Bachelor Kisses
| "Bachelor Kisses" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Single by The Go-Betweens | ||||
| from the album Spring Hill Fair | ||||
| A-side | "Bachelor Kisses" | |||
| B-side | "Rare Breed" | |||
| Released | August, 1984 | |||
| Format | 7" vinyl | |||
| Recorded | Miraval Studios in Le Val, France | |||
| Genre | Rock | |||
| Length | 3:33 | |||
| Label | Sire Records | |||
| Writer(s) | Grant McLennan, Robert Forster | |||
| Producer(s) |
Colin Fairley Robert Andrews | |||
| The Go-Betweens singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
"Bachelor Kisses" was the second single released by The Go-Betweens from their third album, Spring Hill Fair. It was released in August 1984 by Sire Records.[1] In the UK a 12" single was also released on Sire.[2] "Bachelor Kisses" was the Go-Betweens' first real attempt at a commercial single.[3]
Details
We came back from Christmas in New York having lost our record company [Rough Trade] somewhere along the way. I wrote this in immigration having been refused entry to the United Kingdom. The first person who heard the song was my sister. She said that Marianne Faithfull should sing it.—Grant McLennan[4]
In a review of the song on Allmusic, Ned Raggett, comments that such a comparison is both worthwhile and not misplaced.[5] He goes on to state that the song "has the rich, world-weary beauty one might expect from that singer in her 1980s work, but the song is very much a Go-Betweens song through and through. There's the same gentle but clear tension in the rhythm section, the crystalline but never overbearing guitar, the sense of deeper roots but a clearly modern performance"[5] In Mat Snow's review in the October, 1984 edition of NME he states "Only when we're confronted with a song so perfectly turned, lines so finely balanced and a melody so achingly sweet as Bachelor Kisses are we forced to notice how hollow most contemporary pop rings."[6]
Forster later said of the song, "Grant wrote this. It sounded like a pop song right from the word go. He was a very, very melodic songwriter. "Bachelor Kisses" was just something that rolled off and felt very natural and beautiful. It's amazing."[7]
The single and the album failed to chart in the UK or Australia[8] resulting in the band being dropped by Sire Records.
Swedish band, The Radio Dept., recorded an exclusive cover of "Bachelor Kisses", for the August 2007 issue of the Swedish fanzine I Godan Ro. Only 10 copies of that issue were printed.
Track listing
- "Bachelor Kisses" (McLennan, Forster[9]) - 3:33
- "Rare Breed" (McLennan, Forster) - 2:53
- "Uncare and Unwise" (instrumental) (UK 12" release) (McLennan, Forster) - 3:02
Personnel
Go-Betweens
- Robert Forster — vocals, guitar
- Grant McLennan — vocals, guitar
- Lindy Morrison — drums
- Robert Vickers — bass
Additional musicians
- Robert Andrews — keyboards
- Ana da Silva — backing vocals
Releases
| Format | Country | Label | Catalogue No. | Year |
| 7" single | UK | Sire Records | W 9156 | 1984 |
| 12" single | UK | Sire Records | W 9156 T | 1984 |
| 7" single | AUS | Sire Records | 7-29156 |
1984 |
References
- ↑ "The Go-Betweens: Bachelor Kisses". Go-Betweens.org.uk. Retrieved 4 May 2010.
- ↑ "Go-Betweens, The - Bachelor Kisses". Discogs. Retrieved 4 May 2010.
- ↑ Nichols, David (1997). The Go-Betweens. Portland, Oregon: Verse Chorus Press. ISBN 1-891241-16-8.
- ↑ McLennan, Grant, from the liner notes for the 1990 compilation album 1978–1990
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Raggett, Ned. "Bachelor Kisses - The Go-Betweens". Allmusic. Retrieved 4 May 2010.
- ↑ Snow, Mat (13 October 1984). "Money Can't Buy You Love". NME. Retrieved 4 May 2010.
- ↑ Jody Macgregor (3 September 2012). "The Go-Betweens Pt. 1: 'These Are Central Things To Me'". Mess + Noise. Retrieved 9 September 2012.
- ↑ Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992. St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
- ↑ ""Bachelor Kisses" at APRA search engine". Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA). Retrieved 4 May 2010.
External links
| |||||||||||||||||||||||