So Alive (Love and Rockets song)

"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 No. 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.[4]

"So Alive"
Single by Love and Rockets
from the album Love and Rockets
B-side
  • "Dreamtime"
  • "Motorcycle"
  • "Bike"
Released1989
Genre
Length4:15
Label
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)
Love and Rockets singles chronology
"Motorcycle"
(1989)		 "So Alive"
(1989)		 "Rock & Roll Babylon"
(1989)
Music video
"So Alive" on YouTube

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.[5]

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.[5]

Critical reception

Billboard magazine described "So Alive" as "delectable" as well as the "best T. Rex tune that Marc Bolan never wrote."[6] 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.[7]

Chart performance

The single was Love and Rockets' biggest hit in the United States, peaking at No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100[8] and No. 1 on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart, where it stayed for five weeks,[9] as well as achieving a peak of No. 9 on the Billboard Album Rock Tracks chart.[10] 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.[11] 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.[12][13] "So Alive" also reached No. 79 on the UK Singles Chart,[14] No. 24 on the Australian Singles Chart,[15] and No. 16 on the New Zealand Singles Chart.[16]

Track listings

Charts

See also

References
  1. Peacock, Tim (7 June 2019). "'The Best Songs We Never Wrote': Track by Track with EODM's Jesse Hughes". uDiscoverMusic. Retrieved 16 October 2019.
  2. Graff, Gary, ed. (1996). "Love and Rockets". MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide. Visible Ink Press. ISBN 9780787610371.
  3. Molanphy, Chris (31 October 2019). "The Lost and Lonely Edition". Hit Parade | Music History and Music Trivia (Podcast). Slate. Retrieved 19 October 2023. ...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
  4. "New Videoclips" (PDF). Billboard. Vol. 101, no. 19. 13 May 1989. p. 54. Retrieved 7 August 2021.
  5. Prato, Greg (8 May 2023). "Daniel Ash of Love and Rockets, Bauhaus : Songwriter Interviews". Songfacts. Retrieved 11 May 2023.
  6. "Album Reviews" (PDF). Billboard. Vol. 101, no. 18. 6 May 1989. p. 83. Retrieved 7 August 2021.
  7. Raggett, Ned. "AllMusic Review by Ned Raggett". AllMusic. Retrieved 7 August 2021.
  8. "Love and Rockets Chart History (The Hot 100)". Billboard. Archived from the original on 17 November 2021. Retrieved 15 July 2023.
  9. "Love and Rockets Chart History (Alternative Airplay)". Billboard. Archived from the original on 17 November 2021. Retrieved 15 July 2023.
  10. "Love and Rockets Chart History (Mainstream Rock Airplay)". Billboard. Archived from the original on 17 November 2021. Retrieved 15 July 2023.
  11. "1989: The Year In Music (Year-End Charts)". Billboard. Vol. 101, no. 51. 23 December 1989. p. Y-58.
  12. "Top RPM Singles: Issue 6425." RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 1 April 2019.
  13. "Top 100 Singles of '89". RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 1 April 2019.
  14. "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 1 April 2019.
  15. "Love and Rockets – So Alive". ARIA Top 50 Singles. Retrieved 1 April 2019.
  16. "Love and Rockets – So Alive". Top 40 Singles. Retrieved 1 April 2019.
  17. So Alive (UK 7-inch single vinyl disc). Love and Rockets. Beggars Banquet Records. 1989. BEG 229.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  18. So Alive (US 7-inch single vinyl disc). Love and Rockets. RCA Records. 1989. 8956-7-R.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  19. So Alive (Canadian 7-inch single vinyl disc). Love and Rockets. Vertigo Records, Beggars Banquet Records. 1989. 874 542-7.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  20. So Alive (UK 12-inch single vinyl disc). Love and Rockets. Beggars Banquet Records. 1989. BEG 229T.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  21. So Alive (Canadian 12-inch single vinyl disc). Love and Rockets. Vertigo Records. 1989. 874 721-1.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  22. So Alive (UK cassette single sleeve). Love and Rockets. Beggars Banquet Records. 1989. BEG 229 C.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  23. So Alive (US cassette single sleeve). Love and Rockets. RCA Records. 1989. 8956-4-RS.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  24. So Alive (UK CD single disc notes). Love and Rockets. Beggars Banquet Records. 1989. BEG 229 CD.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  25. So Alive (European 7-inch single vinyl disc). Love and Rockets. RCA Records, Beggars Banquet Records. 1989. PB49399.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  26. So Alive (Australasian 7-inch single vinyl disc). Love and Rockets. RCA Victor. 1989. XB 01466.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  27. So Alive (European 12-inch single vinyl disc). Love and Rockets. RCA Records, Beggars Banquet Records. 1989. PT 49400.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  28. So Alive (Australasian 12-inch single vinyl disc). Love and Rockets. RCA Victor. 1989. XD 01467.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  29. "Love and Rockets Chart History (Dance Club Songs)". Billboard. Archived from the original on 17 November 2021. Retrieved 15 July 2023.
  30. "Billboard Top 100 - 1989". Billboardtop100of.com. Retrieved 10 April 2019.
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