Non-Dance Tunes on 12" Single ???

[drlove]

Have a question and I hope ya'll can help me. What would have been the reasoning for a record company to issue a non-danceable country tune on 12" single for DJ club play :icon_question:

Reason I'm asking is that I came across this weekend a 12" promo single of the Boys' Band "Please Don't Stop Me (Baby I'm On Fire)" from 1982.

Each side features the identical 3:23 cut of the song, and it's a soft rock/country tune. Definitely NON-danceable, and not even a hot/heavy ballad to get dancers snuggling on the dance floor.

I just think it's weird that it was issued on 12" single, and wanted to know do ya'll have other examples (in your collections) of odd tunes on 12" ???

The few others I have I can understand the reasoning (the Band Aid / USA for Africa charity singles on 12", and even Glenn Medeiros' 1988 hit ballad "Nothing's Gonna Change My Love For You" 'cuz it's an extended version), but for the life of me can't see why this normal-length country tune named above is on 12". Still scratching my head on that one.:icon_confused:

[pepper1dancer]

I also bought This is not America featuring David Bowie on 12". It was the same as the 45. I was hoping for a longer version but no dice. I dont know why they would press those like that.

[BrunoRepublic]

There were plenty of non-dance 12" singles issued in the early to mid-80s. Mostly promos in North America (for radio), but some commercial ones too, especially in Europe. The reason is simply better sound quality.

[drlove]

thanks, BrunoRepublic and Pepper1Dancer, for the input. I, too, thought of the radio angle, in that the radio deejays had to play it from SOME source, but then figured that 45s were readily available too.

The sound quality reasoning offered by BrunoRepublic is probably closer to the truth behind these non-dance singles released on 12".

[C6 Vette]

Did somebody say non-dance music 12" promos?



From left to right beginning in the top left corner:
Bryan Adams-Heaven/Gerry Rafferty-Baker Street/Fleetwood Mac-Go Your Own Way/The Tubes-She's A Beauty/George Thorogood-Bad To The Bone/Van Halen-Pretty Woman/Foreigner-Waiting For A Girl Like You/Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton-Islands In The Stream/Boston-Don't Look Back/Jackson Browne-Somebody's Baby/Doobie Brothers-Real Love/38 Special-If I'd Been The One

[drlove]

Thanks "C6 Vette" for perusing your collection to photograph those gems !!! Am amazed that many of those promos were ever issued, as they all represent what we DON'T typically imagine to be available on 12" single.

Oh ... and I dig the bedspread/blanket !

[disco-disc]

Hi, I can enlighten you also....I was recently amazed to read old magazines from 1977 in UK that were advertising/showing charts with PUNK rock 12" singles...and a LOT of them... I bet they weren't really deigned for THEIR sound quality :icon_lol::icon_lol::icon_lol:

[Davicillo]

The collectors market as well. A collector of a particular artist will buy as many releases as possible to be a completest but in the 90's especially in the UK the formats that were elegible to count for chart positions dropped which then cut down the formats singles were released on. Some only had 1 on the A side but had 2 on the B.

[drlove]

thanks, ya'll (Disco-disc and Davicillo) for the historical fun-facts from the UK :icon_cool:

[BrunoRepublic]

Hi, I can enlighten you also....I was recently amazed to read old magazines from 1977 in UK that were advertising/showing charts with PUNK rock 12" singles...and a LOT of them... I bet they weren't really deigned for THEIR sound quality :icon_lol::icon_lol::icon_lol:

Actually, yes. For example, Joy Division's debut ep (which is straight-up punk; this was before they developed the sound that made them so influential) was reissued on 12" for better sound quality.

If nothing else, 12" singles could be cut much LOUDER than 7" ones, and you can bet that matters to the punk set. :)