Disappointed (Electronic song)

"Disappointed" is the fourth single released by English alternative dance group Electronic. Like their first single "Getting Away with It", it features Neil Tennant of the Pet Shop Boys as well as founding members Johnny Marr and Bernard Sumner. It was released on 22 June 1992 on Parlophone soon after the demise of Factory Records. The single was assigned the Factory catalogue number FAC 348, and the logo of the label remained on the artwork.

"Disappointed"
Single by Electronic
from the album Songs from the Cool World
B-side
  • "Idiot Country Two"
  • "Gangster" (FBI mix)
Released22 June 1992 (1992-06-22)[1]
Label
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)
  • Bernard Sumner
  • Johnny Marr
  • Neil Tennant
Electronic singles chronology
"Feel Every Beat"
(1991)		 "Disappointed"
(1992)		 "Forbidden City"
(1996)

Upon the song's release, it reached the top 20 in Germany, Greece, Ireland, Portugal, Sweden, and the United Kingdom, and it peaked within the top 10 on three US Billboard charts. In July 1992, the song was featured in the soundtrack of the live-action/animation hybrid mystery movie Cool World; its inclusion both in the film and on its soundtrack album was advertised on the US single release.

Composition

The song was based on a piano riff by Marr's brother Ian;[2] and worked up into a full backing-track by Johnny Marr and Bernard Sumner. They decided to ask Neil Tennant to complete the song and he wrote the lyrics and vocal melody. Some of the words ("Disenchanted once more...") were partly inspired by Mylène Farmer's 1991 hit "Désenchantée".[3] Tennant travelled to Manchester to record the lead vocal and a few weeks later went to Paris to attend the final mix of the song by Stephen Hague.

"Disappointed" was conceived just before the recording of New Order's sixth studio album Republic, and was performed live in December 1991 on Electronic's European tour: in Glasgow[4] (sung by Bernard Sumner) and in London (sung by Tennant when Pet Shop Boys guested on three songs).

Single

"Disappointed" was the last Electronic single to be released on all four major formats (7-inch, 12-inch, CD, and cassette). The content of the single was more dynamic than its predecessors, however; it had only one remix of the A-side (by 808 State; titled "808 Mix" in the US and "12-inch remix" in the UK), an additional treatment of a 1991 album track ("Idiot Country", with Ultimatum), and an earlier mix of "Disappointed" (called "Electronic Mix" in the US). The A-side of the single is itself a remix since producer Stephen Hague reworked the "Original Mix" for single release.

Although Electronic would enjoy three more top-twenty singles in the United Kingdom, "Disappointed" was the last major commercial success for the band on an international level, becoming a dance chart hit in the United States and reaching the top 20 in Germany as well as number six in the UK, their highest-charting effort there.

Until the release of Get the Message – The Best of Electronic in 2006, the track was not available on an Electronic album release. However, since "Disappointed" was featured in the 1992 film Cool World, the song was available on the soundtrack album Songs from the Cool World.

Critical reception

Roger Morton of NME was negative in his review, calling the song "effortless in the worse sense" and one that "drifts off into a no man's land of half-hearted disco miserablism". He commented that Sumner and Marr "have programmed in the garagey synth lines and soft pedal Italian piano, and left out any semblance of melody", while Tennant "murmurs a few lugubrious lines with the enthusiasm of a narcoleptic jellyfish".[5] Andrew Mueller of Melody Maker felt it "sounds as if minimum effort was exerted over its creation" and concluded, "This sounds like a Pet Shop Boys album track. This yaws where they have stretched."[6]

Track listings

Charts
Chart (1992) Peak
position
Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40)[7] 23
Europe (Eurochart Hot 100)[11] 14
Germany (Official German Charts)[12] 20
Greece (Virgin)[13] 3
Ireland (IRMA)[14] 17
Netherlands (Dutch Top 40 Tipparade)[15] 15
Netherlands (Single Top 100)[16] 77
Portugal (AFP)[17] 8
Sweden (Sverigetopplistan)[18] 14
UK Singles (OCC)[19] 6
US Dance Club Play (Billboard)[20] 10
US Maxi-Singles Sales (Billboard)[21] 6
US Modern Rock Tracks (Billboard)[22] 9

Cover versions

American singer-songwriter State Shirt recorded a cover version of the song in 2009. The band Austin Apologue released a cover version of the song in 2019.

References
  1. "New Releases: Singles" (PDF). Music Week. 20 June 1992. p. 19. Retrieved 19 June 2021.
  2. Electronic's Greatest Hits (VH1, October 2006)
  3. Interview with Randee Dawn, 1999 (link)
  4. NME, 21 December 1991
  5. Morton, Roger (4 July 1992). "Singles". New Musical Express. p. 17.
  6. Mueller, Roger (20 June 1992). "Singles". Melody Maker. p. 29.
  7. "Electronic – Disappointed" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40. Retrieved 27 October 2019.
  8. Disappointed (UK 12-inch single sleeve). Electronic. Parlophone, Factory Records. 1992. 12 R 6311, 20 47946.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  9. Disappointed (US 12-inch maxi-single vinyl disc). Electronic. Warner Bros. Records. 1992. 9 40562-0.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  10. Disappointed (US maxi-CDsingle digipak disc notes). Electronic. Warner Bros. Records. 1992. 9 40562-2.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  11. "Eurochart Hot 100 Singles" (PDF). Music & Media. Vol. 9, no. 29. 18 July 1992. p. 17. Retrieved 7 July 2020.
  12. "Electronic – Disappointed" (in German). GfK Entertainment charts. Retrieved 27 October 2019.
  13. "Top 10 Sales in Europe" (PDF). Music & Media. Vol. 9, no. 32. 8 August 1992. p. 14. Retrieved 9 April 2020.
  14. "The Irish Charts – Search Results – Disappointed". Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved 27 October 2019.
  15. "Tipparade-lijst van week 34, 1992" (in Dutch). Dutch Top 40. Retrieved 29 April 2023.
  16. "Electronic – Disappointed" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Retrieved 27 October 2019.
  17. "Top 10 Sales in Europe" (PDF). Music & Media. Vol. 9, no. 32. 8 August 1992. p. 14. Retrieved 7 July 2020.
  18. "Electronic – Disappointed". Singles Top 100. Retrieved 27 October 2019.
  19. "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 27 October 2019.
  20. "Dance Club Songs". Billboard. 3 October 1992. Retrieved 25 July 2023.
  21. "Dance Singles Sales". Billboard. 10 October 1992. Retrieved 25 July 2023.
  22. "Alternative Airplay". Billboard. 29 August 1992. Retrieved 25 July 2023.
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