Everything but the Girl is a compilation album by British musical duo Everything but the Girl. It was released in 1984 in the US and Canada by Sire Records, serving as the band's debut album in those countries. It contains six tracks from their United Kingdom debut Eden, two UK singles and four B-sides.
| Everything but the Girl | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Compilation album by | ||||
| Released | 1984 | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 34:29 | |||
| Label | Sire | |||
| Producer | Robin Millar | |||
| Everything but the Girl chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [1] |
| The Rolling Stone Album Guide |  [2] |
| Spin Alternative Record Guide | 7/10[3] |
Background and release
editEverything but the Girl was only released in the United States, Canada, and a few other countries, such as Brazil. It consists of six tracks from Eden plus B-sides and non-album UK singles. In the several months gap between recording and releasing Eden, Thorn and Watt opened themselves to new influences, mostly the Smiths, with whom they also became close. This influence can be heard in "Never Could Have Been Worse" (released as a B-side to "Each and Every One" in the UK).[4]
Other new songs include "Mine", which was released as a single in the UK (where it reached No. 58) only four weeks after Eden, and marked a departure from the album's themes and sound, with Thorn singing about a single mother and gender politics involved in surnames. The other single "Native Land", which featured the Smiths's Johnny Marr on harmonica, only reached No. 73.[4] The album completes its track listing with "Easy as Sin", "Riverbed Dry" (B-sides to "Mine" and "Native Land"), "Never Could Have Been Worse" and "Laugh You Out the Hose" (B-sides to "Each and Every One").
Track listing
edit| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Each and Every One" | 2:46 | |
| 2. | "Tender Blue" | Watt | 3:04 |
| 3. | "Another Bridge" |
| 2:12 |
| 4. | "Frost and Fire" |
| 3:02 |
| 5. | "Fascination" | Thorn | 3:19 |
| 6. | "Crabwalk" | Watt | 3:24 |
| 7. | "Never Could Have Been Worse" | Watt | 2:43 |
| 8. | "Laugh You Out the House" | Thorn | 1:46 |
| 9. | "Mine" | Thorn | 3:18 |
| 10. | "Easy as Sin" | Watt | 2:56 |
| 11. | "Native Land" |
| 3:06 |
| 12. | "Riverbed Dry" |
| 2:53 |
Personnel
edit- Everything but the Girl
- Tracey Thorn – acoustic guitar, vocals
- Ben Watt – guitar, piano, Hammond organ, vocals
- Additional musicians
- Bosco DeOliveira – percussion
- Dick Pearce – flugelhorn, trumpet
- Nigel Nash – tenor saxophone
- Peter King – alto saxophone
- Charles Hayward – drums
- Chucho Merchán – double bass
- Simon Booth – guitar
- Bill Le Sage – vibraphone
- Johnny Marr – harmonica on "Native Land"
- Phil Moxham – bass
- Dave Smith – double bass
- Bob Sydor – tenor saxophone
- June Miles-Kingston – drums, vocals
References
edit- ^ Ruhlmann, William. "Everything But the Girl – Everything But the Girl". AllMusic. Retrieved 24 July 2017.
- ^ Sarig, Roni (2004). "Everything but the Girl". In Brackett, Nathan; Hoard, Christian (eds.). The New Rolling Stone Album Guide (4th ed.). Simon & Schuster. pp. 288–289. ISBN 0-7432-0169-8.
- ^ Crist, Renée (1995). "Everything but the Girl". In Weisbard, Eric; Marks, Craig (eds.). Spin Alternative Record Guide. Vintage Books. pp. 136–137. ISBN 0-679-75574-8.
- ^ a b Thorn, Tracey (2013). Bedsit Disco Queen. United Kingdom: Hachette Digital, Little, Brown Book Group. pp. 200–202. ISBN 978-1-40551-398-2.