bffcollector

Army – US white label promo – Ben Folds Five

1RAW 2023

Wow, today we have somewhat of an exclusive. This unassuming, white label promo for the Ben Folds Five track ‘Army’ contains a very rare version of the track.

Until now, I’d only been aware of two versions of the track ‘Army’:

  • The album version (3.25)
  • The ‘clean’ version (3.25)

The clean version of ‘Army’ removes all expletives and includes an alternative version of the opening lyrics.

Well I thought about the army, Dad said “Son, you must be high”…

Apart from these minor edits, the track is identical to the album mix and has the same running time (give or take a second).

Edit 2

This US, white label promo for ‘Army’ contains an alternative mix for the track labelled ‘Edit 2’. It’s safe to assume that the clean version was known internally as ‘Edit 1’.

Here are the key differences between ‘Edit 2’ and the album mix:

  • It has a much shorter running time. The track clocks in at around 2.55, which is 30 seconds shorter than the album mix.
  • The opening lyrics are the same as the clean version described above.
  • This version cuts out the lyrics “Oh, I think I’ll get it done yesterday, ah, shit” and the honky tonk piano solo in the mid section of the track.

To be honest, it’s a brutal, jarring cut if you’re familiar with the original version.

I’ve been doing a little research around this promo, but I haven’t very much information online. There is no Discogs listing for this release, and no mention of this CD on other online Ben Folds Five discographies.

Also, I could find this version of the track anywhere online including YouTube. This version of the track doesn’t appear on any other ‘Army’ promos or commercial releases.

As white label CD-R promos were burned in very small quantities by the Sony 550 promotional team, I’d say this release is very rare.

It’s fair to assume that this is a clean, radio edit of the track that was distributed to DJs and programmers in 1999. Radio edits of other Ben Folds Five singles are fairly commonplace. It’s possible that this version of the track was played by radio stations around this time.

That said, this version of ‘Army’ is very rare and not available anywhere today. If you’re interested in snapping up a copy, there is one copy of this promo for sale on MusicStack. Let me know if you pick this up!

Of course, I’d like to get this version online so I’ll look into uploading ‘Edit 2’ somewhere this week.

If you’re interested in other white label releases, check out my blog about ‘The Unauthorised Biography of Reinhold Messner’ promo from around this time: