"Never Turn Your Back on Mother Earth" is a song by the American

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 ...

group

Sparks Sparks may refer to: Places *Sparks, Georgia * Sparks, Kansas *Sparks, Kentucky *Sparks, Maryland * Sparks, Nebraska *Sparks, Nevada *Sparks, Oklahoma *Sparks, Texas * Sparks, Bell County, Texas * Sparks, West Virginia Books * ''Sparks'' (Raffi ...

. The song was recorded by the group's mid-1970s glam line-up. It was released in late 1974 as the first single from the group's fourth album, ''

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 ...

''.

''Plagiarism'' re-recording

In 1997, Sparks recorded a new version of the song with the producer

Tony Visconti Anthony Edward Visconti (born April 24, 1944) is an American record producer, musician and singer. Since the late 1960s, he has worked with an array of performers. His first hit single was T. Rex's " Ride a White Swan" in 1970, the first of man ...

. This introduced strings and a choir. The song concludes their ''

Plagiarism Plagiarism is the fraudulent representation of another person's language, thoughts, ideas, or expressions as one's own original work.From the 1995 '' Random House Compact Unabridged Dictionary'': use or close imitation of the language and thought ...

'' album where it

segue A segue (; ) is a smooth transition from one topic or section to the next. The term is derived from Italian ''segue'', which literally means "follows". In music In music, ''segue'' is a direction to the performer. It means ''continue (the next ...

s from out of the previous track, "

The Number One Song in Heaven "The Number One Song in Heaven" is a disco song by the American rock duo Sparks. Released as a single in 1979, the song was produced and co-written by electro-disco producer Giorgio Moroder. It became a top 20 hit in the UK, where it peaked at n ...

Cover versions

Depeche Mode Depeche Mode are an English electronic music band formed in Basildon, Essex, in 1980. The band currently consists of Dave Gahan (lead vocals and co-songwriting) and Martin Gore (keyboards, guitar, co-lead vocals and main songwriting). Depeche ...

recorded a cover version on a single-sided

flexi-disc The flexi disc (also known as a phonosheet, Sonosheet or Soundsheet, a trademark) is a phonograph record made of a thin, flexible vinyl sheet with a molded-in spiral stylus groove, and is designed to be playable on a normal phonograph turntabl ...

which was sent to members of their official fan club for Christmas 1987.

Martin Gore Martin Lee Gore (born 23 July 1961) is an English songwriter, musician, singer, record producer and DJ. He is one of the founding members of the electronic rock band Depeche Mode and is the band's main songwriter. He is the band's guitarist an ...

, the guitarist and songwriter of

, recorded a cover version for his first solo EP, ''

Counterfeit To counterfeit means to imitate something authentic, with the intent to steal, destroy, or replace the original, for use in illegal transactions, or otherwise to deceive individuals into believing that the fake is of equal or greater value tha ...

'', in 1989.

Nicola Sirkis Nicolas Henri Didier Sirchis (; born 22 June 1959), better known by his stage name Nicola Sirkis, is the frontman and singer of the French rock band Indochine (band), Indochine. He is the only remaining member of the original line-up of the band ...

covered the song as the B-side to his 1992 single "Alice dans la Lune", from the album ''Dans La Lune''. Johan Johansson created a Swedish version titled "Kärlek & Respekt Till Moder Jord" for his 1994 EP ''10''. Karen J. Walsha recorded a version for the Dutch tribute album ''Amateur Hour (A Global Tribute to Sparks)'' released in 1999. Haloed Ghost recorded a version for their 2004 EP, ''Saw Versions''.

Billy Mackenzie William MacArthur Mackenzie (27 March 1957 – 22 January 1997) was a Scottish singer and songwriter, known for his distinctive high tenor voice. He was the co-founder and lead vocalist of post-punk and new wave band the Associates. He also h ...

recorded a version which appeared on his 2005 album ''Transmission Impossible''.

Paul Roland Paul Roland (born 6 September 1959) is an English singer-songwriter, author and music journalist. Roland typically writes his songs in the form of stories, often addressing historical figures, characters from literature and film, or his own cre ...

recorded a version which appeared on his 2005 album ''Strychnine... And Other Potent Poisons''. Geezerbird have recorded a version for their 2006 album ''One in the Hand''.

Mary Hopkin Mary Hopkin (born 3 May 1950), credited on some recordings as Mary Visconti from her marriage to Tony Visconti, is a Welsh singer-songwriter best known for her 1968 UK number 1 single "Those Were the Days". She was one of the first artists ...

recorded a version which appeared on her 2007 album ''Valentine''.

Neko Case Neko Richelle Case (; born September 8, 1970) is an American singer-songwriter and member of the Canadian indie rock group the New Pornographers. Case has a powerful, untrained contralto voice, which has been described by contemporaries and cri ...

has a version on her 2009 album ''

Middle Cyclone ''Middle Cyclone'' is the fifth studio album of American alternative country singer-songwriter Neko Case, released on March 3, 2009, on the ANTI- record label. Her first solo effort in three years, Case stated that "it took a very long time to m ...

''. Louis Guidone made a version in 2011 on the self released album ''Meet Your Maker''. Satie's Faction recorded an instrumental version in 2012 for his album ''Déjà Vu''.

Track listing

# "Never Turn Your Back on Mother Earth" — 2:28 # "Alabamy Right" — 2:11

Personnel

Ron Mael Ronald David Mael (born August 12, 1945) is an American musician, songwriter, composer and record producer. He is the keyboard player and principal songwriter in the band Sparks which he founded with vocalist, occasional songwriter and younger ...

- keyboards *

Russell Mael Russell Craig Mael (born October 5, 1948) is an American singer best known as the lead singer for the band Sparks which he formed in 1971 with his elder brother Ron Mael. Mael is known for his wide vocal range, in particular his far-reaching fa ...

- vocals * Trevor White - guitar * Ian Hampton - bass guitar *

Norman "Dinky" Diamond Norman Victor "Dinky" Diamond (15 December 1950 – 10 September 2004) was a British drummer who played with the rock band Sparks at the height of their fame in the UK in the early 1970s, playing on the albums ''Kimono My House'' (1974), ''Prop ...

- drums * Adrian Fisher - guitar

Chart positions

References

External links

* * * * * * 1974 singles Songs written by Ron Mael Sparks (band) songs Song recordings produced by Tony Visconti Song recordings produced by Muff Winwood 1974 songs Island Records singles {{1970s-single-stub