Amy Grant - "Baby Baby"

Todd Ireland wrote: Brian W. wrote: [QUOTE=Todd Ireland] Therefore, "Baby Baby" is a case in which the song was issued on multiple commercial single formats, and yet at least one of them -- the commercial CD single -- features a different version as Side A/Track 1 than the others. It's my recollection that the US CD single for "Baby Baby" was not issued until months after the song was a hit, after it was off the chart. I know it says 1991 in Discogs, but of course it would, that's when the the songs on it are copyrighted. It's my recollection that it was issued quite some time after the song was a hit, possibly even 1992 or 1993. Additionally, I would consider the US CD single to be a maxi-single, since it has three tracks plus the extended version, whereas the cassingle and 7" each only had two tracks.

Ooooh, ok... If that's indeed the case, Brian, then I would agree that this pretty much negates the need for any mention of the commercial CD single release in the database, thus negating the need for any sort of single version/album version distinction for "Baby Baby".

So, unless there's anything else to consider here, then you can just disregard everything in my previous post, Aaron! LOL

Edited by Todd Ireland

I have no problem mentioning the CD single, Todd, and perhaps the forthcoming "version table" will help make things even clearer. The main thing I've been trying to get straight is the broad policy about what we are considering to be the "official" single version.

Another reason we've always gone with "dominant" single format is because sometimes, especially in the early '90s, there might have been cases where a vinyl 45 and cassette single were released that had different A-side versions (for instance, the cassette single has an edit while the vinyl 45 has the full LP version). But in 1992, practially nobody was buying vinyl 45s anymore. Therefore, it's irrelevant to consider what version is on the vinyl 45 when it comes to labeling database CDs with the "45 version" (aka "single version"). In that example, CDs that have the edit would be considered the "official single version."

This is also what I was alluding to earlier about labeling these as "single version" in the database instead of "45 version," because to me it becomes confusing when you see "45 version" but really mean whatever version was on the A-side of the cassette single. Hopefully, it's starting to become clearer, and I'd love to hear what others think about this.

Edited by aaronk

aaronk wrote: I have no problem mentioning the CD single, Todd, and perhaps the forthcoming "version table" will help make things even clearer. The main thing I've been trying to get straight is the broad policy about what we are considering to be the "official" single version. Another reason we've always gone with "dominant" single format is because sometimes, especially in the early '90s, there might have been cases where a vinyl 45 and cassette single were released that had different A-side versions (for instance, the cassette single has an edit while the vinyl 45 has the full LP version). But in 1992, practially nobody was buying vinyl 45s anymore. Therefore, it's irrelevant to consider what version is on the vinyl 45 when it comes to labeling database CDs with the "45 version" (aka "single version"). In that example, CDs that have the edit would be considered the "official single version." This is also what I was alluding to earlier about labeling these as "single version" in the database instead of "45 version," because to me it becomes confusing when you see "45 version" but really mean whatever version was on the A-side of the cassette single. Hopefully, it's starting to become clearer, and I'd love to hear what others think about this.

It is all becoming clearer to me now, Aaron, and I agree with everything you're saying in your analysis. Also, I tend to prefer using the term "single version" over "45 version" for the reasons you state and am glad to know that it may not be such a terrible ordeal to switch out these terms throughout the entire database.

I'm sure I'll have even more comments once the forthcoming "version table" platform is implemented. For now, I think I've opined enough and also would like to see more forum members weigh in with their own thoughts and opinions. So how 'bout it, guys!

aaronk wrote: I think this is where the confusion has come in. The policy since the beginning has not been just that it's on any commercial 2-track single; it's that the dominant 2-track single at the time is considered to be the one with the "official" single version. That means for songs charting between 1955 to around 1989 (maybe Ed or Paul H. can verify), it's the vinyl 45. From around 1990 to 1995, we've considered it to be the cassette single. And from 1996 until things went to downloads it was the 2-track CD single. Again, someone would need to verify the actual dates/years, as I'm not 100% sure.

I have created a separate message board thread to help serve as a reference guide highlighting the most popular 2-track commercial single formats by year from 1988 through 2005.

The thread is linked here.

Edited by Todd Ireland

Todd Ireland wrote: I have created a separate message board thread to help serve as a reference guide highlighting the most popular 2-track commercial single formats by year from 1988 through 2005. The thread is linked here.

This is a stellar post. Thanks for doing the research on it!