Roxy Music 'Avalon'

there's something so silly and great about it

it's actually really heartwarming to me to think that someone could have conjured it up

though there is a very strong cognitive dissonance between bryan ferry's love-man seduction moves and the evocation of a saxon warrior looking out over the north sea or whatever

is that part of the point of the title track? i have no clue

I think I actually prefer "Flesh + Blood" despite it's occasional naffness.

Also, the r&b bass on the title track is fantastic.

i'm not sure i get the talk talk connection...can you elaborate?

yes the bass is nice and so are andy newmark's drums. the drum sound has a lot to do with how this is dated (note again that i am not using that word as a pejorative). the title track has that reggae-robbed-of-its-sideways-jerk quality that worked to varying extents for a lot of rock bands of the late 70s/early 80s

sometimes the effects on ferry's voice--reverb etc--seem a bit overdone, but usually not

given the subject matter of the songs and the overall conceit that's both refreshing and creepy

I can sense it -- restrained elegant bliss as final endpoint from a chaotic pop/rock start. In terms of song structure and thematic focus there's no real connection but in a general sense of 'atmosphere' as generically considered...hm, it's an intriguing observation.

do you mean over the span of these bands' careers or the span of a song?

because it seems to me that talk talk rather rediscovered the value of certain "ugly"/chaotic sounds (utilized in moderation) etc. as they moved along and roxy music purposely excluded such sounds in their later records.

I still think "The Main Thing" is a great song.

Lite rock in itself is not inherently bad.

But that's not why Avalon was made, so that's the problem.

The sibilance [sp] of the track does the rest.

It is the best album OMD ever made.

I'm sick of ILM, if anyone cares.

Have fun.

It's a very well put together record, for sure — and pleasing in many respects: hooks, melodies, synths. And I kind of enjoy it.

But to me, Avalon is the sound of Ferry falling hopelessly in love with a character he had been parodying up until then. As a result, it's utterly impossible to hear this record as anything other than the consequence of that transformation. Does it reflect 80s soullessness? Absolutely — but not in a conscious way at all. And so other than it being made by a legend, nothing about it makes the record all that much different than any other pleasant radio fare from the era.

Does that make sense?

Bryan's son protesting at Tony Blair's constituency home in support of foxhunting almost exactly 20 years later - ie the Ferry lineage now *more* old-establishment than the PM - was the logical conclusion. That's not a diss of "Avalon", far from it.

I HEART "Avalon", btw. "True To Life" is my high watermark - where Bry goes all Liz Fraser on us (at least in terms of being vowelly and impenetrable) and sounds gloriously faded glam-y.

I remember him coming to NYC in 1988 and my then-GF saying "We gotta see him' and I had a deep reaction of 'Why???"

As for the music, I may have mentioned this before, but the feeling of hanging out in some polynesian themed hotel lounge I get is totally unique.

Though the model was in fact a woman -- certainly it was cryptically conveyed, though.

Robin, I'm well aware of Lucy Helmore's background and Ferry's social climbing (his London home was one of the first features in World Of Interiors magazine, it was all very trad and landed gentry, not an inch of modernism anywhere). Though I would disagree that no one cared about Ferry after "Avalon", I know plenty of people who adored "Boys & Girls" and to whom Ferry means an awful lot, just as much as Bowie.

The big difference is that Eno's pieces are aiming for the illusion of stillness, like a water feature while Ferry is trying for stillness. Or put another way Eno's still curious, Avalon's the work of a man who's found his place, both socially and romantically, and is contented. It's no suprise that he packed Roxy in after that as it was an artistic dead end, though he did try refining it with diminishing returns over the following 15 years. It's also no surprise giving his recent background that Frantic is probably his best and most invigorating work since then.

my mom inexplicably had "boys and girls" in her collection but has no memory of hearing it or buying it. i liked it but was typically afraid to admit to that.

jesus christ, grad school has robbed me of the luxury of spending more than 30 minutes thinking about anything except work. i really miss being able to make extended observations like the one that opens this thread. i think i'll slit my wrists.

No, stay true to life. That's the main thing.

Oh my guffing fod. I can't believe this thread came up just now! I was driving home tonight and I saw this street called "Avalon" and I vowed to try to remember to look up the Roxy Music album called that, but I was trying to memorize these other three musical things I'd come across tonight at the same time and then by the time I got home I totally forgot what the 4th thing was and it was Roxy. Thanks ILM! *whew*

ah so that's why amateurist has been so quiet lately

jesus christ, grad school has robbed me of the luxury of spending more than 30 minutes thinking about anything except work.

There's a reason I left it.

amateurist is wrong about "To Turn You On." Predictable chord sequence, icky sentiment, blah blah blah -- he sings it beautifully, especially the way he enunciates "God help me."

I heard avalon on one of the episodes of heroes last night.

I can't picture that song being party music really.

Alfred OTM.

I could walk you through the park if you're feeling blue or whatever...

Weird, I was watching 'Matchstick Men' on A&E tonight and "More Than This" was playing in a totally blue collar bowling alley where Nick Cage and Alison Lohman were having a father/daughter game. I thought then "I'm gonna dig out 'Avalon' and give it a refresher spin" but forgot. As Bimble said, Thanks ILM!

In a way, this is an album which screams to be listened to on a Bang Olufsen stereo in a room filled with expensive design furniture, in a huge Westend flat.

Have I tried? No. Can't afford that. :)

Yet, this is New Romantics in a nutshell, but it's kind of nice really because nobody had done anything like that before.

finding the guitar line from more than this being used as the standard segue on a radio talk show here in addis was a lil surprising

love love love the album avalon, and c'mon the smoothness is the entire point of the album and title track would rank as my fave track from the album, Yannick Etienne's cries at the end are just gorgeous

Truly, this album is a gift to humans. There ought to be universal acknowledgement of that, at least. Try and imagine a world without it - you just can't.

love Ferry's keyboard work too -- the best Prophet 5 song on earth.

the best Prophet 5 song on earth

"Biko" to thread stat.

uh...4CD set?

My $0.02, despite amateurist's admonition upthread not to simply say 'it rocks' - toss off the instrumentals, and albums don't get more perfect than thi

I think they're referring to the _Thrill Of It All_ 4CD box, which is just about perfect - except it doesn't contain the entirety of _Avalon_, you'll still need it.

Robyn Hitchcock's cover of "More Than This" is stunning, apropos of nothing.

whoa, where is that from?

That box set looks good but ultimately doesn't interest me much. I like early Roxy (especially Country Life), but I LOVE the Manifesto - Avalon run (including the unjustly hated-on Flesh + Blood) SO damn much, and I have those records on multiple formats.

When I read '4CD box' upthread, I was envisioning a Funhouse-esque, super bloated, meticulously sequenced monster box of Avalon outtakes, alternate tracks, demos, etc. Now THAT would be something...

whoa, where is that from?

What, the Hitchcock cover? Originally from a single but available on one of his Greatest Hits collections from the 90s.

Crazy! Thanks man...

I used to have the 7" of Roxy Music's "More Than This". I remember exactly what it looked like. My best friend once played that song on his stereo out of the blue, too, I wasn't expecting it, wouldn't have even thought he'd know it.

Yes, Robyn H.'s cover of "More Than This" is great.

If I ever spot a copy of the CD with the "Always Unknowing" b-side, that will make the 4th copy of this thing I'll have bought, and it'll be worth it. Great song.

i'm hooked on the vocal delivery throughout this album. but particularly on the singles

If I ever spot a copy of the CD with the "Always Unknowing" b-side

That's on the rarities disc in the _Thrill Of It All_ box.

'take a chance with me' is pretty fantastic

hard to argue with the super smooth lushness of the title track. i'm really warming to this textured 80s sound. even though i may have found it irksome not six months ago.

Oddly enough I've played this more than once in the last week. Pretty much everything about it is perfect smoove.

Plus I have the More Than This 7"!

I certainly see it as Ferry passing into the New Establishment (at the exact, specific moment when that entity started to form itself, ie mid-1982 when Thatcher stopped being a mere prime minister and became an ideological reformer), cf trying his hand at falconry in the video for the title song, and his society wedding the week "Avalon" the song reached its chart peak. It marked his final moment of contemporary revelance, but it was a brilliant way to go; the kind of perfection from which there is, literally, no way back or out. Nobody could care about Ferry after that; nobody *was meant* to care.
Bryan's son protesting at Tony Blair's constituency home in support of foxhunting almost exactly 20 years later - ie the Ferry lineage now *more* old-establishment than the PM - was the logical conclusion. That's not a diss of "Avalon", far from it.

-- robin carmody (robin carmody), Wednesday, 21 January 2004

is that the final perfect moment of Carmodyism, from which there was nowhere to go?

We discuss Roxy in the eighties.

Inspired by all this I've been listening to the Boston 1979 radio broadcast today.

from the Manifesto period? how is it?

A touch muffled but an excellent performance all around, Ferry introduces each of the band bit by bit after a particular turn on a song (Mackay after "A Song for Europe" etc.). Should be pretty easy to find, search by 'roxy music orpheum boston 1979.' Some amusing moments like the funky bass breakdown in "Out of the Blue."

His intro to "Stronger Through the Years" kinda invents Jarvis Cocker (even more so than a lot of other things).

The DVD comp released in 2008 has excellent live footage from this period (especially "Still Falls the Rain" and "Ain't That So"), so I wonder if it was recorded in Boston.

np

i wish my life was like this album

expensive tailoring, cabriolets and romance as a means of anticipating regret?

plus cocaine, obv

this is a pretty cool interview with one of the guys who mixed Avalon

http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/aug03/articles/roxymusic.htm

interesting stuff about Bryan Ferry's writing process, putting down ideas over a Linn Drum beat and then the band kinda embellishing the groove

(xx-post. misread "life" for "wife". don't know, maybe applicable too ;-)

Show me other records like Avalon.

OK....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aawe7ydbF0I

Thanks!

I quite like Thomas Dolby's "Flat Earth" too, it's sort of like Avalon.

Kaputt.

Marcello has a go.

I think you might want to correct that link.

What a dream: Ferry yelling OKLAHOMA WAS NEVER LIKE THIS

The more I listen to this record, the more I'm convinced that it's one of the greatest production jobs of all time. Everything on this record sounds so beautifully recorded. I understand that there are those that prefer the more unhinged early Roxy, but man am I so glad they stuck around long enough to make this one.

This one was my gateway. Didn't everyone have a cop of the cassette in their glove box?

DANCING, DANCING

The video for the title track is a little masterpiece in its own right and has aged nearly as well as the song. Something that struck me last time I watched it was the director's use of a "glowing retina" lighting trick on Ferry and his inamorata, similar to what Ridley Scott employed that same year in Blade Runner to signify that a character is a replicant. It reminded me of the scene in the film where Pris asks J.F. Sebastian how he has guessed that she and Roy are not human. "'Cos you're so perfect", he wistfully replies.

'Is it raining in New York, on fifth avenue?' - goosebumps every time

this is the best album

It is rather unworldly, or out of time or something intangible. Cinematic, even.

yes! it feels like it is shimmering...

“And the background's fading
Out of focus
Yes the picture's changing
Every moment
And your destination
You don't know it”

pretty much describes the sensation

I still feel that Ferry may wear dentures despite someone who met met confirming he did not

the way I see it
this relationship ain't right

Take a chance with me is a stunner

this is the best album

― Scam jam, thank you ma’am (Sparkle Motion), Tuesday, August 14, 2018 12:23 PM (one hour ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

otm

The Prophet-5 work on this album is some of the most gossamer and on-point ever.

This is not only my favourite Roxy Music album, but one of my favourite productions of all time. It's such a beautiful sounding, superbly well recorded album.

Agreed. "Gossamer", that's the word I was searching for!

I've only heard the first 2 and this. I can't imagine anything in-between sounding quite so special.

stranded, country life, and siren are totally and completely different from avalon, but they are each fantastic in their own way. check em out.

Stranded is still my favorite, but, really, if their weakest is Flesh + Blood, then my god

stranded also my favourite, brian eno otm about that one

I'd rank it below Country Life, myself... but only just!

In fact, I'd take Stranded and Country Life over the first two.

same here

tbh i find for your pleasure to be my least favourite, despite having some of their best tracks (like grey lagoons)

country life is a damn good record

er for your pleasure not below flesh and blood obvs tho, but least favourite possibly on par with siren

flesh and blood is their only half-assed record (two covers!) but the highs on it are amazing.

'Same Old Scene' is one of my Top 10 Roxy Music tracks. I listen to Flesh + Blood more than Manifesto.

top five even

I always thought these guys had listened to some Japan before making this album. The sonic similarities to late period Sylvian and Co. are there - especially on tracks like "The Space Between".

It's funny you should mention Japan, because 'Same Old Scene' sounds like it could have fit snugly on Gentlemen Take Polaroids, even though it was released almost half a year before that album.

I always thought Ferry stopped listening to music in 1968.

It seems strange to say this, but as interesting as Roxy Music were musically, I've never really been fascinated by Ferry as a person. There seems to be something quite dull about him - which is weird, cuz you look at footage of the early Roxy Music performing and they look so exciting and not of this Earth.

Ferry is not a person, never has been.

I've written elsewhere that he's the biggest nullity of major rock 'n' roll figures.

in recent interviews he has mentioned that he only listens to ambient-architectural experimental music

It was the pro-fox hunting shit that irked me. Thankfully, it's very easy to separate Ferry from his music.

You can't! Ferry is the music. There is no person named Bryan Ferry.

yup alfred otm

Lester Bangs certainly agrees w you

Japan is a weird blind spot for me - they seem like the connecting link between Roxy and Duran Duran, yet they are almost completely unknown in the states/never had any hits here etc

when I discovered them in the early nineties way before the internet, I looked them up based on allusions to them in reviews/articles about Duran and Roxy.

weirdly I was at least aware of David Sylvian due to solo videos in rotation on the local music video show, but it was years later before I even heard of Japan, and then it was from a devout Roxy-head friend

video was for "Orpheus"

You can't! Ferry is the music. There is no person named Bryan Ferry.

― morning wood truancy (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, August 16, 2018 7:08 PM (seventeen minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Oh, how I wish that were the case!

Japan's biggest hit in the UK was 'Ghosts', and I'm amazed that it was a hit to begin with - it's not a track which has "hit single" written all over it. Their first album was 1978 and they didn't have a single crack the UK Top 50 until 1981, by which point they were on their final album. 'Quiet Life' was a Top 20 hit, but it was released as a single two years after the album!

So really, they were always a cult band - although an influential one on the likes of Duran Duran etc.

the Thrill of it all box set is what got me deeply familiar with this band. Yet while I got all the LPs other than Manifesto and Flesh and Blood in the 90s, it took me a while to get familiar with the cuts that are not on the BS. "whirlwind" is probly the biggest HOLY SHIT discovery therein. Maybe a poll re: what didn't make the box would be good?

The bob, Would you Believe?, Bitter's End

Grey Lagoons

Psalm, Serenade

If it tales All night, Triptych

End of the Line, Whirlwind (the former two should have been in the box), She Sells, Nightingale

Still falls the Rain (FUCKING AWESOME), My Little Girl, Cry Cry cry (maybe the shittiest Roxy song), Spin me Round

In the Midnight Hour, Eight Miles High (these two are not very good), Rain Rain rain, Running Wild

the space between, true to life

hey bro
don't be square
here it is -- not over there

this relationship ain't right

truly one of the best moments in music right there.. the guitars, the sax, the croon, the humidity..

This is not only not remotely my favorite Roxy Music record (maybe number 5 or so in my list?), but I've always found the production sheen overrated. Still a great record!

Great comment/observation I saw on youtube, about how Duran Duran cited Roxy as an inspiration but one never got the sense that they "got" Roxy, vs. a band like Talking Heads that clearly "got" Roxy Music but was less obviously indebted to them.

the Thrill of it all box set is what got me deeply familiar with this band

Me, too! My biggest "how could they leave this off" track is "Psalm", especially the live on Musikladen version.

Xp but She Sells is amazing and people should be talking about it in hushed tones all the time but they don’t and why don’t they?

Yeah that box is great -- already had all the albums by then but having the B-sides at long last was worth it for that reason alone.

"Same Old Scene" is transcendent, and Avalon remains Avalon, ie transcendent.

I should note something, though, that has not been brought up in the recent discussion, but which I only just realized the other week. The cover model, Lucy Birley, who married Ferry that year and was the mother of his four sons, divorcing him in 2003, died just a couple of weeks ago. Very tragically and sadly, it was suicide, while on a visit to Ireland.

https://www.standard.co.uk/showbiz/celebrity-news/lucy-birley-dead-at-58-london-socialite-and-former-wife-of-bryan-ferry-dies-on-holiday-in-ireland-a3895146.html

Per this piece here:

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/women/life/tragedy-lucy-birley-sadness-gilded-society-set/

Her death this week came while on holiday in Ireland, surrounded by her beloved dogs. Her brother, journalist Ed Helmore, remarked: “Lucy fought a long battle with depression, a battle that she lost on Monday”

This essay in memoriam is worth your time.

https://www.vogue.com/article/lucy-birley-obituary

It seems strange to say this, but as interesting as Roxy Music were musically, I've never really been fascinated by Ferry as a person. There seems to be something quite dull about him - which is weird, cuz you look at footage of the early Roxy Music performing and they look so exciting and not of this Earth.

They all looked exciting except Ferry, he so looked so awkward and ill at ease and had no real stage presence, hid himself behind a keyboard, no wonder he was jealous of Eno.

Birley was another pro-fox hunting campaigner too, I think?

(x-post)

1. Alfred's various theses on Bryan Ferry make up some of my favorite music writing ever. I liked the band. His writing made me adore them.

2. I don't think I could rank Roxy albums. The S/T, Stranded, Country, and Avalon are all equally wonderful for reasons that are impossible to compare and contrast, because of the way Ferry nullified himself, the way the sense of camp evaporates. The rest are fascinating, even if they've got some ups and downs. My favorite tracks are well distributed across the catalog.

3. I just snagged a nice crisp LP of In Your Mind. My very fashion conscious 18 year old was looking over the jacket, and she was shocked when she realized it wasn't a brand new release. The dude is timeless.

thank you!

bryan ferry is what he fears most, a dilettante

after mainlining this album for the last week one thing I'm still perplexed by is the sequencing. the title cut seems like it should be the finale but it shows up 3 songs in, while Tara is essentially an intro to a closer that never comes.

That's confidence!

Manzanerek is so lovely on the title track, those light burbly phased triads and such

Triad is not the word, I just mean like strumming three strings or w/e

Wait not phasing, just straight tremolo

Wait not phasing, just straight tremolo

A cross between Phil Manzanera and Ray Manzarek.

I just spent two minutes looking around on the internet trying to figure out whether I somehow missed that Ray Manzarek had played on Avalon before I figured out that it was a typo for Phil Mazanera.

New tour announced, "playing songs from Avalon plus solo & Roxy Music hits." I don't know what the hell that means. Is he playing all of Avalon, plus solo & Roxy hits? Is he just playing some songs from Avalon, which of course would be also have been covered by "Roxy Music hits?" No idea.

Is it a good idea to see him live?

Is he playing all of Avalon, plus solo & Roxy hits

sounds like it's this

He's not bad live, but of course there's not a lot of (any) improvisation and it's all about replicating the albums. He's a pretty weird and compelling performer, though, has good moves and makes funny faces.

Thanks, that sounds about all one can expect (he's 73!). Roxy are somewhat heroes of mine and I've never seen him live, but this new tour swings by close to me. I'll probably just go do it. Good moves are underrated.

and his hair -- well.

Sign me up for that ravenous coiffure at 73!

This was his latest full setlist:

https://www.setlist.fm/setlist/bryan-ferry/2018/theatro-dasous-thessaloniki-greece-3be988f8.html

The Main Thing
(Roxy Music song)

Slave to Love

Don't Stop the Dance

Ladytron
(Roxy Music song)

Out of the Blue
(Roxy Music song)

Oh Yeah
(Roxy Music song)

Casanova
(Roxy Music song)

Tokyo Joe

Bitter-Sweet
(Roxy Music song)

Windswept

Bête Noire

Zamba

Stronger Through the Years
(Roxy Music song)

Don't Think Twice, It's All Right
(Bob Dylan cover)

My Only Love
(Roxy Music song)

In Every Dream Home a Heartache
(Roxy Music song)

If There Is Something
(Roxy Music song)

Re-Make/Re-Model
(Roxy Music song)

More Than This
(Roxy Music song)

Avalon
(Roxy Music song)

Love Is the Drug
(Roxy Music song)

Virginia Plain
(Roxy Music song)

Encore:
Let's Stick Together
(Wilbert Harrison cover)

Jealous Guy
(John Lennon cover)

Editions of You
(Roxy Music song)

I've seen him three times with increasing delight. He played "Zamba" and "Bete Noire" last time!

That seals it!

Great setlist too

Saw him last year, fabulous show. If he ever meant anything to you, absolutely, go!

I tried but could not find a way!

I've seen him three times and Roxy once. They've all been equally good, and while there's nothing revelatory about him live (unlike, say, David Byrne's most recent tour), yeah, if he means something to you, check it out. Which is honestly not something I'd say for just any legacy act.

I so wish I could have seen Byrne's recent tour. This isn't that, but it's really good. I never saw Bowie until his final tour in 2014, and now my memories are maybe better than the actual show, which was excellent. And you never know when it'll be your last chance.

xp lol Alfred.

Tix ordered, thx guys!

I never saw Bowie until his final tour in 2014

I sure wish he had such a tour. You mean 2004?

I was in the lobby of the venue when the roadie fell from the rafter in July 2004.

Bowie final tour 2004, you mean. I saw him that year at MSG, was great. Hard to believe I saw him not long before that opening for Moby on that ill-begotten Area 2 tour.

xpost!

Yes, 2004, stupid fingers...

that's no way to talk about a dead man

Stupid Fingers would be a great band name.

have consistently missed Ferry and Roxy on all of their tours through the bay area ....I won't miss this one. would be nice if manzanera were on this tour as well.

Tix ordered, thx guys!

― lbi's life of limitless european glamour (Le Bateau Ivre), Monday, January 14, 2019 7:17 PM (four months ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

So I saw Ferry's first show of his new European tour on Monday and quite simply: it was a ton of fun! How could it not be when Ferry himself was enjoying it so much? He was so enthused, throwing the audience kisses and just moving about with such swagger all night. His voice isn't what it used to be, that was pretty clear (the first couple of songs he sounded more like Stuart Staples), but that was entirely ok. His backing bank was phenomenal, specifically the drummer and sax player. They were on stage with ten musicians, which I thought was very generous. They ripped through the songs pretty quickly, the bigger hits sometimes only one verse + chorus, but it all made perfect sense and it was just a very tight, lively show, with great sound. We had a blast.

OT: This was by far the concert with the highest average age I've ever went to. I saw people in their 70s taking photos with their ipads :)

Ha, excellent. Looking forward to August.

The surround mix of this is glorious.

The back-to-back sequencing of "To Turn You On" and "True to Life" slays me.

It's pretty genius. "To Turn You On" is my secret favorite on the album.

He never sung again with such unshaded passion; I can see him falling on one knee while singing "God help me!"

The keyboard sound on that track = fireplace simmering.

How to make "Or whatever" sound apocalyptic.

The chord changes and melody on "To Turn You On" make me think he was trying to write a Siren-era song with a 1982 arrangement, it feels a bit out of place on this record.

(it's funny-- all the exotic/ancient-sounding names used by bands at that time, "tara" etc--same conceit as the cover i guess)

https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/ta-ra

Cool but then again, they also ended their second lp with the same lyrical sentiment. (Must've been marking Eno's departure.)

"You don't ask why..."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5bwdQIaOtHg

It’s a reference to the manse in Gone With the Wind is it not?

Works both ways though. Which I'm sure would have been deliberate.

He named one of his sons Tara.

and a fine lad he is too

https://i.imgur.com/dzPw3sr.jpg

turns out i never really listened to avalon before today (1 jan 2025), bcz i "already knew what it sounded like" or some daft shit

anyway despite being half-right abt this i like the way it also quietly hews to eno-esque gestures and micro-techniuques in several songs, while "the main thing" is very much a surprise (and a good one)

That's a sinister little track

Heh, singah’s post is making me revisit this album for the first time in ages.

Heard it endlessly when I was young in the 80s, but nothing from the 80s was cool in the 90s so kind of ignored it and beat the 70s albums to death. When I rediscovered it it was like finding an old favorite sweater. Love the reverb, guitar, synths, guitar synth....

Yeah this was on all the time when I was growing up

“The main thing” sounds very current / relevant imo. I bought the 12” recently bc the extended / club version is longer

I like what the Voigt bros did with “the main thing” (ymmv)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=73sLjt7Hu5g