by bpdp3 » Tue Aug 02, 2005 11:59 am
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!!