Get Even

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Get Even
Studio album by Brother Beyond
Released 1988
Recorded 1986-1988
recording:
14 different locations
(see Credits)
mastering:
Abbey Road Studios
Genre Electronic
Downtempo
Pop rock
Synthpop
Ballad
Length 49:32 ("Get Even I" CD)
39:14 ("Get Even I" LP)
47:13 ("Get Even II" CD)
37:09 ("Get Even II" LP)
Label EMI / Parlophone
Producer various (see Credits)
Brother Beyond chronology
/ Get Even
(1988)		 Trust
(1989)

Get Even is the debut album of British boy band / pop group Brother Beyond, released on EMI / Parlophone label, in two different editions, both in 1988, generally referred to as Get Even I and Get Even II. The tracks making up the two works (which differ in a couple of songs produced by Stock Aitken Waterman (SAW), included in Get Even II, instead of two songs written by the band themselves that featured on Get Even I) were composed between 1986, when their very first single was issued, titled "I Should Have Lied", the only one Brother Beyond single which never made it to the UK Top 75, and 1988, the year of release of both editions of the record, that is the same year when the two SAW tracks were realized, "The Harder I Try" and "He Ain't No Competition", the latter being the group's major achievements, their only two UK Top 10 hits. In fact, as many British bands experienced (such as, for example, Patsy Kensit's Eighth Wonder during their earlier period), Brother Beyond was much more successful an act in continental Europe, especially in Italy, where their second single and first UK minor hit, "How Many Times", almost a flop here, indeed (it couldn't climb no higher than Number 62 in the UK Top 75), was flying high in the Italian charts as early as 1987. In their native Great Britain, the boy band would wait longer, until the Summer of the following year, just to finally see one of their singles in the UK Top 10. As a matter of fact, this would be a song written and produced by the three Europop and dance production aces, Mike Stock, Matt Aitken and Pete Waterman known as Stock Aitken Waterman and (S/A/W), who will present Brother Beyond with the nice tune called "The Harder I Try", reaching Number 2 in the UK Singles Chart. The song couldn't make it to the top just because of Phil Collins' multi-million seller soundtrack single entitled "A Groovy Kind of Love" holding the spot. "The Harder I Try" famously samples the drum intro to The Isley Brothers' "This Old Heart of Mine", and indeed the song, as a whole, as a distinct Motown feel. The same can be said of its successor "He Ain't No Competition", getting to Number 6, in November, the 12" version of which already topping the Hi-NRG charts in October, where it stayed until it was knocked off by the Samantha Fox cover of "I Only Wanna Be with You", again produced by SAW. Brother Beyond's final significant hits were two remixed versions of Get Even II album tracks: "Be My Twin" (Get Even I original opener, subsequently opening the vinyl second edition Side 2) which got to Number 14, in January 1989, this time written by the band members themselves, and "Can You Keep a Secret?", also written by the group, hitting Number 22 in April (the first version of the song had been released in 1987 as Brother Beyond's fourth single, but didn't get no higher than Number 56). The latter would actually be the last significantly successful single for the group in the UK, where the next (latest and last, in fact, since the band would split up shortly after, in early 1991) singles wouldn't trouble the charts, all getting lower than Number 39 ("Drive On", the first single and opening track of their second and last album, Trust) and no higher than Number 53 (the title-track "Trust" itself). The two editions of Get Even would also produce a 57-minute live video concert, entitled Brother Beyond - The Get Even Tour - Live 1989, issued in VHS format, in 1991, the same year of release of their very last single, "The Girl I Used to Know", which bombed in Great Britain (Number 48), but was a minor hit in the USA.

Contents

[edit] Track listing

[edit] Get Even I

  1. Be My Twin - 3:19 (lyrics: C Fysh - music: C Fysh/D White) (1988)
  2. Chain-Gang Smile - 3:40 (C Fysh - C Fysh/F White) (1987)
  3. How Many Times - 3:09 (C Fysh/D White - C Fysh/D White) (1987)
  4. Restless - 4:25 (C Fysh - C Fysh/F White) (1988)
  5. Somebody Somewhere - 4:36 (C Fysh - C Fysh/F White) (1988)
  6. I Should Have Lied - 3:44 (C Fysh - C Fysh/F White) (1986)
  7. Can You Keep a Secret? - 3:24 (C Fysh - C Fysh/D White) (1987)
  8. Shipwrecked - 4:24 (C Fysh - C Fysh/F White) (1988)
  9. Sunset Bars - 4:20 (C Fysh - C Fysh/F White) (1988)
  10. King of Blue - 4:13 (C Fysh) (1988)
  11. Act for Love (Extended Version) - 6:09 (C Fysh - C Fysh/F White) (1986)
  12. Sometimes Good Sometimes Bad (Sometimes Better) - 3:55 (C Fysh - C Fysh/D White/F White) (1987)

[edit] Singles taken from Get Even I

  • I Should Have Lied (1986) [Didn't chart in the UK Top 75]
  • How Many Times (1987) [UK Top 75: Number 62 - since April 4: 3 weeks in the charts]
  • Chain-Gang Smile (1987) [UK Top 75: Number 57 - since August 8: 3 weeks]
  • Can You Keep a Secret? (1988) [UK Top 75: Number 56 - since January 23: 4 weeks]

[edit] Get Even II

  1. He Ain't No Competition - 3:19 (Stock, Aitken & Waterman) (1988)
  2. Can You Keep a Secret? - 3:24 (lyrics: C Fysh - music: C Fysh/D White) (1988)
  3. Chain-Gang Smile - 3:40 (C Fysh - C Fysh/F White) (1987)
  4. Restless - 4:25 (C Fysh - C Fysh/F White) (1988)
  5. How Many Times - 3:09 (C Fysh/D White - C Fysh/D White) (1987)
  6. Be My Twin - 3:27 (C Fysh - C Fysh/D White) (1988)
  7. The Harder I Try - 3:24 (Stock, Aitken & Waterman) (1988)
  8. I Should Have Lied - 3:44 (C Fysh - C Fysh/F White) (1986)
  9. Shipwrecked - 4:24 (C Fysh - C Fysh/F White) (1988)
  10. King of Blue - 4:13 (C Fysh) (1988)
  11. Act for Love (Extended Version) - 6:09 (C Fysh - C Fysh/F White) (1986)
  12. Sometimes Good Sometimes Bad (Sometimes Better) - 3:55 (C Fysh - C Fysh/D White/F White) (1987)

[edit] Singles taken from Get Even II

  • The Harder I Try (1988) [UK Top 75: Number 2 - since July 30: 14 weeks in the charts]
  • He Ain't No Competition (1988) [UK Top 75: Number 6 - since November 5: 10 weeks]
  • Be My Twin (1989) [UK Top 75: Number 14 - since January 21: 6 weeks]
  • Can You Keep a Secret? (Re-mix) (1989) [UK Top 75: Number 22 - since April 1: 5 weeks]

[edit] Credits

[edit] Get Even I

[edit] Line up

[edit] Musicians

[edit] Production

Same as Get Even II, plus:

  • Brother Beyond: production tracks 5, 9
  • Michael H. Brauer per MHB Productions: remix and additional production
  • Mike Pela per Power Plant London: sound engineer
  • Carl Beatty: sound engineer track 9
  • Rafe McKenna: remix and additional production track 9

[edit] Recording studios

  • Abbey Road Studios
  • Advision Studios
  • Battery Studios
  • The Chocolate Factory
  • Eden Studios
  • Mayfair Studios
  • The Music Works
  • Power Plant Studios
  • PWL Studios
  • Rockfield Studios
  • Swanyard Studios
  • Trident II Studios

[edit] Staff

[edit] Get Even II

[edit] Line up

[edit] Musicians

[edit] Production

  • Stock Aitken Waterman: production tracks 1, 7
  • Brother Beyond: production tracks 6, 11, 12
  • Richard James Burgess: production track 3
  • Don Was: production tracks 4, 8
  • Michael H. Brauer: production track 5; remix tracks 8, 9
  • Mike Pela: production track 8; sound engineer tracks 4, 8, 11
  • Stephen Hague: remix track 4
  • Ian Curnow: production track 2; programming
  • Steve Pigott: programming
  • Chris Blair: mastering @ Abbey Road Studios
  • Mike Duffy: sound engineer track 2
  • Phil Harding: sound engineer, mix, production track 2
  • Frank Roszak: sound engineer track 3
  • Phil Brown: additional sound engineer track 4
  • Phil Legg: sound engineer tracks 5, 9, 10
  • Mike Ging: additional sound engineer track 5
  • Mark Stent: sound engineer track 6
  • Rafe McKenna: sound engineer, mix track 12
  • Karen Hewitt: sound engineer track 1
  • Yoyo: sound engineer track 1
  • Mark McGuire: sound engineer track 7
  • Pete Hammond: mix tracks 1, 7

[edit] Recording studios

Same as Get Even I, plus:

  • Olympic Studios (II)
  • The Manor (II)

[edit] Staff

  • The Artful Dodgers Ltd: design
  • Cindy Palmano: front cover photography
  • Simon Fowler: other photography
  • Simon Carter for Management One: management

[edit] Release details

[edit] Get Even I

Country Date Format Label Catalogue
Italy 1988 LP EMI Italiana / Parlophone 64 7467061
United Kingdom CD EMI / Parlophone CDPCS 7314
Germany CDP 7 46706 2

[edit] Get Even II

Country Date Format Label Catalogue
Italy LP EMI Italiana / Parlophone 64 7910691
United Kingdom CD EMI / Parlophone CDPCS 7327
Germany CDP 7 91069 2

[edit] External links and references

  • Discogs: cover art, product details, track listing and credits to Get Even II, with direct links to updated biographies, detailed discographies and recent photos of all related performers participating in the album.
  • EveryHit.com: UK Top 40 Hit Database.
  • Nathan Moore Official: Nathan Moore's Official Website, including a 4-page biography of the singer, as well as a detailed history and discography of Brother Beyond.
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