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Brand New Lover

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"Brand New Lover"
Single by Dead or Alive
from the album Mad, Bad and Dangerous to Know
B-side"In Too Deep" (live)
Released12 September 1986 (1986-09-12)
GenreSynth-pop
Length3:35
LabelEpic
Songwriter(s)
  • Pete Burns
  • Tim Lever
  • Mike Percy
  • Steve Coy
Producer(s)Stock Aitken Waterman
Dead or Alive singles chronology
"My Heart Goes Bang (Get Me to the Doctor)"
(1985) 		"Brand New Lover"
(1986) 		"Something in My House"
(1986)
Music video
"Brand New Lover” on YouTube
Audio sample

"Brand New Lover" is a song recorded by the English pop band Dead or Alive. It was the lead single released from the band's third studio album, Mad, Bad and Dangerous to Know on Epic Records. It achieved international success when released as a single in 1986, including the United States and Japan, though it failed to enter the Top 20 in the UK.[1]

Background

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Following a fraught six-month recording session with producers Stock Aitken Waterman (SAW), which was marked by fights and disagreements between the band, record company and producers over the sound of their new material, singer Pete Burns claimed he struggled to get Epic to commit to a release schedule for the single.[1] He said this changed when Bananarama had major success with their Dead or Alive-inspired cover of "Venus", which Burns claimed encouraged the label to schedule "Brand New Lover" for release.[1] Later, Burns blamed the song's disappointing chart run in his home country on his then-ongoing war with his UK label, alleging that the company had failed to press and distribute enough copies of the single to make it a hit, and claiming the band had lost out on 67,000 UK sales as a result.[1]

Critical reception

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Jerry Smith of the Music Week magazine described "Brand New Lover" as a "high energy dance track" with a "typically effervescent style", and praised Burns' "instantly memorable vocal" and SAW's "polished production".[2] By contrast, Ro Newton of Smash Hits considered "it's just the same old... Hi-NRG stomp" and "that's a lost thing" here, as there are "no surprises, no shocks and hardly worth the wait".[3] Retrospectively, in 2020, Daniel Griffiths of musicradar.com considered it a "criminally overlooked nine-minute-plus, rock guitar remix tour-de-force".[4] In 2021, British magazine Classic Pop ranked "Brand New Lover" number 31 in their list of "Top 40 Stock/Aitken/Waterman songs", adding that it "shared rhythmic similarities to their No.1 smash "You Spin Me Round" but leaned heavily on the synth-bass, with Pete Burns' goth-pop tones vocalising his need to flee his lover".[5]

Chart performance

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"Brand New Lover" proved to be more successful in the US and in Japan than in the band's native UK, where it reached No. 31.[6] In the US, "Brand New Lover" peaked at No. 15 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart (the band's second and last single to reach the Top 20),[7] and spent two weeks at No. 1 on the American dance chart in December 1986.[8]

Track listing

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UK 7", 1986
No.TitleLength
1."Brand New Lover"3:35
2."In Too Deep (Live at the Hammersmith Odeon, July 1985)"4:34
UK 12" single, 1986
No.TitleLength
1."Brand New Lover (The Dust Monkey's Love Bubble Club Mix)"9:00
2."Brand New Lover (Instrumental)"4:15
3."In Too Deep (Live at the Hammersmith Odeon, July 1985)"4:34
UK 12" single (Up Ducky Mix), 1986
No.TitleLength
1."Brand New Lover (Up Ducky Mix)"6:25
2."Cake And Eat It (Live at the Hammersmith Odeon, July 1985)"5:33
3."In Too Deep (Live at the Hammersmith Odeon, July 1985)"4:34
US 12" single, 1986
No.TitleLength
1."Brand New Lover (The Dust Monkey's Love Bubble Club Mix)"9:00
2."Brand New Lover (Instrumental)"4:15
3."Brand New Lover (Up Ducky Mix)"6:35
4."In Too Deep (Live at the Hammersmith Odeon, July 1985)"4:34

Source: [9]

Charts

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Weekly chart performance for "Brand New Lover"
Chart (1986–1987) Peak
position
Australia (Kent Music Report)[10] 21
Canadian RPM Top Singles[11] 27
Europe (European Hot 100)[12] 84
Europe (European Airplay Top 50)[13] 32
Finland (Suomen virallinen lista)[14] 6
Ireland (IRMA)[15] 22
Japanese Singles Chart[16] 2
Italian Singles Chart 44
New Zealand[17] 15
South Africa[18] 19
UK Singles Chart[19] 31
US Billboard Hot 100[20] 15
US Billboard Hot Dance Club Play[21] 1
US Billboard 12-inch Singles Sales 1

References

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  1. ^ a b c d "A Journey Through Stock Aitken Waterman: Ep 14: I'm The One Who Really Loves You to Brand New Lover on Apple Podcasts". Apple Podcasts. Retrieved 2021-10-18.
  2. ^ Smith, Jerry (13 September 1986). "Singles" (PDF). Music Week. p. 18. Retrieved 8 September 2023 – via World Radio History.
  3. ^ Newton, Ro (27 August – 9 September 1986). "Singles reviewed by Ro newton" (PDF). Smash Hits. Vol. 8, no. 18. p. 47. ISSN 0260-3004. Retrieved 4 December 2023 – via World Radio History.
  4. ^ Griffiths, Daniel (21 August 2020). "5 songs producers need to hear by... Stock Aitken Waterman". musicradar.com. Retrieved 5 April 2024.
  5. ^ "Top 40 Stock Aitken Waterman songs". Classic Pop. 18 August 2021. Retrieved 11 August 2023.
  6. ^ "officialcharts.com". officialcharts.com. Retrieved May 5, 2021.
  7. ^ Whitburn, Joel (2004). The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits: Eighth Edition. Record Research. p. 166.
  8. ^ Whitburn, Joel (2004). Hot Dance/Disco: 1974-2003. Record Research. p. 72.
  9. ^ Dead Or Alive - Brand New Lover, 1986, retrieved 2023-08-11
  10. ^ Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992. St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. p. 85. ISBN 0-646-11917-6. N.B. The Kent Report chart was licensed by ARIA between mid 1983 and 19 June 1988.
  11. ^ "Results - RPM - Library and Archives Canada - Top Singles". RPM. Retrieved 18 September 2010.
  12. ^ "Eurochart Hot 100 Singles" (PDF). Music & Media. Vol. 3, no. 39. 4 October 1986. p. 12-13. OCLC 29800226. Retrieved 27 September 2023 – via World Radio History.
  13. ^ "European Airplay Top 50" (PDF). Music & Media. Vol. 3, no. 38. 27 September 1986. p. 4. OCLC 29800226. Retrieved 27 September 2023 – via World Radio History.
  14. ^ Pennanen, Timo (2021). "Dead or Alive". Sisältää hitin - 2. laitos Levyt ja esittäjät Suomen musiikkilistoilla 1.1.1960–30.6.2021 (PDF) (in Finnish). Helsinki: Kustannusosakeyhtiö Otava. p. 59. Retrieved 12 August 2023.
  15. ^ "The Irish Charts – Search Results – Brand New Lover". Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved 27 September 2023.
  16. ^ SINGLE CHART-BOOK COMPLETE EDITION 1968–2010. Roppongi, Tokyo: Oricon Entertainment. 2012. ISBN 4871310884.
  17. ^ "The Official New Zealand Music Chart".
  18. ^ "South African Rock Lists Website - SA Charts 1969 - 1989 Songs (A-B)".
  19. ^ "Official Charts > Dead or Alive". The Official UK Charts Company. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
  20. ^ "Dead or Alive Album & Song Chart History - Hot 100". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved 18 September 2010.
  21. ^ "Dead or Alive Album & Song Chart History - Dance/Club Songs". Billboard. Retrieved 18 September 2010.
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