By Your Side (Jimmy Somerville song)

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"By Your Side"
Single by Jimmy Somerville
from the album Dare to Love
B-side"Nothing Said, Nothing Done"
ReleasedSeptember 1995[1]
GenrePop, synthpop
Length4:43
LabelLondon Records
Songwriter(s)Matt Rowe, Jimmy Somerville, Richard Stannard
Producer(s)Somerville, Stannard, Rowe
Jimmy Somerville singles chronology
"Hurt So Good"
(1995) 		"By Your Side"
(1995) 		"Safe"
(1997)

"By Your Side" is a song from Scottish singer-songwriter Jimmy Somerville, released as the third and final single from his 1995 album, Dare to Love. The song was written and produced by Matt Rowe, Somerville and Richard Stannard.[2]

Background[edit]

The song was released as the follow-up single to the two previous singles from the album; "Heartbeat" and "Hurt So Good". Both of the songs had entered the UK Top 25, whilst "By Your Side" peaked at #41. The song had debuted as its peak position before dropping to #75 the following week. The song lasted two weeks in the Top 100.[3]

In 1996, a live version of the song appeared on the promotional European album Coca-Cola Planet Live!, released via Austereo MCM.[4] In 2009, Somerville released the studio album "Suddenly Last Summer" which featured Somerville performing interpretations of his favorite tracks, picked from his own iPod playlist. On the stripped-down acoustic covers album, a new version of "By Your Side" was included.[5]

Release[edit]

The single was released in the UK and Europe only, on 12" vinyl and CD via London Records.[6] The CD release of the single featured "By Your Side (Radio Edit)" as the featured track, whilst three other songs were added. The song "Nothing Said, Nothing Done" was written by Gary Butcher and Somerville, whilst Chuck Norman and Gary Wilkinson produced the track. It was exclusive to the single until 2012 when it was included as a bonus track on the Edsel Records deluxe edition of Dare to Love.[7] The other two tracks were "By Your Side (The Shining Mix)", remixed by Biff & Memphis (Rowe and Stannard under a pseudonym), and "By Your Side (Miss You Like Crazy Mix)", which was remixed by Space Kittens. The two remixes last over seven minutes each.[2]

The 12" vinyl release featured "By Your Side (The Shining Mix)" as the main track, which was remixed by Rowe and Stannard, whilst the B-side was "By Your Side (Miss You Like Crazy Mix)".[8] In the UK, a promotional 12" vinyl was also issued which featured the same tracks as the main 12" vinyl release.[9]

The single featured artwork with photography by Donald Christie. The artwork featured Somerville standing in tall grass during the night with his arms wide as he looks up to the sky.[10] The sleeve design was created by Andrew Biscomb and Peter Barrett who also designed the Dare to Love' album artwork.[2]

Following the song's original release on the Dare to Love album and as a single, it has also appeared on the 2009 Music Club Deluxe compilation For a Friend: The Best of Bronski Beat, The Communards & Jimmy Somerville.[11]

Promotion[edit]

Like the Dare to Love album's other single releases, the "By Your Side" single had a music video produced to promote it. The video did not feature Somerville.[12]

Critical reception[edit]

Upon its release as a single, John Robinson of NME remarked that the song features "an immaculately tasteful panpipes of the Andes tale of undying devotion with a murderously unsubtle beat cemented on for maximum inoffensivity". He added, "The more gnarly and like a pint-sized Michael Stipe Jimmy gets, the more pedestrian his records become. He needs to get away from the men in the headphones and back on the dole."[13] Music Week noted that the "ballad mixes a Dire Straits sound with almost Sting-like vocals" and added "fans will love it anyway".[14] Robbert Tilli of Music & Media stated, "More multi-functional than this you won't find, because such slightly dance-edged material obviously has both radio and big-town club potency – surely in the 'Miss You Like Crazy' and 'the Shining' mixes."[15]

Track listing[edit]

  • 12" Vinyl Single
  1. "By Your Side (The Shining Mix)" - 7:57
  2. "By Your Side (Miss You Like Crazy Mix)" - 7:33
  • 12" Vinyl Single (UK promo)
  1. "By Your Side (The Shining Mix)" - 7:56
  2. "By Your Side (Miss You Like Crazy Mix)" - 7:33
  • CD Single
  1. "By Your Side (Radio Edit)" - 4:43
  2. "Nothing Said, Nothing Done" - 4:29
  3. "By Your Side (The Shining Mix)" - 7:57
  4. "By Your Side (Miss You Like Crazy Mix)" - 7:33

Charts[edit]

Chart (1995) Peak
position
Israel (IBA)[citation needed] 1
Scotland (OCC)[16] 42
UK Airplay Chart[17] 58
UK Singles (OCC)[3] 41

Personnel[edit]

  • Lead vocals on "By Your Side" - Jimmy Somerville
  • Keyboards, Programming on "By Your Side" – Matt Rowe, Richard Stannard
  • Strings on "By Your Side" – Sian Bell, Sonia Slany
  • Producers of "By Your Side" - Jimmy Somerville, Richard Stannard, Matt Rowe
  • Additional production and remixing on "By Your Side" - Mike "Spike" Drake, Stephen Hague
  • Engineers on "By Your Side" – Adrian Bushby, Henry Binns, Paul Gomersall, Sam Hardaker, Simon Gogerly
  • Producers of "Nothing Said, Nothing Done" – Chuck Norman, Gary Wilkinson
  • Remixers of "By Your Side (The Shining Mix)" - Biff & Memphis (Matt Rowe, Richard Stannard)
  • Remixers of "By Your Side (Miss You Like Crazy Mix)" - Space Kittens
  • Photography - Donald Christie
  • Sleeve Design – Andrew Biscomb, Peter Barrett
  • Writers of "By Your Side" - Matt Rowe, Jimmy Somerville, Richard Stannard
  • Writers of "Nothing Said, Nothing Done" - Jimmy Somerville, Gary Butcher

References[edit]

  1. ^ "M & M MUSIC NEW RELEASES > Singles" (PDF). Music & Media. M & M / BPI Communications. 30 September 1995. worldradiohistory.com. Retrieved 8 June 2023. JIMMY SOMERVILLE By Your Side - London (see p. 9)
  2. ^ a b c "Jimmy Somerville - By Your Side (CD) at Discogs". Discogs.com. Retrieved 2013-05-03.
  3. ^ a b "JIMMY SOMERVILLE | full Official Chart History | Official Charts Company". Official Charts.
  4. ^ "Jimmy Somerville - Coca-Cola Planet Live! (CD) at Discogs". Discogs.com. Retrieved 2013-05-03.
  5. ^ O'Brien, Jon (2010-06-22). "Suddenly Last Summer - Jimmy Somerville : Songs, Reviews, Credits, Awards". AllMusic. Retrieved 2013-05-03.
  6. ^ "Jimmy Somerville - By Your Side at Discogs". Discogs.com. Retrieved 2013-05-03.
  7. ^ Anderson, Rick (2012-07-30). "Dare to Love [Deluxe Edition] - : Release Information, Reviews and Credits". AllMusic. Retrieved 2013-05-03.
  8. ^ "Jimmy Somerville - By Your Side (Vinyl) at Discogs". Discogs.com. Retrieved 2013-05-03.
  9. ^ "Jimmy Somerville - By Your Side (Vinyl) at Discogs". Discogs.com. Retrieved 2013-05-03.
  10. ^ "Images for Jimmy Somerville - By Your Side". Discogs.com. Retrieved 2013-05-03.
  11. ^ O'Brien, Jon (2009-07-14). "For a Friend: The Best of Bronski Beat, The Communards & Jimmy Somerville - Jimmy Somerville : Songs, Reviews, Credits, Awards". AllMusic. Retrieved 2013-05-03.
  12. ^ Archived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine: Jimmy Sommerville - By Your Side [HQ]. YouTube.
  13. ^ Robinson, John (28 October 1995). "Singles". New Musical Express. p. 50. ISSN 0028-6362.
  14. ^ "Reviews: Singles". Music Week. 7 October 1995. p. 19. ISSN 0265-1548.
  15. ^ Tilli, Robbert (30 September 1995). "New Releases: Singles". Music & Media. Vol. 12, no. 39. p. 9. OCLC 29800226.
  16. ^ "Official Scottish Singles Sales Chart Top 100 22 October 1995 - 28 October 1995". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 2021-10-13.
  17. ^ "CMJ Hit Music! Number 159" (PDF). Hit Music. Spotlight. 28 October 1995. worldradiohistory.com. Retrieved 9 June 2023. (see section 'Airplay 100', p. 25)
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