Favourite CD maxi singles

JamieJ73

JamieJ73

Possibly - possibly - my favourite. It only loses points for not having the single mix of the track on it. The two remixes are fantastic and I went out and immediately bought both albums and as many back singles as I could.

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idratherjack

idratherjack

I started collecting CD singles in 1993 (2 years before I actually had my own CD player, I was very late to the party!) and treasure my collection. Like @anfunny2003 the CD single will forever be my favourite format as I love a good remix. Those 90s halcyon days when every single came with 5 remixes including the obligatory Almighty mix were wonderful and my CD singles collection takes me right back to that time.

One of my favourite maxi singles (which we didn't have in the UK but bear with me) is this

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3 club remixes of My Heart Will Go On and bonus remixes of Misled and Love Can Move Mountains.

Celine was great for CD singles in the 90s actually, so many top notch remixes.
 
V

Vive Indifference

This thread started of as a good idea and turned into 'favourite cd single' which is ok but doesn't have the added caché of why the extra tracks that came on the non-uk (nearly always from the US) maxi-singles made the disc special ...

These maxi's usually had vinyl only mixes and alternative US club mixes or in some instances random tracks from previous releases not available on cd to make the disc value for money ...

They usually always came in full sized jewel cases too ...
 
AcerBenII

AcerBenII

anfunny2003 said:
The UK never had maxi CDs, they are a US/German thing. The UK just had CD singles. No UK releases say "maxi" on them. The UK loved their CD singles in the 90s and sometimes we got CD1, CD2 and CD3, instead of 7"/12"/cassette. But our chart regulations meant we couldn't have more than 20 minutes on and various other restrictions.

As CD singles will forever be my favourite format (I bought 11 today alone), I can't pick ONE as my favourite. I do favour the German maxi remix CDs, which I'm still collecting. Most of them have otherwise vinyl-only mixes on them, exclusive to the German market. I also like the USA maxi CDs that quite often had exclusive remixes or re-edits by little known DJs and always had full length mixes too. I still buy up those, too. The UK often got early fades on longer mixes - annoyingly!
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We started getting maxis in late 2003 though, when labels started releasing a 2-track that would stay at £1.99 even beyond the first week, then a more expensive maxi, though they weren't always great value because they could still only include three different songs (but as many remixes up to 40 minutes). OCC changed the chart rules to encourage labels to release 2-tracks in the hope that sales would increase.

Some of the dance labels like AATW put "MAXI CD" on the cover.
 
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AcerBenII

AcerBenII

I found the UK chart rules here

  • 2004 -
    • Two new formats have been introduced:
    • The two-track CD single:
      • Two audio tracks only
      • No more than 10 minutes in total
      • Standardised singles jewel case packaging, no free gifts or extras, lower minimum dealer price
    • The "Maxi" CD/DVD:
      • Current maximum of three tracks will in addition be able to feature remixes of those tracks so long as they remain within the currently-acknowledged time limit of 20 minutes
      • Singles which solely feature a lead track plus multiple remixes of the same track will be able to run for up to 40 minutes
      • The current limit of one video will increase to two
      • Singles will, for the first time, be able to feature weblinks with an extension of the rule which currently allows them on albums
    • Labels wishing to release a single that complies with the new rules should be aware that sales of a maximum of one 2 Track CD, one "Maxi" CD and one "Maxi" DVD may be combined per release for Chart purposes.
    • OCC will be issuing a new set of Chart Rules shortly. These will run in parallel with the existing Chart Rules (effective 08.05.02) until December 29 2003 at which point the existing Chart Rules will cease to apply.
      This means that until December 29 2003, labels can elect singles releases to comply with either the existing Chart Rules (effective 08.05.02) or the new document (effective 20.10.03), but not a combination of both. Singles released from December 29 2003 must comply with the new rules.

  • ca 1998 - ca 2003
    • Maximum 20 minutes playing time for each single format
      (Since Spring 2001 multimedia content seems to count)
    • Maximum 3 different tracks for each single format
      (Since Spring 2001 it seems to be allowed to include more than 3 versions of the featured track)
    • Each format must contain a version of the featured song
    • A maximum of 3 different formats of each title are allowed
      A 'format' is for example 7", 10", 12", cassette, CD, Enhanced-CD. If there are different editions of one media like CD#1/CD#2 or 12"-Part1/Part2, each edition is counted as one format.
      So most dancefloor labels are relasing a 2-part 12" with usually 4 mixes and a CD single with 3 (mostly mutilated and shortened) mixes of a song including a radio edit.

  • - ca 1997
    • Before 1998 it was allowed to include up to 4 different songs (with "B-sides") up to 25 minutes, and to put a maximum of 40 minutes playing time on one format if it only contained remixes of the title track.
    • That's why for example THE ORB released a single "Blue Room" which was exactly 39:59 long, or that's why THE PET SHOP BOYS and many many other artists used to release two-part-CD-singles around this time, one with "B-sides" less than 20/25 minutes, and one with remixes up to 40 minutes.
 
ohnoitisnathan

ohnoitisnathan

AcerBenII said:
I found the UK chart rules here

  • 2004 -
    • Two new formats have been introduced:
    • The two-track CD single:
      • Two audio tracks only
      • No more than 10 minutes in total
      • Standardised singles jewel case packaging, no free gifts or extras, lower minimum dealer price
    • The "Maxi" CD/DVD:
      • Current maximum of three tracks will in addition be able to feature remixes of those tracks so long as they remain within the currently-acknowledged time limit of 20 minutes
      • Singles which solely feature a lead track plus multiple remixes of the same track will be able to run for up to 40 minutes
      • The current limit of one video will increase to two
      • Singles will, for the first time, be able to feature weblinks with an extension of the rule which currently allows them on albums
    • Labels wishing to release a single that complies with the new rules should be aware that sales of a maximum of one 2 Track CD, one "Maxi" CD and one "Maxi" DVD may be combined per release for Chart purposes.
    • OCC will be issuing a new set of Chart Rules shortly. These will run in parallel with the existing Chart Rules (effective 08.05.02) until December 29 2003 at which point the existing Chart Rules will cease to apply.
      This means that until December 29 2003, labels can elect singles releases to comply with either the existing Chart Rules (effective 08.05.02) or the new document (effective 20.10.03), but not a combination of both. Singles released from December 29 2003 must comply with the new rules.

  • ca 1998 - ca 2003
    • Maximum 20 minutes playing time for each single format
      (Since Spring 2001 multimedia content seems to count)
    • Maximum 3 different tracks for each single format
      (Since Spring 2001 it seems to be allowed to include more than 3 versions of the featured track)
    • Each format must contain a version of the featured song
    • A maximum of 3 different formats of each title are allowed
      A 'format' is for example 7", 10", 12", cassette, CD, Enhanced-CD. If there are different editions of one media like CD#1/CD#2 or 12"-Part1/Part2, each edition is counted as one format.
      So most dancefloor labels are relasing a 2-part 12" with usually 4 mixes and a CD single with 3 (mostly mutilated and shortened) mixes of a song including a radio edit.

  • - ca 1997
    • Before 1998 it was allowed to include up to 4 different songs (with "B-sides") up to 25 minutes, and to put a maximum of 40 minutes playing time on one format if it only contained remixes of the title track.
    • That's why for example THE ORB released a single "Blue Room" which was exactly 39:59 long, or that's why THE PET SHOP BOYS and many many other artists used to release two-part-CD-singles around this time, one with "B-sides" less than 20/25 minutes, and one with remixes up to 40 minutes.
Click to expand...

The UK chart rules were so stupid, I thought, when the track/time limit came into effect. I was a big Tori Amos fan at the time, and loved getting the multi-part UK CD singles with new b-sides on them. 'Spark', released in April 1998, had 3 b-sides on the first CD, so the 3-track limit didn't yet exist. But by the time the planned, pressed and then withdrawn 'Raspberry Swirl' CD single came out in August 1998, there were only 3 tracks on it.

I tend to think of maxi singles as containing at least 5 mixes of the same track. I've never been into remixes that much, other than extended/12" versions, so don't have a favourite that springs to mind.
 
AcerBenII

AcerBenII

ohnoitisnathan said:
The UK chart rules were so stupid, I thought, when the track/time limit came into effect. I was a big Tori Amos fan at the time, and loved getting the multi-part UK CD singles with new b-sides on them. 'Spark', released in April 1998, had 3 b-sides on the first CD, so the 3-track limit didn't yet exist. But by the time the planned, pressed and then withdrawn 'Raspberry Swirl' CD single came out in August 1998, there were only 3 tracks on it.

I tend to think of maxi singles as containing at least 5 mixes of the same track. I've never been into remixes that much, other than extended/12" versions, so don't have a favourite that springs to mind.
Click to expand...

I think the rationale behind it was to save labels from themselves - they might have felt pressure to put more and more tracks on the singles in order to compete, in a chart that was just getting more and more competitive. This way, you weren't allowed to. I suppose in a way it was a more level playground if all singles had the same number of tracks on them.

But whether it was the right thing to do is of course debatable.
 
ohnoitisnathan

ohnoitisnathan

AcerBenII said:
I think the rationale behind it was to save labels from themselves - they might have felt pressure to put more and more tracks on the singles in order to compete, in a chart that was just getting more and more competitive. This way, you weren't allowed to. I suppose in a way it was a more level playground if all singles had the same number of tracks on them.

But whether it was the right thing to do is of course debatable.
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It saw it as being virtually the UK-equivalent (though of course not as bad) of killing the single that the US had done with not releasing singles at all, hoping people would buy the more-profitable album to get that one song they liked.
 
AcerBenII

AcerBenII

ohnoitisnathan said:
It saw it as being virtually the UK-equivalent (though of course not as bad) of killing the single that the US had done with not releasing singles at all, hoping people would buy the more-profitable album to get that one song they liked.
Click to expand...

Possibly.. though back then getting a #1 single was *everything*, so I don't think labels wanted to actively discourage people from buying them - at least until they deleted them!
 
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