Shot by Both Sides

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"Shot by Both Sides"
Magazine - Shot By Both Sides single picture cover.jpg
Single by Magazine
from the album Real Life
B-side"My Mind Ain't So Open"
Released20 January 1978
Genre
Length4:04
LabelVirgin
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)
  • Mick Glossop
  • Magazine
Magazine singles chronology
"Shot by Both Sides"
(1978) 		"Touch and Go"
(1978)

"Shot by Both Sides" is a song written by Howard Devoto and Pete Shelley, and performed by the English post-punk band Magazine. It was released in January 1978 as the band's first single (reaching No. 41 on the UK charts) and appeared a few months later on their debut album, Real Life. The song has been cited as a seminal work of the post-punk genre,[1][2] as well as a pop punk[3] and new wave song.[4][5]

By the time of the single's recording, Magazine consisted of only four members, as original keyboardist Bob Dickinson had left the band the previous year. Kev Jackson played lead guitar in the studio recording of Shot by Both Sides due to the usual guitarist having injured his hand.

The cover artwork was designed by Malcolm Garrett, based on the 1886 work La Chimere regarda avec effroi toutes choses by Symbolist artist Odilon Redon (1840–1916).[6]

Song[]

The name of the song came from a political argument between Devoto and his girlfriend, in which his girlfriend said to him, "Oh, you'll end up shot by both sides".[7]

The song originated in a riff that Pete Shelley came up with when Devoto was helping him with "some tentative Buzzcocks songs. He played the chord sequence and I was really impressed, said so, and he just gave them to me there and then."[8]

An identical guitar riff was used in the song "Lipstick" by Devoto's former band Buzzcocks, released as a B-side in November 1978, for which Devoto received a co-writing credit.[9]

Reception[]

The song was ranked at No. 9 among the top "Tracks of the Year" for 1978 by NME.[10]

Cover versions[]

Swedish punk band No Fun at All covered the song on their album EP's Going Steady.

"Shot by Both Sides" was also covered by Dublin band Into Paradise, UK82 punk band English Dogs, French punk rockers Les Cadavres and Finnish punk band Kollaa Kestää (in Finnish as "Syksy").

"Shot by Both Sides" has been played live by several artists, including Radiohead (whose song "Just" contains a similar guitar riff), Mansun, and Jarvis Cocker.

Personnel[]

References[]

  1. ^ Lester, Paul (March 1, 2002). "Part time punks" – via www.theguardian.com.
  2. ^ "20 More Great Post-Punk Tracks". Mojo. 10 April 2014. Retrieved 23 August 2016.
  3. ^ Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Magazine | Biography & History". AllMusic. Retrieved November 20, 2019.
  4. ^ Sullivan, Jim (August 25, 2018). "10 More Songs That Defined New Wave Music". Best Classic Bands.
  5. ^ Ross, Graeme (June 7, 2018). "Playlist: 10 best new wave singles of 1978". The Independent.
  6. ^ "Odilon Redon and Magazine". March 5, 2012.
  7. ^ Reynolds, S: Rip It Up and Start Again: Post Punk 1978–1984, p. 21. Faber & Faber Ltd, 2005
  8. ^ Kent, Nick (April 28, 1979). "Howard Devoto: The Compleat Fatalist". NME.
  9. ^ The Rough Guide to Rock, edited by Peter Buckley
  10. ^ "Albums and Tracks of the Year". NME. 2016. Retrieved November 26, 2016.

External links[]

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