Body Electric (single)

This is the second single ever by The Sisters of Mercy.

Body Electric 7" - common red cover

Body Electric 7" with light red (pink) cover

Release Notes

Label: Merciful Release

CNT Productions

Catalogue#: CNT 002

Format: 7" vinyl single

Release Date: April 1982

Band/Recording Personnel

Andrew Eldritch	- Vocals
Gary Marx	- Guitars
Craig Adams	- Bass
Doktor Avalanche	- Drums

Tracks

Side A	Duration	Side AA	Duration
Body Electric	4:20	Adrenochrome	2:57

Remarks

Released on a label called CNT, located in York, since the band didn't have the money to release the single themselves on Merciful Release.

The cover features Francis Bacon's Head VI, all soaked in a deep crimson dye. A view of the original can also be found at the WebMuseum.

The issue of the cover art for the Body Electric single was also featured and discussed in UTR, The Sisters' official fanzine, see
- Heartland Gallery/UTR#9 - Page 6 and Heartland Gallery/UTR#9 - Page 7.

The title of the single and the song Body Electric are derived from the poem I Sing The Body Electric by Walt Whitman (1819 - 1892).

The covers are either made of thin paper, or they are thick and glossy. Some copies have a lighter almost pink or orange red on the cover than others.

All of the original releases come with a thumb cut on the upper side of the cover back.

Body Electric 7" - Label Side AA

Label notes on the AA-side:

rise and reverberate

SISTERS

CNT PRODUCTIONS - CNT002 AA

Hijos del pueblo a las barricadas

(Children of the people, to the barricades)

Hand-etched run-outs:

Side A: CNT2 A1 MPO BILBO. TAPE ONE

Side AA: CNT2 AA1 MPO RISE AND REVERBERATE BILBO TAPE ONE FOR SPIGGY

A test pressing does exist, see Body Electric (test pressing).

Broadcast

As the research by the lovely people @John Peel Wiki recently revealed, radio presenter John Peel

played Body Electric on BBC Radio One during his John Peel Show on 16th January 1984.

See also this thread @The Heartland Forums and John Peel Shows 1980-85.

NOTE
Meanwhile some bootlegs (and also some flexis) of varying quality have surfaced, which should not be mistaken for the present original release, see:

Body Electric - Adrenochrome - a 7" bootleg-single released in 1987	Body Electric (Greek demo bootleg) - alledgedly some "untitled demo version"
Body Electric (flexi)	Body Electric - Sister Ray (Greek live bootleg) - Live at Deinze 1984
Body Electric - Torch (double-sided flexi)	Body Electric - Floorshow (Greek live bootleg) - Live in Bologna 1985
Body Electric (acetate) - a bootleg, not the original	Body Electric (picture disc) - another Greek produce
Body Electric (Australian 2009 Reissue) - red vinyl, mainly available as part of a set