'I don't buy singles'

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Please explain why people are moved to this position.

― Bill, Thursday, 10 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

In the US it's because they don't make singles.

In the UK it's because they're expensive.

Increasingly it's because you can get them on the net yay.

― Tom, Thursday, 10 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

1. I can't afford to buy singles. Albums have longer shelf life therefore I buy albums. 2. I can download the song if I think the bands album will be shit. 3. B sides tend to be crap.

― Ronan, Thursday, 10 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

It annoys me because it is a somewhat 'I am better than you with all my big long ALBUMS' statement, implying better taste, intellectual superiority and altogether everything that surely music is meant to actually ignore and just generally not give a toss about. Also because I have a lot of singles and people have been known to say 'you cheat you don't have as many real cds/records as it looks like'.

― Bill, Thursday, 10 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

All of which are fair points you bastards. pfft.

― Bill, Thursday, 10 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

because what a pain in the ass to have to get up after, at best 4 minutes, to put on something else.

― Dave225, Thursday, 10 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Course, if I had decks I'd buy nothing but singles.

― Ronan, Thursday, 10 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Unless you have one of those super-duper stacking record players, it is a major pain in the arse spinning a lone 3 minute vinyl single when you just want to kick back and listen to some choons. And the 3 song limit imposed on CD singles by the chart returns ppl means they are often v. bad value for money these days. I didn't buy 'One More Time' in its first week of release, and I so when I popped in to HMV to pick it up I was horrified to find they wanted a whopping £4.50 for the thing - so I bought the alb from Selectadisc instead (12 tracks for a tenner - never mind the quality etc.)

― Andrew L, Thursday, 10 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Simple economics for me, Bill. If singles were 99p I'd buy loads, but for now albums or - shock horror- MP3s are better value.

― DG, Thursday, 10 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

In the US it's because they don't make singles

??

I usually don't buy singles because if I like the song enough, I'm more inclined to just buy the whole album. Otherwise, I'm inclined to download the song rather than pay $8 for one song and B-sides.

Speaking of B-sides, which will be the first generation that doesn't understand that term?

― dleone, Thursday, 10 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

I was generalising - though far fewer singles get released in the US, no?

― Tom, Thursday, 10 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

CD singles in UK are often £1.99 the first week for a good chart placing but then go up to ridiculous prices after that. I usually forget to buy them the first week and then refuse to. Have singles completely stopped in the US outside of the indie and danceloor markets?

― N., Thursday, 10 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

I was generalising - though far fewer singles get released in the US, no?

As far as I can tell. I see them in gas stations, sometimes, and other than that it seems like singles are more for collectors looking for those unreleased b-sides. We're talking about "singles" and not "7-inches", right?

― Mark, Thursday, 10 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

They still have a whole wall of singles at the Tower near me, though it seems mostly for rap and R&B than rock.

― dleone, Thursday, 10 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

because if you wait long enough all of the singles will be compiled on a cd eventually. of course this may take 10-15 years.

― keith, Thursday, 10 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Have singles completely stopped in the US outside of the indie and danceloor markets?

There are still some R&B, hip-hop, and new country singles, but increasingly it seems that Tower and Virgin and other large stores are just stocking the UK imports for a few dollars less than they used to cost -- and independent stores almost never stock cd-singles.

― scott p., Thursday, 10 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

I buy some indiepop 7" singles because often the bands or labels are so small that a collection is not gonna be released. I love vinyl but 7"s are pretty inconvenient, not too mention the mastering is often poor and they sound shitty. As for UK singles (CD singles I guess) - I am occasionally tempted to buy an import UK single, but it is usually a mistake, because any worthwhile b-sides are often tacked on to a US album release or put on a collection in any case. I think in the UK there are many more people with the collector mentality that they must get every release on every format. Economically speaking singles are kind of a waste. It is pretty rare (except in dance music of course) that a significant song will appear on a single and now where else. The only ones I can think of offhand is Chapterhouse's "Mesmerize" and See See Rider's "Stolenm Heart" and even those may be otherwise available. Anyone else remember See See Rider?

― g, Thursday, 10 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

i buy them, but nothing stings quite like paying $7 for two 3-minute songs. plus the kind of crap i listen to, they usually cost as much as an album and i refuse to pay more than $8 for a single unless it's, you know, really good.

― your null fame, Thursday, 10 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

they didn't put mesmerise on rownderbout?

― keith, Thursday, 10 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Ok, yeah, I agree with everything everyone has said. What had annoyed me originally is the kind of person who might say something like this to say that singles weren't artistically worthwhile or somesuch. I buy singles if I get completist (happens with ooh....2 bands) or if they haven't put an album out, that sort of thing. A lot do present no value for money at all, and tacked on remixes are often bilge. However, as evidenced on the 'length' thread, they are good for the limited attention span a lot of people seem to profess to...;)

― Bill, Thursday, 10 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

I have a tattoo of a 45rpm adapter on my arm, and the majority of people who see it have no idea what it is.

― Sean, Thursday, 10 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Rownderbowt info here and "Mesmerise" is on it. I should say that the reviewer shouldn't be trusted.

― Ned Raggett, Thursday, 10 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

I have a tattoo of a 45rpm adapter on my arm, and the majority of people who see it have no idea what it is.

You mean something you pop on the spindle of yr turntable's motor to covert to 45rpm, or the spidery thing you place at the centre of a jukebox cut-out 7" to centre it? If the former, I'm not surprised no- one knows what it is.

― Michael Jones, Thursday, 10 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

No, it's the latter.

― Sean, Thursday, 10 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

ha. concerning, 'die die die' i thought they only did that one for the benefit of us in the detroit err...pontiac audience. they tried to snarl their way through it but it was, indeed, laughable except when andrew sherrif(where have you gone?) answered a random heckler with 'this ain't a fooking MC5 gig!'.

― keith, Thursday, 10 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

well, there you go, Rownderbowt. What an awful title though. Sounds interesting but honestly though I had a lot of there stuff at the time, Mesmerise is the only thing I stil think is worth a damn. See though, no need to get the single, you could've gotten all these extra tracks just by waiting 5 years... Seriously though, does anyone know about See See Rider, they had 2 singles on Lazy Records I believe.

― g, Thursday, 10 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

i thought they only did that one for the benefit of us in the detroit err...pontiac audience

Nah, they did it in LA too. Great stuff.

― Ned Raggett, Thursday, 10 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Seriously though, does anyone know about See See Rider, they had 2 singles on Lazy Records I believe.

I got one of their singles (can't remember which one - mostly black cover) for 25p from Rham records in Wallasey in '92. S'ok. Phil King, later of Lush, played with them for a bit. They were also featured on Gigantic 2, a CD/cassette compilation Melody Maker put out in 1990-ish.

― Michael Jones, Thursday, 10 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

I buy singles. Of course! Who doesn't? They're cheap n' easy, and the 'b-sides' are good too.
I mainly buy pop singles. Singles by artists whose albums I won't necessarily be interested in buying or by bands who are otherwise crap but release their one good song as a single. When I have plenty I make mix tapes from them.

― DavidM, Thursday, 10 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

It's because pop music today is bad.

― the pinefox, Thursday, 10 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

As far as I can tell. I see them in gas stations, sometimes, and other than that it seems like singles are more for collectors looking for those unreleased b-sides. We're talking about "singles" and not "7-inches", right?

Capitol Records still produces "jukebox" 7" singles/45 rpms, under their "EMI Special Markets" banner. No artwork, "For Jukeboxes Only!" I've bought/seen ones this passed year by At The Drive In ("One Armed Scissor"), Coldplay ("Yellow" and "Trouble"), Shuggie Otis ("Aht uh Mah Head" b/w "Strawberry Letter 23"), Beastie Boys ("Alive"), Pink Floyd ("Time" b/w "Money"; "Wish You Were Here" b/w "Have A Cigar"). Warner Bros. also does this on occasion, but the only ones I can think of off the top of my head are Black Sabbath ("Paranoid" b/w "Iron Man"), and the entire Eric Clapton/BB King album was released as jukebox singles.

― Vic Funk, Thursday, 10 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

i reckon i'd be way more into contempo pop music if it still came out on 7"s...'cause i'll never be able to find a copy of "Bootylicious" on a scratchy 7" with SHARON B 47 QUEEN ST TEMUKA scrawled across the label in pink magic marker...well i'll never own a copy of "Bootylicious".

― duane, Friday, 11 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

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