Into the Gap is the fourth album by the British pop group Thompson Twins

Thompson Twins

The Thompson Twins were a British pop group that were formed in April 1977 and disbanded in May 1993. They achieved considerable popularity in the mid 1980s, scoring a string of hits in the United Kingdom, the United States and around the globe. The band was named after the two bumbling detectives...

. It was released in February 1984 and reached no.1 on the UK Albums Chart

UK Albums Chart

The UK Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales in the United Kingdom. It is compiled every week by The Official Charts Company and broadcast on a Sunday on BBC Radio 1 , and published in Music Week magazine and on the OCC website .To qualify for the UK albums chart...

, and no.10 on the U.S. Billboard 200

Billboard 200

The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists...

.

Album history

After the commercial success of Quick Step and Side Kick, the band worked once again with producer Alex Sadkin

Alex Sadkin

Alex Sadkin is best remembered as a record producer in the early 1980s, but actually got his start in the music industry as a saxophonist for the Las Olas Brass in Fort Lauderdale, Florida....

 at his Compass Point studio in the Bahamas.

The first single to be released was "Hold Me Now

Hold Me Now (Thompson Twins song)

"Hold Me Now" is a song by British pop/new wave band the Thompson Twins. Written by the band members, the song was produced by Alex Sadkin, and the group's lead vocalist Tom Bailey. It was released in November 1983 as the first single of their fifth studio album, Into The Gap...

", which reached the no. 4 position in the UK in November 1983. Four other tracks were released from the album in various countries around the world: "Doctor! Doctor!" (UK #3, US #11), "You Take Me Up" (UK #2, US #44), "Sister of Mercy" (UK #11), and "The Gap" (US #69). The first four of these singles all had music video

Music video

A music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings...

s that were shot to promote them, and the Thompson Twins were a prominent fixture on MTV

MTV

MTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....

 and other music video outlets of the era. "Doctor! Doctor!", "You Take Me Up" and "Sister of Mercy" were directed by Dieter 'Dee' Trattmann.

Into The Gap was the band's biggest selling album, being certified double platinum in the UK and platinum in the US.

Track listing

• All tracks by Bailey/Currie/Leeway.

1. "Doctor! Doctor!" - 4:39
2. "You Take Me Up" - 4:26
3. "Day After Day" - 3:49
4. "Sister of Mercy" - 5:09
5. "No Peace for the Wicked" - 4:09
6. "The Gap" - 4:44
7. "Hold Me Now"
   Hold Me Now (Thompson Twins song)
   "Hold Me Now" is a song by British pop/new wave band the Thompson Twins. Written by the band members, the song was produced by Alex Sadkin, and the group's lead vocalist Tom Bailey. It was released in November 1983 as the first single of their fifth studio album, Into The Gap...
   
    - 4:46
8. "Storm on the Sea" - 5:32
9. "Who Can Stop the Rain" - 5:46

Some pressings of the album (usually U.S.) have a different order and a shorter version of the final track:

1. "Doctor! Doctor!" - 4:39
2. "You Take Me Up" - 4:26
3. "Hold Me Now"
   Hold Me Now (Thompson Twins song)
   "Hold Me Now" is a song by British pop/new wave band the Thompson Twins. Written by the band members, the song was produced by Alex Sadkin, and the group's lead vocalist Tom Bailey. It was released in November 1983 as the first single of their fifth studio album, Into The Gap...
   
    - 4:46
4. "Day After Day" - 3:50
5. "No Peace for the Wicked" - 4:09
6. "The Gap" - 4:44
7. "Sister of Mercy" - 5:09
8. "Storm on the Sea" - 5:32
9. "Who Can Stop the Rain" - 5:16

The UK cassette version of Into the Gap contained an additional side of remixes and B-sides, most of which were previously unreleased:

1. "Leopard Ray" (an original instrumental composition)
2. "Doctor! Doctor!" (extended version)
3. "Panic Station" (remix of "Day After Day")
4. "Down Tools" (remix of "You Take Me Up")
5. "Hold Me Now" (extended version)
6. "Funeral Dance" (remix of "No Peace For The Wicked")
7. "Compass Points" (remix of "The Gap")
8. "Still Water" (remix of "Storm on the Sea")

2008 expanded edition

In March 2008, Into the Gap was reissued as an expanded 2-disc set by Edsel Records. It included the bonus cassette remixes that originally appeared on the original cassette version of the album in 1984 (as mentioned above), and also features a second CD which includes most major 12" versions and B-sides, some of which appear on CD for the first time.

Disc 1

1. "Doctor! Doctor!" - 4:38
2. "You Take Me Up" - 4:23
3. "Day After Day" - 3:50
4. "Sister of Mercy" - 5:04
5. "No Peace for the Wicked" - 4:04
6. "The Gap" - 4:43
7. "Hold Me Now" - 4:42
8. "Storm on the Sea" - 5:26
9. "Who Can Stop the Rain" - 5:17
10. "Leopard Ray" - 3:15
11. "Doctor! Doctor!" - 7:50
12. "Panic Station" - 4:40
13. "Down Tools" - 4:18
14. "Hold Me Now" - 9:45
15. "Funeral Dance" - 3:12

Disc 2

1. "Compass Points" - 5:00
2. "Still Water" - 3:40
3. "You Take Me Up (Machines Take Me Over)" - 7:33 (12" version of "You Take Me Up")
4. "Sister of Mercy (12” Version)" - 9:26
5. "Let Loving Start (12” Version)" - 9:09 (B-Side of "Hold Me Now" 12" single)
6. "You Take Me Up (High Plains Mixer)" - 8:30 (Originally released as a limited edition white label UK 12" single in Spring 1984)
7. "Nurse Shark" - 4:05 (B-Side of "Doctor! Doctor!" 7" and 12" singles)
8. "Passion Planet" - 3:42 (B-Side of "You Take Me Up" 7" single)
9. "You Take Me Up (Instrumental)" - 6:20 (B-Side of the "High Plains Mixer" UK 12" single of "You Take Me Up")
10. "Out of the Gap (Megamix Extended Version)" - 8:57 (B-Side of "Sister of Mercy" 12" single, incorporating "Love on Your Side", "In the Name of Love", "Tears", "Doctor! Doctor!", "We Are Detective", "Lies", "Hold Me Now", and "The Gap")

Personnel

• Tom Bailey: vocals, synthesizer, piano, contrabass
  Contrabass
  Contrabass refers to a musical instrument of very low pitch; generally those pitched one octave below instruments of the bass register...
  
  , harmonica, guitars, drum programming
• Joe Leeway: Prophet synthesizer, percussion, backing vocals
• Alannah Currie: backing vocals, drums, percussion, marimba, xylophone, backing vocals

Production

• Produced by Alex Sadkin
  Alex Sadkin
  Alex Sadkin is best remembered as a record producer in the early 1980s, but actually got his start in the music industry as a saxophonist for the Las Olas Brass in Fort Lauderdale, Florida....
  
   & Tom Bailey
• Engineered By Alex Sadkin
• Assistant Engineers: Chris Dickey, Frank Gibson, Steve Dewey
• Recorded & Mixed By Phil Thornalley
  Phil Thornalley
  Phil Thornalley is a songwriter-producer who has worked in the music industry since 1978. He is perhaps best known for co-writing the song "Torn" which Natalie Imbruglia later covered to great success for her 1997 debut album, Left of the Middle...
  
  
• Mastered By Ted Jensen