" of labels we dealt with, to us at least. Just because we had made a decision, right or wrong, to pass on that song and focus on many other worthy song candidates to possibly start playing, doesn't necessarily mean we weren't "a good PD/MD." If we'd added it, we probably would've noticed the (2:02) timing error. That big a timing mistake is HIGHLY unusual. While we would, on occasion, do our own "custom edits," it was probably done only about 5-6 times a year. We were pure Top 40, and while we played our fair share of urban/soul, we'd rarely if ever go to ALL the bother of (then) reel-to-reel custom edits, just for a slight song improvement. They were different times then. With all of today's user-friendly digital toys, I'm sure we'd have done MANY more, but remember, this was 1990. We only had one production studio - it was always VERY busy, recording commercials, etc. It was hard enough for me just to get in there to "cart" (an 8-track shaped thing most Top 40 radio recorded the songs onto, in lieu of playing the song off of a 45) up the music every Tuesday (Top 40 radio's official "add/update the current music" day, for as long as I can remember.) This might not be the "utopian, perfect world" answer, Aaron, but that was indeed our reality then. ]]> Sat, 02 Sep 2006 09:18:40 +0000 https://top40musiconcd.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=1340&PID=7115&title=johnny-gill-fairweather-friend#7115 https://top40musiconcd.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=1340&PID=7111&title=johnny-gill-fairweather-friend#7111 Author: aaronk
Subject: 1340
Posted: 01 September 2006 at 10:26pm

Todd Ireland wrote:    It makes me wonder if this had a negative impact on national airplay signficant enough to contribute to the song's disappointing #28 peak on the Billboard Hot 100!

It's possible; however...

1) the record promoters were (or should have been) pushing the song, and

2) it did hit the top 40,

therefore, a good PD/MD would have at least put the CD in to listen to it. If they liked it enough to listen all the way through, they would've realized the time was wrong. Even if it had actually run over six minutes, any station with a reel-to-reel and cart machine could've made their own edit.

I don't think run times discourage a station from playing a record, especially if it's a bonafide hit. Look at "American Pie" as an example.

While you could argue that a long run time may discourage a PD from even giving it a listen in the first place, I would argue that a he/she could press the stop button at any moment while previewing it.]]> Fri, 01 Sep 2006 22:26:55 +0000 https://top40musiconcd.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=1340&PID=7111&title=johnny-gill-fairweather-friend#7111 https://top40musiconcd.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=1340&PID=7110&title=johnny-gill-fairweather-friend#7110 Author: Todd Ireland
Subject: 1340
Posted: 01 September 2006 at 4:08pm

Yes, it appears the record label was very careless with its incorrect run time listing for Track 1 on your promo CD copy of "Fairweather Friend", Jim! Chances are that other radio stations around the country also declined to play the song due to the erroneously inflated time listing. It makes me wonder if this had a negative impact on national airplay signficant enough to contribute to the song's disappointing #28 peak on the Billboard Hot 100! Historically, record labels are much more likely to deliberately list a much shorter run time for a song to enourage radio station airplay. ]]> Fri, 01 Sep 2006 16:08:51 +0000 https://top40musiconcd.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=1340&PID=7110&title=johnny-gill-fairweather-friend#7110 https://top40musiconcd.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=1340&PID=7091&title=johnny-gill-fairweather-friend#7091 Author: jimct
Subject: 1340
Posted: 31 August 2006 at 12:45am

No, Todd. We took one look at the long times, and had no use for it. If they had put the CORRECT time on Track 1, we would've given it a listen - I just noticed this (2:02) time difference today - obviously WAY too late to help Johnny with radio airplay!

Edited by jimct]]> Thu, 31 Aug 2006 00:45:49 +0000 https://top40musiconcd.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=1340&PID=7091&title=johnny-gill-fairweather-friend#7091