Bachelor Kisses
| "Bachelor Kisses" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Single by The Go-Betweens | ||||
| from the album Spring Hill Fair | ||||
| A-side | "Bachelor Kisses" | |||
| B-side | "Rare Breed" | |||
| Released | November 1984 (See Release history) |
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| Format | 7" vinyl | |||
| Recorded | May 1984 Miraval Studios, Le Val, France |
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| Genre | ||||
| Length | 3:33 | |||
| Label | Sire Records | |||
| Writer(s) | Grant McLennan, Robert Forster | |||
| Producer(s) | Colin Fairley Robert Andrews |
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| The Go-Betweens singles chronology | ||||
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"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]
Contents
Details
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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. "Bachelor Kisses" was however voted in at No. 72 in Triple J's Hottest 100 for 1989[9]
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
All songs written and composed by G. McLennan, R. Forster[10].
| 7" vinyl version | ||
|---|---|---|
| No. | Title | Length |
| 1. | "Bachelor Kisses" | 3:33 |
| 2. | "Rare Breed" | 2:53 |
|
Total length:
|
6:26 | |
All songs written and composed by G. McLennan, R. Forster[10].
| 12" vinyl version | ||
|---|---|---|
| No. | Title | Length |
| 1. | "Bachelor Kisses" | 3:33 |
| 2. | "Rare Breed" | 2:53 |
| 3. | "Unkind and Unwise" (instrumental) | 3:02 |
|
Total length:
|
9:28 | |
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
Release history
| Year | Country | Label | Format | Catalogue No. |
| November 1984 | UK | Sire Records | 7" single | W 9156 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 12" single | W 9156 T | |||
| AUS | 7" single | 7-29156 |
References
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- ↑ McLennan, Grant, from the liner notes for the 1990 compilation album 1978–1990
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