"Tower of Strength" is a song released by the English

gothic rock Gothic rock (also called goth rock or simply goth) is a style of rock music that emerged from post-punk in the United Kingdom in the late 1970s. The first post-punk bands which shifted toward dark music with gothic overtones include Siouxsie a ...

band The Mission in February 1988. It was the first of two singles to be released from their second studio album ''

Children A child ( : children) is a human being between the stages of birth and puberty, or between the developmental period of infancy and puberty. The legal definition of ''child'' generally refers to a minor, otherwise known as a person younger ...

''. It peaked at No. 12 on the UK charts on its original release, but has seen re-recorded releases in 1994 and 2020 separately.

Background

Tower of Strength was recorded in 1987 at The Manor Studio, near

Kidlington Kidlington is a major village and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in Oxfordshire, England, between the River Cherwell and the Oxford Canal, north of Oxford and 7 miles (12 km) south-west of Bicester. It remains officially a village ...

Oxfordshire Oxfordshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the north west of South East England. It is a mainly rural county, with its largest settlement being the city of Oxford. The county is a centre of research and development, primarily ...

. The track was part of the sessions recorded with

John Paul Jones John Paul Jones (born John Paul; July 6, 1747 July 18, 1792) was a Scottish-American naval captain who was the United States' first well-known naval commander in the American Revolutionary War. He made many friends among U.S political elites ( ...

from

Led Zeppelin Led Zeppelin were an English rock band formed in London in 1968. The group comprised vocalist Robert Plant, guitarist Jimmy Page, bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones, and drummer John Bonham. With a heavy, guitar-driven sound, they are ci ...

on production duties. The track was initially written about The Eskimos; devoted fans and followers of The Mission who gave them strength in the early days of the band's career. Wayne Hussey, singer and songwriter from the band, noted that the drummer, Mick Brown, and John Paul Jones, spent more than two days programming the sequencer for the track. On its original release (13 February 1988), the track got to No. 12 on the UK chart and stayed in the chart for seven weeks. It also reached No. 30 in the Netherlands. The song was remixed and re-released in 1994 to promote the compilation album '' Sum and Substance''. It was also re-recorded under the name ReMission International with various artists in aid of raising funds for charities and health workers during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Critical reception

Duncan Harris, writing in ''The Rough Guide to Rock'', described the track as having a "..windswept melody and passion." Ted Mico reviewing the album ''Children'' in ''

Melody Maker ''Melody Maker'' was a British weekly music magazine, one of the world's earliest music weeklies; according to its publisher, IPC Media, the earliest. It was founded in 1926, largely as a magazine for dance band musicians, by Leicester-born ...

'', noted that John Paul Jones (ex-Led Zeppelin) had produced the album and drew comparisons by stating that "Tower of Strength" was "a sketchy facsimile of '

Kashmir Kashmir () is the northernmost geographical region of the Indian subcontinent. Until the mid-19th century, the term "Kashmir" denoted only the Kashmir Valley between the Great Himalayas and the Pir Panjal Range. Today, the term encompas ...

'. Barbara Ellen 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 ...

'' described the song as "as pompous and facile as everything else The Mission have produced since having their fingers prised away from

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's infinitely more stylish skirts."

Track listings

1988 original release

* 7" single (MYTH4) :A. "Tower of Strength" :B1. "Fabienne" :B2. "Breathe (Vocal)" * 12" (MYTHX4) :A. "Tower of Strength" :B1. "Fabienne" :B2. "Breathe (Instrumental)" :B3. "Dream On" * 12" (MYTHX422) :A. "Tower of Strength (Bombay Mix)" :B1. "Fabienne" :B2. "Breathe (Vocal)" * CD (MTHCD4) :A. "Tower of Strength (extended version)" :B1. "Breathe (Vocal)" :B2. "Fabienne" :B3. "Dream On" * VCD :A. "Tower of Strength (7" mix)" :B1. "Forever More" :B2. "Tadeusz" :B3. "Dream On" :B4. "Tower of Strength" (video)

1994 release

* CD (MYTCD15) :A. "Tower of Strength (East India Trans Cairo Mix Edit)" :B1. "Tower of Strength (East India Trans Cairo Mix)" :B2. "Deliverance (Sorcerer's Mix)" * CD (MYTCX15) :A. "Tower of Strength (Tribal Mantra Mix)" :B1. "Tower of Strength (Bombay Mix)" :B2. "Tower of Strength (Lysergic Dub)" :B3. "Tower of Strength (Zen Acoustic Mix)"

2020 release

This single was re-recorded with several new vocalists in aid of the worldwide effort in combatting

Coronavirus Coronaviruses are a group of related RNA viruses that cause diseases in mammals and birds. In humans and birds, they cause respiratory tract infections that can range from mild to lethal. Mild illnesses in humans include some cases of the com ...

. Among those contributing to the track were;

Gary Numan Gary Anthony James Webb (born 8 March 1958), known professionally as Gary Numan, is an English musician. He entered the music industry as frontman of the new wave band Tubeway Army. After releasing two albums with the band, he released his d ...

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 ...

Midge Ure James Ure (born 10 October 1953) is a Scottish musician, singer-songwriter and record producer. His stage name, Midge, is a phonetic reversal of Jim, the diminutive form of his actual name. Ure enjoyed particular success in the 1970s and 1980s ...

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Andy Rourke Andrew Michael Rourke (born 17 January 1964) is an English musician, best known as the bassist of the Smiths. He is known for his melodic approach to bass playing. Career Rourke's father was Irish while his mother was English. He received an a ...

Julianne Regan Julie-Ann "Julianne" Regan (born 30 June 1962) is an English-Irish singer, songwriter, and musician. She achieved success in the late 1980s and early 1990s as the lead singer of the band All About Eve. AllMusic describes Regan as "certainly on ...

Kirk Brandon Kirk Brandon (born 3 August 1956) is an English musician best known as the leader of the bands Theatre of Hate and Spear of Destiny and a former lover of Boy George. Musical career Brandon's music career started in 1978, in Clapham, south Londo ...

Lol Tolhurst Laurence Andrew "Lol" Tolhurst (born 3 February 1959) is a founding member and the former drummer and keyboardist of English band The Cure - he left the Cure in 1989 and was later involved in the band Presence and his current project, Levinhurs ...

, and

Miles Hunt Miles Stephen Hunt (born 29 July 1966) is an English singer, songwriter and guitarist. He fronts the alternative rock band The Wonder Stuff. Early life His father was a union official for the TGWU. In the 1970s, his father was based at Derby, an ...

. The project was labelled as ''ReMission International'' and the track was called "''TOS2020''".

Chart performance

Personnel

* Craig Adams – bass guitar *Mick Brown – drums *

Simon Hinkler Simon Thomas Hinkler (born 13 November 1959) is an English guitarist, keyboard player, songwriter and producer from Sheffield, most notable for being the lead guitarist for the British rock group The Mission from 1986 to 1990. Early musical ...

– guitar, keyboards *

Wayne Hussey 250px, Hussey performing at the M'era Luna Festival in 2004. Jerry Wayne Hussey (born 26 May 1958) is an English musician who was born in Bristol, England. He is best known as the lead singer of The Mission, and the guitarist with The Sisters ...

– vocals, guitar

References

Sources *

External links

Tower of Strength at Allmusic.com
{{The Mission 1988 singles 1988 songs Songs written by Wayne Hussey Mercury Records singles Phonogram Records singles