Getting Away With It

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"Getting Away With It"
Single by Electronic
Released	14 December 1989
Format	7", 12", CD, cassette
Label	Factory (UK); Virgin (Europe); Warner Bros. Records (America, Canada and Australia).
Producer(s)	Sumner, Marr & Tennant
Chart positions
#12 (UK) #38 (USA) #40 (Australia)
Electronic singles chronology
	"Getting Away With It" (1989)	"Get the Message" (1991)

"Getting Away With It" was the first single released by the English band Electronic, which comprised Bernard Sumner of New Order, ex-Smiths guitarist Johnny Marr, and guesting vocalist Neil Tennant of Pet Shop Boys. It was first issued by Factory Records in the United Kingdom in December 1989, and released the following year in the rest of the world. Along with "Get the Message" and perhaps "Disappointed", it remains their best known song, and was also their biggest selling single, shifting over a quarter of a million copies worldwide.

Contents 1 History 2 Track listings 2.1 7": Factory / FAC257/7 (UK) 2.2 12": Factory / FAC257 (UK) 2.3 12": Factory / FAC257R (UK) 2.4 CD: Factory / FACD257 (UK) 2.5 Cassette: Factory / FAC257C (UK) 2.6 CD maxi-single: Warner Bros / 9214982 (US) 3 External links

[edit] History

The song remains well-known due to its commercial success (it reached #12 in the UK and #38 in North America), the calibre of its performers, and the fact that it was Electronic's debut single (and was thus anticipated by both the music press and fans of New Order and The Smiths at the time).

The fluid, rich production incorporates a full orchestra (conducted by Art of Noise's Anne Dudley) and a rare guitar solo by Marr, while the three remixes that appeared on the two UK 12" releases take in disparate musical styles like disco and acid house. The lyrics, meanwhile, co-written by Tennant and Sumner, are said to be a parody of Marr's Smiths partner Morrissey, and his public stereotyping as morose and masochistic (Pet Shop Boys would further satirise this trend on their 1990 song "Miserablism").

"Getting Away With It" was backed by the instrumental track "Lucky Bag", the only unadulterated reflection of Marr and Sumner's early, shared enthusiasm for Italo house; this song was also remixed and released on the 12" maxi-single.

As well as the single edit and three 12" remixes, "Getting Away With It" was released as an instrumental, as an unedited, longer version, and in its early form before Dudley's strings were added (this is the only version of the song which has yet to be released on Compact Disc; the 7" single edit was included on both the US and UK CD singles despite being labelled "Full Length Version").

The single was packaged by Peter Saville, who used a suitably elegant stock photo of a glass of whisky for the front cover. It should be noted that the title was originally written in sentence case, just as Pet Shop Boys songs are.

Although the music was written with their first album in mind - and before their involvement with Neil Tennant - "Getting Away With It" was not included on Electronic's first LP eighteen months later (a reflection of their confidence in the newer material), although it was slotted in between tracks four and five on the international versions and the subsequent 1994 reissue on Parlophone, to bolster sales.

"Getting Away With It" appeared on the Australian "Forbidden City" CD single in 1996, and on a withdrawn Electronic compilation planned for release in Japan three years later in two versions; it also featured on a variety of various artists compilations, sometimes in remixed form, before being included on the retrospective set Get the Message - The Best of in 2006.

[edit] Track listings

[edit] 7": Factory / FAC257/7 (UK)

1. "Getting away with it"
2. "Lucky bag, Edit"

[edit] 12": Factory / FAC257 (UK)

1. "Getting away with it, Extended"
2. "Getting away with it, Full Length"
3. "Lucky bag"

[edit] 12": Factory / FAC257R (UK)

1. "Getting away with it, Vocal Remix"
2. "Getting away with it, Nude Mix"
3. "Lucky bag, Miami Edit"
4. "Getting away with it, Original Version"

[edit] CD: Factory / FACD257 (UK)

1. "Full Length"
2. "Instrumental"
3. "Extended Version"

[edit] Cassette: Factory / FAC257C (UK)

1. "Full Length"
2. "Extended"
3. "Lucky bag"

[edit] CD maxi-single: Warner Bros / 9214982 (US)

1. "Getting away with it (Full Length Version)"
2. "Getting away with it (Extended Version)"
3. "Getting away with it (Instrumental)"
4. "Lucky bag"
5. "Getting away with it (Nude Mix)"
6. "Getting away with it (Vocal Remix)"
7. "Lucky bag (Miami Edit)"

[edit] External links

• Unofficial Electronic website