Electronic (album)
Encyclopedia
Electronic is the self-titled debut album by British supergroup Electronic
, formed by Bernard Sumner
and Johnny Marr
. It was first released in May 1991 (see 1991 in music
) on the Factory
label, and reissued in remastered form in 1994 by Parlophone
after Factory collapsed.
The album was a commercial success, reaching number 2 in the United Kingdom and selling over a million copies worldwide. By the year 2000 Electronic had sold 240,000 copies in the USA.
. "Gangster" dated from an aborted solo album Bernard Sumner began work on in the mid-eighties, while "Reality" was written around 1988 when he and Marr first began working together. "The Patience of a Saint" also predated the album, having been written with Pet Shop Boys
soon after their collaboration with their singer Neil Tennant
on "Getting Away with It
" in 1989.
Several other songs were also completed by August 1990 (namely "Idiot Country", "Tighten Up", "Soviet", "Get the Message" and "Try All You Want") as they were performed live at Dodger Stadium
in Los Angeles
when Electronic supported Depeche Mode
(although "Try All You Want" was played as an instrumental and several songs had working title
s).
The LP subtly fused Marr's guitar playing with Sumner's synthesiser
expertise, most prominently on "Idiot Country", "Feel Every Beat", "Tighten Up" and "Get the Message". Lyrically the subject matter was varied, from the aggressive targeting of rave culture by police in Britain ("Idiot Country" and "Feel Every Beat") to monogamy and emotional ambivalence ("Reality", "Try All You Want"). "The Patience of a Saint" featured a witty, sardonic duet between Sumner and Neil Tennant.
) with two separate photographs superimposed with a computer screen effect. The hand-rendered lettering was based on typographer
Wim Crouwel
's Stedelijk Museum alphabet; the 1994 remaster used the design from a 1991 promotional poster with the typeface (Avenir
) from the sleevenotes.
, Paul Lester
stated: "Each song is crammed with elaborate details and merits a treatise. Very basically, we're talking Europop, my all-time favourite genre. The overall effect is one of swirling magnificence". He concluded that Electronic was "one of the greatest albums ever made".
In the NME
David Quantick
wrote: "This is a pretty 1990s sort of a record, fresh as a daisy and wearing huge new oxblood Doc Martens
", while Keith Cameron in Vox said: "Electronic is simply a 100 per cent pure distillation of Marr and Sumner's respective talents. The hit single 'Get the Message' has it in a nutshell: it breaks no new ground; it simply achieves perfection".
The album received the maximum five stars in Q
from Phil Sutcliffe, who wrote: "its strength is in conflict... The inexorable pounding of the beatbox versus the fragile sadness of Sumner's voice and the he's/she's leaving stories; the symmetry of the synthesized or sampled sounds versus the sheer blood and bone physicality of Marr's guitar".
Electronic was also remarked upon in the United States. In Spin
magazine, Ted Friedman regarded the album as "impressive", while Entertainment Weekly
called it "irresistibly tuneful".
At the end of 1991, NME and Melody Maker ranked it 13 and 15 respectively in their top albums of the year.
" was released in April 1991 as the lead single
and performed well in both Britain (number 8 on the Top 40
) and America (number 1 on Modern Rock Tracks
). In July "Tighten Up
" was released as a promo
in the US and reached number 6 on the same chart. "Feel Every Beat
" was the next international single in September and was a modest hit.
Three songs from this era were released as B-sides
: "Free Will" (on "Get the Message"), and "Lean to the Inside" and "Second to None" (on "Feel Every Beat"). A number of remix
es were also released, by DNA, Winston Jones/Dave Shaw and Danny Rampling
/Pete Lorimer.
Sumner and Marr gave a slew of interviews in the mainstream British music press, and appeared on Friday at the Dome and MTV's 120 Minutes
to support the album. "Get the Message" was also promoted by two mimed performances on Top of the Pops
.
Electronic performed at the Cities in the Park
festival in August, where Pet Shop Boys guested on "Getting Away with It", and played three dates in Paris
, Glasgow
and London
in December 1991. (A tour of North America in October/November with dance acts as support was cancelled.) Pet Shop Boys joined Sumner and Marr for three numbers in the last concert, namely "Getting Away with It", "The Patience of a Saint" and the then-unreleased song "Disappointed
".
replaced the previous British edition in February 1994. In 2007 a download-only special edition of Electronic was released in the iTunes Store
, containing the 1994 remastered album with a selection of B-sides and remixes.
The album was re-released in Japan on 25 June 1995.
in October 1991, Bernard Sumner revealed the following technology was used during the making of the album. He stated that the album "took 200 days from beginning to end" in the same interview.
Electronic (band)
-Albums:-Singles:-Music videos:-External links:* *...
, formed by Bernard Sumner
Bernard Sumner
Bernard Sumner , also known as Bernard Dickin, Bernard Dicken and Bernard Albrecht is an English singer-songwriter, guitarist, keyboard player and producer....
and Johnny Marr
Johnny Marr
Johnny Marr is an English musician and songwriter. Marr rose to fame in the 1980s as the guitarist in The Smiths, with whom he formed a prolific songwriting partnership with Morrissey. Marr has been a member of Electronic, The The, and Modest Mouse...
. It was first released in May 1991 (see 1991 in music
1991 in music
See also:* 1991 in music Record labels established in 1991-Summary:The year 1991 is the year that grunge music made its popular breakthrough. Nirvana's Nevermind, led by the surprise hit single "Smells Like Teen Spirit", becomes the most popular U.S. album of the year...
) on the Factory
Factory Records
Factory Records was a Manchester based British independent record label, started in 1978 by Tony Wilson and Alan Erasmus, which featured several prominent musical acts on its roster such as Joy Division, New Order, A Certain Ratio, The Durutti Column, Happy Mondays, Northside and James and...
label, and reissued in remastered form in 1994 by Parlophone
Parlophone
Parlophone is a record label that was founded in Germany in 1896 by the Carl Lindström Company as Parlophon. The British branch was formed in 1923 as "Parlophone" which developed a reputation in the 1920s as a leading jazz label. It was acquired in 1927 by the Columbia Graphophone Company which...
after Factory collapsed.
The album was a commercial success, reaching number 2 in the United Kingdom and selling over a million copies worldwide. By the year 2000 Electronic had sold 240,000 copies in the USA.
Recording
The bulk of Electronic was written in 1990, with sessions beginning that January at Johnny Marr's home studio in ManchesterManchester
Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...
. "Gangster" dated from an aborted solo album Bernard Sumner began work on in the mid-eighties, while "Reality" was written around 1988 when he and Marr first began working together. "The Patience of a Saint" also predated the album, having been written with Pet Shop Boys
Pet Shop Boys
Pet Shop Boys are an English electronic dance music duo, consisting of Neil Tennant, who provides main vocals, keyboards and occasional guitar, and Chris Lowe on keyboards....
soon after their collaboration with their singer Neil Tennant
Neil Tennant
Neil Francis Tennant is an English musician, singer and songwriter, who, with bandmate Chris Lowe, makes up the successful electronic dance music duo Pet Shop Boys.-Childhood:...
on "Getting Away with It
Getting Away With It
"Getting Away with It" was the first single by the English band Electronic, which comprised Bernard Sumner of New Order, ex-Smiths guitarist Johnny Marr, and guesting vocalist Neil Tennant of Pet Shop Boys. It was first released in 1989 ....
" in 1989.
Several other songs were also completed by August 1990 (namely "Idiot Country", "Tighten Up", "Soviet", "Get the Message" and "Try All You Want") as they were performed live at Dodger Stadium
Dodger Stadium
Dodger Stadium, also sometimes called Chavez Ravine, is a stadium in Los Angeles. Located adjacent to Downtown Los Angeles, Dodger Stadium has been the home ballpark of Major League Baseball's Los Angeles Dodgers team since 1962...
in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
when Electronic supported Depeche Mode
Depeche Mode
Depeche Mode are an English electronic music band formed in 1980 in Basildon, Essex. The group's original line-up consisted of Dave Gahan , Martin Gore , Andy Fletcher and Vince Clarke...
(although "Try All You Want" was played as an instrumental and several songs had working title
Working title
A working title, sometimes called a production title, is the temporary name of a product or project used during its development, usually used in filmmaking, television production, novel, video game, or music album.-Purpose:...
s).
The LP subtly fused Marr's guitar playing with Sumner's synthesiser
Synthesizer
A synthesizer is an electronic instrument capable of producing sounds by generating electrical signals of different frequencies. These electrical signals are played through a loudspeaker or set of headphones...
expertise, most prominently on "Idiot Country", "Feel Every Beat", "Tighten Up" and "Get the Message". Lyrically the subject matter was varied, from the aggressive targeting of rave culture by police in Britain ("Idiot Country" and "Feel Every Beat") to monogamy and emotional ambivalence ("Reality", "Try All You Want"). "The Patience of a Saint" featured a witty, sardonic duet between Sumner and Neil Tennant.
Artwork
The album cover was designed by Johnson/Panas (Trevor JohnsonTrevor Johnson (designer)
Trevor Johnson is a Manchester-based graphic designer. He started his career as a commercial illustrator and went on to become a freelance graphic designer, designing record sleeves and branding for Factory Records and Hacienda Nightclub Fac 51 which was instrumental in the creation of the...
) with two separate photographs superimposed with a computer screen effect. The hand-rendered lettering was based on typographer
Typography
Typography is the art and technique of arranging type in order to make language visible. The arrangement of type involves the selection of typefaces, point size, line length, leading , adjusting the spaces between groups of letters and adjusting the space between pairs of letters...
Wim Crouwel
Wim Crouwel
Willem Hendrik Crouwel is a Dutch graphic designer and typographer.Between 1947 and 1949 he studied Fine Arts at Academie Minerva in Groningen, The Netherlands...
's Stedelijk Museum alphabet; the 1994 remaster used the design from a 1991 promotional poster with the typeface (Avenir
Avenir (typeface)
Avenir is a geometric sans-serif typeface designed by Adrian Frutiger in 1988, and released by Linotype GmbH, now a subsidiary of Monotype Corporation....
) from the sleevenotes.
Critical reception
Upon its release the album was unanimously praised in the mainstream music press. Writing in Melody MakerMelody Maker
Melody Maker, published in the United Kingdom, was, according to its publisher IPC Media, the world's oldest weekly music newspaper. It was founded in 1926 as a magazine targeted at musicians; in 2000 it was merged into "long-standing rival" New Musical Express.-1950s–1960s:Originally the Melody...
, Paul Lester
Paul Lester
Paul Lester is a British music journalist, author and broadcaster from Elstree, North London.- Career :He began his career as a freelance, writing for Melody Maker in the early 1990s, as well as City Limits, 20/20 , Sky Magazine and The Jewish Chronicle...
stated: "Each song is crammed with elaborate details and merits a treatise. Very basically, we're talking Europop, my all-time favourite genre. The overall effect is one of swirling magnificence". He concluded that Electronic was "one of the greatest albums ever made".
In the NME
NME
The New Musical Express is a popular music publication in the United Kingdom, published weekly since March 1952. It started as a music newspaper, and gradually moved toward a magazine format during the 1980s, changing from newsprint in 1998. It was the first British paper to include a singles...
David Quantick
David Quantick
David Quantick is a freelance journalist, writer and critic who specialises in music and comedy.-Career history:...
wrote: "This is a pretty 1990s sort of a record, fresh as a daisy and wearing huge new oxblood Doc Martens
Dr. Martens
Dr. Martens is a traditional British footwear brand, which also makes a range of accessories – shoe care products, clothing, luggage, etc. In addition to Dr. Martens, they are known as Doctor Martens, Doc Martens, Docs or DMs...
", while Keith Cameron in Vox said: "Electronic is simply a 100 per cent pure distillation of Marr and Sumner's respective talents. The hit single 'Get the Message' has it in a nutshell: it breaks no new ground; it simply achieves perfection".
The album received the maximum five stars in Q
Q (magazine)
Q is a popular music magazine published monthly in the United Kingdom.Founders Mark Ellen and David Hepworth were dismayed by the music press of the time, which they felt was ignoring a generation of older music buyers who were buying CDs — then still a new technology...
from Phil Sutcliffe, who wrote: "its strength is in conflict... The inexorable pounding of the beatbox versus the fragile sadness of Sumner's voice and the he's/she's leaving stories; the symmetry of the synthesized or sampled sounds versus the sheer blood and bone physicality of Marr's guitar".
Electronic was also remarked upon in the United States. In Spin
Spin (magazine)
Spin is a music magazine founded in 1985 by publisher Bob Guccione Jr.-History:In its early years, the magazine was noted for its broad music coverage with an emphasis on college-oriented rock music and on the ongoing emergence of hip-hop. The magazine was eclectic and bold, if sometimes haphazard...
magazine, Ted Friedman regarded the album as "impressive", while Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...
called it "irresistibly tuneful".
At the end of 1991, NME and Melody Maker ranked it 13 and 15 respectively in their top albums of the year.
Singles and promotion
"Get the MessageGet the Message (song)
"Get the Message" is a song by Electronic, the English band formed by Bernard Sumner of New Order and ex-Smiths guitarist Johnny Marr.It was the second single from their 1991 debut album Electronic and was a commercial success around the world...
" was released in April 1991 as the lead single
Lead single
A lead single is usually the first single released by a musician or a band before the release of its home album.During the era of the grammophone record, all music arrived in the marketplace as what is now termed a single, one potential hit song backed by an additional song of generally less...
and performed well in both Britain (number 8 on the Top 40
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...
) and America (number 1 on Modern Rock Tracks
Modern Rock Tracks
Alternative Songs is a music chart in the United States that has appeared in Billboard magazine since September 10, 1988. It lists the 40 most-played songs on modern rock radio stations, most of which are alternative rock songs...
). In July "Tighten Up
Tighten Up (Electronic song)
"Tighten Up" is a song by the English band Electronic. Written, performed and produced by its two members Bernard Sumner and Johnny Marr, it appeared as the third track on their debut album Electronic in May 1991 and was also a promotional single in the United States five weeks later...
" was released as a promo
Promotional recording
A promotional recording, or promo, is an audio or video recording distributed for free, usually in order to promote a recording that is or soon will be commercially available...
in the US and reached number 6 on the same chart. "Feel Every Beat
Feel Every Beat
"Feel Every Beat" was the third single by the English band Electronic. It was released in the UK on 9 September 1991 by Factory Records and was a modest commercial success.-Composition:...
" was the next international single in September and was a modest hit.
Three songs from this era were released as B-sides
A-side and B-side
A-side and B-side originally referred to the two sides of gramophone records on which singles were released beginning in the 1950s. The terms have come to refer to the types of song conventionally placed on each side of the record, with the A-side being the featured song , while the B-side, or...
: "Free Will" (on "Get the Message"), and "Lean to the Inside" and "Second to None" (on "Feel Every Beat"). A number of remix
Remix
A remix is an alternative version of a recorded song, made from an original version. This term is also used for any alterations of media other than song ....
es were also released, by DNA, Winston Jones/Dave Shaw and Danny Rampling
Danny Rampling
Danny Rampling is a British House Music DJ and is widely credited as one of the original founders of the UK's rave/club scene. His long career began in the early 1980s playing hip-hop, soul and funk around numerous bars and clubs in London.-Ibiza:...
/Pete Lorimer.
Sumner and Marr gave a slew of interviews in the mainstream British music press, and appeared on Friday at the Dome and MTV's 120 Minutes
120 Minutes
120 Minutes is a television show in the United States dedicated to alternative music, originally airing on MTV from 1986 to 2000, and then on MTV's sister channel MTV2 from 2001 to 2003....
to support the album. "Get the Message" was also promoted by two mimed performances on Top of the Pops
Top of the Pops
Top of the Pops, also known as TOTP, is a British music chart television programme, made by the BBC and originally broadcast weekly from 1 January 1964 to 30 July 2006. After 25 December 2006 it became a radio program, now hosted by Tony Blackburn...
.
Electronic performed at the Cities in the Park
Cities in the Park
Cities in the Park was a two-day music event held on the 3rd and 4th of August 1991 at Heaton Park in Manchester, England. It was held in honour of Factory Records producer Martin Hannett, who had died in April...
festival in August, where Pet Shop Boys guested on "Getting Away with It", and played three dates in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, Glasgow
Glasgow
Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...
and London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
in December 1991. (A tour of North America in October/November with dance acts as support was cancelled.) Pet Shop Boys joined Sumner and Marr for three numbers in the last concert, namely "Getting Away with It", "The Patience of a Saint" and the then-unreleased song "Disappointed
Disappointed
"Disappointed" was the fourth single by the English band Electronic. Like their first single "Getting Away with It" it featured Neil Tennant of Pet Shop Boys as well as founding members Johnny Marr and Bernard Sumner. It was released in June 1992 on Parlophone soon after the demise of Factory Records...
".
Charts
| Chart | Peak position |
|---|---|
| UK Albums Chart UK Albums Chart The UK Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales in the United Kingdom. It is compiled every week by The Official Charts Company and broadcast on a Sunday on BBC Radio 1 , and published in Music Week magazine and on the OCC website .To qualify for the UK albums chart... |
2 |
| US Billboard 200 Billboard 200 The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists... |
109 |
| US Billboard Heatseekers Top Heatseekers Top Heatseekers refers to either of two separate "Breaking and Entering" music charts issued weekly by Billboard Magazine: the Heatseekers Albums chart or the Heatseekers Songs chart. They were introduced by Billboard in 1993 with the purpose of highlighting the sales by new and developing musical... |
1 |
| German Albums Chart | 97 |
Reissues
In 1992 the album was re-released in Europe with the "Disappointed" single as a bonus CD, while a remastered version by engineer Owen MorrisOwen Morris
Owen Morris is a music producer who has worked with rock bands such as Oasis, The Fratellis, The View and The Verve.He started working in the music industry as a sound engineer at Spaceward Studio in Cambridge when he was 16. He continued as an engineer until 1994 when he started producing some...
replaced the previous British edition in February 1994. In 2007 a download-only special edition of Electronic was released in the iTunes Store
ITunes Store
The iTunes Store is a software-based online digital media store operated by Apple. Opening as the iTunes Music Store on April 28, 2003, with over 200,000 items to purchase, it is, as of April 2008, the number-one music vendor in the United States...
, containing the 1994 remastered album with a selection of B-sides and remixes.
The album was re-released in Japan on 25 June 1995.
Standard edition
- "Idiot Country" (5:02)
- "Reality" (5:39)
- "Tighten Up" (4:38)
- "The Patience of a Saint" (4:11)
- "Getting Away with It" (5:14)
- "Gangster" (5:24)
- "Soviet" (2:00)
- "Get the Message" (5:20)
- "Try All You Want" (5:37)
- "Some Distant Memory" (4:09)
- "Feel Every Beat" (5:08)
- "Getting Away with It" did not appear on the first UK edition.
- "Gangster" was replaced by "Getting Away with It" in some territories.
iTunes bonus tracks
- "Lucky Bag" (5:46)
- "Free Will (7" Edit)" (2:45)
- "Feel Every Beat (7" Remix)" (3:52)
- "Lean to the Inside" (4:08)
- "Second to None" (4:03)
- "Disappointed (Original Mix)" (5:44)
- "Disappointed (7" Mix)" (4:23)
- "Feel Every Beat (DNA Remix)" (5:40)
- "Disappointed (12" Remix)" (4:34)
- "Lucky Bag (Miami Edit)" (4:31)
- "Idiot Country Two (AKA Ultimatum Mix)" (6:22)
- "Gangster (FBI Mix)" (8:01)
Credits
Electronic was written by Sumner and Marr, except "The Patience of a Saint", which was composed by Electronic with Pet Shop Boys and credited to Sumner, Marr, Tennant and Lowe. The bonus track "Getting Away with It" was written by Sumner, Marr and Tennant. The album was produced by Sumner and Marr, and engineered by Owen Morris.Equipment
In an interview with Sound on SoundSound on Sound
Sound on Sound is an independently-owned monthly music technology magazine published by SOS Publications Group, based in Cambridge, UK. The magazine includes product tests of electronic musical performance and recording devices, and interviews with industry professionals...
in October 1991, Bernard Sumner revealed the following technology was used during the making of the album. He stated that the album "took 200 days from beginning to end" in the same interview.
- Akai S1000Akai S1000The Akai S1000 is a 16-bit professional stereo digital sampler, released by Akai in 1988. The S1000 was among the first professional-quality 16-bit stereo samplers. Its abilities to splice, crossfade, trim, and loop music in 16-bit CD-quality sound made it popular among producers of this era...
- Korg T3Korgis a Japanese multinational corporation that manufactures electronic musical instruments, audio processors and guitar pedals, recording equipment, and electronic tuners...
- Roland Juno-106Roland Juno-106The Roland Juno-106 was a hybrid digital/analogue polyphonic synth manufactured by Roland Corporation in 1984. It featured Digitally controlled oscillators for tuning stability and digital envelope generation along with analog filters and signal path....
- Sequential Circuits Prophet-5
- Voyetra-8Voyetra-8The Voyetra-8 is an eight voice polyphonic analog synthesizer. Released in 1982 by Octave-Plateau Electronics , it was one of the first analog programmable synthesizers to be rack-mountable and remains one of the most flexible digitally controlled analog...
- Yamaha DX5
- Moog SourceMoog SourceThe Moog Source is a monophonic Z80 microprocessor-controlled analog synthesizer manufactured by Moog Music from 1981 to 1985. The Source was Moog's first synthesizer to offer patch memory storage...
- Roland SH-101Roland SH-101Roland SH-101 is a synthesizer from the early 1980s, manufactured by Roland. It is a small, 32 key, monophonic analog synthesizer. It features one oscillator with 3 simultaneous waveforms, an 'octave-divided' square sub-oscillator, triangle and square/pwm waveform. It has a low-pass filter/VCF...
- Roland TR-909Roland TR-909The Roland TR-909 Rhythm Composer is a partially analog, partially sample-based drum machine built by the Japanese Roland Corporation in 1983. The brainchild of Tadao Kikumoto, the engineer behind the Roland TB-303, it features a 16-step step sequencer and a drum kit that aimed for realism and...
- Roland MT-32Roland MT-32The Roland MT-32 Multi-Timbre Sound Module is a MIDI synthesizer module first released in 1987 by Roland Corporation. Along with its compatible modules, it established an early de-facto standard in computer music and was the first product in Roland's ミュージくん line of Desktop Music System packages...
- Roland D-110Roland MT-32The Roland MT-32 Multi-Timbre Sound Module is a MIDI synthesizer module first released in 1987 by Roland Corporation. Along with its compatible modules, it established an early de-facto standard in computer music and was the first product in Roland's ミュージくん line of Desktop Music System packages...
- Macintosh SEMacintosh SEThe Macintosh SE was a personal computer manufactured by Apple between March 1987 and October 1990. This computer marked a significant improvement on the Macintosh Plus design and was introduced by Apple at the same time as the Macintosh II....
- Macintosh IIcxMacintosh IIcxHalf a year following the release of the Macintosh IIx passed before Apple introduced the Macintosh IIcx in 1989. Despite resembling the IIx to a great extent and providing the same performance, the IIcx was quieter than its predecessor. The design was also made much more compact by reducing the...
- Sound ToolsSound ToolsSound Tools was a digital audio workstation released by Digidesign in the late 1980s. Its successor, Pro Tools, is the current industry standard in music production and TV/film audio post production....
Personnel
- Bernard SumnerBernard SumnerBernard Sumner , also known as Bernard Dickin, Bernard Dicken and Bernard Albrecht is an English singer-songwriter, guitarist, keyboard player and producer....
— vocals, keyboards and programming - Johnny MarrJohnny MarrJohnny Marr is an English musician and songwriter. Marr rose to fame in the 1980s as the guitarist in The Smiths, with whom he formed a prolific songwriting partnership with Morrissey. Marr has been a member of Electronic, The The, and Modest Mouse...
— guitars, keyboards and programming - Neil TennantNeil TennantNeil Francis Tennant is an English musician, singer and songwriter, who, with bandmate Chris Lowe, makes up the successful electronic dance music duo Pet Shop Boys.-Childhood:...
— vocals on "The Patience of a Saint" and "Getting Away with It" - Chris LoweChris LoweChris Lowe is an English musician, who, with colleague Neil Tennant, makes up the pop duo Pet Shop Boys.-Childhood:...
— keyboards on "The Patience of a Saint" - Donald Johnson — drums and percussion on "Tighten Up" and "Feel Every Beat"
- David Palmer — drums on "Feel Every Beat" and "Getting Away with It"
- Denise Johnson — vocals on "Get the Message"
- Helen Powell — oboeOboeThe oboe is a double reed musical instrument of the woodwind family. In English, prior to 1770, the instrument was called "hautbois" , "hoboy", or "French hoboy". The spelling "oboe" was adopted into English ca...
on "Some Distant Memory" - Andrew Robinson — additional programming