Please Choose: Discography entries for "Walk On".

[Aaron]

We've kept the Canadian "Walk On" and the European "Walk On" releases as two different entries in the discography.

The Canadian "Walk On" was released in the spring and was the second single from ATYCLB.  IN the rest of the world it was released months later in the fall, and was the final single from ATYCLB.  The Canadian "Walk On" single had more in common with the "Stuck in a Moment" single elsewhere when it came to b-sides and the like.  For similar reasons we also separate out the Canadian version of "Stuck" and the Canadian version of "All Because of You".

What do you think? Should these be kept as separate listings in the discography or should they be tied together into one entry?  What would your preference be?  One entry for all "Walk On" releases, or continue with separate listings for the very different releases...

[George]

Tough Call.

I notice a similar situation with the Please singles.  You have chosen to separate then because one, presumably, one has "PopHeart Live EP" on it.  However, both of these are considered to be the same single by the record company (note the catalog numbers of CID673 and CIDX673).

Interestingly, Even Better Than The Real Thing is listed as one release although they have no tracks in common and very different catalog numbers.  I also believe the remix version came out some time after the initial single?

Again, similarly, if you're combining things based on B-sides, should One Tree Hill not be merged with In God's Country?  They even have the same artwork.

But maybe that's all digression.

I notice that both the Canadian and ROW versions have the same artwork.  This is an argument to keep them together.

I notice that both the Canadian and ROW have different versions of their respective A-Sides.  This might lean to separation, but based on the other examples above, um, we're still unclear.

I say: merge them.

I think what matters most is that they are a single of the same song from the same album.  B-sides, release date, and even artwork (although in this case it is the same) can differ.  I think the primary key should be the song that is being promoted.

Sort of.  I'd actually merge the two JT singles, and even consider merging SBS and Two Hearts.

Merge the Pleases!

Drop the full capitalization of Mofo!

I'm all for consolidation, it seems.

[jw]

I think it makes sense to keep them separate.  If you look at the chronological history, there were other singles released between the Canadian Walk On and the other Walk On single.  If there had been no other singles in between, then I could see merging the entries.

If they chose to release another Walk On single today for some crazy reason, would it not get a new discography entry?  It wouldn't make sense to group it with the older Walk On entries.

[Brad]

I understand the reason for separating them at the time, but I think enough time has passed at this point I would probably merge them.

I would report both release dates and probably mention how they were released concurrently with other singles in Europe.

There's a somewhat similar history for All Because of You as well, no?

[Aaron]

@George -
The "MOFO" has been beaten out of me by several.  It won't be appearing in the new version of the site.  It's been fixed.  :-)

As for the rest...

I Will Follow: They released one set of singles in the fall in the UK, and the other set the following spring in the US.  These are combined into two entries.  What isn't combined is the live singles in 1982 and in 1983.  Those are maintained as separate due to the length of time passing between the single releases and the eventual live releases.  Plus the songs are different and the covers are different.  I think it works as it is.  Comments welcome though.

Sunday Bloody Sunday / Two Hearts and If God Will Send / Mofo:
Two halves of the same single with similar covers and similar release dates.  But they were released under two different names.  Thus I'll probably always keep those separated.  Just to help people looking for info on Mofo, who might be confused if it was listed as "If God Will Send His Angels / Mofo".

Even Better Than the Real Thing:
There was only a week or two of separation between the main release and the remixes showing up.  It wasn't an extended time and nothing else came out at the same time.  Yes different covers, but other than that it was all part of the same release package in my opinion.  I once separated these but combined them in 2004 when the discography had it's last major facelift.

Please / PopHeart:
These were separated by a month to six weeks in some regions, but not all.  Some of them got them back to back.  When we last refreshed U2W, PopHeart was still being sold in Canadian shops as a separate EP, and it looked like it might have some legs similar to Wide Awake in America, something they'd actually keep in stock on a long term basis.  I've been content to keep these separate because of the PopHeart name, and the fact one was being treated as a single and the other seemed to be continued to be stocked, but it might have just been an overstock back in '97.  Because there's no sign of PopHeart today, and I can still go in and buy Wide Awake in America.

Walk On:
Released Feb 20 in Canada / November 19 in Rest of world.  Same cover picture, but different edits of the main track released, and different b-sides. In between there were a number of other releases.

Stuck in a Moment:
Released Oct 30 in Canada / January 29 in Rest of world. Similar cover picture but different b-sides.  In between there were a number of other releases.

All Because of You:
February 8, 2005 in Canada, and October 11, 2005 in the Rest of world. Similar cover photos but different b-sides. In between tehre were a number of other releases.

My preference?  Right now I'm leaning to combining everything that has the same name with the exception of the live singles for "I Will Follow" which don't feel like they should be combined to me.  I would maintain "Sunday Bloody Sunday" and "Two Hearts" as separate entities.  I would maintain "Mofo" and "If God Will Send His Angels" as separate entries.  But "Stuck in a Moment", "Walk On" and "All Because of You" would become one entry.  The issues with that will be listing things by release date, people will see things in somewhat of a skewed order because of the Canadian singles (pages will sort by earliest released item and thus it will look like "All Because of You" was the second single from Bomb.  Also a little more explanation would be needed on the individual pages to explain the release schedule etc.  But i think that's doable.

[Carl]

Don't we have a "canonical" release date field that we can sort by? Too lazy to login now. 

[Aaron]

We do. But I don't want the dates to not reflect the date of first release. I'll decide first whether its a worry (it wouldn't be I we keep things separate)

[Carl]

If it's ROW vs Canada I'd prob put the first ROW as canonical if you do merge the "walk on" as that is how most people would understand the timeline to be and it's the "main" release of it.

[santiago2u]

::: I would keep'em separate:

Walk On version on Canada it's different from ROW (UK, or AUS) versions. They're remixed, as they have different vocals; to me they're different songs under the same name.

Also Promos had different sleeve covers (Amnesty logo/black & light brown wide stripes VS Gray, light blue band's picture on UK). My opinion.

[MartinTexas]

@George -
My preference?  Right now I'm leaning to combining everything that has the same name with the exception of the live singles for "I Will Follow" which don't feel like they should be combined to me.  I would maintain "Sunday Bloody Sunday" and "Two Hearts" as separate entities.  I would maintain "Mofo" and "If God Will Send His Angels" as separate entries.  But "Stuck in a Moment", "Walk On" and "All Because of You" would become one entry.  The issues with that will be listing things by release date, people will see things in somewhat of a skewed order because of the Canadian singles (pages will sort by earliest released item and thus it will look like "All Because of You" was the second single from Bomb.  Also a little more explanation would be needed on the individual pages to explain the release schedule etc.  But i think that's doable.

It's good decisiont to merge this entries. Please & Popheart are alway for me 2 versions of 1 single release EBTTRT the same - shuld be together. If the names are different like Mofo & IGWSHA than shuld be separated.


PS "Drop the full capitalization of Mofo!" - and I join to this proposition