So Alive (Love and Rockets song)
{{Short description|1989 single by Love and Rockets}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2021}}
{{Infobox song
| name = So Alive
| cover = So Alive single.jpg
| alt =
| type = single
| artist = Love and Rockets
| album = Love and Rockets
| B-side =
- "Dreamtime"
- "Motorcycle"
- "Bike"
| released = 1989
| recorded =
| studio =
| venue =
| genre =
- Funk{{cite web|first= Tim |last= Peacock |title= 'The Best Songs We Never Wrote': Track by Track with EODM's Jesse Hughes |website= uDiscoverMusic |date= 7 June 2019 |access-date= 16 October 2019 |url= https://www.udiscovermusic.com/stories/eodm-boots-electric-best-songs-never-wrote/}}
- dance-pop{{cite book|editor-first= Gary |editor-last= Graff |year= 1996 |title= MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide |chapter= Love and Rockets |publisher= Visible Ink Press |isbn= 9780787610371 |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=1NjOldjR5J4C&q=%22so+alive%22}}
- gothic pop{{Cite podcast|url=https://slate.com/podcasts/hit-parade/2019/10/suburban-teens-turned-grim-80s-u-k-postpunk-into-chart-pop|title= The Lost and Lonely Edition|website=Hit Parade {{!}} Music History and Music Trivia|publisher=Slate|last=Molanphy|first=Chris|date=October 31, 2019|access-date=October 19, 2023|quote= ...Love and Rockets had reached the top three on the U.S. charts with a catchy, sexy, somewhat spooky goth pop song called "So Alive}}
| length = 4:15
| label =
| writer =
| producer =
- Love and Rockets
- John Fryer
| prev_title = Motorcycle
| prev_year = 1989
| next_title = Rock & Roll Babylon
| next_year = 1989
| misc = {{External music video|{{YouTube|Ff5wxR081YQ|"So Alive"}}}}
}}
"So Alive" is a song by British alternative rock band Love and Rockets, released in 1989 as the second single from their self-titled fourth album. The song reached {{abbr|No.|Number}} 1 in Canada and charted within the top 30 in the United States, Australia, and New Zealand. In the US, it topped the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart for five weeks and was ranked No. 1 on that listing's year-end chart for 1989. The song's music video was directed by Howard Greenhalgh and produced by Pamela James.{{cite magazine|url=https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Billboard/80s/1989/BB-1989-05-13.pdf|title=New Videoclips|magazine=Billboard|volume=101|issue=19|page=54|date=13 May 1989|access-date=7 August 2021}}
Background
At a party one Saturday night, singer Daniel Ash saw a beautiful woman with long brown hair on the other side of a dark, shadowy room. He didn't go talk to her because he was married, but he was infatuated for the rest of the weekend. "It was like I'd known her in a different lifetime or something. It was just this thing that hit me like a ton of bricks. I couldn't stop thinking about her," he said.
On Monday, he took a bottle of whiskey into the basement of Blackwing Studios in London, and put together chords and lyrics about the woman in 45 minutes. His bandmates provided bass and drums. Inspired by "Walk on the Wild Side" by Lou Reed, the band brought in female backing singers the next day, and finished the song in under 24 hours.{{cite web|url=https://www.songfacts.com/blog/interviews/daniel-ash-love-and-rockets-bauhaus|title=Daniel Ash of Love and Rockets, Bauhaus : Songwriter Interviews |last=Prato|first=Greg|website= Songfacts|date=8 May 2023 |accessdate=11 May 2023}}
Critical reception
Billboard magazine described "So Alive" as "delectable" as well as the "best T. Rex tune that Marc Bolan never wrote."{{cite magazine|url=https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Billboard/80s/1989/BB-1989-05-06.pdf|title=Album Reviews|magazine=Billboard|volume=101|issue=18|page=83|date=6 May 1989|access-date=7 August 2021}} Ned Raggett of AllMusic wrote that the song was the only track on the album capable of receiving airplay and also noted the T. Rex similarities.{{cite web|url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/love-and-rockets-mw0000653554|title=AllMusic Review by Ned Raggett|last=Raggett|first=Ned|publisher=AllMusic|access-date=7 August 2021}}
Chart performance
The single was Love and Rockets' biggest hit in the United States, peaking at No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100 and No. 1 on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart, where it stayed for five weeks, as well as achieving a peak of No. 9 on the Billboard Album Rock Tracks chart. It was the most successful modern rock song of 1989 in the United States, ranking in at No. 1 on the chart's year-end edition. The song peaked at No. 1 on Canada's RPM 100 Singles chart for two weeks, finishing 1989 as Canada's sixth-best-performing single. "So Alive" also reached No. 79 on the UK Singles Chart, No. 24 on the Australian Singles Chart, and No. 16 on the New Zealand Singles Chart.
Track listings
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- UK, US, and Canadian 7-inch single{{cite AV media notes|title=So Alive|others=Love and Rockets|year=1989|type=UK 7-inch single vinyl disc|publisher=Beggars Banquet Records|id=BEG 229}}{{cite AV media notes|title=So Alive|others=Love and Rockets|year=1989|type=US 7-inch single vinyl disc|publisher=RCA Records|id=8956-7-R}}{{cite AV media notes|title=So Alive|others=Love and Rockets|year=1989|type=Canadian 7-inch single vinyl disc|publisher=Vertigo Records, Beggars Banquet Records|id=874 542-7}}
: UK and Canadian 12-inch single{{cite AV media notes|title=So Alive|others=Love and Rockets|year=1989|type=UK 12-inch single vinyl disc|publisher=Beggars Banquet Records|id=BEG 229T}}{{cite AV media notes|title=So Alive|others=Love and Rockets|year=1989|type=Canadian 12-inch single vinyl disc|publisher=Vertigo Records|id=874 721-1}}
: UK and US cassette single{{cite AV media notes|title=So Alive|others=Love and Rockets|year=1989|type=UK cassette single sleeve|publisher=Beggars Banquet Records|id=BEG 229 C}}{{cite AV media notes|title=So Alive|others=Love and Rockets|year=1989|type=US cassette single sleeve|publisher=RCA Records|id=8956-4-RS}}
:A. "So Alive" – 4:18 (4:15 in North America)
:B. "Dreamtime" – 8:42 (8:40 in North America)
- "So Alive" – 3:48
- "Dreamtime" – 8:42
- "Motorcycle" – 3:32
- "Bike" – 3:46
{{col-2}}
- European and Australasian 7-inch single{{cite AV media notes|title=So Alive|others=Love and Rockets|year=1989|type=European 7-inch single vinyl disc|publisher=RCA Records, Beggars Banquet Records|id=PB49399}}{{cite AV media notes|title=So Alive|others=Love and Rockets|year=1989|type=Australasian 7-inch single vinyl disc|publisher=RCA Victor|id=XB 01466}}
:A. "So Alive" – 4:15
:B. "Bike" – 3:56 (3:46 in Australasia)
- European and Australian 12-inch single{{cite AV media notes|title=So Alive|others=Love and Rockets|year=1989|type=European 12-inch single vinyl disc|publisher=RCA Records, Beggars Banquet Records|id=PT 49400}}{{cite AV media notes|title=So Alive|others=Love and Rockets|year=1989|type=Australasian 12-inch single vinyl disc|publisher=RCA Victor|id=XD 01467}}
:A1. "So Alive" – 4:15
:B1. "Bike" – 3:56 (3:46 in Australia)
:B2. "Dreamtime" – 8:40
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Charts
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=Weekly charts=
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=Year-end charts=
| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"
!Chart (1989) !Position |
| scope="row"|Canada Top Singles (RPM){{cite magazine|url=http://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/discover/films-videos-sound-recordings/rpm/Pages/image.aspx?Image=nlc008388.6684&URLjpg=http%3a%2f%2fwww.collectionscanada.gc.ca%2fobj%2f028020%2ff4%2fnlc008388.6684.gif&Ecopy=nlc008388.6684|title=Top 100 Singles of '89|magazine=RPM|publisher=Library and Archives Canada|access-date=1 April 2019}}
|6 |
|---|
| scope="row"|US Billboard Hot 100{{cite web|url=http://billboardtop100of.com/1989-2/|title=Billboard Top 100 - 1989|website=Billboardtop100of.com|access-date=10 April 2019}}
|51 |
| scope="row"|US Album Rock Tracks (Billboard){{cite magazine|title=1989: The Year In Music (Year-End Charts)|magazine=Billboard|volume=101|issue=51|page=Y-58|date=23 December 1989}}
|44 |
| scope="row"|US Modern Rock Tracks (Billboard)
|1 |
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See also
References
{{Reflist}}
{{Love and Rockets (band)}}
{{Authority control}}
Category:Beggars Banquet Records singles
Category:British dance-pop songs
Category:Love and Rockets (band) songs
Category:Music videos directed by Howard Greenhalgh