Getting Away with It

Musically, Bernard Sumner wrote the verse and Johnny Marr wrote the chorus.Johnny Marr, The Smiths & the Art of Gun-Slinging (2006) The lyrics, co-written by Tennant with Sumner, are a parody of Marr's Smiths partner Morrissey, and his public persona as morose and masochistic (Pet Shop Boys would further satirise this trend on their 1990 song "Miserablism").Behaviour / Further Listening 1990–1991 sleevenotes Morrissey, for his part, criticised the song in a 1991 interview, calling it "totally useless" and joking that the song had a "very apt title".{{cite journal |title=Lyrical King |journal=Spin |date=April 1991}}

In a 2021 interview with Music Radar, Marr revealed that Chris Lowe also worked on the track, citing the bassline as his work. ABC and The The drummer David Palmer programmed the track's drums.{{cite web|last=Draper|first=Jason|date=31 May 2021|title=Interview: Johnny Marr looks back on Electronic's debut album 30 years on|website=MusicRadar|url=https://www.musicradar.com/news/interview-johnny-marr-looks-back-on-electronics-debut-album-30-years-on|access-date=22 January 2023}}

The fluid, rich production incorporates a full orchestra (conducted by Art of Noise's Anne Dudley) and a rare guitar solo by Marr, while the three remixes that appeared on the two UK 12-inch releases take in disparate musical styles like disco and acid house.

"Getting Away with It" was first issued by Factory Records in the United Kingdom in December 1989, and released the following year in the rest of the world. It appeared on 7-inch, 12-inch, CD and cassette. The primary B-side was an instrumental called "Lucky Bag", the only unadulterated reflection of Marr and Sumner's early, shared enthusiasm for Italo house. This song was also remixed and released on the UK maxi single.

As well as the single edit and three 12-inch remixes, "Getting Away with It" was released as an instrumental; as an unedited, longer version; and in its early form before Dudley's strings were added (this is the only version of the song which has yet to be released on Compact Disc; the 7-inch edit was included on both the US and UK CD singles despite being labelled "Full Length Version"). The Full Length Version on the 12-inch vinyl version is 5:14—as used on the 1994 CD re-issue of the album. The 7-inch mix is just the "Full Length Version" faded out before the strings outro.

The single's cover was designed by Peter Saville, who used an elegant stock photo of a glass of whisky.FAC461 Factory Records: The Complete Graphic Album (2006) The title was originally written in sentence case, just as Pet Shop Boys songs are. The photograph was inverted for the second UK 12-inch, with the typeface from the Panasonic logo appropriated for the band's name. This arrangement was used for the US editions of the single in 1990.

Ben Thompson in NME wrote "The most complete pop record of the week, by an infinite margin...A lovely airy melody drifts in and out of the song; gently weighted with obtuse, lovelorn one-liners...The record somehow manages to be much more than the sum of its parts and stubbornly refuses to give up its element of mystery".NME, 9 December 1989 In Sounds Damon Wise wrote: "It's nothing shocking, nothing that surprising, it's just that every time you think you're tired of it you can't help flipping back the stylus to catch that chorus".Sounds, 9 December 1989 Melody Maker's observer Mick Mercer expressed the similar opinion about fall short of expectations and complained about lack of charm of Sumner's voice. However, he concluded that the single was "better than New Order, worse than Pet Shop Boys, with Marr conspicuous by his abstinence".{{cite magazine|last=Mercer|first=Mick|authorlink=Mick Mercer|url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/nothingelseon/51848350427/in/album-72177720295828895/|title=Singles: Electronic – "Getting Away with It" (Factory)|magazine=Melody Maker|date=9 December 1989|page=32|location=London|publisher=IPC Limited|issn=0025-9012|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240328185901/https://www.flickr.com/photos/nothingelseon/51848350427/in/album-72177720295828895/|archive-date=28 March 2024|access-date=6 June 2024|via=Flickr}} The song remains Electronic's biggest-selling single, shipping 350,000 copies in the US and reaching the UK top 20.Warner Bros. press release, June 1991

Two music videos were made for "Getting Away with It". The first, directed by Chris Marker and produced by Michael Shamberg for European use in 1989, featured Sumner, Marr and Tennant in a studio environment miming to the single edit of the song. Additional footage of Marker's muse Catherine Belkhodja, strolling among peacocks through Paris Zoo and also singing to the track, was left out.{{cite web | url=http://www.kinoteca.net/Text/Crystal.htm | publisher=Kinoteca | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071008231251/http://www.kinoteca.net/Text/Crystal.htm |archive-date=8 October 2007 | title=Crystal | url-status=dead}} The second video, shot in 1990, was made for the US release. Sumner and Tennant appeared, alternately, against a series of coloured background, with artistic effects superimposed. Two women's faces are also panned across in close-up. The later version is available on the 2006 Get the Message DVD.

"Getting Away with It" was played live in August 1990 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles — when Electronic supported Depeche Mode on their World Violation Tour for two dates at the venue{{Cite web |url=http://www.mdmarchive.co.uk/archive/showartefact.php?aid=537 |title=Manchester District Music Archive |access-date=24 October 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071021114705/http://mdmarchive.co.uk/archive/showartefact.php?aid=537 |archive-date=21 October 2007 |url-status=dead }} — at the Cities in the Park event in Manchester a year later,[http://www.cerysmaticfactory.info/electronic2.html Cerysmatic Factory] and at Wembley Hall One in December 1991. Pet Shop Boys guested on all these performances.

"Getting Away With It" is a common part of Johnny Marr's live sets, and in July 2013 Sumner joined Marr at Jodrell Bank to perform the song.{{Cite web|url=https://www.nme.com/news/music/johnny-marr-responds-chances-electronic-reunion-bernard-sumner-1822602|title = Johnny Marr responds to chances of an Electronic reunion with Bernard Sumner| website=NME |date = 4 November 2016}} In April 2024, Marr was joined on stage in London by Neil Tennant. {{Cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jMYbSdNxbeU |title=Johnny Marr with Neil Tennant - Getting Away With It - Eventim Apollo, London, 12/4/24 |language=en |access-date=18 April 2024 |via=www.youtube.com}}

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UK 7-inch

1. "Getting Away with It" (edit)
2. "Lucky Bag" (edit)

UK 12-inch and cassette

1. "Getting Away with It" (extended) – 7:33
2. "Getting Away with It" (full-length version) – 5:14
3. "Lucky Bag" – 5:40

UK 12-inch maxi-single

1. "Getting Away with It" (Vocal remix) – 4:48
2. "Getting Away with It" (Nude mix) – 6:01
3. "Lucky Bag" (Miami edit) – 4:30
4. "Getting Away with It" (original version) – 4:23

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UK CD

1. "Getting Away with It" (full length) – 4:23
2. "Getting Away with It" (instrumental) – 5:13
3. "Getting Away with It" (extended version) – 7:33

US 12-inch maxi single

1. "Getting Away with It" (extended) – 7:30
2. "Getting Away with It" (instrumental) – 5:13
3. "Getting Away with It" (Nude mix) – 6:01
4. "Getting Away with It" (Vocal remix) - 4:48
5. "Lucky Bag" (Miami edit) – 4:30

US CD and cassette maxi-single

1. "Getting Away with It" (full length) – 4:19
2. "Getting Away with It" (extended) – 7:30
3. "Getting Away with It" (instrumental) – 5:11
4. "Lucky Bag" – 5:40
5. "Getting Away with It" (Nude mix) – 6:01
6. "Getting Away with It" (Vocal remix) - 4:48
7. "Lucky Bag" (Miami edit) – 4:30

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Although the music was written with their first album in mind — and before their involvement with Neil TennantMelody Maker, 13 April 1991 — "Getting Away with It" was not included on Electronic's first LP in May 1991 (a reflection of their confidence in the newer material), although it was slotted in between tracks 4 and 5 on the international versions and the subsequent 1994 reissue on Parlophone, to bolster sales. In some territories "Getting Away with It" replaced the album track "Gangster".[http://eil.com/shop/moreinfo.asp?catalogid=321165 Example here]

"Getting Away with It" also appeared on the Australian "Forbidden City" CD single in 1996, and in two versions on a withdrawn compilation planned for release in Japan three years later.[http://www.worldinmotion.net/newsroom/1999.htm worldinmotion.net] It has also featured on a variety of various artists compilations, sometimes in remixed form, and was the second track on the retrospective set Get the Message – The Best of Electronic in 2006.

The song was recorded by British artist Skin for inclusion on the re-release of her debut album Fleshwounds. Unlike the original, the music was updated to a more rock-edged sound. It has since become a fan favourite at her gigs and is never left out of a setlist. A double A-side of the song was to be released with her single "Lost", but due to poor sales of the album and singles it was pulled by EMI at the last minute. No video was shot for the song.

The phrase 'getting away with this' was used in a Spitting Image spoof of Pet Shop Boys in 1993.[http://geowayne.com/master.html?http://geowayne.com/psblists3.htm Pet Shop Boys Commentary]

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Category:1989 songs

Category:1989 debut singles

Category:Electronic (band) songs

Category:Factory Records singles

Category:Music videos shot in France

Category:Songs written by Neil Tennant

Category:Songs written by Johnny Marr

Category:Songs written by Bernard Sumner

Category:UK Independent Singles Chart number-one singles