Let's talk about 12" vinyl (12", I celebrate you)

[Oslo]

Is there others that love the 12" singles that came out back then.
They are also known as Maxisingles.
The 12 inch were the big brother of the 7 inch and had almost every time something more to offer, than the little brother.
Extended versions, differnet mixes and various tracks that only where released on the 12".
When everybody else where listening to the original 7", you could expanded your horison by listening to the real thing.
And the sound, the sound of the 12" were by far much better!
And the size of the 12", just like the Long Player.
You could fool everybody that you really had a big collection of LP's!
(Before they took a nearer look)
I think 12" is one of the greatest 80`s fenonomen.
It's so 80's and makes it well worth collecting!

Anybody else agree/disagree?

12" I celebrate you!!

[My Aural Stimulator]

I preferred most of the 12" singles from the 80s: they were, mostly, an extension of the original song, highlighting certain instruments and, sometimes, offering more vocals or lyrics than the 7" or album versions. A lot of the 12" songs were superior to the album versions.

My pet peeve is that in recent times, the maxi-CD format has a slew of "remix" versions that are not true remixes; they're reworkings of songs which remixers have added their own music and stripped away most of the vocals. What gives? If I wanted to hear a different song, I would have bought a different CD. I wish that remixes/extended versions were more like they were in the 80s.

[schwenko]

[quote][i]Originally posted by My Aural Stimulator[/i]
<br>I preferred most of the 12" singles from the 80s: they were, mostly, an extension of the original song, highlighting certain instruments and, sometimes, offering more vocals or lyrics than the 7" or album versions. A lot of the 12" songs were superior to the album versions.

My pet peeve is that in recent times, the maxi-CD format has a slew of "remix" versions that are not true remixes; they're reworkings of songs which remixers have added their own music and stripped away most of the vocals. What gives? If I wanted to hear a different song, I would have bought a different CD. I wish that remixes/extended versions were more like they were in the 80s.
[/quote]

I agree completely. Today's "remixes" are, to my ears, almost always unlistenable. This genre went south about 1990 or so. Even worse, it is heresy to ruin my favorite songs with these %$#@*&^. [;)]
There are only very few remixes of the last 15 years that I can stomach; one that i really like is Moby's reworking of the Pet Shop Boys Miserabilism. He transforms a spiky upbeat song (musically) to a very mellow, shimmering song: totally different but excellent.

[WolverineSyr]

Like the cranky old fogey I've become - I agree to a point. There are some modern remixers I look out for - Ferry Corsten, Matt Darey, etc. For the most part - I don't like total reworkings of a song.

I like the older remixes better. Although I hated that trend around 85 or so of adding gratuitous effects - case in point: Real Love by Jody Watley - great song, horrible extended mix, ruined by vocal & cut effects.

For the true heyday of the 12" - go back to the years 1975 - 1981. Those were true extensions of the songs, not just cuts and replays. Born to be Alive is one of the best - that extended string sequence at the end - amazing! Adds a whole new dimension to the song.

[bpdp3]

I was a never a DJ, but I've always had an affinity for the 12" single. While I had some in the 80's, to be honest I've picked up most of my new wave 12"ers used, after the fact, mostly in the last 10 years.

I couldn't really afford them back then. I seem to remember them being in the $3.99 to $4.99 price range here in the US. Now I see 12" vinyl singles of the current top 40 hits going in the $5.99 range.

I loved the added effects, the louder drums, the wacky 'break' sections that invariably come after the 2nd chorus or so. I never really followed any one producer or remixer in particular, though I do admire what they do as a craft.

In the late 80's, when new wave had pretty much died it's death and many of us were looking for something new, I discovered House, Freestyle and what I consider to be the 'golden age' of rap, when acts like Eric B and Rakim, Big Daddy Kane, and Public Enemy were the big news, and new acts like De La Soul and Tribe called Quest were coming about.

All these sounds came to me via trips to NYC, buying 12" singles. I'd sell my own mother before selling off my Todd Terry 12" singles from that 88-89 era (I know Mrs. bpdp3 doesn't surf this site).

Certain musics are meant to be heard in that format - certainly stuff like Italodisco I would think, house, Latin freestyle (I'm a sucker for that genre), in my opinion.

I suppose New wave was so oddball-sounding in nature that it only makes sense it was accompanied by these oddball-sounding 12" mixes. To me, it doesn't take away anything from the music. If you prefer the original, listen to the original.

It's also interesting when you go into a used record store and find all these 12" singles that you know some DJ prized at one time, thinking he had the hottest sounds in town (now they're a buck a pop or whatever). 12" singles are also very disposable, by nature - - hot for a week, then replaced quickly by next week's hottest sounds. LP's never really face the same plight, widespread popularity one week then cold indifference the next; they seem to hold up a little better, I think.

that's my 2 cents - - nice post, oslo!!

[djsanti]

What I love about the 12" single. I first love the cover, it's like a piece of art. It made you appreciate it more, it made you go out and buy plastic sleeves to protect it, It might be very thin (if import) or heavy cardboard like (if domestic, U.S.). I used to have them in plastics pinned up all over my room, they were and still are a pleasure to look at.

Secondly, the actual single, it almost always sounded much louder, the extended breaks made it much easier to dj with. Sometimes you'd even get alternate lyrics with an extended mix. It was always true to the song, it didn't try to make a ballad like "Everytime You Go Away" by Paul Young into a dance track, instead it made it a more interesting ballad by starting off with the instrumental and then after a minute or two finally going into the chorus. That's why I just had to pay a pretty penny for the extended version of Crowded House's "Don't Dream It's Over", very well worth it.

I think that as technology changed, it slowly started making it possible to alter the original bpm of the song and there for allowing one to make a song that normally would have been 100 bpm (beats per minute) to be bumped up to 130, a standard dance floor speed. The problem with dance remixes is that hearing music at the same speed all night does get a bit boring. With new wave remixes on the other hand, they had a huge variety in sppeeds, some were slow like may P.I.L. "rise" at 90 bpm or as fast as Icicle Work's "Whisper to a Scream" at 116 or 232.

I still search record shops and will probably continue to do so when I finally stop dj'ing because of the rush and joy I get when I find a single that I only heard existed from friend's who were fortunate enough to be buying records in the early 80s.

Martin
djsanti

[Ape Module]

I must say, though I've sold almost all my vinyl in the past few years, it's my favorite format and in many ways I'd be happier if CDs hadn't even come along.

I did, however, keep some vinyl and that small collection features 3 12" singles:

[b]Men Without Hats[/b] "Safety Dance" 12"
[b]A Flock of Seagulls[/b] "Wishing" 12" (w/ excellent non-LP tracks)
[b]Cabaret voltaire</b? "Dream Ticket"/"Safety Zone" 12"

[Ape Module]

hmmm. didn't show the Cab. Voltaire 12" (which is Dream Ticket/Safety Zone)

[crystal]

12" singles were great in the 80es, especially liked those extended versions back then - looking at the hereandnow, one normally gets a maxi-cd with 3 or 4 mixes that barely sample anything of the original track... as Oslo mentioned, various tracks as 12" only - thinking of the heydays of Factory Records (Section 25, New Order stuff on 12"...) - especially loved it when side a had just the 12" mix + 2 or 3 tracks on side b - normally one real b-side + a single version or some live stuff...
+ stuff like the Depeche trilogy of Get The Balance Right, Everything Counts, Love In Itself ... though not 'classical' 12", having the a-side + 4 live-b-sides with each cover resembling the one before just in different colours...

[bpdp3]

I understand your points crystal...alot of times I am disappointed with the 'format' of the single itself.

My perfect 12" would have a one-track A-side and that would be "the" version you'd hear in a club. It would definitely include the original 7" single version of the song somewhere on it. It would also include an actual B-side track, preferably something non-lp. I suppose an interesting live-version of a song would be a nice bonus as well.

I never really had much use for the 7-minute instrmental versions, or the acapella versions, or the 'beat-a-pella' versions found on so many 12" singles.

While I think it's nice to hear maybe a couple of alternate mixes of a song, I think it's overkill to have 8 different versions (not uncommon for 12" singles to be actually double-disc now).