BURNING THE GROUND EXCLUSIVE 1988

“Chains of Love” is a song by British synthpop duo Erasure, released in May 1988 as their ninth single overall.

The song was released by Mute Records as the second single from Erasure’s third studio album The Innocents. In the United States, Sire Records released it as the first single. The album version was produced by Stephen Hague and was slightly remixed for its single release (most notably the album version starts cold, while the radio version contains a short synthesizer pattern as an intro).

“Chains of Love” became Erasure’s sixth consecutive Top 20 hit on the UK singles chart, just missing the Top 10 by peaking at number eleven. In the United States, it became Erasure’s mainstream breakthrough by climbing to number twelve on the Billboard Hot 100 and becoming the group’s first entry on the Modern Rock Tracks chart. It also hit number four on the U.S. Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart. “Chains of Love” remains as Erasure’s highest-charting U.S. pop hit.

The song, written by Vince Clarke and Andy Bell, is an uptempo dance-oriented synthpop track with Clarke’s signature analogue sound and Bell’s lyrics about breaking through any restrictions or stereotypes of what love should be. The lyrics allude subtly to Bell’s desire for wider acceptance of homosexual couples, his pain evident from the opening lines “How can I explain when there are few words I can choose/How can I explain when words get broken”. The chorus is memorable for Bell’s use of falsetto. The music video featured Clarke and Bell performing the song while being hoisted through the air by thick, metal chains.

The instrumental dub as well as the remix radio edit without intro are exclusivley promotional versions/edits.

SIDE A:
Chains Of Love (The Unfettered Mix) 8:23
Chains Of Love (Fetter Dub Dub) 5:10
Chains Of Love (Remix Radio Edit Without Intro) 3:34

SIDE B:
Chains Of Love (Truly In Love With The Marks Bros. Mix) 7:19
Mixed By – Mark McGuire, Mark Moore

Chains Of Love (Instrumental Dub) 3:52
Chains Of Love (Remix Radio Edit With Intro) 3:54

VINYL GRADE:
Vinyl: Near Mint
Sleeve: Near Mint (company)

U.S. CHART HISTORY:

RELEASE INFORMATION:
Label: Sire ‎– PRO-A-3186, Mute ‎– PRO-A-3186
Format: Vinyl, 12″, 33 ⅓ RPM, Promo
Country: US
Released: 1988
Genre: Electronic, Pop
Style: Synth-pop

CREDITS:
Edited By – Tim Scott (tracks: A1 to A3, B2, B3)
Engineer [Mix] – Dennis Mitchell (tracks: A1 to A3, B2, B3)
Producer – Stephen Hague
Producer [Additional Production], Mixed By – Shep Pettibone (tracks: A1 to A3, B2, B3)
Written-By – Bell*, Clarke*

NOTES:
Special versions from the LP “THE INNOCENTS”

Find the 12″ on DISCOGS

EQUIPMENT USED:
Turntable: Pro-Ject Debut Carbon (DC)
Cartridge: Ortofon 2M
Stylus: Ortofon OM Stylus 30
Platter: Pro-Ject Acryl-It platter
Stabilizer: Pro-Ject Record Puck 
Phono Pre-amp: Bellari VP130 Tube Phono Preamp
Tube: Tung-Sol 12AX7ECC803-S Gold Electron Tube
Soundcard: ESI Juli@
Record Cleaning: VPI HW 16.5 Record Cleaning Machine
Artwork Scans: Brother MFC-6490CW Professional Series Scanner

SOFTWARE USED:
Recording/Editing: Adobe Audition 3.0 (Recording)
Down Sampling: iZotope RX Advanced 2
Artwork Editor: Adobe Photoshop CS5
Click Removal: Manual
FLAC/MP3 Conversion: dBpoweramp
M3U Playlist: Playlist Creator

RESTORATION NOTES:
All vinyl rips are recorded @ 32bit/float
FLAC (Level Eight)
MP3 (320kbps)
Artwork scanned at 600dpi