KAYLEIGH

The band kind of had a dud with the 12” version of this single. While “Kayleigh” was a great song and was one of the few Marillion singles to get radio play in the U.S. in the early eighties, neither of the versions on this album saw much air time as far as I know (even though I’m sure that’s what this release was meant for).

The first “Kayleigh” version has even more reverb and echo than the one on ‘Misplaced Childhood’, and there’s a weird second vocal track of Fish sort of accompanying himself that sounds at times like an echo, and at other times like someone who is trying to sing along but doesn’t quite have the timing down. The second version is a bit better as most of the weird studio effects are left off (except those the band was accustomed to including even on their studio albums), and Steve Rothery extends his guitar solo in the middle just a bit which turns out well. Not enough to qualify as a substantially different mix, but a different one nonetheless.

“Lady Nina” on the b-side is a slightly extended version, but from what I’m not sure since the only other places I’ve seen this song is on ‘B-sides Themselves’ and some of the band’s remastered eighties albums. The lyrics would have fit better with ‘Fugazi’ than ‘Misplaced Childhood’ in my opinion, and I’ve never found this to be among the band’s better tracks.

Marillion could have done a much better job of exploiting the success of “Kayleigh” than they did with this extended single as far as I’m concerned. Maybe backed it with “Childhood End” or “Bitter Suite” – now that would have made for a great single. As it is I have to say that this one is definitely for collectors only; if you have to have these mixes, I’m pretty sure they’re on the remastered album. Two stars.

peace