Sons and Fascination/Sister Feelings Call

Sons and Fascination/Sister Feelings Call is the (double-LP) fourth album by Scottish post-punk band Simple Minds. It was released in September 1981 and was their first to reach a wide international audience. It includes the singles "The American", "Love Song" and "Sweat in Bullet".

Sons and Fascination/Sister Feelings Call
Studio album by
Released4 September 1981[1]
StudioFarmyard Studios, Little Chalfont, Buckinghamshire
Regent's Park studios, London[2]
Genre
Length78:59 (originally 43:50 + 35:09)
LabelVirgin
ProducerSteve Hillage
Simple Minds chronology
Empires and Dance
(1980)
Sons and Fascination/Sister Feelings Call
(1981)
Themes for Great Cities 79/81
(1981)
Simple Minds studio albums chronology
Empires and Dance
(1980)
Sons and Fascination/Sister Feelings Call
(1981)
New Gold Dream (81/82/83/84)
(1982)
Alternative covers
Original Sons and Fascination cover
Alternative cover
Original Sister Feelings Call cover
Singles from Sons and Fascination/Sister Feelings Call
  1. "The American"
    Released: 15 May 1981[3]
  2. "Love Song"
    Released: 7 August 1981[4]
  3. "Sweat in Bullet"
    Released: 23 October 1981[5]

Overview

Sons and Fascination and Sister Feelings Call were two separate albums. They were assembled from the same sessions and released at the same time and, in some instances, sold as a double-LP set. The two releases are variously categorised as a double album, two single albums or a single album and an extended play. The current CD remaster contains all the tracks once split onto two LPs, with their respective track running orders preserved. The original 1985 CD reissue deleted two songs from Sister Feelings Call, "League of Nations" and "Sound in 70 Cities", as the maximum running time of Red Book CD releases at the time would not accommodate the entire set, and Virgin were unwilling to issue the material as a two-CD set.

Recording

The sessions are the last to have the same line-up as all its predecessors. Drummer Brian McGee left just after recording the set, and was replaced by Kenny Hyslop as part-time member for the upcoming tour. Hyslop also appeared in the "Sweat in Bullet" and "Love Song" videos.

Having ended their contract with Arista the sessions were the first recordings the band made for Virgin Records. They worked with producer Steve Hillage, who was a guitarist in the progressive rock band Gong. One thing Hillage and Simple Minds had in common was a love of krautrock music. The band's previous three albums were produced by John Leckie.

The rhythm section was made more prominent than on any earlier album of the band, loud, heavy and sometimes anchoring a track to one or two driving rhythm patterns, but also often put at moving angles with some of the other instruments or with Jim Kerr's vocals (as in "The American" or "Sweat in Bullet"); this gave the songs a spatial, multi-planed and atmospheric sound, whilst keeping up propulsion.

The band recorded fifteen backing tracks for the album but could not decide which tracks to keep, and therefore started to talk about making a double album. During the hectic recording sessions the band exhausted their budget and the work on some tracks was unfinished. Kerr later said: "In retrospect I think we tried to achieve the impossible. We wanted to record a double album on the budget of a single one. But at that moment, we were so full of ideas, and we thought they were all useful. So we decided to record everything and ended up with a huge mess, a veritable nightmare". Unwilling to scrap some of the songs they decided to release all the material as a limited edition double set.[6]

"The American" was the first song completed during the recording sessions and quickly released as a single in May 1981. The song was inspired by the bright colours of an exhibition of modern American art Kerr had seen.[7]

"Love Song" was recorded and released as a single a month before the still uncompleted album was released. The B-side "This Earth That You Walk Upon" is an instrumental track originating from a studio jam by Mick MacNeil. After the release of the single the band decided to add lyrics to the song and included the new vocal version on the album.[8]

"Boys from Brazil" is inspired by the novel The Boys from Brazil, as Kerr has said in interviews. The line "babies cannot manage crocodiles" is likely inspired by the Lewis Carroll logic puzzle: "All babies are illogical / Nobody is despised who can manage a crocodile / Illogical persons are despised".

Releases

Viewed as vinyl LPs, Sons and Fascination is the fourth Simple Minds album, with Sister Feelings Call being the fifth one. Or their double-LP fourth album. Indeed, the two were released simultaneously in 1981, Sons and Fascination being the main feature, and Sister Feelings Call included as a bonus disc with the first 10,000 copies of the original release. It reached number 11 on the UK Albums Chart,[9] number 31 on the Australian Kent Music Report chart,[10] number 46 on the Canadian RPM National Top 50 Albums Chart,[11] number seven on the New Zealand RIANZ chart[12] and number four on the Swedish Sverigetopplistan chart.[13] In 1986, the album was certified gold by the British Phonographic Industry.[14]

The restructured Canadian version of the Sons and Fascination album (expanded to ten tracks, six of the eight on the UK release and a further four taken from Sister Feelings Call, there shortened to five tracks on the vinyl release and six tracks on cassette) had a significantly different running order, beginning with "Love Song".

Upon its first CD release in 1985, Sons and Fascination came with five of the seven tracks from Sister Feelings Call added directly after the main set, so that the CD played as a single long album. As two tracks from "Sister Feelings Call" had been dropped due to the technical limitations of Compact Discs at the time (the disc's running length having to fit within 74 minutes), the album was therefore not complete. No indication was given on the inserts or the disc that the latter five tracks were from "Sister Feelings Call". The dropped tracks included "League of Nations" and "Sound in 70 Cities" (an instrumental version of Sons and Fascination's "70 Cities as Love Brings the Fall"), both of which later appeared on the CD single of the 12-inch cut of "The American" and would re-appear in album form in 2002 and 2003 when remasters of the double set were issued under the title Sons and Fascination/Sister Feelings Call.

In 2012, Virgin Records released the X5 CD box set containing the band's first five albums, each containing extra tracks. This could be considered to contain the definitive version of the album(s), collecting all the tracks spread across the various releases to date.

Singles

"The American", "Love Song" and "Sweat in Bullet" were released as singles. "The American" preceded the album and became the group's first charting single in the UK since "Life in a Day" in 1979 reaching number 59.[9]

"Love Song" followed and charted slightly higher at No. 47 in the UK.[9] "Love Song" proved to be the first breakout hit for the group charting across several countries. It was a Top 20 hit in Sweden and Australia.

"Sweat in Bullet" was remixed for single release by Peter Walsh. The single reached number 52 in the UK, number 47 in New Zealand and number 17 in Sweden.[13] Walsh went on to produce the band's following album New Gold Dream (81/82/83/84) in 1982.

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Sons and Fascination
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[15]
Professional ratings
Sister Feelings Call
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[16]
Professional ratings
Double album
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[17]
Encyclopedia of Popular Music[18]
The Great Rock Discography8/10[19]
Record Mirror[20]
Smash Hits8/10[21]

Reviewing Sons and Fascination/Sister Feelings Call for The Face, Ian Cranna praised the album as "mostly first-rate stuff" and noted that "if Jim Kerr's lyrics have taken a turn for the more obscure then the moving hesitancy of his delivery communicates the urgency of the message powerfully enough."[22] Mark Cooper of Record Mirror said that it "confirms the promise of Empires and Dance",[20] while John Gill of Sounds wrote, "Experience has brought further subjects within their vision; quite literally, from angels to nazis. They have the guts, the drive, the rhythm-poetry-inspiration to do it and say it."[23] Less receptive was NME critic Chris Bohn, who deemed the album "excessively and inexcusably laboured."[24] Sons and Fascination/Sister Feelings Call was ranked by Sounds as the 18th best album of 1981.[25] The listeners of Toronto-area alternative radio station CFNY-FM voted it the best album of 1981 (in a tie with King Crimson's Discipline).[26]

The album's legacy was further strengthened in retrospective critic listings; a 2007 issue of Mojo magazine listed Sons and Fascination/Sister Feelings Call as one of the 80 greatest albums of the 1980s,[27] while The Guardian selected the record as one of the "1000 Albums to Hear Before You Die", writing, "Before they descended into epic pomp-rock bluster, Simple Minds were purveyors of supremely romantic, slyly futuristic synthpop. Sons and Fascination found them cannily mining a seam of mesmerising, shimmering art-rock, while tracks like 'Love Song' were so gorgeously lustrous that you could even forgive them their future."[28] In The Essential Rock Discography (2006), Martin C. Strong rated Sons and Fascination/Sister Feelings Call highly and wrote: "Simple Minds were beginning to find their niche, incorporating their artier tendencies into more conventional and melodic song structures."[29]

Track listing

Sons and Fascination

All lyrics are written by Jim Kerr; all music is composed by Simple Minds

Side A
No.TitleLength
1."In Trance as Mission"6:50
2."Sweat in Bullet"4:30
3."70 Cities as Love Brings the Fall"4:48
4."Boys from Brazil"5:30
Side B
No.TitleLength
5."Love Song"5:03
6."This Earth That You Walk Upon"5:26
7."Sons and Fascination"5:23
8."Seeing out the Angel"6:11

Sister Feelings Call

All lyrics are written by Jim Kerr; all music is composed by Simple Minds

Side A
No.TitleLength
1."Theme for Great Cities"5:50
2."The American"3:49
3."20th Century Promised Land"4:53
Side B
No.TitleLength
4."Wonderful in Young Life"5:20
5."League of Nations"4:55
6."Careful in Career"5:08
7."Sound in 70 Cities" (Dub mix of "70 Cities as Love Brings the Fall")5:01

The Canadian versions of both Sons and Fascination and Sister Feelings Call contained respectively tracklists and running orders differing from the original versions, with Sons removing two tracks ("70 Cities as Love Brings the Fall" and "Seeing out the Angel") from the original and adding four ("Theme for Great Cities", "The American", "20th Century Promised Land" and "League of Nations") from Sister. Sons thus contained ten rather than eight tracks, and Sister five rather than seven tracks.

Sons and Fascination (Canadian version)[30]

All lyrics are written by Jim Kerr; all music is composed by Simple Minds

Side A
No.TitleLength
1."Love Song"5:03
2."Theme for Great Cities"5:50
3."This Earth That You Walk Upon"5:26
4."Sweat in Bullet"4:30
5."In Trance as Mission"6:50
Side B
No.TitleLength
6."The American"3:49
7."20th Century Promised Land"4:53
8."League of Nations"4:55
9."Boys from Brazil"5:30
10."Sons and Fascination"5:23

Sister Feelings Call (Canadian version)[31]

All lyrics are written by Jim Kerr; all music is composed by Simple Minds

Side A
No.TitleLength
1."70 Cities as Love Brings the Fall"4:48
2."Careful in Career"5:08
3."Seeing out the Angel"6:11
Side B
No.TitleLength
4."Wonderful in Young Life"5:20
5."Sound in 70 Cities" (Dub mix of "70 Cities as Love Brings the Fall")5:01

Sons and Fascination/Sister Feelings Call

The 2002 remastered reissue includes all titles from both albums. It was also released in heavy duty gatefold picture card sleeve with black inner sleeve. The original 1985 CD omits "League of Nations" and "Sound in 70 Cities" due to space constraints.

All lyrics are written by Jim Kerr; all music is composed by Simple Minds

No.TitleLength
1."In Trance as Mission"6:50
2."Sweat in Bullet"4:30
3."70 Cities as Love Brings the Fall"4:48
4."Boys from Brazil"5:30
5."Love Song"5:03
6."This Earth That You Walk Upon"5:26
7."Sons and Fascination"5:23
8."Seeing out the Angel"6:11
9."Theme for Great Cities"5:50
10."The American"3:49
11."20th Century Promised Land"4:53
12."Wonderful in Young Life"5:20
13."League of Nations"4:55
14."Careful in Career"5:08
15."Sound in 70 Cities" (Dub mix of "70 Cities as Love Brings the Fall")5:01

Personnel

Adapted from the album's liner notes.[32]

Simple Minds

Additional personnel

  • Ken Lockie – backing vocals
  • Jaqui – backing vocals

Technical

  • Steve Hillage – producer
  • Hugh Jones – engineer (Farmyard Studios)
  • Alan Jakoby – engineer (Regents Park Studios)
  • Malcolm Garrett, Assorted iMaGes – design, direction
  • Sheila Rock – photography

Charts

Chart (1981–82) Peak
position
Australian Albums (Kent Music Report)[10] 31
Canada Top Albums/CDs (RPM)[11] 46
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[12] 7
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[33] 4
UK Albums (OCC)[34] 11

Certifications

Region CertificationCertified units/sales
United Kingdom (BPI)[14] Gold 100,000^

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

References

  1. "Simple Minds to tour" (PDF). Record Mirror. 22 August 1981. p. 2. Retrieved 26 July 2022.
  2. "Sons and Fascination: Information". Dream Giver Redux. Retrieved 21 April 2021.
  3. "The American".
  4. "dream giver redux | press releases | sons and fascination | schoolhouse management letter". www.simpleminds.org. Retrieved 19 June 2022.
  5. "dream giver redux | press releases | sons and fascination | sweat in bullet single". www.simpleminds.org. Retrieved 19 June 2022.
  6. "sons and fascination". Dream Giver Redux. Retrieved 5 August 2020.
  7. "the american". Dream Giver Redux. Retrieved 6 August 2020.
  8. "love song". Dream Giver Redux. Retrieved 6 August 2020.
  9. "Simple Minds". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 15 October 2019.
  10. Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. p. 275. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
  11. "Top RPM Albums: Issue 0455". RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 19 December 2020.
  12. "Charts.nz – Simple Minds – Sons and Fascination". Hung Medien. Retrieved 19 December 2020.
  13. "Swedishcharts.com – Discography Simple Minds". Hung Medien. Retrieved 26 February 2011.
  14. "British album certifications – Simple Minds – Sons and Fascination/Sister Feelings Call". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 26 May 2019. Select albums in the Format field. Select Gold in the Certification field. Type Sons and Fascination/Sister Feelings Call in the "Search BPI Awards" field and then press Enter.
  15. Kellman, Andy. "Sons and Fascination – Simple Minds". AllMusic. Retrieved 19 December 2020.
  16. Kellman, Andy. "Sister Feelings Call – Simple Minds". AllMusic. Retrieved 19 December 2020.
  17. Kellman, Andy. "Sons and Fascination/Sister Feelings Call – Simple Minds". AllMusic. Retrieved 1 February 2013.
  18. Larkin, Colin (2002). "Simple Minds". The Virgin Encyclopedia of Popular Music (4th concise ed.). Virgin Books. ISBN 1-85227-923-0.
  19. Strong, Martin C. (2004). "Simple Minds". The Great Rock Discography (7th ed.). Canongate Books. ISBN 1-84195-551-5.
  20. Cooper, Mark (29 August 1981). "Short, Sharp and Simple". Record Mirror. London. p. 16. ISSN 0144-5804.
  21. Black, Johnny (3–16 September 1981). "Simple Minds: Double Album". Smash Hits. Vol. 3, no. 18. London. p. 25. ISSN 0260-3004.
  22. Cranna, Ian (October 1981). "Simple Minds: Sons and Fascination/Sister Feelings Call". The Face. No. 18. London. ISSN 0263-1210. Retrieved 2 February 2013.
  23. Gill, John (19 September 1981). "It's Time We Got Our Crown". Sounds. London. Retrieved 2 February 2013.
  24. Bohn, Chris (5 September 1981). "Simple Minds: Sons and Fascination/Sister Feelings Call". NME. London. ISSN 0028-6362. Retrieved 24 October 2011.
  25. "Sounds End of Year Lists". Rocklist.net. Retrieved 31 January 2013.
  26. "The Best & Worst of 81" (PDF). Now. Toronto. 7–13 January 1982. p. 16. ISSN 0712-1326. Retrieved 19 December 2020.
  27. "Simple Minds: Sons and Fascination". Acclaimed Music. Archived from the original on 27 July 2013. Retrieved 31 January 2013.
  28. "1000 albums to hear before you die – Artists beginning with S". The Guardian. London. 20 November 2007. ISSN 1756-3224. Retrieved 31 January 2013.
  29. Strong, Martin C. (2006). "Simple Minds". The Essential Rock Discography. Canongate Books. ISBN 978-1-84195-827-9.
  30. Discogs.com, Simple Minds - Sons and Fascination (Virgin – VL 2224)
  31. Discog.com, Simple Minds - Sister Feelings Call (Virgin – VEP 311)
  32. "Studio albums: Sons and Fascination / Sister Feelings Call". Simple Minds official website. September 1981. Retrieved 22 April 2021.
  33. "Swedishcharts.com – Simple Minds – Sons and Fascination". Hung Medien. Retrieved 19 December 2020.
  34. "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 19 December 2020.
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