SEVEN (REMIX)
7" JIM12- Seven / Goalies Ball / William Burroughs / Still Alive
CAS JIMC 12- Seven / Goalies Ball / William Burroughs / Still Alive
CD JIM12 CD- Seven / Goalies Ball / William Burroughs / Still Alive
RELEASED : JULY 1992
CHART POSITION : 46
Following the lack of success of Ring The Bells, the band did not want to release a fourth single off the Seven album for fear of ripping off their fans. The record company however wanted a release to coincide with the band's 30,000 sellout show at Alton Towers which was being broadcast live on Radio 1. A compromise was reached with the record company allowing the band to rerecord the title track and release the single as an EP with three new tracks.
Goalies Ball is not about football, but the state of human evolution. William Burroughs is a frenzied three minute burst about a young man who became old before his time. Still Alive is a lonely almost accapella bluesy reflection on one man's misfortune.
The single's video showed the band dressed in t-shirts starting at 1 and increasing through to 7 by the end, playing the song in different weather conditions -snow, rain, wind and with fire behind them.
As with the previous two single releases, a John Carroll watercolour was used for the cover artwork of the single.
Radio 1 did A-list the single as they were heavily promoting the live broadcast of the Alton Towers show, but the music press paid very little attention to it. As the band were out of the country playing the European festival circuit, there was little promotion of the single.
Despite being the fourth single off the album, the final chart position of 46 was still disappointing. It was not helped by the cancellation of a second CD entitled "Seven plus three" which was due to include Seven and three extra tracks recorded at Alton Towers but which was shelved due to recording problems with the BBC mobile recording studio.
REVIEWS
NME
Seven is all about filling the available space. And in 1992 James have all the wide open space they want. Which is why the recent single Born of Frustration had us all on edge with its shameless Simple Minds chorus. But James are still capable of playing their cards close to their chest: they just can't stop themselves from beating it when the indie police aren't looking. Yet we forgive them this excursion into pomp-dom because they are James.