BURNING THE GROUND EXCLUSIVE 1983
“Never Never” is the title of the only single released by the Vince Clarke project, The Assembly, in 1983.
The song features Feargal Sharkey of The Undertones on vocals; Sharkey’s performance on “Never Never” was a total departure from the punk sound of The Undertones. The song peaked at number four in the UK Singles Chart and stayed on the chart for ten weeks. The ong was released in the US but did not chart.
SIDE A:
Never Never (Extended Version) 5:54
Guitar – Clem Clempson
Vocals [The Singer] – Feargal Sharkey
Stop/Start (Extended Version) 4:20
Written-By – E.C. Radcliffe*
VINYL GRADE:
Vinyl: Near Mint
Sleeve: Near Mint
RELEASE INFORMATION:
Label: Sire – 0-20210
Format: Vinyl, 12″, Maxi-Single, 45 RPM
Country: US
Released: 1983
Genre: Electronic, Pop
Style: Synth-pop
CREDITS:
Design – Martyn Atkins
Performer [The Assembly] – E. C. Radcliffe*, Vincent Clarke*
Producer – Assembly, The
Written-By – V. Clarke*
NOTES:
Made In U.S.A.
Find The 12″ On DISCOGS
EQUIPMENT USED:
Turntable: Pro-Ject Debut III
Cartridge: Ortofon Super
Stylus: Ortofon OM Stylus 30
Platter: Pro-Ject Acryl-It platter
Speed Control: Pro-Ject Speed Box S
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 Removeal: 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
Thanks. Been looking for quite a while….
When this was released there was a rumor that one of the future records would feature Neil Arthur of Blancmange on vocals. I wish this had some to pass!!
Good stuff! Thank you 🙂
Thank you very much for this! You promised you’d have something outstanding for us on Monday, and sure you deliver!
This is Great.
Wonderful song that I always placed (in my mind) in the Vince Clarke catalogue… Love his work, but I’ve never heard the 12″ version before… mmm, looking forward to this 🙂
xox
Ray
Thanks for this one. I have this 12″ in mint condition but it’s good to have your pro transfer to flac so I can listen to it on my computer.
Loved hearing this again, Paul. Thanks so much for posting it.
Do you by any chance have the 12″ of Feargal’s solo hit, Loving You? I still have my copy, but it’s stratched to bits 🙁
i remmber hearing this verions only a few years back very good track the b side was ok as well
Many thx for fantastic song 🙂
Glad to see you’re back in the groove, Paul! This is one of my favourite singles from 1983! Adding on to what has already been discussed about why The Assembly never carried on… The first reason is because it was quite impossible to find established singers who would be interested to come in and record a one-off single with Vince and Eric. Secondly, One Day – the “follow-up” single to Never Never – flopped. Even though it was not billed as The Assembly, it followed the identical format of having Vince Clarke featuring a guest vocal, in this instance it… Read more »
Nice reminder Paul, this song was getting good airplay around here, but I really can’t remember if I ever heard the extended version (maybe I have it somewhere on tape or I have this Alz…what’s it called? thing) LOL. Anyway, Vince was one of the most influential producers for me, especially with Depeche Mode – Speak & Spell, and Yazoo (Yaz in the USA) – Upstairs at Eric’s! Interestingly he left Depeche Mode after the 1st album, just to make 2 with Yazoo,(this 2 tracks would fit nice on the 2nd Yazoo album You and me both), then just this… Read more »
A strange release, in that the A & B sides differ so much, two completely different tracks/genre..
Both appealing in my case..
Thanks as always for the rip, Paul! 🙂
Awesome!
Thanks NKelly 🙂
Awesome way to start the week! Thank you Paul for this one. Sire was my favorite label because of tracks like these. Wasn’t it fantastic just to pick up a record based on the record label the song/artist was on? I did this all the time. What memories. You always give us “memories” in such high fidelity Paul. Gosh, I love you and what you do!!
Tremendous Thanks!!
Jeff
You’re welcome Jeff I am and was a label shopper too. This track is exceptional. 🙂
Thanks Paul,
You made my day! This is truly a gem from the 80s.
Glad I could help Hugo 🙂
Thanks Paul for this rare gem.
You’re welcome Omar 🙂
An unlikely pairing, but then I always thought Mr. Sharkey’s voice was unusual even in the Undertones (who I think are great). Mr. Clarke has always been a wizard. Good stuff, thanks!
You’re welcome Mothloop 🙂
Wow Paul, this is truly a gem! Why there’s the “Uno” on the sleeve?
Thanks and hugs
You’re welcome Ezequiel. Hugs!
Thanks my friend. I’m diving into the Wiki-god now!
I think the ‘uno’ was a nod to the fact that this was the first in a series for The Assembly, but sadly they split before even reaching numero dos! Have a flick through their Wikipedia page and you’ll see where I’m coming from.
I’ve always liked the idea of forming, having an instant hit then splitting, it makes this project quite mysterious. This song is long forgotten by the masses here in the UK, even though it charted highly. It’s almost like.. ‘did I dream it…?’.
Thanks for the clarification Jermajesty. I was wondering myself and assumed that was the case 🙂
Jermajesty is exactly correct. The Assembly were Vince Clarke and Eric “E.C.” Radcliffe (the “Eric” from Yazoo’s Upstairs at Eric’s, and they intended to have a different guest vocalist for each song of the project, but it never made it past the first release.