''Laughter, Tears and Rage'' was the sole album produced by Act - the short musical collaboration between

Thomas Leer Thomas Leer (born Thomas Wishart, 1953, Port Glasgow, Scotland) is a Scottish musician. He has released a number of albums and singles as a solo artist, and was also one half (the other being Claudia Brücken) of the 1980s electropop band Act (ba ...

and ex-

Propaganda Propaganda is communication that is primarily used to influence or persuade an audience to further an agenda, which may not be objective and may be selectively presenting facts to encourage a particular synthesis or perception, or using loaded ...

vocalist

Claudia Brücken Claudia Brücken (born 7 December 1963) is a German singer and songwriter. She is best known as the lead vocalist of the synth-pop band Propaganda. In 1996, Brücken started working with Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark co-founder Paul Humphrey ...

. Originally scheduled to be titled ''Name Dropping: Songs for Young Sinners'' it was released , by

ZTT Records ZTT Records is a British record label founded in 1983 by record producer Trevor Horn, Horn's wife and businesswoman Jill Sinclair, and ''New Musical Express'' (NME) journalist Paul Morley. The label's name was also stylised as ZANG TUMB TUUM and ...

. The album was deleted by ZTT in the early 90s. It was eventually reissued on CD in 2004, as a one disc album and as a three disc

box set A box set or (its original name) boxed set is a set of items (for example, a compilation of books, musical recordings, films or television programs) traditionally packaged in a box and offered for sale as a single unit. Music Artists and bands ...

entitled ''Laughter, Tears and Rage - The Anthology''. Like most ZTT releases, the LP and CD releases differed quite a lot in track listing. The LP and cassette were both released as 12 tracks, while the CD was 14. However, a number of tracks were exclusive to each format. "Short Story" and "Theme from Laughter" were LP only, while "Poison" and "Bloodrush" were issued only on CD and cassette, and "Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now" and "The 3rd Planet" were CD only.

Singles

The album featured three singles, " Snobbery and Decay", "

Absolutely Immune "Absolutely Immune" is the second single from Act. It was released by ZTT Records on . Unlike the previous single " Snobbery and Decay" and its myriad of release formats, "Absolutely Immune" was only released on one 7" and two 12" single formats ...

" and " I Can't Escape from You". None of these set the charts alight with lead single "Snobbery and Decay" reaching #60 upon release. A fourth single, "

Chance Chance may refer to: Mathematics and Science * In mathematics, likelihood of something (by way of the Likelihood function and/or Probability density function). * ''Chance'' (statistics magazine) Places * Chance, Kentucky, US * Chance, Mary ...

" was withdrawn the day of release due to unauthorised samples.

2004 Reissue

A reissue of ''Laughter, Tears and Rage'' was released on , with tracks that were released on the LP and CD version of the album, along with a number of

remix A remix (or reorchestration) is a piece of media which has been altered or contorted from its original state by adding, removing, or changing pieces of the item. A song, piece of artwork, book, video, poem, or photograph can all be remixes. The o ...

es and

B-sides The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record company ...

. Also a 3-CD box set version was released, titled ''Laughter, Tears and Rage - The Anthology'', comprising almost four hours of material. Apart from the reissued album on the first disc, a second disc anthologised the extended mixes, while a third disc features a collection of rare and unreleased remixes, and an unreleased track: "Body Electric".

''Love & Hate'' (2015)

The album was reissued in a further different configuration in 2015 under the title ''Love & Hate: A Compact Introduction''. The release consisted of a "director's cut" of the album (comprising all of the original tracks plus "Body Electric", in a different order) on one CD, with various remixes and B-sides on a second CD.

Track listings

All songs written and composed by

and

, except where noted.

LP (1988)

* UK: ZTT / ZQLP1 Tracks A5 and B5 are listed on the labels only.

CD (1988)

*UK: ZTT / ZQCD1

Cassette (1988)

* UK: ZTT / ZQMC1

CD (2004)

* UK: ZTT / ZTT185CD

Box set (2004)

* UK: ZTT / ZTT185CDX ; Disc one: "(More) Laughter, Tears and Rage" Same tracks as 2004 CD.

Personnel

;Act *

–

keyboards Keyboard may refer to: Text input * Keyboard, part of a typewriter * Computer keyboard ** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping ** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware Music * Musi ...

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...

– vocals ;Additional musicians *

Andy Gill Andrew James Dalrymple Gill (1 January 1956 – 1 February 2020) was a British musician and record producer. He was the lead guitarist for the rock band Gang of Four, which he co-founded in 1976. Gill was known for his angular, jagged style of g ...

Betsy Cook Betsy Cook is an American-born singer, songwriter and musician. Since the late 1970s, she has worked mainly in the United Kingdom and collaborated with various British artists such as Gerry Rafferty, Ray Jackson, Lindisfarne, George Michael, ...

Luís Jardim Luís Alberto Figueira Gonçalves Jardim (born 4 July 1950) is a Portuguese percussionist, born in the Madeira Island, best known for his work with producer Trevor Horn. Family Jardim is a cousin of Alberto João Jardim (former president of the ...

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Neil Hubbard Neil Terrence Hubbard (born 24 February 1948) is a British guitarist who has performed with Juicy Lucy, The Grease Band, Bluesology, Joe Cocker, Roxy Music, Kokomo, Alvin Lee, B.B. King, Kevin Rowland and Tony O'Malley, and played on the ...

*Pablo Cook *

Phil Palmer Philip John Palmer (born 9 September 1952) is a rock sideman and session guitarist who has toured, recorded, and worked with numerous artists. He is best known for his work with Eric Clapton and Dire Straits. Biography Palmer grew up in nort ...

*Chris Senior –

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...

on "Theme from Laughter" *Casbah – scat on "Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now" (credited to Lucky Gordon on box set) *

David Bedford David Vickerman Bedford (4 August 1937 – 1 October 2011) was an English composer and musician. He wrote and played both popular and classical music. He was the brother of the conductor Steuart Bedford, the grandson of the composer, painter ...

– string arrangements on "Snobbery and Decay"

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Laughter, Tears And Rage 1988 debut albums Albums produced by Trevor Horn Albums produced by Stephen Lipson ZTT Records albums 2004 compilation albums