Alice (The Sisters of Mercy song)

1982 single by The Sisters of Mercy

"Alice" is a song by the British rock band the Sisters of Mercy, written by vocalist Andrew Eldritch. The song was released as a non-album single by the band's own label by Merciful Release, on 21 November 1982. It was re-released in March 1983 as a 12" EP.

Recording

After one week of pre-production at Andrew Eldritch's flat in Leeds, four tracks were recorded over two weekends with producer John Ashton of the Psychedelic Furs at Kenny Giles's studio in Bridlington: "Alice", "Floorshow", Stooges cover "1969" and the unreleased "Good Things".^[1] The same four songs had been previously recorded for a BBC radio session in August 1982.^[2]

"Alice" and "Floorshow" were released as the band's third 7" single on 21 November 1982.^[3]

Alice (EP)

With two additional tracks, "1969" and the new recording "Phantom", the 12" EP Alice was released in March 1983.

Ashton financed a US release (the band's first) of the 12" EP on Island Park, New York label Brain Eater Records.^[4][5]

The EP was never released as a stand-alone CD, but was included on the Some Girls Wander by Mistake collection.

Track listing

7" single (1982)

12" EP (1983)

Personnel

• Andrew Eldritch – vocals
• Craig Adams – bass guitar
• Ben Gunn – guitar
• Gary Marx – guitar
• Doktor Avalanche (drum machine) – drums

Artist commentary

• Andrew Eldritch (1990): “My attitude to 'Alice' has changed over the years. I wrote it in ten minutes about pills and tranks when I used to care about watching people I know get dragged down by that. Now I really don't care.”^[6]
• Gary Marx (1983/2003): “Ben joined us last year. The first single that we did with him was 'Alice', which was like our break in a very small way, as it got us into the indie charts [...] The Psychedelic Furs put up all the costs so it was no skin off our noses. What happened was, Andy went to see the Furs a long time ago and gave them our first tape, which they liked and gave to various people, including their manager. So we've had a lot of help and advice from them. John Ashton, the Furs' guitarist, produced 'Alice' which was the reason why it was so good. With a bit of luck he might help us with the next one.”^[7][8] “The guitar sound was my old £85 Shergold in the early days, something I’d borrowed off Jon Langford or other friends of the family, or one of Andrew’s guitars [...] We’d made ‘Alice’ with John Ashton producing who did a brilliant job, and rather than invite him to work with us again Andrew believed he’d learnt everything he could from John and took sole responsibility for [the band's follow-up single] ‘Anaconda’.”^[9]
• Les Mills (manager, 2004): “I arranged for them to record with John as I felt it would benefit both parties, as the Sisters' previous recorded work had been dire and John wanted to get into production.”^[1]

References

1. Dave Thompson: Beautiful Chaos. The Psychedelic Furs. Helter Skelter Publishing 2004, page 108.
2. "Radio 1 - Keeping It Peel - 25/08/1982 Sisters Of Mercy". BBC. Retrieved 2014-05-22.
3. George Gimarc: Punk Diary. Backbeat Books 2005, page 684.
4. "The Sisters of Mercy Ultimate Resource Guide - Official Releases". Ultimatesistersguide.org. Retrieved 4 August 2017.
5. "The Sisters Of Mercy - Alice". Discogs.com. Retrieved 4 August 2017.
6. David Quantick: New Boots And Panzers, New Musical Express, 15 December 1990, page 30.
7. "Two sisters, at our mercy! (part one)". Ultimatesistersguide.org. Retrieved 2014-05-22.
8. "Two sisters, at our mercy! (part two)". Ultimatesistersguide.org. Retrieved 2014-05-22.
9. Gary Marx interview, Myheartland website, 6 July 2003