Living in a world (turned upside down) - Private Lives

Private Lives released a handful of singles, but their best known tracks remains 'Living in a world (turned upside down)'. Recorded at those legendary Select Sound Studios in Knebworth, it is one of the best pop songs from 1984. At least, that's what I think. The record company must have had similar thoughts as they re-released the track after two other singles didn't chart. The original single reached number 53 in the UK singles chart, this re-release didn't chart. The end of the duo came pretty quickly after that.

This 12" single features the new single version of the title track, but also a nice extended version and a dub remix of their very first single release, 'Because you're young'.

My collection: 12" single no. 614
Found: unknown
Price: unknown
Tracks: 'Living in a world (turned upside down) (5th Amendment)' / 'Because you're young', 'Living in a world (turned upside down) (7" mix)', 'Breakup (7" mix)'

The sensual world - Kate Bush

When I bought this 12" single, I did it mainly for the fact that it was cheap and it was a promotion copy. I don't know why I never bought the commercial 12" single, but considering it was 1989, it would probably have been a lack of funds.

Anyway, I was pretty surprised when I found out the A-side of this 12" single featured a so-called 'double groove'. One groove featured the regular version of 'The sensual world', the other played the instrumental version. The latter was also one of the B-sides, which made it a bit of a useless exercise. Bush re-recorded 'The sensual world' as 'Flower of the mountain' on her album 'Director's cut'. The new version was recorded as it was originally intended: with the words from James Joyce's book 'Ulysses'.

My collection: 12" single no. 97
Found: Record Exchange, London, October 1990
Cost: 1 pound
Tracks: 'The sensual world', 'The sensual world (instrumental)' / 'Walk straight down the middle', 'The sensual world (instrumental)'

Cry wolf - A-ha

Released as the second single from A-ha's second album 'Scoundrel days', I never thought this was the best track to be released as a single. The title track should have been the one in my opinion, but perhaps it was deemed 'too intense'. This poppy track catered to the lightweight pop image the band had at the time, even if the album they made was full of more intricate musical arrangements.

The extended version of 'Cry wolf' included here was a decent remix however. I never bought the 12" single myself, but I got a copy last year when someone sent me a package and used this to make it more sturdy. And you know: when something is free, you enjoy it even more.

My collection: 12" single no. 613
Found: unknown, 2011
Cost: nothing
Tracks: 'Cry wolf (extended version)' / 'Cry wolf', 'Maybe maybe'

A gentleman's excuse me - Fish

I bought several different discs of Fish's 'A gentleman's excuse me'. Besides two 7" singles, a cd-single and a shaped picture disc, the 12" single was a piece of vinyl that ended up in my collection pretty soon after its release.

On this format, the demo version of the song is added. It also appears on the cd-single, but this is, as far as I know, the only vinyl format on which the demo appears.

My collection: 12" single no. 93
Found: Free Record Shop, Den Haag, 1990
Cost: 15 guilders
Tracks: 'A gentleman's excuse me' / 'Whiplash', 'A gentleman's excuse me (demo)'

The promise you made - Cock Robin

'The promise you made' reached number 1 in the Dutch Top 40 in March 1986 and it was one of those rare occasions when I just couldn't agree more. Even during the Eighties, when we were spoilt for good artists making excellent music, the chart was often topped by crap songs. (From 1986 alone I can remember 'When the going gets tough the tough get going' by Billy Ocean and 'Holiday rap' by MC Miker G & DJ Sven.)

The 12" single of 'The promise you made' featured an excellent extended mix. The mix was done in an elegant way, adding interesting instrumental breaks and an intriguing intro. Judge for yourself...

My collection: 12" single no. 23
Found: Free Record Shop, Den Haag, 1986
Cost: 15 guilders
Tracks: 'The promise you made (extended version)' / 'The promise you made', 'Have you any sympathy?'

Mini LP - Talk Talk

Released exclusively in Greece in 1986, this mini LP (imaginatively titled 'Mini LP') features five 12" remixes of Talk Talk hits. From the early hit 'Talk Talk' to the two most recent singles 'Life's what you make it' and 'Living in another world', this LP represents the 'pop' era of Talk Talk just before they would become a very imaginative, postmodern pop band.

Only in 1998 a double CD set entitled 'Asides besides' would be released, collecting all these remixes and more, so at the time of finding this, I was pretty excited. Even if the quality of the vinyl wasn't all that good, it was an opportunity to buy five remixes in one go - and that wasn't bad.

My collection: LP no. 99
Found: Record fair, 1994
Cost: 5 pounds
Tracks: 'Such a shame (USA 12" mix)', 'Living in another world (USA 12" mix)' / 'Life's what you make it (USA 12" mix)', 'It's my life (USA 12" mix)', 'Talk Talk (USA 12" mix)'

We'll be together - Sandra

The last record I'm describing this year is also the last 12" single by Sandra I have to describe. After 'We'll be together' a few more 12" singles were released, but as they were also available on cd-single with the same content, I preferred buying those for some reason.

'We'll be together' was released in 1989, almost a year after the release of the album 'Into a secret land', and so got the 'trendy' label "'89 remix". The extended and dub versions certainly add some punch to the pop song. It's a lovely sentiment to end the year with... We'll be together!

My collection: 12" single no. 612
Found: Fun Records, Berlin, 2002
Cost: 3 euro
Tracks: 'We'll be together (extended version)' / 'We'll be together (dub version)', 'We'll be together (single version)'