Rewritten History

It's not uncommon for movies these days to have alternate endings, especially for special DVD releases.

What about songs with alternate...beginnings?

Yesterday, I was listening to my re-mastered disc of Motley Crue's Too Fast for Love. Originally, the title track "Too Fast for Love" featured a slow, ballad like beginning with Vince Neil opining about being young and careless. This original version appeared on the Leathur records release of Too Fast for Love, which Motley self-produced and distributed. After the band signed with Elektra, the album was re-mixed and the slow intro dropped.

I like the original version better.

Why is it that labels feel the need to mess with an artist's original vision? I highly doubt leaving the 15 second intro on the Elektra release would have harmed initial sales. Now, Too Fast for Love is regarded as a glam classic, and for good reason.

The boys in Motley Crue were desperate and poor when they landed their Elektra deal. This bare beginning allowed the quartet to produce songs with honest, raw lyrics.

Everything doesn't have to be mixed and over-dubbed to perfection to fuel album sales.

Does your favorite song have an alternate beginning or ending?

Comments

[bobvinyl]

I tend to agree with on this. My first reaction was that perhaps the label removed it from the remastered CD, because Vince Neil's being young and careless left people dead. However, my Elektra LP doesn't have the intro either and that came out before Vince Neil killed anyone. So you're right, it was just the major label watering things down.