TOP 2O EXTENDED PLAY
WHETHER IT WAS AS A STOPGAP RELEASE OR A SPRINGBOARD FOR AN ENTIRE CAREER, THE EP INVARIABLY OFFERED FANTASTIC VALUE FOR MONEY, AS WELL AS UNLEASHING A PLETHORA OF BRILLIANT SONGS TO BOOT
BARRY PAGE
In Smash Hits parlance, the EP (Extended Play) certainly offered record buyers more tune for their bob. Introduced in the US in the early 50s, the format – which typically included four tracks on a 7” record – was popularised by the likes of The Beatles, Elvis and Cliff Richard, who were either showcasing new material or rounding up their hit songs. Its popularity was eventually dwarfed by the more expansive LP (Long Player), but it made a significant comeback in both the punk and post-punk eras.
And so, with a rule of only one EP per artist, we pick out 20 of the very best, covering the period 1977 to 1994.
01 NEW ORDER
1981-1982 (1982)
This stunning five-track 12” EP was primarily targeted at the US market, rounding up some of New Order’s then-recent singles and B-sides. It also documented the significant progress the band had made in the 18 months since the death of Ian Curtis in May 1980.
Under the stewardship of Factory Records’ in-house producer Martin Hannett, the fledgling band had been encouraged to continue experimenting with a more electronic sound, but debut album Movement was more a disappointing postscript to Joy Division’s career than a signpost to the future. However, by this stage the band had stumbled upon a primitive method of sequencing, when drummer Stephen Morris plugged a drum machine into an Oberheim synthesizer – the result of which was landmark cut Everything’s Gone Green. “It sounded like Giorgio Moroder,” recalled Bernard Sumner in his autobiography, “but at a fraction of what hiring him would have cost!”
Invigorated by this sonic breakthrough, the band soon fired the increasingly wayward Hannett and self-produced their next single, Temptation, which was infused with a commercial pop sensibility that had been noticeably lacking previously. It was the track on which the band’s reluctant frontman found his voice, while its ebullient refrain helped to ensure its status as one of the band’s most iconic singles.
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