"Alice" is a song by the British

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

band

the Sisters of Mercy The Sisters of Mercy is an English rock band, formed in 1980 in Leeds. After achieving early underground fame there, the band had their commercial breakthrough in the mid-1980s and sustained it until the early 1990s, when they stopped releasi ...

, written by vocalist

Andrew Eldritch Andrew Eldritch (born Andrew William Harvey Taylor, 15 May 1959) is an English singer, songwriter and musician. He is the frontman and only remaining original member of the Sisters of Mercy, a band that emerged from the British post-punk scene ...

. The song was released as a non-album single by the band's own label by

Merciful Release Merciful Release is a record label started by Andrew Eldritch, frontman with Leeds band the Sisters of Mercy. As Eldritch stated in an early interview, he wanted to hear himself on the radio. He and Gary Marx (Mark Pairman) played and recorded o ...

, on 21 November 1982. It was re-released in March 1983 as a 12" EP.

Recording

After one week of pre-production at

's flat in

Leeds Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by popula ...

, four tracks were recorded over two weekends with producer

John Ashton John Ashton may refer to: Entertainment * John Ashton (composer) (1830–1896), Welsh musician * Will Ashton (John William Ashton, 1881–1963), British-Australian artist and art director * John Rowland Ashton (1917–2008), English author * John ...

the Psychedelic Furs The Psychedelic Furs are a post-punk band founded in London in February 1977. Led by lead vocalist Richard Butler and his brother Tim Butler on bass guitar, the Psychedelic Furs are one of the many acts spawned from the British post-punk sc ...

at Kenny Giles's studio in

Bridlington Bridlington is a coastal town and a civil parish on the Holderness Coast of the North Sea in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It is about north of Hull and east of York. The Gypsey Race enters the North Sea at its harbour. The 2011 ...

: "Alice", "Floorshow", Stooges cover "1969" and the unreleased "Good Things". Dave Thompson: ''Beautiful Chaos. The Psychedelic Furs''. Helter Skelter Publishing 2004, page 108. The same four songs had been previously recorded for a BBC radio session in August 1982. "Alice" and "Floorshow" were released as the band's third 7" single on 21 November 1982.

''Alice'' (EP)

With two additional tracks, "1969" and the new recording "Phantom", the 12" EP ''Alice'' was released in March 1983. Ashton financed a US release (the band's first) of the 12" EP on

Island Park, New York Island Park is a village located in the Town of Hempstead in Nassau County, New York, United States. The population was 4,655 at the 2010 census. History Island Park was developed by the Island Park-Long Beach Company as a resort community in ...

label Brain Eater Records. The EP was never released as a stand-alone CD, but was included on the ''

Some Girls Wander by Mistake ''Some Girls Wander by Mistake'' is a compilation album by English band the Sisters of Mercy, released on 27 April 1992 on their own label Merciful Release, distributed by East West/ Warner Music UK. The album collected the complete and uned ...

'' collection.

Track listing

7" single (1982)12" EP (1983)

Personnel

– vocals * Craig Adams – bass guitar * Ben Gunn – guitar *

Gary Marx Gary Marx (born Mark Frederick Pearman) is a British guitarist and musician. He was a founding member of British rock band the Sisters of Mercy and its lead-guitarist and songwriter from 1980 to 1985. He left the band in 1985 to form Ghost Da ...

– guitar *

Doktor Avalanche The Sisters of Mercy is an English rock band, formed in 1980 in Leeds. After achieving early underground fame there, the band had their commercial breakthrough in the mid-1980s and sustained it until the early 1990s, when they stopped releasin ...

(drum machine) – drums

Artist commentary

*Andrew Eldritch (1990): “My attitude to 'Alice' has changed over the years. I wrote it in ten minutes about pills and tranks when I used to care about watching people I know get dragged down by that. Now I really don't care.” *Gary Marx (1983/2003): “

Ben Ben is frequently used as a shortened version of the given names Benjamin, Benedict, Bennett or Benson, and is also a given name in its own right. Ben (in he, בֶּן, ''son of'') forms part of Hebrew surnames, e.g. Abraham ben Abraham ( he, ...

joined us last year. The first single that we did with him was 'Alice', which was like our break in a very small way, as it got us into the indie charts ..The Psychedelic Furs put up all the costs so it was no skin off our noses. What happened was,

Andy Andy may refer to: People * Andy (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters * Horace Andy (born 1951), Jamaican roots reggae songwriter and singer born Horace Hinds * Katja Andy (1907–2013), German-American pianist and pi ...

went to see the Furs a long time ago and gave them our first tape, which they liked and gave to various people, including their manager. So we've had a lot of help and advice from them. John Ashton, the Furs' guitarist, produced 'Alice' which was the reason why it was so good. With a bit of luck he might help us with the next one.” “The guitar sound was my old £85

Shergold Shergold Guitars, or Shergold Woodcrafts Limited, is an English guitar manufacturing company established in October 1967 by former Burns London employees Jack Golder and Norman Houlder. Based in East London, the company moved from Forest Gate ...

in the early days, something I’d borrowed off

Jon Langford Jonathan Denis Langford (born 11 October 1957) is a Welsh musician and artist based in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Langford is a founder member of the punk band The Mekons, the post-punk group The Three Johns, and the alternative count ...

or other friends of the family, or one of Andrew’s guitars ..We’d made ‘Alice’ with John Ashton producing who did a brilliant job, and rather than invite him to work with us again Andrew believed he’d learnt everything he could from John and took sole responsibility for he band's follow-up single‘Anaconda’.”''Gary Marx interview, ''Myheartland'' website, 6 July 2003 *Les Mills (manager, 2004): “I arranged for them to record with

John John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Secon ...

as I felt it would benefit both parties, as the Sisters' previous recorded work had been dire and John wanted to get into production.”

References

{{Authority control 1982 songs 1982 singles The Sisters of Mercy songs