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Quick Step & Side Kick

{{Use British English|date=August 2014}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2014}}

{{Infobox album

| name = Quick Step & Side Kick

| type = Album

| artist = Thompson Twins

| cover = Quick Step & Side Kick.jpg

| alt =

| released = February 1983

| recorded = 1982–1983

| venue =

| studio = Compass Point Studios (Nassau, Bahamas)
RAK Studios, (London, England)

| genre = * New wave

| length = 37:48

| label = Arista

| producer = Alex Sadkin

| prev_title = In the Name of Love

| prev_year = 1982

| next_title = Into the Gap

| next_year = 1984

| misc = {{singles

| name = Quick Step & Side Kick

| type = studio

| single1 = Lies

| single1date = October 8, 1982

| single2 = Love On Your Side

| single2date = January 21, 1983

| single3 = We Are Detective

| single3date = April 1983

| single4 = Watching

| single4date = July 8, 1983 (UK and Ireland)

| single5 = Love Lies Fierce & Frozen In Time (Club Dance Mix)

| single5date = 1983 (UK)

}}

}}

Quick Step & Side Kick is the third studio album by the British new wave group Thompson Twins. It was released in February 1983 by Arista Records, and was their first album to be released as a trio (the band consisted of up to seven members during previous releases). The album reached no. 2 on the UK Albums Chart and was later certified Platinum by the BPI.

In the United States and Canada, the album was titled simply as Side Kicks, and was only the second Thompson Twins album to be released there.

The album was the first collaboration between the band and producer Alex Sadkin and was recorded at Compass Point Studios in the Bahamas. The singer Grace Jones (who had worked with Sadkin on three of her studio albums by that time) made a guest appearance on the track "Watching", though her vocals were not included on the track when it was remixed and released as a single in mid-1983.

Different versions of the album were released in several different territories, containing different tracks and different track orders. The UK, Canadian, and US cassette versions of the album also contained a whole side of remixes of various album tracks.

Critical reception

{{Music ratings

| rev1 = AllMusic

| rev1score = {{Rating|4.5|5}}{{cite web|last=Erlewine|first=Stephen Thomas|author-link=Stephen Thomas Erlewine|url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/quick-step-side-kick-mw0000633259|title=Quick Step & Side Kick – Thompson Twins|publisher=AllMusic|access-date=12 June 2018}}

| rev2 = Encyclopedia of Popular Music

| rev2Score = {{Rating|4|5}}{{cite book |last=Larkin |first=Colin |author-link=Colin Larkin (writer) |title=The Encyclopedia of Popular Music |publisher=Omnibus Press |edition=5th concise |year=2011 |isbn=978-0-85712-595-8}}

| rev3 = Record Collector

| rev3Score = {{Rating|4|5}}{{cite journal|last=Peel|first=Ian|title=Thompson Twins: Quick Step & Side Kick / Into the Gap|journal=Record Collector|date=2008|page=101}}

| rev4 = Rolling Stone

| rev4Score = {{Rating|3|5}}{{cite magazine|last=Considine|first=J.D.|author-link=J. D. Considine|url=https://www.rollingstone.com:80/artists/thompsontwins/albums/album/92190/rid/5942933/|title=Thompson Twins: Sidekicks (Quick Step & Sidekick)|magazine=Rolling Stone|date=14 April 1983|access-date=12 June 2018|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060512053235/http://www.rollingstone.com:80/artists/thompsontwins/albums/album/92190/rid/5942933/|archive-date=12 May 2006}}

| rev5 = The Rolling Stone Album Guide

| rev5score = {{Rating|2.5|5}}{{cite book|editor1-last=DeCurtis|editor1-first=Anthony|editor1-link=Anthony DeCurtis|editor2-last=Henke|editor2-first=James|editor3-last=George-Warren|editor3-first=Holly|chapter=Thompson Twins|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wMEQAQAAMAAJ&q=close+bone|access-date=29 September 2012|title=The Rolling Stone Album Guide|edition=3rd|publisher=Random House|year=1992|isbn=0-679-73729-4}}

| rev6 = Smash Hits

| rev6Score = 6/10{{cite journal|last=Sumerside|first=Angie|title=Thompson Twins: Quick Step & Side Kick|journal=Smash Hits|volume=5|issue=5|date=3 March 1983|page=41}}

}}

Reviewing the album in Record magazine, Crispin Sartwell noted that the songs "Love On Your Side", "Tears", "Love Lies Bleeding", and especially "Lies" achieved a funk that could appeal to both black and white listeners, but that the songs on Side Two of the record veer more towards the pretentious music of their first two albums. He nonetheless concluded the album to be one of the best examples of British funk to date.{{cite magazine |last=Sartwell |first=Crispin |author-link=Crispin Sartwell |title=Side Kicks review |magazine=Record |date=June 1983 |volume=2 |issue=8 |page=27}}

The Rock Yearbook 1984 in summarising reviews in the British music press reported the album was "about as interesting as a Wolverhampton bus station at two in the morning", Record Mirror and "more like a labour in industrial design than a labour of love and inspiration", Melody Maker; New Musical Express was more positive, "not only multifaceted and musically mature, but upliftingly alive as well".{{Cite book |url=http://archive.org/details/rockyearbook198400clar |title=The Rock Yearbook 1984 |date=1983 |publisher=Virgin Books |others= |isbn=978-0-312-68786-1 |editor-last=Clark |editor-first=Al |page=80}}

Track listings

=UK release=

Side one

  1. "Love On Your Side"
  2. "Lies"
  3. "If You Were Here"
  4. "Judy Do"
  5. "Tears"

Side two

  1. "Watching"
  2. "We Are Detective"
  3. "Kamikaze"
  4. "Love Lies Bleeding"
  5. "All Fall Out"

=US release=

Side one

  1. "Love On Your Side"
  2. "Tears"
  3. "Lies"
  4. "We Are Detective"
  5. "Love Lies Bleeding"

Side two

  1. "Watching"
  2. "If You Were Here"
  3. "Kamikaze"
  4. "Judy Do"
  5. "All Fall Out"

=Cassette remixes=

  1. "Love Lies Fierce" – 6:45 (dub remix of "Love Lies Bleeding")
  2. "Long Beach Culture" – 6:48 (extended version of "Beach Culture")
  3. "No Talkin'" – 6:18 (dub remix of "Lies")
  4. "Rap Boy Rap" – 7:22 (original 12" version of "Love On Your Side")
  5. "Frozen in Time" – 6:28 (dub remix of "Kamikaze")
  6. "Fallen Out" – 3:30 (dub remix of "All Fall Out")

=2008 expanded edition=

In March 2008, Quick Step & Side Kick was reissued as a two-disc set by Edsel Records[http://www.demonmusicgroup.co.uk/Product.aspx?ProductID=3698 Demon Music Group] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110717110619/http://www.demonmusicgroup.co.uk/Product.aspx?ProductID=3698 |date=17 July 2011}} and included the bonus remixes that appeared on the original 1983 cassette version of the album. The second disc included most major 12" versions and B-sides, some of which appeared on CD for the first time.

Disc one

  1. "Love on Your Side" – 3:33
  2. "Lies" – 3:13
  3. "If You Were Here" – 2:56
  4. "Judy Do" – 3:48
  5. "Tears" – 5:02
  6. "Watching" – 3:58
  7. "We Are Detective" – 3:06
  8. "Kamikaze" – 3:55
  9. "Love Lies Bleeding" – 2:50
  10. "All Fall Out" – 5:28
  11. "Love Lies Fierce" – 6:45
  12. "Long Beach Culture" – 6:48
  13. "No Talkin'" – 6:18
  14. "Rap Boy Rap" – 7:22
  15. "Frozen in Time" – 6:28
  16. "Fallen Out" – 3:30

Disc two

  1. "Lies (Single Remix)" – 3:15
  2. "Love on Your Back" – 4:06 (original B-side of the "Love On Your Side" 7" single)
  3. "Lucky Day" – 3:52 (original B-side of the "We Are Detective" 7" single)
  4. "Dancersaurus" – 4:40 (original B-side of the "Watching" 7" single)
  5. "Lies (Bigger and Better)" – 6:35 (original 12" remix of "Lies")
  6. "Beach Culture" – 3:55 (original B-side of the "Lies" 7" single)
  7. "Love On Your Side (No Talkin')" – 5:48 (B-side of the original "Love On Your Side" 12" single)
  8. "We Are Detective (More Clues)" – 6:00 (original 12" remix of "We Are Detective")
  9. "Lucky Day (Space Mix)" – 6:58 (B-side of the "We Are Detective" 12" single)
  10. "Watching (You Watching Me)" – 5:48 (original 12" remix of "Watching")
  11. "Dancersaurus (Even Large Reptiles Have Emotional Problems)" – 5:50 (B-side of the "Watching" 12" single)

Charts

{{col-begin}}

{{col-2}}

=Weekly charts=

class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"
scope="col"| Chart (1983–84)

! scope="col"| Peak
position

scope="row"| Australian Albums (Kent Music Report){{cite book|last=Kent|first=David|author-link=David Kent (historian)|title=Australian Chart Book 1970–1992|edition=illustrated|publisher=Australian Chart Book|location=St Ives, N.S.W.|year=1993|isbn=0-646-11917-6|page=309}}

| 85

{{album chart|Canada|26|chartid=6326a|rowheader=true|access-date=2 February 2022}}
{{album chart|Netherlands|47|artist=Thompson Twins|album=Quick Step & Side Kick|rowheader=true|access-date=2 February 2022}}
{{album chart|New Zealand|7|artist=Thompson Twins|album=Quick Step & Side Kick|rowheader=true|access-date=2 February 2022}}
{{album chart|Sweden|27|artist=Thompson Twins|album=Quick Step & Side Kick|rowheader=true|access-date=2 February 2022}}
{{album chart|UK2|2|date=19830227|rowheader=true|access-date=2 February 2022}}
{{album chart|Billboard200|34|artist=Thompson Twins|rowheader=true|access-date=2 February 2022}}

{{col-2}}

=Year-end charts=

class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"
scope="col" | Chart (1983)

! scope="col" | Position

scope="row" | New Zealand Albums (RMNZ){{cite web|url=https://aotearoamusiccharts.co.nz/archive/annual-albums/1983-12-31|title=Top Selling Albums of 1983 — The Official New Zealand Music Chart|publisher=Recorded Music New Zealand|access-date=2 February 2022}}

| 23

{{col-end}}

Sales and certifications

{{Certification Table Top}}

{{certification Table Entry |region=New Zealand|type=album|title=Quick Step & Side Kick|artist=Thompson Twins|award=Gold|relyear=1983|id=1984-06-15|source=newchart|access-date=2024-11-20|certyear=1983}}

{{certification Table Entry|title=Quick Step And Side Kick|artist=Thompson Twins|relyear=1983|certyear=1985|type=album|region=United Kingdom|award=Platinum|id=5307-480-2}}

{{Certification Table Bottom|nosales=yes}}

Personnel

Thompson Twins

Additional musicians

  • Boris Williams – cymbals on "If You Were Here" and "Tears"
  • Monte Brown – guitars on "Watching"
  • Grace Jones – backing vocals on "Watching"

Production

  • Alex Sadkin – producer
  • Phil Thornalley – engineer
  • Mike Nocito – tape op at RAK studios
  • Ted Jensen – mastering at Sterling Sound (New York City, USA).
  • David Shortt – art direction
  • Satori Graphic – design
  • Jeremy Pemberton – design
  • Roger Charity – photography
  • John Hade – management

References

{{reflist}}

External links

  • {{discogs master|85536}}

{{Thompson Twins}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Quick Step and Side Kick}}

Category:1983 albums

Category:Thompson Twins albums

Category:Arista Records albums

Category:Albums produced by Alex Sadkin