Shot by Both Sides

"Shot by Both Sides"
Single by Magazine
from the album Real Life
B-side "My Mind Ain't So Open"
Released 20 January 1978
Genre Post-punk
Length 4:04
Label Virgin
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)
  • Mick Glossop
  • Magazine
Magazine singles chronology
"Shot by Both Sides"
(1978)		 "Touch and Go"
(1978)

"Shot by Both Sides"
(1978)		 "Touch and Go"
(1978)

"Shot by Both Sides" is a song written by Howard Devoto and Pete Shelley, and performed by the English post-punk band Magazine. It was released in January 1978 as the band's first single (reaching No. 41 on the UK charts) and appeared a few months later on their debut album, Real Life. The song has been cited as a seminal work of the post-punk genre.[1][2]

Content

By the time of the single's recording, Magazine consisted of only four members, as original keyboardist Bob Dickinson had left the band the previous year.

The name of the song came from a political argument between Devoto and his girlfriend, in which his girlfriend said to him, "Oh, you'll end up shot by both sides".[3]

An identical guitar riff was used in the song "Lipstick" by Devoto's former band Buzzcocks, released as a B-side in November 1978, for which Devoto received a co-writing credit.[4]

Reception

The song was ranked at No. 9 among the top "Tracks of the Year" for 1978 by NME.[5]

Cover versions

Swedish punk band No Fun at All covered the song on their album EP's Going Steady.

"Shot by Both Sides" was also covered by Dublin band Into Paradise, English punk band Beyond Dread, UK82 punk band English Dogs, French punk rockers les Cadavres and Finnish punk band Kollaa Kestää (in Finnish as "Syksy").

"Shot by Both Sides" has been played live by several artists, including Radiohead (whose song "Just" contains a similar guitar riff), Mansun, Fin and Jarvis Cocker.

Personnel

References

  1. ↑ https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2002/mar/01/shopping.artsfeatures
  2. ↑ "20 More Great Post-Punk Tracks". Mojo. 10 April 2014. Retrieved 23 August 2016.
  3. ↑ Reynolds, S: Rip It Up and Start Again: Post Punk 1978-1984, p. 21. Faber & Faber Ltd, 2005
  4. ↑ The Rough Guide to Rock, edited by Peter Buckley
  5. ↑ "Albums and Tracks of the Year". NME. 2016. Retrieved November 26, 2016.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.