Karaoke Forums

A guy sang this song tonight and he says there is a verse missing. He explained what the verse said. When i got home i searched the net and found a long version and a short version. The long version has the missing verse in it. Did they do that for the radio? It seems to me that in the seventies the song length wasn't really an issue was it?

Rod Stewart redid the song and he sang the missing verse.

I have 2 versions of the song on karaoke. Elvins and Rods. I was just wondering why Elvin would have done the song two different ways. There are two or three different videos on youtube for this song too. I'm confused.

Don't be confused.. I've come across the same thing on many songs. Some manu's just recorded shorter versions ... I don't know why ?---can only assume due to cost

Actually, in the 70's song length DID matter. AM stations would not play songs if they were over a certain length. This is why you have the two different versions. This policy was still place right up into the 80's and I daresay there are still stations that have this policy in place, even if they are few and far between.
Remember "Stars on 45"? There were two different versions of that as well. One (the album version) was quite long, and the other was the one we are mostly familiar with, designated for AM radio. I know there are more, because I distinctly remember it not being uncommon, but can't come up with any more examples short notice.

Just the Way You Are by Billy Joel.

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Oooooo! Just remembered another... "Born to Be Alive" by Patrick Hernandez.
I remember when I bought the record, I was confused by the different longer version and not a little P O'd because it wasn't the same as the one I was used to. ( OK, Give me a break! I was only 11!!!) It was one of the first I noticed.

How about "Light My Fire" by The Doors? The radio version didn't have the long solo parts.

I remember those days, just about everything was under 3 min and if it was much more than that it wouldn't hit the air. AM radio was where everything was happening, and FM was for the classical highbrows. FM was an option on most car radios.

I know the karaoke companies did that but i'm talking about different actual radio/video versions. The one verse only makes the song 30- 45 seconds longer.

I can understand songs from the seventies with 10-15 minute instrumentals being shortened for radio play but for 30 seconds when they played American Pie very regularly at over 8 minutes? I can't understand that?

Let's say the time limit for AM radio airplay is is 3:00, for arguments' sake. If the song in question is 3:35, then it would NOT get AM radio airplay, no matter what song it was. I think you did hit on the ONE exception to that rule, "American Pie". I do remember, however, that it did not get as much airplay in a day as the other songs because it was so long. If, however, they cut the song down to 3:00 or less, it WOULD get played on a regular rotation. That's just how it was, sensible or not.

One of my fave songs to sing, "Heard It In A Love Song" by Marshall Tucker band also has a missing verse in the radio version. Luckily the karaoke versions I've come across have the long version.

Speaking to diafel's memory, I noticed the same difference about her age with Mary Hopkin's Paul McCartney-written hit "Those Were The Days". It concerned me to the point where I called the radio station in New York City. Couldn't believe they would actually put some kid through to the station's music director who explained what radio versions were.

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All the Karaoke versions of "The Thunder Rolls" I've seen leave out the last verse about her running down the hall to get the pistol from her dresser drawer.

Some Karaoke versions of Night Moves leave out the last verse "Woke last night to the sound of thunder..."

I've been told this practiice, as well as the wrong words sometimes encountered, have something to do with copywrite laws.

It's nothing to do with copyright law at all. The left out verses are just the radio edit songs and the wrong lyrics are just sloppy work, plain and simple.