Wake

Wake - PolyGram VHS cover (front)

Wake - PolyGram VHS release (overview)

Wake - Laserdisc cover (front)

Releases

Label	Catalogue#	Released	Country	Format	Notes
Polygram Music Video	041 325 2	1985	UK	VHS / PAL	Original Release, Barcode: 04404 13252
Pioneer Japan / PolyGram Music Video	SM058-3008	1985	Japan	LaserDisc / NTSC	CLV Digital Stereo Sound, comes with a blue biography insert, a two-sided disc - side 2 starts with Amphetamine Logic
Channel 5 Public Broadcasting	CFV 06152	1987	UK	VHS / PAL	Barcode: 5014226061528
WEE RECORDS	CMV 1042	1987	Europe	VHS / PAL	A Castle Music Video

Wake Laserdisc - Cover without OBI

Wake Laserdisc with biography sheet

Source

Recorded live at the Royal Albert Hall, London, UK 1985/06/18

The very last concert of The Sisters of Mercy in the final constellation of their second stage ...

Remarks

Produced and directed by Mike Mansfield
(look here for his further Filmography...)

All tracks are published RCA Music Candelmaesse Ltd. - except
- Floorshow, Alice, Fix: Copyright Control
- Emma: RAK Publishing
- Knocking On Heaven's Door: Warner Bros. Music

A few songs are missing, notably the version of Gimme Shelter originally by the Rolling Stones.
Although given permission by The Stones to use it, The Sisters were denied the necessary video rights.
Train and the Ghostrider / Louie Louie medley are cut off as well.

Photographs: Barry Plummer

Running Time: approx. 57 min.

© 1985 WEA Records Ltd. - However, Wake was not released by WEA!
The Sisters of Mercy's then record company wouldn't finance the video.

Regarding the latter points, here is a quote from The Sisters of Mercy's very own FAQ pages...

Why isn't the last encore included on 'Wake', the film of the Royal Albert Hall concert in 1985?

By the time we hit the stage for the last encore, some of the necessary machines had been switched off.
Various film technicians had decided that we'd finished. Andrew had been performing with a couple of
cracked ribs, and he had indeed decided to finish, but Lemmy was in the dressing room to convince him
that another encore was in order. After a short discussion and a multilateral assessment of all the available
pharmaceuticals, the band hit the stage again - but too speedily for the aforementioned technicians.

There was some audio-visual material from the last encore, but Polygram "lost it" shortly after the film was
edited and released.

Why isn't 'Gimme Shelter' included on 'Wake'?

Because the Rolling Stones apparently refused to grant the so-called "synchronisation rights"
which are necessary for visual cover versions.

The band was on WEA Records at the time. Why was 'Wake' released by Polygram?

WEA didn't want to fund the project.

This video has often been bootlegged and re-released on various occasions.
Some examples can be found under: