''Love Not Money'' is the second studio album by British band

Everything but the Girl Everything but the Girl (occasionally referred to as EBTG) are an English musical duo formed in Kingston upon Hull in 1982, consisting of lead singer and occasional guitarist Tracey Thorn and guitarist, keyboardist, producer and singer Ben Wat ...

, which consisted of

Tracey Thorn Tracey Anne Thorn (born 26 September 1962) is a British singer. She is best known as being one half of the duo Everything but the Girl from 1982 to 1999. She was a member of the band Marine Girls between 1980 and 1983 and since 2007 has bee ...

and

Ben Watt Benjamin Brian Thomas Watt (born 6 December 1962) is a British musician, singer, songwriter, author, DJ and radio presenter, best known as one half of the duo Everything but the Girl. Early life Watt was born in Marylebone, London, and grew ...

. It was produced by

Robin Millar Robin John Christian Millar, CBE (born 18 December 1951) is an English record producer, musician and businessman, known variously as 'The Original Smooth Operator', 'The man behind Sade', and 'Golden Ears' Boy George. He was born in London to ...

, recorded at Powerplant Studios in London and was released in the UK on 15 April 1985 by

Blanco y Negro Records Blanco y Negro Records ( Spanish: "White and Black"), a subsidiary of WEA Records Ltd., was established in 1983 by Geoff Travis of Rough Trade Records and Mike Alway of él Records. Michel Duval of Les Disques du Crépuscule was also involv ...

. It spent nine weeks on the

UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales and (from March 2015) audio streaming in the United Kingdom. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the Official Charts ...

, peaking at number 10. In the United States,

Sire Records Sire Records (formerly Sire Records Company) is an American record label owned by Warner Music Group and distributed by Warner Records. History Beginnings The label was founded in 1966 as Sire Productions by Seymour Stein and Richard Gottehre ...

issued the album with two additional tracks. ''Love Not Money'' is EBTG's "most overtly politicised" album. Besides Thorn and Watt, notable performers on the album include

June Miles-Kingston June Miles-Kingston is a British singer and drummer, best known for her work with various successful bands and singers in the 1980s. She was a founding member of the post-punk group The Mo-dettes, which lasted from 1979 to 1982, and later beca ...

, Phil Moxham, Neil Scott and

B.J. Cole Brian John Cole is an English pedal steel guitarist, who has long been active as a session and solo musician. Coming to prominence in the early 1970s with the band Cochise, Cole has played in many styles, ranging from mainstream pop and rock t ...

. The tracks "When All's Well" and "Angel" were released as singles in the UK. ''Love Not Money'' was reissued in 2012 as a remastered two-disc deluxe set by Edsel Records.

Themes

The band's

told

CMJ New Music Monthly CMJ Holdings Corp. is a music events and online media company, originally founded in 1978, which ran a website, hosted an annual festival in New York City, and published two magazines, ''CMJ New Music Monthly'' and ''CMJ New Music Report''. Th ...

her partner and bandmate

had been buying guitars and wanted to make an electric-guitar-based album. ''Love Not Money'' songs cover subjects such as social stratification, sexism, and the sectarian conflict and terrorism in Northern Ireland. "Ugly Little Dreams" is dedicated to American actor Frances Farmer. Thorn said, "It's our most overtly politicised set of lyrics—some good, some a bit crass".

Chart performance

''Love Not Money'' spent nine weeks on the

. It debuted and peaked at number 10 on 27 April 1985 and slowly declined, falling to number 69 on 22 June, its final week on the chart.

Singles

In the UK, two tracks from ''Love Not Money'' were released as singles. "When All's Well" entered the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

on 23 March 1985 at number 88; it peaked at number 77 the following week, its last week on the chart. "Angel" charted on 8 June 1985 at number 97 and peaked at number 93 the following week then left the chart.

Critical reception

Reviewing the 2012 reissue, Jess Harvell of ''

Pitchfork A pitchfork (also a hay fork) is an agricultural tool with a long handle and two to five tines used to lift and pitch or throw loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves. The term is also applied colloquially, but inaccurately, to ...

'' called ''Love Not Money'' "a near-total reinvention f EBTGand a complete stylistic mish-mash". She said its guitars are covered with "about nine pounds of agreeably dated glitz" and compared their sound with that of

Icicle Works The Icicle Works (also known as Icicle Works in the United States) are an English alternative rock band and were named after the 1960 short story "The Day the Icicle Works Closed" by science fiction author Frederik Pohl. They had a top 20 UK hi ...

' music. Harvell also said, "it's the most soporific and studiously 'serious' album EBTG ever made, and parts of it are a real drag"; that the title track "Love Not Money" "plays the dreaminess of 80s soft-focus indie against the stark oliticalreality that so much 80s pop was rushing to avoid"; and called "Sean" and its tin flute instrumentation "Celtic kitsch" that is "so ham-fisted you'll cringe". Also reviewing the reissue, the BBC's Ian Wade compared the album with the music of

Lloyd Cole and the Commotions Lloyd Cole and the Commotions were a British rock/pop band that formed in Glasgow, Scotland in 1982. Between 1984 and 1989, the band scored four Top 20 albums and five Top 40 singles in the UK; it also had success in several other countries in ...

and

The Smiths The Smiths were an English rock band formed in Manchester in 1982. They comprised the singer Morrissey, the guitarist Johnny Marr, the bassist Andy Rourke and the drummer Mike Joyce. They are regarded as one of the most important acts to eme ...

, and wrote that "it sounded a desire for EBTG to be heard above the bigger crowds BTGwere beginning to play to". In 2015, Emily Barker of ''

NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming, and culture website and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a 'rock inkie', the NME would become a magazine that ended up as a f ...

'' rated ''Love Not Money'' in 16th place on her list of "50 Albums Released In 1985 That Still Sound Great Today", saying it "confirmed the duo as one of our nation's little treasures ..."

Track listing

2012 Edsel Records reissue

Personnel

;Everything but the Girl *

– vocals *

– electric and acoustic guitars, piano, organ, vocals ;Additional musicians *

– drums, backing vocals * Philip Moxham – bass *Neil Scott – electric guitar *Dick Pearce – trumpet *Nigel Nash – tenor saxophone *

– pedal steel *Dick Pearce – flugelhorn, trumpet * Peter King – alto saxophone *Chris Thompson – banjo *Dave Golding – tin whistle *

– piano on "Angel" ;Technical *Ben Rogan, Mike Pela – engineering *Caryn Gough – cover design *

Humphrey Spender Humphrey Spender (19 April 1910 – 11 March 2005) was a British photographer, painter, and designer. Family and education Humphrey Spender was the third son of Harold Spender, a journalist and writer. Humphrey's mother, Violet Schuster, came ...

– cover photography, taken from ''Worktown People: Photographs from Northern England 1937–38'' *Richard Haughton and Jean-Louis Gregoire – inner bag photography ;Thanked *

Dave Haslam Dave Haslam is a British writer, broadcaster and DJ who DJ'ed over 450 times at the Haçienda nightclub in Manchester and has since DJ'ed worldwide. He has written for the ''New Musical Express'', ''The Guardian'', the ''London Review of Book ...

Geoff Travis Geoff Travis (born 2 February 1952) is the founder of both Rough Trade Records and the Rough Trade chain of record shops. A former drama teacher and owner of a punk record shop, Travis founded the Rough Trade label in 1978. Biography Travis was ...

and Sid Parker.

Charts

Certifications

References

{{Authority control Everything but the Girl albums 1985 albums Blanco y Negro Records albums Jangle pop albums