Dancing Barefoot

Today’s post comes from the “Lost in the Corners of Apt. 104” category.

In the late 80’s some record company marketing genius created a 3-inch CD, which was supposed to be the digital replacement for the 7-inch single. There were some problems: “Record labels never settled on a suitable package,” according to cd3music.com. “While playable on many audio systems, some hi-fi stereo systems / compact disc players required a snap-on adaptor to turn them into a standard 5-inch CD. Because of this, 3-inch CD singles never sold very well.”

A sucker for novelty, I fell for the gimmick and bought exactly two of these little disks. I thought I had long ago lost the adapter, but while cleaning up some things today, I found it. I’ve never actually used the adapter in anything where the CD goes into a slot (i.e. my computer), so I wasn’t sure how it would work. I could picture it jamming and never coming free. But I tried anyway. And I’ll be go-to-hell if it didn’t work!

The first of these two little singles is U2’s “When Love Comes to Town” from 1988’s Rattle and Hum album. Along with the album version and a remixed version of the title track, the single also contains a remix of “God Part II,” and a cover of Patti Smith’s “Dancing Barefoot.” I believe the single was issued first in the 3-inch format, then later as a traditional 5-inch disk. And if you’re interested, “When Love Comes to Town” charted as high as number two in the U.S.

Dancing Barefoot (Patti Smith cover).mp3
When Love Comes to Town (live from The Kingdom mix).mp3
God Part II (the hard metal dance mix).mp3

Labels: rock, singles, U2

posted by aikin @ 5:49 PM