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Get Even

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Get Even is the debut album of British boy band/pop group Brother Beyond, released on EMI/Parlophone label, in two different editions, both in 1988, generally referred to as Get Even I and Get Even II. The second edition of the album saw two tracks written by the band replaced with ones produced by Stock Aitken Waterman (SAW).

The album's songs were composed between 1986, when their very first single "I Should Have Lied" - the only one Brother Beyond single not to make the UK Top 75 - was issued, and 1988, the year of the album's release. The two SAW tracks, "The Harder I Try" and "He Ain't No Competition", were added to the album after EMI won the production team's services at a charity auction and became the band's only UK Top 10 hits.

Like many British bands at the time (such as Patsy Kensit's Eighth Wonder during their earlier period), Brother Beyond enjoyed more success in continental Europe than at home, especially in Italy where their second single "How Many Times" (which only made it to Number 62 in the UK) was a big hit in 1987. In their native Great Britain it would take until the Summer of the following year and the release of the Mike Stock, Matt Aitken and Pete Waterman produced track "The Harder I Try" for the band to score a hit. The song reached Number 2 in the UK Singles Chart, held from the top spot by Phil Collins' multi-million seller "A Groovy Kind of Love". "The Harder I Try" famously samples the drum intro from The Isley Brothers' "This Old Heart of Mine", and indeed the song has a distinct Motown feel. The same can be said of its successor "He Ain't No Competition", which reached Number 6 in November 1988. The 12" version of the song had already topped the Hi-NRG charts in October, knocked off by the Samantha Fox cover of "I Only Wanna Be with You", again produced by SAW.

Brother Beyond's final significant hits were two remixed versions of self-penned Get Even II album tracks: "Be My Twin", which got to Number 14 in January 1989, and "Can You Keep a Secret?", which got to Number 22 in April (the first version of the song had been released as the band's fourth single, reaching Number 56 in 1987). The latter would be the last significantly successful single for the group in the UK ("Drive On", the first single from their second and last album Trust would only reach Number 39 and the title-track "Trust" Number 53).

Get Even also spawned a 57-minute live video concert, entitled Brother Beyond - The Get Even Tour - Live 1989, issued in VHS format, in 1991, the same year of release of the band's final single, "The Girl I Used to Know", which bombed in Great Britain (Number 48), but was a minor hit in the USA. The group broke up shortly after its release.

Track listing

Get Even I

  1. Be My Twin - 3:19 (lyrics: C Fysh - music: Carl Fysh/David Ben White) (1988)
  2. Chain-Gang Smile - 3:40 (C Fysh - C Fysh/Francis Anthony White) (1987)
  3. How Many Times - 3:09 (C Fysh/D White - C Fysh/D White) (1987)
  4. Restless - 4:25 (C Fysh - C Fysh/F White) (1988)
  5. Somebody Somewhere - 4:36 (C Fysh - C Fysh/F White) (1988)
  6. I Should Have Lied - 3:44 (C Fysh - C Fysh/F White) (1986)
  7. Can You Keep a Secret? - 3:24 (C Fysh - C Fysh/D White) (1987)
  8. Shipwrecked - 4:24 (C Fysh - C Fysh/F White) (1988)
  9. Sunset Bars - 4:20 (C Fysh - C Fysh/F White) (1988)
  10. King of Blue - 4:13 (C Fysh) (1988)
  11. Act for Love (Extended Version) - 6:09 (C Fysh - C Fysh/F White) (1986)
  12. Sometimes Good Sometimes Bad (Sometimes Better) - 3:55 (C Fysh - C Fysh/D White/F White) (1987)

Singles taken from Get Even I

  • I Should Have Lied (1986) [Didn't chart in the UK Top 75]
  • How Many Times (1987) [UK Top 75: Number 62 - since April 4: 3 weeks in the charts]
  • Chain-Gang Smile (1987) [UK Top 75: Number 57 - since August 8: 3 weeks]
  • Can You Keep a Secret? (1988) [UK Top 75: Number 56 - since January 23: 4 weeks]

Get Even II

  1. He Ain't No Competition - 3:19 (Stock, Aitken & Waterman) (1988)
  2. Can You Keep a Secret? - 3:24 (lyrics: C Fysh - music: C Fysh/D White) (1988)
  3. Chain-Gang Smile - 3:40 (C Fysh - C Fysh/F White) (1987)
  4. Restless - 4:25 (C Fysh - C Fysh/F White) (1988)
  5. How Many Times - 3:09 (C Fysh/D White - C Fysh/D White) (1987)
  6. Be My Twin - 3:27 (C Fysh - C Fysh/D White) (1988)
  7. The Harder I Try - 3:24 (Stock, Aitken & Waterman) (1988)
  8. I Should Have Lied - 3:44 (C Fysh - C Fysh/F White) (1986)
  9. Shipwrecked - 4:24 (C Fysh - C Fysh/F White) (1988)
  10. King of Blue - 4:13 (C Fysh) (1988)
  11. Act for Love (Extended Version) - 6:09 (C Fysh - C Fysh/F White) (1986)
  12. Sometimes Good Sometimes Bad (Sometimes Better) - 3:55 (C Fysh - C Fysh/D White/F White) (1987)

Singles taken from Get Even II

  • The Harder I Try (1988) [UK Top 75: Number 2 - since July 30: 14 weeks in the charts]
  • He Ain't No Competition (1988) [UK Top 75: Number 6 - since November 5: 10 weeks]
  • Be My Twin (1989) [UK Top 75: Number 14 - since January 21: 6 weeks]
  • Can You Keep a Secret? (Re-mix) (1989) [UK Top 75: Number 22 - since April 1: 5 weeks]

Credits

Get Even I

Line up

Musicians

Production

Same as Get Even II, plus:

  • Brother Beyond: production tracks 5, 9
  • Michael H. Brauer per MHB Productions: remix and additional production
  • Mike Pela per Power Plant London: sound engineer
  • Carl Beatty: sound engineer track 9
  • Rafe McKenna: remix and additional production track 9

Recording studios

  • Abbey Road Studios
  • Advision Studios
  • Battery Studios
  • The Chocolate Factory
  • Eden Studios
  • Mayfair Studios
  • The Music Works
  • Power Plant Studios
  • PWL Studios
  • Rockfield Studios
  • Swanyard Studios
  • Trident II Studios

Staff

Get Even II

Line up

Musicians

Production

  • Stock Aitken Waterman: production tracks 1, 7
  • Brother Beyond: production tracks 6, 11, 12
  • Richard James Burgess: production track 3
  • Don Was: production tracks 4, 8
  • Michael H. Brauer: production track 5; remix tracks 8, 9
  • Mike Pela: production track 8; sound engineer tracks 4, 8, 11
  • Stephen Hague: remix track 4
  • Ian Curnow: production track 2; programming
  • Steve Pigott: programming
  • Chris Blair: mastering @ Abbey Road Studios
  • Mike Duffy: sound engineer track 2
  • Phil Harding: sound engineer, mix, production track 2
  • Frank Roszak: sound engineer track 3
  • Phil Brown: additional sound engineer track 4
  • Phil Legg: sound engineer tracks 5, 9, 10
  • Mike Ging: additional sound engineer track 5
  • Mark Stent: sound engineer track 6
  • Rafe McKenna: sound engineer, mix track 12
  • Karen Hewitt: sound engineer track 1
  • Yoyo: sound engineer track 1
  • Mark McGuire: sound engineer track 7
  • Pete Hammond: mix tracks 1, 7

Recording studios

Same as Get Even I, plus:

  • Olympic Studios (II)
  • The Manor (II)

Staff

  • The Artful Dodgers Ltd: design
  • Cindy Palmano: front cover photography
  • Simon Fowler: other photography
  • Simon Carter for Management One: management

Release details

Get Even I

Country Date Format Label Catalogue
Italy 1988 vinyl LP EMI Italiana / Parlophone 64 7467061
United Kingdom CD EMI / Parlophone CDPCS 7314
Germany CDP 7 46706 2

Get Even II

Country Date Format Label Catalogue
Italy vinyl LP EMI Italiana / Parlophone 64 7910691
United Kingdom CD EMI / Parlophone CDPCS 7327
Germany CDP 7 91069 2
  • Discogs: cover art, product details, track listing and credits to Get Even II, with direct links to updated biographies, detailed discographies and recent photos of all related performers participating in the album.
  • EveryHit.com: UK Top 40 Hit Database.
  • Nathan Moore Official: Nathan Moore's Official Website, including a detailed history and discography of Brother Beyond.
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