Action Reaction
Encyclopedia
Action Reaction is the debut album by Get Smart!
, released on Enigma Records
' "Fever" imprint in 1984.
), so the album was actually released on that label.
The album was originally produced by Taylor Ross at Media Sound in Oklahoma City, but was subsequently remixed for release by Iain Burgess
at Chicago Recording Company in Chicago.
An earlier version of "Ankle Deep In Mud" had appeared on their debut single, "Numbers and Colours
", and an earlier version of "Black Mirror" has appeared on the "Sub Pop
#7" compilation cassette.
All songs were written by the band, except for "Ankle Deep In Mud" which was written by Vance Lyons, and "Black Mirror" where the lyrics were written by Vance Lyons and the music was written by Get Smart!. (Vance Lyons had played with Marc Koch in a previous band called the Battling Tops.)
Side 1 and Side 2 were originally supposed to be reversed, as the album was supposed to start with "On And On" and then end with "You've Got To Stop" (ie, it would start with "On" and end with "Stop"), but for some unknown reason this was reversed in the final product.
Side 2:
Get Smart! (band)
Get Smart! was a three piece band formed in Lawrence, Kansas in 1980 consisting of Marc Koch, Lisa Wertman Crowe and Frank Loose.-Career:The band formed while at University of Kansas in Lawrence, KS in 1980 and, along with bands like the Embarrassment and the Mortal Micronotz, they were prominent...
, released on Enigma Records
Enigma Records
Enigma Records was a popular rock and alternative American record label in the 1980s. It was initially a division of Greenworld Distribution, an independent music importer/distributor, which it split-off from in 1985 to become its own company...
' "Fever" imprint in 1984.
Info
It was originally announced, in Nebraska's "Capitol Punishment", that the album would be released on the "Fresh Sounds" label , which had previously released the band's debut single and the "Fresh Sounds" cassette, but the band eventually signed with the Philadelphia based "Fever Records" (not to be confused with the New York based label of the same nameFever Records
Fever Records was the New York City freestyle record label of the 80s, founded by promoter Sal Abbatiello.The label was marketed and distributed by Sutra Records until the latter went under, which precipitated a distribution deal with Russel Simmons's RAL division of Def Jam Recordings.Fever...
), so the album was actually released on that label.
The album was originally produced by Taylor Ross at Media Sound in Oklahoma City, but was subsequently remixed for release by Iain Burgess
Iain Burgess
Iain Burgess was a British record producer and audio engineer. He helped define the sound of the Chicago post-punk music scene in the 1980s and early '90s, working with a number of key underground bands, including Big Black, Naked Raygun, The Effigies, Get Smart!, Ministry, Bloodsport, Pegboy,...
at Chicago Recording Company in Chicago.
An earlier version of "Ankle Deep In Mud" had appeared on their debut single, "Numbers and Colours
Numbers and Colours
Numbers and Colours / Ankle Deep in Mud is the debut release by the post punk band Get Smart!. It was released as a 6-inch flexi disc that accompanied the May 13, 1981 issue of Talk Talk magazine.-General info:...
", and an earlier version of "Black Mirror" has appeared on the "Sub Pop
Sub Pop
Sub Pop is a record label founded in 1986 by Bruce Pavitt and Jonathan Poneman in Seattle, Washington. Sub Pop achieved fame in the late 1980s for first signing Nirvana, Soundgarden, Mudhoney and many other bands from the Seattle music scene...
#7" compilation cassette.
All songs were written by the band, except for "Ankle Deep In Mud" which was written by Vance Lyons, and "Black Mirror" where the lyrics were written by Vance Lyons and the music was written by Get Smart!. (Vance Lyons had played with Marc Koch in a previous band called the Battling Tops.)
Side 1 and Side 2 were originally supposed to be reversed, as the album was supposed to start with "On And On" and then end with "You've Got To Stop" (ie, it would start with "On" and end with "Stop"), but for some unknown reason this was reversed in the final product.
Track listing
Side 1:- "Because Of Green" – 3:03
- "What It Is We Fear" – 3:18
- "Knight" – 2:18
- "Ankle Deep In Mud" – 4:55
- "You've Got To Stop" – 3:38
Side 2:
- "On And On" – 2:02
- "Just For The Moment" – 2:23
- "The Difference" – 3:02
- "Face" – 2:36
- "Black Mirror" – 2:18
- "Berlin On The Plains" – 2:47
- "They Walk In Pairs " – 1:58
Personnel
- Marc Koch – vocals, guitar
- Lisa Wertman Crowe – vocals, bass
- Frank Loose – vocals, drums
Reception
- "This is what happened to Midwestern bar bands when they heard the Sex PistolsSex PistolsThe Sex Pistols were an English punk rock band that formed in London in 1975. They were responsible for initiating the punk movement in the United Kingdom and inspiring many later punk and alternative rock musicians...
. Lots of beat and jangle; it's raw and rocking" (Barbara Nellis, PlayboyPlayboyPlayboy is an American men's magazine that features photographs of nude women as well as journalism and fiction. It was founded in Chicago in 1953 by Hugh Hefner and his associates, and funded in part by a $1,000 loan from Hefner's mother. The magazine has grown into Playboy Enterprises, Inc., with...
, March 1985) - "Warm pop melodicism competes with punky bluntness and jagged noise tendencies on Action Reaction, creating a variety of stylistic voices within the plainly constructed guitar-bass-drums framework; harmony vocals add to the appeal." (Ira Robbins, Trouser PressTrouser PressTrouser Press was a rock and roll magazine started in New York in 1974 as a mimeographed fanzine by editor/publisher Ira Robbins, fellow Who fan Dave Schulps and Karen Rose under the name "Trans-Oceanic Trouser Press" ...
, 1986) - "I really cannot recommend this enough for anyone who prefers their post-punk on the happier side of miserable and loves the guitar work that the genre best exponents can bring to the general musical smorgasbord." (Kaasprodukte, Rate Your MusicRate Your MusicRate Your Music is a metadata database where musical albums, EPs, singles, videos, bootlegs, and movies are rated and reviewed by users. This data is then used to generate recommendations for users and to create rated lists of albums...
, 2008)