Firefall - Strange Way
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Category: Top 40 Music On Compact Disc
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URL: https://top40musiconcd.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=595
Printed Date: 11 May 2025 at 8:08am
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Topic: Firefall - Strange Way
Posted By: Roscoe
Subject: Firefall - Strange Way
Date Posted: 26 December 2005 at 9:43pm
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There may be an error in the database with regards to "Strange Way" by Firefall. The database lists several dj edits, but also indicates "commercial copies all ran (3:50)".
There are then several CD listings, including the following: (S) (3:54) Time-Life SOD-20 Sounds Of The Seventies - 1978: Take Two (45 version but slower and slightly longer than the 45) (S) (3:22) Rhino 71055 Greatest Hits (previously unreleased version) I have both of these CDs and just acquired the 45. Here is what I found: - The 45 times at about 3:21 (even though the label lists a running time of 3:50) - The version on Sounds of the Seventies does not match the 45; the ending is different with an instrumental jam and fadeout - Near as I can tell, the 45 matches the version on the Rhino Greatest Hits (they both have sort of a cold ending) My 45 looks to be a commercial 45 and not a DJ copy. Any insight from the board members on this one? |
Replies:
Posted By: Todd Ireland
Date Posted: 27 December 2005 at 8:11am
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Roscoe:
As you may already know (and for the benefit of those who don't), DJ vinyl 45 copies are usually issued with a white label and are marked something to the effect of "for promotional use only". If this doesn't fit the description of your 45, then you likely have a commercial copy. Since there are apparently several different DJ 45 pressings of "Strange Way" (which Pat does a nice job documenting in the database), it wouldn't surprise me if at least two commercial 45 pressings exist for this song as well. The Rhino label has always been pretty conscientious about issuing correct single versions of songs, so chances are good that the Firefall Greatest Hits disc does contain the commercial 45 version of which Roscoe speaks. Good info, Roscoe! |
Posted By: Roscoe
Date Posted: 27 December 2005 at 8:57am
Yes, I definitely have a commercial pressing. It's a picture sleeve with the standard red Atlantic label. Anyone else know if there were possibly 2 different versions of this song on commercial 45? The fact that my 45 lists an incorrect running time (3:50) that is awfully close to the running time on the Time Life CD may be indicative of 2 different commercial versions. |
Todd Ireland wrote:Posted By: EdisonLite
Date Posted: 27 December 2005 at 9:11am
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<The Rhino label has always been pretty conscientious about issuing correct single versions of songs, so chances are good that the Firefall Greatest Hits disc does contain the commercial 45 version>
Actually, sometimes Rhino chooses the the dj 45 edit/length, as they did with KC & the Sunshine Band's "It's the Same Old Song", which was significantly shorter than the commercial 45. |
Posted By: sriv94
Date Posted: 27 December 2005 at 9:35am
And they've been known to go the other way as well--on the CSN Greatest Hits release, while they issued the 45 of "Marrakesh Express" (probably by just snipping the opening two seconds of the LP version), they did not do the same for "Suite: Judy Blue Eyes" (giving us the widely available elsewhere LP version). ------------- Doug --------------- All of the good signatures have been taken. |
Posted By: edtop40
Date Posted: 27 December 2005 at 10:53am
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my 45 of the song issued as atlantic 3518 runs 3:22 and is the same as the version from the rhino greatest hits compilation...........the 45's face states the run time as 3:50......probably just another example of record label carelessness........ ------------- edtop40 |
Posted By: Paul Haney
Date Posted: 04 January 2006 at 9:58am
| My commercial 45 of "Strange Way" lists 3:50 and actually runs 3:48. Looks like we have another case of at least 2 different commercial copies! |
Posted By: Grant
Date Posted: 06 January 2006 at 11:46am
| ...or simply, listed timings that can't be trusteed... |
Posted By: Brian W.
Date Posted: 06 January 2006 at 3:37pm
They said they had two different commercial copies with different ACTUAL running times. |
Posted By: jimct
Date Posted: 01 May 2008 at 12:33pm
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Posted By: eriejwg
Date Posted: 01 May 2008 at 1:28pm
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My digital copy is from The Essentials: Firefall and also runs 3:22.
Was the essentials a Rhino or Atlantic release? |
Posted By: The Hits Man
Date Posted: 01 May 2008 at 8:00pm
However, one could defend Rhino by noting that there were indeed more than one commercial 45s issued, particularly in the 70s. Trouble is, Rhino seemed to pick single versions that were not sold in my part of the country, or if Bill Inglot used an album version that he faded to approximate a single, he would err on running the song a bit longer than the 45. ------------- |
Posted By: Todd Ireland
Date Posted: 02 May 2008 at 7:25am
| Well, I made that comment back in 2005 and since then, thanks in large part to this message board, we've helped uncover a number of cases where Rhino did not use correct 45 versions as previously thought. In any event, even though I think the quality of Rhino's products have declined in recent years, the label has managed to make quite a few 45 versions available on CD, which is in stark contrast to the rest of the U.S. record industry which too often issues only the LP version on CD over and over again. |
Posted By: TimNeely
Date Posted: 02 May 2008 at 10:30pm
There is no question whatsoever that there were two different commercial versions of "Strange Way." Oddly, both my freshman-year college roommate and I owned copies of this 45, and each of us had a different single version! Off the top of my head, I don't know all the edit points, but the copy I own has a faded ending; it starts to fade when the fast instrumental part of the song starts. My copy has a trail-off number of ST-A-35767-1, which matches the master number on the (3:50) label (and jimct's copy). The other commercial edit, if I recall, has the third verse ("Didn't you feel alone this morning") intact, but at the end of it, it tacks on the cold ending from the LP version (the three repeats of the line "That's a strange way to tell me you love me") rather than repeating the chorus and fading out. This probably has a different trail-off number. |
Posted By: Bill Cahill
Date Posted: 08 April 2012 at 10:12am
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I picked up a promo copy on "Strange Way", it's a standard Atlantic Mono/Stereo promo, with both sides listing the song as 3:50.
The stereo side times out to 3:47 as reported here. The MONO side times out to be 3:50, the fade out is a little longer. So now we know where the 3:50 label time probably came from. |
Posted By: The Hits Man
Date Posted: 08 April 2012 at 3:18pm
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I think I read somewhere, where Pat more often than not
determines what a commercial version/length is on the basis of the DJ/promo copy he usually has. ------------- |
Posted By: crapfromthepast
Date Posted: 16 May 2015 at 9:06pm
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LP version
I have the LP version on Sessions/Mystic Music/Warner Special Products' 3-CD Secret Love (1987), where it runs 4:42. It sounds OK, with nice dynamic range, reasonable EQ, plenty of hiss on the fade and no evidence of noise reduction, but it's probably not from the lowest-generation source tapes. There are digital clones on:
The long 45 edit is available on an uncommon compilation from Platinum Disc Corporation called The Greatest Hits Of The 70's Vol. 6, which I don't have. It's also available on Time-Life's Sounds Of The Seventies Vol. 20 1978 Take Two (1991), but avoid this version at all costs because it slows down dramatically near the end of the song, much like some CD versions of the 45 version of "Le Freak". What's up with Atlantic 45 edits from 1978? Fortunately, the long 45 edit includes just one simple edit and an early fade of the LP version. Here are editing instructions, using Secret Love as the source; timings from the two Time-Life clones are very close. Segment 1 16 beats long Extends from 0:00.0 to 0:09.7 of the LP version and long 45 edit Remove the 12 beats from 0:09.7 to 0:16.7 of the LP version. Segment 2 Begins on a crash cymbal hit Extends from 0:09.7 to 3:47.5 of the long 45 edit Extends from 0:16.7 to 3:54.5 of the LP version Ends on a downbeat Fade 24 beats long, downbeat to downbeat Extends from 3:36.3 to 3:47.5 of the long 45 edit Extends from 3:43.3 to 3:54.5 of the LP version Your mixdown will run 3:47.5, with an edit at 0:09.7 and a fade from 3:36.3 to 3:47.5. Short 45 edit (from later pressings of commercial 45s; runs 3:21) This edit actually makes a lot more sense to my ears, since it cleanly cuts out a chorus and the whole uptempo instrumental portion near the end of the song. The short 45 edit is available on Rhino's Greatest Hits (1992), where it sounds much better than the LP version on Secret Love. Too bad this version doesn't turn up on any various-artist compilations. The short 45 edit includes two simple edits and no early fade. Here are editing instructions, using Secret Love as the source; timings from the two Time-Life clones are very close. Segment 1 16 beats long Extends from 0:00.0 to 0:09.7 of the LP version and short 45 edit Remove the 12 beats from 0:09.7 to 0:16.7 of the LP version. Segment 2 Begins on a crash cymbal hit Extends from 0:09.7 to 2:56.7 of the short 45 edit Extends from 0:16.7 to 3:03.7 of the LP version Ends at the snare hit that begins the chorus Remove 3:03.7 to 4:16.7 of the LP version, which includes the chorus and the entire uptempo instrumental portion. Segment 3 Begins on the snare hit that begins the chorus Extends from 2:56.7 to 3:25.4 (end) of the short 45 edit Extends from 4:16.7 to 4:45.4 (end) of the LP version Your mixdown will run 3:22 (excluding outro silence), or 3:25.4 (including outro silence), with edits at 0:09.7 and 2:56.7. ------------- There's a lot of crap on the radio, but there's only one http://www.crapfromthepast.com" rel="nofollow - Crap From The Past . |