Life - Matia Bazar

My favourite track by the Italian band Matia Bazar is 'Noi', which I have on 7" single and 12" single. I didn't know that they recorded this song in English, however. I found out because I spotted this 12" single in a shop, and because it was pressed on clear orange vinyl I suddenly had two good reasons to buy this disc.

As far as I can tell, there is no 7" single of 'Life', which seems strange. Anyway, this 12" single is a good package, because it also contains the extended and instrumental versions of 'Noi'. Three good tracks, then, on coloured vinyl. It doesn't get much better than this.

My collection: 12" single [unnumbered]
Found: Velvet Vinyl Outlet, Leiden, January 16, 2015
Cost: 2,5 euro
Tracks: 'Life [extended]' / 'Noi [extended]', 'Noi (instrumental)'

Runaway / When I think of you - Janet Jackson

It's not the first time that I described Janet Jackson's 'Runaway' on this blog. I already have the 7" single, a promotional double 12" package and a double 12" single of 'Runaway' and 'When I think of you' remixes.

But still the double 12" package I found while shopping online a few months ago contained other remixes of 'Runaway' and 'When I think of you'. Do we really need that many versions of two songs? I'm not sure. I do quite like some of these remixes. At the same time I wonder why they were never released on cd....

My collection: 12" single [unnumbered]
Found: Discogs.com, received 16 August 2017
Cost: $4
Tracks: 'Runaway (Junior's Factory mix)', 'Runaway (Junior's Tribal dub mix)' / 'Runaway (Steve's "Silk" House mix)', 'Runaway (Torin's radio edit)' // 'Runaway (Junior's Factory dub)', 'Runaway (Junior's Factory Mix w/ vocal sample)' / 'When I think of you (Deep Dish Chocolate City mix)', 'When I think of you (Deep Dish Quite Storm dub)'

I´m only shooting love - Time Bandits

The American remix of the Time Bandits song 'I'm only shooting love' by Steve Thompson has become rather famous, and rightfully so, because it's a great remix.

However, when the single was originally released, the 12" single featured a rather different remix. It was an extended version of the single, much like many extended versions in the Eighties: a bit longer but not essentially different from the album version. And that's the kind of remix I like best. It's quite a shame they're not made like this anymore.



My collection: 12" single [unnumbered]
Found: Velvet Vinyl Outlet, Leiden, July 14, 2017
Cost: 2,5 euro
Tracks: 'I'm only shooting love [extended]' / 'Only lovers will survive'

Ease the pressure - Beloved

The Beloved's third album 'X' was not a commercial success. Perhaps the audience was no longer interested in their brand of emotionally charged lyrics on pumping beats. I must admit that I had a hard time liking the album myself - it was only a few years ago when I made another attempt to like the package. But when I did, I really did.

Obviously I became interested in the remixes as well. And there were remixes aplenty. 'Ease the pressure', for instance, comes in a double 12" single package with no less than six remixes. It takes a bit of stamina to actually like them all, but there's something for everyone in this stack of tracks.

My collection: 12" single [unnumbered]
Found: Discogs.com, August 2016
Cost: 2,5 pounds
Tracks: 'Ease the pressure (Club Vocal mix)' / 'Ease the pressure (Suction mix)', 'Ease the pressure (Motion sickness mix)' // 'Ease the pressure (Surge mix)', 'Ease the pressure (Backroom vocal mix)' / 'Ease the pressure (Switchback mix)'

Heroes - David Bowie

Parlophone started the '40 year anniversary' picture disc single releases a few years ago, when David Bowie was still alive. It's strange to think that this campaign will last well into the 2020s at least - and hopefully they will continue until 'No plan' is 40 years old (although I'm not holding my breath).

I skipped all the releases until now, but 'Heroes' was an attractive package. Not only did it come in a rather well designed A-side, but the B-side features a previously unreleased version of 'Heroes': as performed in the Marc Show on September 7, 1977. The recording is in mono, alas, but it's still worth a spin.

My collection: 7" single no. 5868
Found: Amazon.co.uk, received October 7, 2017
Cost: 10 pounds (which is outrageous, I know!)
Tracks: 'Heroes  [edit]' / 'Heroes (Marc Show version)'

I won't steal away - Time Bandits

I didn't actually like I won't steal away much when it came out, but in 2001 I actually bought the single. Tastes change, as they say. These days I think it's one of the band's better songs, so it's no surprise that when the opportunity came up to buy a stack of 12" singles, this was the one I picked up the quickest.

The extended remix was created by John Smit and Dan Hartman. The latter also produced this track - although you wouldn't need me to tell you that; it was advertised quite boldly on the sleeve of the disc.

My collection: 12" single [unnumbered]
Found: Velvet Vinyl Outlet, Leiden, July 14, 2017
Cost: 1 euro
Tracks: 'I won't steal away (extended remix)' / 'Cool world'

See that glow - This Island Earth

Once popular Eighties tune verging on the forgotten - and then the 12" single. That's really what I like. Some 12" singles were never released on cd, and this one is an example of that. I already owned the single for many years, when I found this disc. I was immediately curious.

'See that glow' only made it to cd once, and of course that was only the 7" version. This extended version, then, is a true exclusive for this blog. Try as you might, you will not find it online. Until now!

My collection: 12" single [unnumbered]
Found: Record Exchange, London
Cost: 10p
Tracks: 'See that glow [extended version]' / 'Fireflowers', 'See that glow (version)'