Friends Of Distinction-"Going In Circles"

Pat, there has been a note in your database for a long time now that states "DJ copies of this 45 run (3:38) not (3:40) as stated on the record label". As a result of this note, I have been hunting for this shorter promo for years now, with no luck. My 1969 promo 45 has the same, longer version that appears on the stock 45, as has every other promo 45 I've come across to date. Does anyone happen to own this shorter promo, to double-check/confirm its existance? Or does anyone who was spinnin' the Top 40 hits on-air in '69 (Gary Mack, etc.) happen to remember playing this short version that Pat references? It certainly makes sense that a shorter version of it was indeed put out, given its length. Or, Pat, if no one else can help, could you possibly double-check/confirm your existing promo 45 note/info for this song? I just wanna make sure I'm not on a wild goose chase here! Normally, I am able to locate any promo versions you have made notes on pretty quickly, but not here. Thanks!

I worked in Phoenix at KRIZ/KRUX/KTAR-FM/KOOL-FM/KRUX from 1967-1973 and the only run time I remember for Going In Circles is 3:40. That was a long time ago, so maybe some other tune had that time marked on the label. My stock copy has the familiar 4:32 on the orange label, but it does seem to me that the yellow-label RCA promo was 3:40.

GM

Edited by Gary Mack

Hykker wrote: I have never seen a promo with the short version, though I do have it on a red-label back-to-back hits 45. I think it lists the long version time, but times out to 3:38.

Great call, Steve! My promo copy is also the long version, but the edit also made it onto at least the initial vinyl pressings of the black label Gold Standard series when it replaced the red-labeled design in 1976-77. The label time did not change, remaining at 4:32.

Two immediately apparent observations:

1) The left and right channels on the stereo edit are reversed compared to the stereo 4:32 promo 45. The lead vocal is panned more toward the right channel rather than the left (it's dead-center on the Nipper's G.H.CD.)

2) The edit eliminates the second half of the instrumental intro.

I also have a mid-'80s styrene Gold Standard 45, which is labeled 4:32, but contains the longer version. The matrix number on all of these configurations - WPKS-8342 - is the same, unfortunately. My promo copy has an additional "5S" suffix in the deadwax; the short Gold Standard an "11S" and the styrene long Gold Standard a "33".

I'm guessing that the short version wasn't done until promo copies were prepared once "Going In Circles" - the original B-side - was elevated to A-side status. "Let Yourself Go," which charted first, is designated as the plug side on my 4:32 DJ 45.

Edited by Yah Shure

Yep, I double checked my dj copy and it is a yellow label RCA 74-0204 with a stated time of (3:40) and an actual time of (3:38). Matrix number is stamped on the runout groove as WPKS 8342-11S

jimct wrote: Strange how all 10 of the previous promo copies I'd seen before all featured the stock 45 length, isn't it? 1969 radio must've worn out all of those shorter-length promo 45 copies playing them on-the-air!

Or something like that.
Maybe Pat has the only short promo in existence.
A quick check of the Whitburn book shows that it got up to #15 in Billboard, for some reason I don't really associate the song with being much of a hit...at least in the Boston area/northern New England. Must have been really big in other parts of the country. Gotta say the song has grown on me over the years, didn't care for it much at the time.
It will be interesting to see which version is on the promo eriejwg ordered.



Edited by Hykker