Spoken intros, yay or nay?

[MattyJam]

I personally find the very notion of a radio edit to be repulsive and patronising (major labels and radio stations assuming the average Joe doesn't have the attention span for a piece of music which lasts longer than 4 minutes).



I loathe the Earth Song radio edit. They played Earth Song on Radio 2 on the Chris Evans show the other day and they played the album version but he cut the song short and started talking over it just as the "what about us" part kicked in. Whilst I wanted to shoot him between the eyes for cutting the song short and rabbiting on over such a brilliant piece of art, I would rather this than them play a radio edit which just butchers the song.

 

[Tony R]

I personally find the very notion of a radio edit to be repulsive and patronising (major labels and radio stations assuming the average Joe doesn't have the attention span for a piece of music which lasts longer than 4 minutes).



I loathe the Earth Song radio edit. They played Earth Song on Radio 2 on the Chris Evans show the other day and they played the album version but he cut the song short and started talking over it just as the "what about us" part kicked in. Whilst I wanted to shoot him between the eyes for cutting the song short and rabbiting on over such a brilliant piece of art, I would rather this than them play a radio edit which just butchers the song.

Agree but at least with this one they kept in most of the high part of the song and not just fade out after 4 mins like WII.

I mean what's WII without the repeated chorus and ad libs? Crazy.

WBSS also works well and that's his live version also (missing out the second verse and chorus).

WYBT also not bad. At least you got a good 5 mins.

 

[MattyJam]

Obviously there are some that work better than others and manage to actually retain the songs structure without too much butchering, but I hate greatest hits albums that put on radio edits. I'm not a big listener of hit compilations of any artist, but if you buy any record you should get the full length version not some cheap radio edit.

 

[HIStoric]

I personally find the very notion of a radio edit to be repulsive and patronising (major labels and radio stations assuming the average Joe doesn't have the attention span for a piece of music which lasts longer than 4 minutes).

Not a big fan of radio edits either, but I assumed they did it to fit as many songs as possible into an hour and also allow for more ad breaks?

 

[HIStory]

I personally find the very notion of a radio edit to be repulsive and patronising (major labels and radio stations assuming the average Joe doesn't have the attention span for a piece of music which lasts longer than 4 minutes).

Generally yes, but I admit on my Spotify playlist I use Black or White from The Essential and YRMW from Number Ones because in those the annoying intros are missing. Those are the only two songs where I'm annoyed by the intro.

 

[Zakk]

Generally yes, but I admit on my Spotify playlist I use Black or White from The Essential and YRMW from Number Ones because in those the annoying intros are missing. Those are the only two songs where I'm annoyed by the intro.

I agree in regards to 'Black Or White' but i love the intro into YRMW. I think it's great, especially in the short film..

 

[MattyJam]

Generally yes, but I admit on my Spotify playlist I use Black or White from The Essential and YRMW from Number Ones because in those the annoying intros are missing. Those are the only two songs where I'm annoyed by the intro.

I considered putting YRMW radio edit on my version of Invincible as I too find the spoken intro unnecessary, but I didn't want to miss any part of the actual song, especially the ad-libs, so I just found out how to cut off the beginning on iTunes. It's not perfect, the song starts with MJ saying "...watch" and then goes into the beat. But it's better than it was.

 

[DuranDuran]

Doesn't bother me. My relatives used to play stuff like Barry White, Issac Hayes, & Bobby Womack where they would have entire songs (or almost the whole song) with just talking. Same with some gospel records I'd heard. There's also the funk records with dialogue skits during a song like Funkadelic or The Time.

 

[mj_frenzy]

Off The Wall
DSTYGE

Thriller
PYT

Bad
IJCSLY


Dangerous
In The Closet (demo)
Black Or White

Invincible
You Rock My World

Where do you stand when it comes to spoken intros on MJ songs? I think it worked really well for some songs but on other songs it just became tacky. It's not just MJ but in general I feel that the spoken intro thing is overused and outdated.

There is also the spoken intro of ‘2000 Watts’ (with Teddy Riley’s voice).

All the spoken intros in Michael Jackson’s songs are unnecessary, pointless and annoying.

I'll never understand why that intro was removed from later releases. It's not like it surpassed CDs length capacity, didn't it?

the length of a compact disc is 80 minutes.. so i don't understand why he cut it either! maybe he felt it dragged a little when he was working on the remaster process with Bruce..

I heard something about MJ being embarassed about it later. Don't know why. It's cute.

It has been written that the removal (from the later releases) of the spoken intro of ‘I Just Can't Stop Loving You’ had to do with the allegations that broke out in 1993 (August), rather than with the CD length capacity or with his embarrassment.

They removed that spoken intro part (from later releases that came out after those allegations) because they thought that people would start making a weird connection between that spoken intro part and the allegations.

 

[lounisp]

Nothing will beat 'The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill' album. its on eery single songs!

 

[Electro]

I think the Black or White and You Rock My World album intros are too long and should have gotten their own CD index ID (for easier skipping). The other ones are fine for me, as they are not that long and are part of the actual song. (Especially on DSTYGE and PYT.)

I remember one time they played Black or White on the radio here (probably when the album had just been released) and somehow they used the album version. Half way through the long ass intro, the radio host came back on confused, explaining that this was an intro. lol

(For the BoW short film the intro works nicely though.)

It has been written that the removal (from the later releases) of the spoken intro of ‘I Just Can't Stop Loving You’ had to do with the allegations that broke out in 1993 (August), rather than with the CD length capacity or with his embarrassment.

Written by Ian Halperin?

They removed that spoken intro part (from later releases that came out after those allegations) because they thought that people would start making a weird connection between that spoken intro part and the allegations.

The spoken intro of IJCSLY disappeard long before the 1993 allegations. There are several different BAD album CD pressings from 1987~1989 that exchanged album versions with radio edits etc. Firstly 3 songs changed, then 5 (compared to the very first pressing). It was changed without any notice, when new batches of CDs were manufactured (long before there was any official "reissue" or "special edition" of the album).

 

[analogue]

What's everyone's thoughts on the spoken outro on Will You Be There?

 

[Mikky Dee]

It has been written that the removal (from the later releases) of the spoken intro of ‘I Just Can't Stop Loving You’ had to do with the allegations that broke out in 1993 (August), rather than with the CD length capacity or with his embarrassment.

They removed that spoken intro part (from later releases that came out after those allegations) because they thought that people would start making a weird connection between that spoken intro part and the allegations.

Written where and by whom? You need to provide a reliable and trustworthy source for sweeping statements such as these. Otherwise, it's just someone's conjecture and opinion. There is absolutely no evidence that the spoken intro was removed because of any allegations...which came, incidentally, some SIX years after the song was recorded.

 

[Mikky Dee]

What's everyone's thoughts on the spoken outro on Will You Be There?

Honest and heartbreaking. I have always considered it an integral part of the entire song/performance.

 

[dethorro]

Honest and heartbreaking. I have always considered it an integral part of the entire song/performance.

Totally agree.

I also really like the Xscape intro. That song was definitely made to be a short film.

 

[dethorro]

It has been written that the removal (from the later releases) of the spoken intro of ‘I Just Can't Stop Loving You’ had to do with the allegations that broke out in 1993 (August), rather than with the CD length capacity or with his embarrassment.

That intro was gone by 1988 when Bad was reissued and Bad, The Way You Make Me Feel and Smooth Criminal were remixed.
Listen to these early mixes that were available on early pressings:

[video=youtube;r1n9v9EHh9w]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r1n9v9EHh9w[/video]

[video=youtube;NOs4Rvi4SEU]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NOs4Rvi4SEU[/video]

[video=youtube;IKd-1Cxbvp0]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IKd-1Cxbvp0[/video]

 

[DuranDuran]

Nothing will beat 'The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill' album. its on eery single songs!

Lauryn was kinda doing a retro early 1970s style soul/R&B album, but mixed with hip hop. Same thing Tony! Toni! Toné! was doing in the 1990s. Talking parts on R&B songs from that time were common, but they were sometimes in the middle of the song.

With the skits & intros, Janet Jackson albums were full of them. Her CDs usually had them as a separate track though.

 

[wonderouzmj]

Lauryn was kinda doing a retro early 1970s style soul/R&B album, but mixed with hip hop. Same thing Tony! Toni! Toné! was doing in the 1990s. Talking parts on R&B songs from that time were common, but they were sometimes in the middle of the song.

With the skits & intros, Janet Jackson albums were full of them. Her CDs usually had them as a separate track though.

Lmao you definitely can never shuffle janets albums... you'd be so confused!

 

[Hess]

Only DSTYGE is good IMO.

BoW and YRMW is annoying - ok for the musicvideo, but why on the album...?

Intros like WYBT, History and Little Susie I can better accept - even though I skip the intros most the times. - Have WYBT, History og Little Susis ever been released without the intro?

 

[8701girl]

Only DSTYGE is good IMO.

BoW and YRMW is annoying - ok for the musicvideo, but why on the album...?

Intros like WYBT, History and Little Susie I can better accept - even though I skip the intros most the times. - Have WYBT, History og Little Susis ever been released without the intro?

How can u say YRMW intro is annoying, it has chris tucekr in it!

 

[Electro]

Have WYBT, History og Little Susis ever been released without the intro?

If released as singles, there usually were shortened radio edits.

HIStory (original) had a "Radio Edit" (3:58) without the intro on some of the single releases in 1997.

Will You Be There had a "Radio Edit" (3:39) without intros on 1993 singles
and a 5:54 edit on the Free Willy movie soundtrack (also starting right with the piano part).

How can u say YRMW intro is annoying, it has chris tucekr in it!

That's the cool thing about it. But it wears off quickly... like hearing the same joke again and again.

 

[analogue]

How can u say YRMW intro is annoying, it has chris tucekr in it!

That wasn't Chris Tucker's best work

 

[8701girl]

If released as singles, there usually were shortened radio edits.

HIStory (original) had a "Radio Edit" (3:58) without the intro on some of the single releases in 1997.

Will You Be There had a "Radio Edit" (3:39) without intros on 1993 singles
and a 5:54 edit on the Free Willy movie soundtrack (also starting right with the piano part).

That's the cool thing about it. But it wears off quickly... like hearing the same joke again and again.

That wasn't Chris Tucker's best work

I love Yrmw it's a cool song

 

[ChrisC]

I'll Come Home To You!