MikeM's other signature hit is his ongoing lament that the single version of Stealers Wheel's failed attempt at a second hit has never been on CD. He's only mentioned it about 30 times over the years.
Your observation piqued my interest. Nobody could be
that obnoxious...
Then I remembered it’s a SHite we’re talking about...
(And FWIW, “about 30 times” was on the money.
(I found 25 examples, and I’m sure I must have missed a few...))
So, with no further ado, here’s MikeM proudly waving his SHite badge around:
1)
Mar. 11, 2005:The single version of Stealers Wheel's "Everyone's Agreed That Everything Will Turn Out Fine" is unique to the 45, and didn't appear on an album until years later, when a SW Greatest Hits CD was issued. There was a version on a contemporaneous Stealers Wheel album, but the arrangement is so radically different that it hardly seems like the same song.
2)
Mar. 25, 2005:I can't answer your specific questions, but I do know that there was a "rerecording" of "Everyone's Agreed That Everything Will Turn Out Fine" that was made nearly contemporaneously with the single, and that it appeared on a Stealer's Wheel album nearly at the same time.
And that this version had an arrangement that was radically different from the single (and way inferior as well). I remember being flabbergasted when I got the album and heard this version rather than the single one, which is among my great favorites from this era of the 70s.
3)
Mar. 26, 2005:Since you asked so nicely, I'll correct you!
If you go on to read the words of one of the reviewers on Amazon who bought this album, you find:
I believe there's some false advertising here
"The description for this album states that it includes 'one bonus track "Everything Will Turn Out Fine" (7 inch edit).' This led me to believe that the original version of this song, recorded with the original lineup of the band or at least a form of the band that didn't exist by the time the second album was recorded, would finally be available on CD. I had purchased a Best of Stealers Wheel and a Best of Gerry Rafferty and both of them included the 'Ferguslie Park' version of the song. I ordered the album, received it today, and there is NO bonus track, nothing other than the original album. The description here is totally untrue."
Another reviewer agrees with this one's assessment.
The original LP release of Ferguslie Park does indeed have this alternate version of "Everyone's Agreed..." as I pointed out in my post. So despite the bonus track notation, the Lemon CD appears to be simply a straight reissue.
4)
May 1, 2006:3) My favorite Stealers Wheel track is the single version of "Everyone's Agreed That Everything Will Turn Out Fine" -- an absolutely wonderful song that got a smattering of AM radio airply in between "Stuck in the Middle" and "Star." Note that the single version is a completely different performance than the album version from Ferguslie Park, which is decidedly inferior. From everything I've been able to determine, this single version of "Everyone's Agreed" has never been released on CD anywhere. The only source for it is the A&M single.
5)
Oct. 21, 2006:To my knowledge, the single version has never appeared on CD anywhere...most certainly never on a Stealer's Wheel collection. There was one a few years ago that was advertised as containing the single version, but that was very much in error.
The album rerecord is horrible IMHO, whereas the single version is absolutely great...a longtime favorite from the moment it got scattered brief airplay in the states.
6)
Oct. 25, 2006:As discussed in a concurrent thread, I don't believe the original 45 version of Stealers Wheel's "Everyone's Agreed That Everything Will Turn Out Fine" has ever been on CD. It certainly has never been on any Stealers Wheel CD, at any rate.
Such a great song, it's really a crime the 45 is the only way to get it.
7)
Nov. 18, 2006:Forgot one of the most important examples of all (to me, anyway, since I love the song so much): Stealers Wheel's "Everyone's Agreed That Everything Will Turn Out Fine."
The single version of this is a completely separate performance and recording from the album version, which features an arrangement so different that it hardly seems like the same song.
I believe it's been firmly established that the single version has never appeared on CD or LP anywhere.
Of course, I'm assuming that you're not limiting your project to only Top 40 songs. This number missed the Top 40 by only a few places, as I recall. It was definitely played on the radio, in any case.
8)
Jan. 10, 2007:I know this is deviating from the topic in that I'm not talking an "Oldies compilation." But it frosts me that ever single Stealers Wheel/Gerry Rafferty release, including those that are ostensibly "Greatest Hits" ones, uses the vastly inferior album version of "Everyone's Agreed That Everything Will Turn Out Fine," a completely different arrangement and performance
The actual single version has NEVER appeared on a CD.
9)
Jan. 10, 2007:EDIT #2: I see by the reviews that he rerecorded "Stuck in the Middle" for this compilation, so obviously that's what he's done with "Everyone's Agreed..." as well. Regrettably, the version here is closer to the Stealers Wheel album arrangement. The single was just so great...I can't understand why we can't have it!
10)
Mar. 18, 2007:The single version of "Everyone's Agreed That Everything Will Turn Out Fine" is the holy grail of songs for me that have NEVER been issued on CD (or even LP, for that matter). A huge favorite of mine...the album remake is just lame.
But this is the first I've heard of legal problems being the reason for the single's unavailability. Can you tell me what your source is for this?
11)
May 5, 2007:Unfortunately, what it WON'T get you is the single that came in between those two, "Everyone's Agreed That Everything Will Turn Out Fine," a fantastic song that should have been a bigger hit.
The Wheel re-recorded this in a much inferior arrangement and put it out on one of their albums, and this is the version that shows up on ALL comps. It's one of the greatest frustrations of Top 40 radio that the great single version has never appeared on CD or LP in any form. The original 45 is the only way to get it.
11)
July 24, 2007:The greatest non-LP A-side? In my book, "Everyone's Agreed That Everything Will Turn Out Fine" by Stealers Wheel. The single recording, a completely different performance from the later album version, has ONLY appeared on the 45 and has never been reissued on an LP or CD...ever.
12)
Dec. 18, 2007:The single version of Stealers Wheel's "Everyone's Agreed That Everything Will Turn Out Fine" has only ever appeared on the 45. The album version (which has appeared on all subsequent CD reissues) was a totally different animal...faster, different instrumentation...only marginally recognizable as the same song.
13)
Feb. 7, 2008:The 45 version of Stealers Wheel's "Everyone's Agreed That Everything Will Turn Out Fine" is a unique performance that has appeared ONLY on the single...nowhere else ever. The album version, which has appeared all subsequent CD reissues, is a completely different performance, and the arrangement differs radically from the single version.
14)
Mar. 30, 2009:Of course, Stealers Wheel is not a one-hit wonder (besides "Stuck in the Middle," there was "Star," which outcharted "Everyone's Agreed...").
But everything else you say is spot on. The single version, which is about a thousand times better than the LP remake, has NEVER appeared anywhere else...on LP or CD. The 45 is the only way to get it. This song is a huge favorite of mine.
15)
Nov. 11, 2008:Didn't make the Top 40 though...missed by a few places. I LOVE this song in its original 45 rpm incarnation, which has never been issued on CD.
16)
Mar. 31, 2009:In the first category, the go-to example for me is always "Everyone's Agreed That Everything Will Turn Out Fine" by Stealer's Wheel. The 45 and album versions are two completely separate recordings, with quite significant differences between them (LP has a faster tempo, lacks the distinctive guitar parts of the single, etc.). To this day, the single version has never appeared anywhere other than the original 45; neither on LP nor CD.
17)
May 10, 2009:This is without question the re-recorded album version of "Everyone's Agreed...." It is vastly different from the single version, which is a completely separate recording.
And despite the long-held desires of Stealer's Wheel fans like me, the single version of this song has NEVER appeared on a CD...or an LP.
The sole source for this recording is the original 45. Period.
ADDENDUM: Be aware that there is a Stealer's Wheel Best-of out there that purports to the have the single version of this song, but this is also incorrect, as the comments on the Amazon page for this release clearly indicate.
18)
Aug. 21, 2009:The Holy Grail of this category is the original 45 version of "Everyone's Agreed That Everything Will Turn Out Fine" by Stealers Wheel.
It is available on the original A&M 45...and nowhere else. All LP and CD releases since then have featured a re-recorded, and decidedly inferior version.
19)
Dec. 23, 2009:And the classic example, the single version of Stealers Wheel's "Everyone's Agreed That Everything Will Turn Out Fine" -- which has never appeared ANYWHERE other than the original 45 release. This is a completely different performance than the LP version.
20)
Dec. 23, 2009:The rerecorded album version of "Everything Will Turn Out Fine" (note title change) appears on the U.S. Ferguslie Park. Don't know if non-U.S. issues of this LP have a different lineup or not.
I have the original vinyl, so I know it's there. And I well remember being mightily pissed off the first time I played it!
It's this version that appears on all subsequent LP and CD releases of Stealers Wheel material.
21)
Dec. 23, 2009:NO in all three cases.
Read the customer reviews for the first one, listen to the sample on the first and second ones. (None of either for the third, but I'm confident this release also has the album version, just as the first two do.)
22)
May 15, 2013:Exhibit A:
"Everyone's Agreed That Everything Will Turn Out Fine" by Stealers Wheel.
The single version, released first, is an entirely different performance and arrangement from the later LP version.
The single version has yet to be reissued on CD, and it's about a thousand times better in every way than the album one. The sound of both the acoustic and electric guitars, the riff played on the latter, the sound of the vocals, the tempo — all infinitely superior to the rushed LP version, which sounds like they couldn't wait to be done with it.
23)
Aug. 15, 2018:A search of the thread didn’t reveal this, so...
The single version of “Everyone’s Agreed That Everything Will Turn Out Fine” by Stealers Wheel.
Unless something has changed very recently, all versions of this song on LP and CD are the re-recorded version, which is a vastly different (and vastly inferior) arrangement.
I was pleased not long ago to score a promo 45 of this version, which is the only way to hear it in stereo.
24)
Nov. 15, 2018:I sure hope it's the latter, because the single version of "Everyone's Agreed That Everything Will Turn Out Fine" is an absolutely superb work, Stealers Wheel's finest hour — whereas the album version is IMHO horrible. The speeded-up tempo and the off-handed singing rob the song of everything that made it great, and that includes the outstanding guitar riff that separates the verses.
BTW, I imagine most here know this, but the commercial single of "Everyone's Agreed" is in mono, but the promo single contains both mono and stereo versions. I scored one of these a couple of years ago in a wonderful old record store in Columbus. One of my all-time great finds.
25)
Feb. 11, 2019:I don't think this has been specifically mentioned in this thread (apologies if it has been and I missed it, and further apologies to those reading this who are already well aware of it), but the original promo (i.e., DJ copy) release of "Everyone's Agreed That Everything Will Turn Out Fine" by Stealers Wheel has both the stereo and mono versions of the song, whereas the commercial copy has only the mono mix.
This may be a matter of personal taste, but I have a hard time believing the original single version was only a demo not intended for release. It's extremely well-crafted in every way, and by contrast the album version sounds like it was thrown together and the band can't wait to be done with it.
