Electronic - Feel Every Beat (12" Remix)

Electronic - Feel Every Beat (Remix) / 12 Inch Extended Remix (HQ Audio)

Bernard Sumner and Johnny Marr speak fondly of their 12 years together as Electronic, and of this particular track.

The pair began working together privately in 1988, following tensions within their respective bands.

New Order had been on a remarkable decade-long journey, first as Joy Division, then - following the suicide of singer Ian Curtis - as New Order. They had enjoyed commercial and critical success with both, but by 1988 were ready for a break.

The Smiths, meanwhile, had broken up a year earlier, and Marr had already begun collaborating with The The.

Remarkably, when Marr began working with Sumner, the entire catalogue of The Smiths was complete, and Marr was still only 24.

"It was never meant to be a permanent band," says Marr. "It was a chance for me and Bernard to make a different kind of music, free from the constraints we’d both felt at times in our other groups. We loved pop, we loved dance music, and wanted to put that together with guitars without apologising for it."

Sumner felt the same: "With Electronic, I could indulge in pop songs more openly. New Order always had this dark, underground edge but with Johnny, we could write something like Getting Away With It and just enjoy the melody without worrying if it was 'cool' enough."

Getting Away With It was the first the public heard of Sumner and Marr's private project. It was as lush a track as either had previously released, with soaring strings and vocals from Neil Tennant of Pet Shop Boys, who had aimed to write its lyrics in the style of Morrissey.

It peaked at number 12 in the UK chart and was followed by a second single, Get The Message, which reached number 8.

Electronic had six UK Top 20 hits in total and three Top 10 albums. Whilst this track, their third single, Feel Every Beat, only reached number 39, Sumner and Marr both feel it represents the ethos of Electronic particularly well.

"Looking back, Feel Every Beat was one of the purest moments where Bernard and I balanced what we each brought to the table," says Marr. "It was where we learned how to let the machines and guitars work together instead of fighting for space."

Sumner says he also likes that the track has something to say. He explains that the lyrics are about what was happening to the rave scene at the time: "All these illegal parties getting shut down, people getting arrested just for dancing. It felt like they were criminalising a generation. That anger fed into the song, but we still wanted it to be euphoric, not preachy."

As for the relatively poor chart performance, Matthew Robertson's excellent book, FAC461: The Complete Graphic Album, suggests Mark Farrow's sleeve design may have been a contributory factor: "The sleeve is intentionally designed to confuse the viewer. All the information one would expect on the reverse of a record - track listing, running times and production credits - are placed on the front. Likewise, the studio portrait of the band is placed on the back. It was not uncommon to see 12" vinyl versions incorrectly displayed in stores, and even repackaged incorrectly overseas."

Feel Every Beat was recorded between late 1990 and early 1991 at Marr's own Clear Studio in Bowden, south Manchester. Much of the programming used Akai samplers and sequencers that had quickly becomes common at the time, with Marr's guitar parts layered over the top.

This particular remix is by Pete Lorimer and Danny Rampling, who was transitioning from Ibiza DJ to remixer. "I wanted to keep the spirit of the original intact but make it work on the dancefloor," he says. "Especially for the warehouse parties happening at the time. I didn't want to mess with it too much because it already had that energy."

As for the Electronic sound in general, a Bernard Sumner quote from a 1991 edition of Sound on Sound magazine explains its origins particularly well: "I occasionally listen to Beethoven, Ravel, Ennio Morricone, Wagner, The La's, MC Buzz B, Stereo MCs, MC Tunes, Young MCs, Kraftwerk, 808 State and Technotronic. Also many dance tracks by artists whose identity I'm unaware of. Usually when I've finished work the last thing I want to do is listen to music. I prefer to watch a film, or drive out somewhere and get some fresh air, or go to a club and get blasted."

Year: 1991 Label: Factory Cat no: FAC 328