Physical love - Beloved

The oft-neglected third album by the Beloved 'X' (1996) was not a commercial success, but there were many releases from the album - although most of them were so-called 'white label 12 inches', records pressed mainly for distribution among DJ's and clubs.

One of them was this release, 'Physical love' c/w 'Three steps to heaven'. Both tracks were remixed to almost 10 minute versions, well suited for nighttime club life. Whether these mixes are actually any good.... You be the judge. I do like them in a sort of strange way.

My collection: 12" single [unnumbered]
Found: Discogs.com, received 2016
Cost: 2 pounds
Tracks: 'Physical love' / 'Three steps to heaven'

Reach out - Time Bandits

When a 12" single announces that a special re-mix is provided by Ben Liebrand, you know you're in for a treat. During the Eighties, Ben Liebrand made a name for himself by making remixes of chart hits on a weekly basis for a Dutch radio programme. Also, at the end of the year he would make a 60 minute remix containing much of the best and biggest hits of the year.

'Reach out' was released by the Time Bandits in 1984, when they had their biggest success with previous singles 'Listen to the man with the golden voice' and 'I'm only shooting love'. 'Reach out' doesn't quite have the same impact but this remix does make the song that much more attractive.


My collection: 12" single [unnumbered]
Found: Velvet Vinyl Outlet, Leiden, July 14, 2017
Cost: 1 euro
Tracks: 'Reach out (special re-mix by Ben Liebrand)' / 'Ushi girl'

Duel - Propaganda

It took Propaganda a year to release a follow-up to Dr Mabuse. Or rather, their record company because after the phenomenal success of Frankie goes to Hollywood they seemed a little fazed.But when 'Duel' was finally released, it was a big success, especially in the Netherlands where the single peaked at number 5. In the UK, the single only reached number 21.

The 12" single featured extended versions of both the A- and B-side. 'Jewel', on the B-side, was simply a different, more industrial-sounding version of 'Duel'. As always, the record company ZTT made the sleeve of the 12" single look very different from the 7" version, creating a very interesting item for fans and collectors.

My collection: 12" single [unnumbered]
Found: unknown
Cost: 7,5 guilders
Tracks: 'Duel (Bittersweet)' / 'Jewel (Cut rough)'

Elizabeth's eyes - Nik Kershaw

Released in 1989, Nik Kershaw's fourth album 'The Works' wasn't the commercial success it might (or should) have been. Only two singles were taken from the album, of which 'Elizabeth's eyes' was the second. This 12" single features an extended version of the track as well as a dub version.

According to Nik: "The single is a song written from the point of view a guy called Willie Darden, who was America's longest serving death row prisoner. He was on death row for fifteen years and during the last twelve years of his life he corresponded with a lady in Essex called Elisabeth Allen who's a school teacher. The two never met and they sort of developed a relationship over the years, which is very strange 'cause they never actually existed, a lot of it existed in the mind of Darden. I was trying to imagine how he felt - I've read some of the letters which are absolutely unbelievable - they're poetry, they're love letters, they're incredible things." The song's final line of the third verse reads "Tuesday at seven I will find my heaven, and I'll see you there", which is accurate to the time and death of Darden in reality, on Tuesday, 15 March 1988 at 7am.

My collection: 12" single [unnumbered]
Found: unknown
Cost: unknown
Tracks: 'Elisabeth's eyes (extended version)' / 'My friend John', 'Elisabeth's eyes (club dub)'

Sweet release - Trouser Enthusiasts

Through the years you will have seen a few remixes by Trouser Enthusiasts on this blog, but so far I didn't write about their only single, 'Sweet release'. Released in 1999 as a limited edition, it has been hard to find a copy at a reasonable price but I finally succeeded last year, in combination with a couple of other 12" singles ordered online.

Ian Masterson and David Green formed Trouser Enthusiasts in the mid-1990's. They were best known as producers of pop and dance remixes, having worked for, most prominently, Pet Shop Boys, Dannii Minogue, and Saint Etienne. 'Sweet release' was their only original single, which didn't trouble the singles charts.

My collection: 12" single [unnumbered]
Found: Discogs.com, received 2016
Cost: 2 pounds
Tracks: 'Sweet release (Trouser Enthusiasts' Full On Mix)' / 'Sweet release (Olmec Heads remix)', 'Sweet release ('Trouser Enthusiasts Second Coming)'

The sun rising - Beloved

Another band that has always fascinated me are the Beloved. They released some very interesting songs in the Eighties and Nineties, and there were plenty of remixes around too. I decided to pick up missing 12" singles last year - and there were a few.

This 12" single of 'The sun rising' is a good example. I already owned the 7" single and the CD-single, but this 12" features a few remixes that were not issued on CD. As with most of the Beloved's remixes, they're worth hearing too because they always sound fresh.

My collection: 12" single [unnumbered]
Found: Discogs.com, received 2016
Cost: 1 pound
Tracks: 'The sun rising (Il sole sorge)', 'The sun rising (Intensità)' / 'The sun rising (Danny's 'Love is...' remix)', 'The sun rising (Son of the rising house)'

Radio Heart - featuring Gary Numan

Having described my 7" single of 'Radio Heart' in 2009, it's not bad to add the 12" single today. I've owned it for years already, but somehow it didn't make it onto this blog yet. Maybe it's because the extended version of 'Radio Heart' is a little unremarkable: it simply adds some instrumental parts of the song in the middle, making it a 6 minute version instead of the 4'20 single version.

Gary Numan is, of course, still going strong, but Radio Heart only existed for one album and three singles.

My collection: 12" single [unnumbered] 
Found: unknown
Cost: 1 pound
Tracks: 'Radio Heart (extended mix)' / 'Radio Heart (instrumental)'

Swell - Salt Tank

A little sigh comes over my lips every time I hear about new work by Tori Amos these days. As far as I'm concerned, she did her best work in the Nineties and then for some reason the fire went out and she started doing rehashes of her old work or uninspired semi-classical ditties. I would do anything for concert tickets back in the Nineties, whereas now I simply do not care.

Back in the Nineties, many exciting things happened. Not only did Tori release her quintessential albums 'Little Earthquakes', 'Under the pink' and 'From the choirgirl hotel', but she also worked with remixers like BT for more dance-oriented tracks. This remix by Salt Tank was another interesting one: 'Eugina' features her vocals, although in this case it was a random sample. This 12" single set was part of a bigger order online, and I bought it for old times sake. I have to say these tracks puzzle me and I'm not sure if I'll play them a lot.

Who do you hear in the tracks 'Eden' and 'Orinoco', on the other hand? Well, it's Kate Bush. And she is still the Goddess she's always been of course.

My collection: 12" single [unnumbered]
Found: Discogs.com, received 2016
Cost: 2 pounds
Tracks: 'Eden' / 'Flammable' // 'Eugina (Pacific rage)', 'Orinoco' / 'Origin of species', 'Astral'

Wrong - Everything but the girl

Just like Walking wounded and Single, 'Wrong' was released as a jukebox-only 7" single. I only found out about this quite recently, and this prompted me to get hold of these singles as quickly as possible. Thanks to the internet, it isn't so hard to find rare singles these days, although obviously it depends on how much you'd like to spend on them.

I do have to wonder why record companies in 1996 felt it wasn't necessary to release vinyl singles commercially anymore. They were obviously being made, so why not make them available to the general public? But then, the workings of the record industry have baffled me ever since those days anyway.

My collection: 7" single no. 5843
Found: Discogs.com, received June 1, 2017
Cost: 3 pounds
Tracks: 'Wrong (Todd Terry remix edit)' / 'Wrong (Deep Dish remix edit)'

Dr. Mabuse - Propaganda

As you may have gathered from today's entires, I am cleaning up my 12" singles collection. Or rather, I'm going through them to see whether there's any stuff I haven't yet digitised. I was pleased to see that there's not a whole lot of work left to do, although there have been some surprising omissions. For instance, I haven't posted any of my Propaganda 12" singles!

I only have three of them, but they're the classics: taken from their debut album, both the songs and their respective 12" singles have been exciting. To begin with, there's 'Dr. Mabuse': a song that was transformed into a 10 minute epic, backed with an impressive cover version of Lou Reed's 'Femme fatale'. Time to rectify the situation. 'Duel' and 'Machinery' are due to follow soon, of course!

My collection: 12" single [unnumbered]
Found: unknown
Price: unknown
Tracks: 'Das Testament des Mabuse' / 'Femme fatale (The woman with the orchid)', '(The ninth life of) Dr. Mabuse'

Let me go - Wendy Wu

On the back cover of this 12" single it is announced: 'produced by Tony Mansfield'. For those in the know, this is a recommendation. For Tony Mansfield was also the backbone of New Musik, he produced A-ha's debut, as well as producing acts like Captain Sensible and Naked Eyes.

Wendy Wu's career was more short-lived: she released just three singles, of which 'Let me go' was the last one. However, on those singles she worked with Graham Gouldman, Gary Barnacle and Tony Mansfield respectively. After these singles flopped she went on to work with Visage's Steve Strange in the band Strange Cruise.

My collection: 12" single [unnumbered]
Found: Plaatboef, Den Haag, 201X
Cost: 0,5 euro
Tracks: 'Let me go (long version)' / 'Love tonight'

Invincible - Pat Benatar

Pat Benatar had her biggest success with 'Love is a battlefield', but after that single a few more slightly successful titles followed. One of them was 'Invincible', a song taken from the soundtrack of 'The legend of Billie Jean'.

I owned the single since it came out, but I never bought the 12" single at the time. I bought it a couple of years ago and then it again disappeared anonymously in my collection. It's a shame, because this is a really decent extended version of that track.

My collection: 12" single [unnumbered]
Found: Kringloop Den Haag, 2014
Cost: 1 euro
Tracks: 'Invincible (extended version)' / 'Invincible (instrumental)', 'Heartbreaker'

Come summer - Fra Lippo Lippi

The sleeve of Fra Lippo Lippi's 'Come summer' is one of the most beautiful sleeve designs ever. Made by StyleForEveryMood in Stockholm, it looks deceptively simple: just a beautiful image with the lyric of the song printed over it. Sometimes you wonder how people come up with something like this.

The song, of course, is no less beautiful. Taken from the band's album 'Songs', it followed 'Shouldn't have to be like that' but didn't achieve the same amount of international success. It's strange, because it is the better of the two songs. Even three decades ago, people didn't recognise a hit when it was slammed in their face.

My collection: 12" single [unnumbered]
Found: Den Haag, 1993
Cost: unknown
Tracks: 'Come summer (extended, remixed)' / 'Come summer', 'Even tall trees bend (original version)'

I'm lovin' it - Justin Timberlake

This is a mysterious 12" single. Released unofficially, it is supposed to contain two remixes by the Trouser Enthusiasts, but it sounds rather different than their other work. There are no credits on the label, so it is hard to find out.

Justin Timberlake released 'I'm lovin' it' in 2003, after he was paid $6 million to sing a jingle for McDonald's. The Neptunes produced a song based on this jingle, and this was released in November 2003. The single became a number 1 hit in the Wallonian part of Belgium and reached number 13 in the Netherlands. It did not chart in the UK or USA.

My collection: 12" single [unnumbered]
Found: Discogs.com, January 2016
Cost: 2 pounds
Tracks: 'I'm lovin' it' / 'I'm dubin' it'

The sun always shines on TV - Diva

In 1994, the Norwegian duo Diva released a cover version of A-ha's 'The sun always shines on TV'. Helene Sommer and Elene Nyborg did manage to attract some attention with their version of the song, although it didn't become a hit - except in Norway where it reached number 2 and in the UK where it got to number 53.

This double 12" single - housed in a rather anonymous black sleeve - was given to me by regular blog reader Puck some time ago, but I never got around to recording all the versions included in this package. I'm sure you'll agree that none of them can't hold a candle to A-ha's original version of the song.

My collection: 12" single [unnumbered]
Cost: free
Tracks: 'The sun always shines on TV (Crucial club mix)', 'The sun always shines on TV (original version)' / 'The sun always shines on TV (Crucial hard dub mix)', 'The sun always shines on TV (Crucial club edit)' // 'The sun always shines on TV (Perfecto mix)', 'The sun always shines on TV (Sunshine mix)' / 'The sun always shines on TV (Sexy disco dub)', 'The sun always shines on TV (Volcano club edit)'

Listen to the man with the golden voice - Time Bandits

During my last visit to Velvet Vinyl Outlet in Leiden I saw a row of 12" singles by the Time Bandits, a Dutch band that was pretty popular in the Eighties. I have some singles by this band, too. I didn't buy them at the time, because my budget wasn't big enough, although they definitely were interesting: none of these 12" remixes have ever been released on cd. (Some actually have been, but that was only a handful.)

After a recent donation I was very tempted to go back and get them - and so I did. Today's visit to the shop was successful within the first few minutes, because I had a stack of 'em before I even moved to the 7" singles department. You can expect a few Time Bandits remixes on this blog in the near future. The first of them is 'Listen to the man with the golden voice', a top 10 hit for the band in 1983.

My collection: 12" single [unnumbered]
Found: Velvet Vinyl Outlet, Leiden, July 14, 2017
Cost: 2,5 euro
Tracks: 'Listen to the man with the golden voice (extended remixed version)' / 'Words'

Bandido (Deep mix) - Azucar Moreno

Since this week is Eurovision Song Contest week, it shouldn't be a surprise that I have a few Eurovision singles for you, even if I depend on new acquisitions to fill this blog these days. I was particularly lucky to score this one, since I suspect it's rather rare: it's a one-sided promotional 7" single single from Spain, the country that competed in 1990 with the song 'Bandido' by Azucar Moreno.

This single contains a special remix of that song, a remix that I thought was only available on a cd-single - also promotional - which I bought a few years ago. It's great to own this track on vinyl since it is actually a nice remix.

My collection: 7" single no. 5849
Found: Discogs.com, received May 10, 2016
Cost: 3 euro
Tracks: 'Bandido (Deep Mix)'

Listen to the song

Everything's coming up roses - Black

The death of Colin Vearncombe, singer and sole member of the band Black, on January 26 this year, was a big blow. I have collected all of his music and saw the man live more times than my memory has allowed me to remember. The process of mourning continues for a long time I guess, but in the mean time I coped with the acquisition of a few Black items that I didn't own until now. (Which, as you can see on this page, shouldn't be too much, especially when you consider I never got round to posting my 12" singles.)

The most interesting item so far has to be this promotional 7" from the USA, with a remix version of 'Everything's coming up roses' on both sides. I already had the promotional cd-single from over there for 15 years, but as followers of this blog know: if it's released on vinyl, I gotta have it.

My collection: 7" single no. 5825
Found: Discogs.com, received February 9, 2016
Cost: $2
Tracks: 'Everything's coming up roses (remix)' / 'Everything's coming up roses (remix)'

Listen to the song

In the name of love '88 - Thompson Twins

In the name of love was originally a song by the Thompson Twins released in 1982. After that, the group made it big with hits such as Doctor doctor, You take me up and Hold me now. While lead singer Tom Bailey apparently suffered a nervous breakdown, they continued to release music such as the less successful 1987 album 'Close to the bone' and a couple of compilation albums in 1988.

'The best of Thompson Twins: Greatest Mixes' featured a 1988 remix by Shep Pettibone, which was also released as a single. It peaked at number 46 in the UK singles chart.

My collection: 7" single no. 5821
Found: Record fair, Amsterdam, January 23, 2016
Cost: 1 euro
Tracks: 'In the name of love '88' / 'In the name of love (original)'

Listen to the song

Young guns (go for it) - Wham!

When Wham! released 'Young guns (go for it)' in October 1982, it broke new ground for the duo George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley. The single became a number 1 hit in Sweden, and reached number 3 in the UK. It was only their second single, and they were already on the way to superstardom.

While the single was entertaining, the extended mixes were intriguing. There were actually two remixes of this song. A 5'10 minute remix has become by far the most widespread, having had a release even on CD ('Best remixes' in Japan and 'The 12" album' in Europe). The 7 minute remix featured on this 12" single is much harder to find: it was only ever released on a 12" single in the USA and this one, made in Holland. And yes, you can find it on CD, if you are able to find the 1996 compilation album 'Club Epic' or the 2013 'Dance Classics Pop Edition vol. 10', released in the Netherlands. Why Sony Music have never made a definitive Wham! box set, I'll never know.

My collection: 12" single [unnumbered]
Found: Kringloop Rijswijk, January 31, 2016
Cost: 1 euro
Tracks: 'Young guns (Go for it!)' [club remix] / 'Going for it'

Listen to the song