You are the one - A-ha

When you look at the sleeve of the 7" single of 'You are the one' and compare it with this one from the 12" single, you'll see that a different photograph was used from the same photo session. You'd wish this was done more often, because all too often the sleeve of the 12" single is an exact replica, if only a bigger one, of the 7" single.

Another attractive feature of this 12" single was the inclusion of an extended remix of 'You are the one', plus the instrumental version. Which in turn makes you wonder why these were never released on cd.

My collection: 12" single no. 229
Found: Record fair, Rotterdam, 1994
Cost: 5 guilders
Tracks: 'You are the one (12" remix)' / 'You are the one (instrumental)', 'Out of blue comes green'

Love you more - Groovenut vs. Kim Wilde

When the duo Groovenut decided to remix Kim Wilde's 'You came', little did they know that there were actually plans to re-record and re-release this track. It was 2005, a full 17 years after the release of the original track, and the plan was simply to update the track for the new century.

When they asked for permission to use the samples of the track, they never got that permission. But in 2006, when 'You came (2006)' was released in Europe, they were asked to recreate the mix, using the new vocal tracks. The original mix was only ever released on white label 12" singles - and fortunately I found a copy.

My collection: 12" single no. 444
Found: unknown, 2005
Cost: unknown
Tracks: 'Love you more'

Come undone - Duran Duran

When the cd-single became the preferred format in the late Eighties, vinyl was quickly pronounced dead by the record companies, not realising they were digging their own graves at the time. But before they did, there were some efforts made to sell vinyl discs, for instance with exclusive tracks.

This 12" single of Duran Duran's 1993 single 'Come undone' for instance features the 'TV synth strings' mix of 'Come undone', which was not available on either of the two (!) cd-singles available in the UK. But it is suspicious that this 12" single was released in Italy in. So buying this in a shop in Amsterdam two years after its release was a bit of a fluke...

My collection: 12" single no. 237
Found: Concerto, Amsterdam, 1995
Cost: 2,5 guilders
Tracks: 'Come undone (edit)', 'Ordinary world (acoustic version)' / 'Come undone (FGI Phumpin' 12"), 'Come undone (La fin de siecle)', 'Come undone (TV synth strings)'

Rubberband girl - Kate Bush

When Kate Bush finally released a new album in 1993, four years after the previous one, I was looking forward to it like never before. The world really needed new music from Kate Bush, as the music scene in 1993 had become boring and predictable. Kate Bush was never that: her new single showed an unexpected whimsical style.

'Rubberband girl' was released a month before a holiday in London, so I had to wait a while before I got my hands on this picture disc 12" single. Featuring the same tracks as the cd-single, the real treat was the picture disc itself which showed a still from the movie 'The line, the cross & the curve' which was released in 1994.

My collection: 12" single no. 174
Found: HMV, London, October 1993
Cost: 4 pounds
Tracks: 'Rubberband girl (extended version)' / 'Rubberband girl', 'Big stripey lie'

Radio Musicola - Nik Kershaw

Nik Kershaw got through his first two albums okay, but when the 'difficult third album' came up, he was out of luck: although his music was still very interesting, it proved 'too difficult' for the record-buying audience. Hence, 'Radio Musicola', as the album was called, never got the attention it deserved.

The title track was one of the tracks to be released as a single and this 12" single features an extended version of it, which is not spectacular, but nice nonetheless.

My collection: 12" single no. 425
Found: Record Exchange, London, 2000
Cost: 1 pound
Tracks: 'Radio Musicola (extended version)' / 'L.A.B.A.T.Y.D.', 'Radio Musicola'

Mothers talk - Tears for fears

As written before, there is a difference between the extended version of Tears for Fears' 1984 single 'Mothers talk' and the so-called 'Beat of the drum mix' of that track. This 12" single is the only one that contains the latter mix, although a German pressing with the sleeve shown here claims to feature it as well.

Now if you expect to get a really good remix, you're bound to be disappointed. Personally I find this remix noisy and a bit 'too much'. But any collector of Tears for Fears will be delighted to hear this mix nonetheless, as it's pretty rare. It only found its way onto cd in 2006 when Mercury released the 'Deluxe edition' of 'Songs from the big chair'.

My collection: 12" single no. 632
Found: All that music, Leiden
Cost: 14,5 guilders
Tracks: 'Mothers talk (Beat of the drum mix)' / 'Empire building'

Break the chains - Private lives

Although the British band Private Lives never hit it big, they certainly had their chances since three different singles were taken from their only album release. 'Break the chains' is probably the least wellknown of the three, but it was still released on 7" and 12".

This 12" version features both the radio mix of the track and an extended version - although the latter is not announced as such on the sleeve. While it's a mystery to me why other singles 'Living in a world (turned upside down)' and 'From a river to a sea' did so bad, I can understand it better for this one. Although I like the tune, it certainly isn't spectacular by any standard.

My collection: 12" single no. 635
Found: Discogs.com, received 2009
Cost: 3 euro
Tracks: 'Break the chains [extended]' / 'Break the chains (radio mix)', 'You've got to win'