Recycle 11: Shellshock

Zip File (68 MB)

Shellshock
Factory Records FAC 143
Produced by New Order and John Robie
March 1986

Tracklisting:

1. Shellshock
2. Shellcock
3. Thieves Like Us Instrumental '86
4. Shellshock (7" Edit)
5. Thieves Like Us Instrumental '86 (7" Edit)

1 and 2 sourced from Factory UK 45RPM 12" single FAC 143
3 sourced from A&M Canada 45RPM 12" single SP-12174
4 sourced from Factory UK 45RPM 7" single FAC 143
5 edited from 3

Notes from the restorer:

I initially created the full-length Shellshock by taking the Substance edit and putting back the edited-out portions from vinyl, carefully EQing it to match. While most people couldn't hear where the edits were, one person claimed to, so for this version, it's all from vinyl. I was hesitant do to this, for there is a very faint bit of pre-echo audible at the intro... but oh well.

Annoyingly, the 7" version cannot be created from editing the other versions down. I say annoyingly because I spent a couple of hours working on it and was almost done, only to discover that there's a brief snippet at around the three-minute mark which isn't anywhere in the 12" or dub versions.

Written for the Pretty In Pink soundtrack (which used a version different from both the 7" and 12" editions here), the single was New Order's second collaboration with John Robie. While it's not quite so excessive as his re-work of Sub-Culture, the full 12" version is still quite long and peppered with Robie's trademark abrupt edits. The song was edited down to under 7 minutes for the Substance compilation, and the full-length version has never appeared on CD.

It's always been my understanding that New Order was asked to do the entire soundtrack for Pretty In Pink but for whatever reason the studio opted not to use their work. While not confirmed, I suspect some of the music they created was used for the film Salvation! a year later. With the deadline approaching fast, several bands went into the studio to record music for the soundtrack. Shellshock was one of those 24-hour marathon sessions, as was OMD's If You Leave, which went on to become one of the biggest singles of the 80's.

The instrumental mix of Thieves Like Us was used in the film, as was Elegia. There's also a poster for Lowlife hanging in the record shop where Andie/Molly Ringwald works. It's obvious that John Hughes (or at least director Howard Deutch) was a fan.

The instrumental version of Thieves Like Us is very similar to but *not* the same as the one on the flip of Murder. The full-length version of this was not issued in the UK, but only on the international editions of the single licensed on the A&M label.