Barbed Wire Kisses

Barbed Wire Kisses
Compilation album by
The Jesus and Mary Chain
Released18 April 1988 (1988-04-18)
Recorded1984–1987
GenreAlternative rock
Length62:20
LabelBlanco y Negro
Producer
The Jesus and Mary Chain chronology
Darklands
(1987) 		Barbed Wire Kisses
(1988) 		Automatic
(1989)
Singles from Barbed Wire Kisses
  1. "Sidewalking"
    Released: March 1988
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[1]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide[2]

Barbed Wire Kisses (B-Sides and More) is a compilation album by Scottish alternative rock band The Jesus and Mary Chain. It was released on 18 April 1988 by Blanco y Negro Records. The album contains singles, B-sides and rare tracks. Throughout the 1980s the band was known for their prodigious output in these formats, often in limited editions which quickly went out of print. This album collects many of those releases spanning the band's career up to that point.

The band's cover of Bo Diddley's "Who Do You Love?" was used on the soundtrack to the 1988 film Earth Girls Are Easy. "Mushroom" is a cover of a Can song. "Sidewalking" was voted one of the best singles of 1988 by Musician magazine.

The title comes from a line in the song "Cherry Came Too" from the Darklands album.

This album was not included in the 2006 remasterings of the group's back catalogue. All tracks from this compilation, except for "Mushroom" and "Just Out of Reach" (which appears in a re-recorded form on Barbed Wire Kisses) are now included on The Power of Negative Thinking: B-Sides & Rarities.

Rhino Records re-released Barbed Wire Kisses as a 2-LP Limited edition of 8,000 copies on 180-gram blood red vinyl for 2015 Black Friday Record Store Day.

The name is also used for Zoë Howe's 2014 biography of the band.[3]

Track listing

All tracks written by Jim Reid and William Reid, except where noted.

LP (BYN 15)

Side 1

  1. "Kill Surf City" – 3:09 G
  2. "Head" – 3:48 C
  3. "Rider" – 2:10 F
  4. "Hit" – 3:26 D
  5. "Don't Ever Change" – 3:30 E
  6. "Just Out of Reach" – 3:04 J
  7. "Happy Place" – 2:22 H
  8. "Psychocandy" – 2:52 D

Side 2

  1. "Sidewalking" – 3:32 I
  2. "Who Do You Love?" (Bo Diddley) – 4:03 G
  3. "Surfin' U.S.A." (Chuck Berry, Brian Wilson) – 2:57 F
  4. "Everything's Alright When You're Down" – 2:37 H
  5. "Upside Down" – 2:57 A
  6. "Taste of Cindy (Acoustic)" – 1:58 D
  7. "Swing" – 2:23 E
  8. "On the Wall (Porta Studio Demo/F. Hole)" - 4:46 F
Cassette (BYNC 15)

Side 1

  1. "Kill Surf City" – 3:09 G
  2. "Head" – 3:48 C
  3. "Rider" – 2:10 F
  4. "Hit" – 3:26 D
  5. "Don't Ever Change" – 3:30 E
  6. "Just Out of Reach" – 3:04 J
  7. "Happy Place" – 2:22 H
  8. "Psycho Candy" – 2:52 D
  9. "Cracked" – 3:43 C
  10. "Mushroom (Live 1986)" (Can) – 3:16 G

Side 2

  1. "Sidewalking" – 3:32 I
  2. "Who Do you Love?" (Bo Diddley) – 4:03 G
  3. "Surfin' U.S.A." (Chuck Berry, Brian Wilson) – 2:57 F
  4. "Everything's Alright When You're Down" – 2:37 H
  5. "Upside Down" – 2:57 A
  6. "Taste of Cindy (Acoustic)" – 1:58 D
  7. "Swing" – 2:23 E
  8. "On the Wall (Demo)" - 4:46 F
  9. "Here It Comes Again" – 2:31 F
  10. "Bo Diddley is Jesus" – 3:16 G
CD (BYNC 15)
  1. "Kill Surf City" – 3:09 G
  2. "Head" – 3:48 C
  3. "Rider" – 2:10 F
  4. "Hit" – 3:26 D
  5. "Don't Ever Change" – 3:30 E
  6. "Just Out of Reach" – 3:04 J
  7. "Happy Place" – 2:22 H
  8. "Psycho Candy" – 2:52 D
  9. "Sidewalking" – 3:32 I
  10. "Who Do You Love?" (Diddley) – 4:03 G
  11. "Surfin' U.S.A." (Berry, Wilson) – 2:57 F
  12. "Everything's Alright When You're Down" – 2:37 H
  13. "Upside Down" – 2:57 A
  14. "Taste of Cindy (Acoustic)" – 1:58 D
  15. "Swing" – 2:23 E
  16. "On the Wall (Demo)" – 4:46 F
  17. "Cracked" – 3:43 C
  18. "Here It Comes Again" – 2:31 F
  19. "Mushroom (Live 1986)" (Can) – 3:16 G
  20. "Bo Diddley Is Jesus" – 3:16 G

Some, but not all, of the releases of the album credit the short noise instrumental "F-Hole" (from the "Happy When It Rains" 12" single) as appearing directly after the demo version of "On the Wall," but it's there on all of the releases. "F-Hole" appears as its own track on the 2008 compilation The Power of Negative Thinking: B-Sides & Rarities.

Original releases

Personnel

The Jesus and Mary Chain

Additional personnel

  • John Loder – production
  • Helen Backhouse – design
  • Andrew Catlin – photography

Charts

Chart performance for Barbed Wire Kisses
Chart (1988–1990) Peak
position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[4] 97
European Albums (Music & Media)[5] 37
Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista)[6] 38
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[7] 29
UK Albums (OCC)[8] 9
US Billboard 200[9] 192

Certifications

Certifications for Barbed Wire Kisses
Region Certification Certified units/sales
United Kingdom (BPI)[10] Gold 100,000^

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

References

  1. ^ Allmusic review
  2. ^ Cross, Charles R. (2004). "The Jesus and Mary Chain". In Brackett, Nathan; Hoard, Christian (eds.). The New Rolling Stone Album Guide (4th ed.). Simon & Schuster. pp. 429. ISBN 0-7432-0169-8.
  3. ^ Howe, Zoë (2014). The Jesus and Mary Chain: Barbed Wire Kisses. St Martin's Press. ISBN 978-1-250-03024-5.
  4. ^ "The ARIA Report: ARIA Chart – issue #6 | Chartifacts". The ARIA Report. 18 February 1990.
  5. ^ "Eurochart Hot 100 Albums" (PDF). Music & Media. Vol. 5, no. 19. 7 May 1988. p. 24. OCLC 29800226 – via World Radio History.
  6. ^ Pennanen, Timo (2006). Sisältää hitin – levyt ja esittäjät Suomen musiikkilistoilla vuodesta 1972 (in Finnish) (1st ed.). Helsinki: Kustannusosakeyhtiö Otava. ISBN 978-951-1-21053-5.
  7. ^ "Charts.nz – The Jesus and Mary Chain – Barbed Wire Kisses (B-Sides and More)". Hung Medien. Retrieved 6 February 2019.
  8. ^ "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 6 February 2019.
  9. ^ "The Jesus and Mary Chain Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved 6 February 2019.
  10. ^ "British album certifications – Jesus & Mary Chain – Barbed Wire Kisses". British Phonographic Industry. 1 May 1992. Retrieved 12 September 2021.