Vanilla Fudge-"You Keep Me Hangin’ On"

Both of my commercial 45 copies, which are mono and confirmed as Atco 6590, have a listed time of (2:50) and an actual time of (2:52). I only post this info because both of my 45 copies fade out, and do NOT end cold. All current database CDs that specify "45 version", end cold, and feature slightly longer run times, at either (2:57) or (2:58). To quote my good friend EdTop40, the "true" 45 version can be created by starting a pretty quick, severe fade at (2:47), to (2:52). To me, the 45's ending sounds very strange; I always thought the cold ending was a highlight of the song. Perhaps Atco thought at the time that leaving in the cold ending would've made the song sound "too AOR". It couldn't be a run time issue, because even with the cold end included, it still clocks in at less than (3:00). I would suspect that someone here must remember playing/hearing this faded 45 version on Top 40 radio back in 1967 and/or 1968 - anyone?

Jim, my 1968 Atco 6590 mono promo 45 is identical to the fade endings and (2:52) timings on your commercial 45s.

The fade is a little hasty, that's for sure, but the last 1.1 seconds stay at the same very low level. And you're right, it was so "close to home" that the fade seemed unnecessary. If it was done to provide top-40 jocks with a fadeout to talk over, it didn't really matter, what with it being all-instrumental well before that point, anyway.

This appears to be one of those cases where the most sensible approach has won out: the 45 edit was excellent, but the fadeout was pointless, so the cold ending has become the default short version everyone knows and hears today. Even most of us purists can live with this one.

   

The song is not stereo on the stereo LP.

I just discovered that I have this song on a promotional EP, Atco SP-4516, it is the 2nd song on side A, it has a listed time of 2:50 but an actual playing time of 2:56 and ends cold.



Edited by TomDiehl1

On Youtube, there is a vintage clip of the band lip-synching to the 45 version on a TV show, in which the song ends cold, without the early fade. Perhaps the show got its audio off of the same EP that Tom has. Another possibility, if the clip is from somewhere outside the U.S. (its country of origin was not clear to me), is that the unfaded version may have been used on the single in other countries.