Is this love - Alison Moyet

Alison Moyet released 'Is this love' as a single in 1986, and as evidenced by this 12" single, it was released in the USA too. Featuring an extended remix by Mike Shipley, it is a longer and slightly more exciting version of this pleasant pop song.

The B-side also features a long version of the non-album track 'Blow wind blow', which unfortunately is a less inspired affair.

My collection: 12" single no. 360
Found: Record fair, 2000
Cost: 3 guilders
Tracks: 'Is this love? (LA mix)' / 'Is this love? (single version)', 'Blow wind blow (long version)'

Feel like change - Black

Apparently, Black's single 'Feel like change' became quite big in South Africa. At the time, the country was slowly getting rid of its Apartheid regime, and so a song called 'Feel like change' sung by a white guy called Black would have been quite apt.

This 12" single doesn't feature any remix, but instead it offers four tracks: the title track, a new track called 'Nice', a cover of a Michael McDonald track and of course the wellknown hit 'Wonderful life'.

My collection: 12" single no. 589
Found: Discogs.com, received October 8, 2011
Cost: 3 euro
Tracks: 'Feel like change', 'Nice' / 'I can let go now', 'Wonderful life'

Newborn friend - Seal

Not a very wellknown single, this 'Newborn friend' by Seal. Released after 'Kiss from a rose' as the third single from his second album in October 1994, it faded into obscurity almost everywhere. It still managed to reach number 45 in the UK singles chart and number 24 in New Zealand, but that was pretty much it.

The track was remixed by Brothers in Rhythm, Tom Elmhirst, Ronin and David Morales. This promotional 12" single features four remixes by David Morales, who actually created quite a few different remixes from this track. As I'm sure you'll hear, they sound pretty much the same though.

My collection: 12" single no. 218
Found: Big Company Records, London, October 1994
Cost: 4,5 pounds
Tracks: 'Newborn friend (Morales Club mix)', 'Newborn friend (Morales Dub)' / 'Newborn friend (Morales Radio mix)', 'Newborn friend (Mo-Mo's Bass mix)'

House of thorns - Fiat Lux

While I was not impressed with the 7" single of 'House of thorns' by Fiat Lux (see it here), this 12" single pleases me more. It features a remix of the title track plus two B-side tracks.

The remix of 'House of thorns' makes it sound less like a demo and more like a track that could actually be danceable. The first B-side, 'Threes company' appears on the 7" single too, but the second B-side, 'Sally free and easy' is a bonus, and a good one at that: it's a modern version of a folk song written in the 1950's by Cyril Tawney. It's how Enya would sound if she was a bit more experimental.

My collection: 12" single no. 409
Found: Record Exchange, London, 2000
Cost: 50p
Tracks: 'House of thorns [remix]' / 'Threes company', 'Sally free and easy'

The day it rained forever - Aurora

When Aurora released 'The day it rained forever' as a single, two promotional double 12" single sets were released. I already wrote about one set here, an attractive set with seven remixes.

This second set, alas, is a different matter. It features just four remixes of the track, created by Headfunk and Thick Dick (no, I'm not making this up). Have a listen and I'm sure you'll agree that the other set is the better of the two.

My collection: 12" single no. 580
Found: Discogs.com, received August 5, 2011
Cost: 5 euro
Tracks: 'The day it rained forever (Thick Club mix)' / 'The day it rained forever (Deep in my head mix)' // 'The day it rained forever (Thick Dub)' / 'The day it rained forever (Deep in my dub mix)'

Scarlet - All about Eve

All about Eve were in the business of creating beautiful songs, but they were also smart enough to saturate the market with many different versions of their singles. In 1990, they released 'Scarlet' as the third single from their second album 'Scarlet and other stories' on 7", 12" and two different cd-singles.

The 12" single was very special because of its gatefold sleeve, free poster and the four tracks. Three of them were included on the cd-singles as well, but the live version of 'Scarlet' could be found on this 12" single only. Longtime All about Eve fans were especially pleased with a live version of the early single 'Our summer'. A cracking version it is, too.

My collection: 12" single no. 136
Found: Record Exchange, London, October 1993
Cost: 3,50 pounds
Tracks: 'Scarlet (live)', 'Candy tree (live)' / 'Tuesday's child (live)', 'Our summer (live)'

Hi! Hi! Hi! - Sandra

Being a Sandra fan these days can be considered very uncool, given her recent albums, but back in the Eighties she was still dealing out the pleasant pop songs effortlessly. 'Hi! Hi! Hi!' was another example of a chart-friendly song, although Sandra didn't get to the charts outside of Central Europe.

This 12" single features both the A- and the B-side of the 7" single, but also an extended remix of the title track, which is actually quite good. Give it a virtual spin and I'm sure you'll agree.

My collection: 12" single no. 311
Found: Record fair, 199X
Cost: 10 guilders
Tracks: 'Hi! Hi! Hi! (extended)' / 'You'll be mine', 'Hi! Hi! Hi!'