Welcome to the latest newsletter, where we discuss every known version of 'Every Trick' and reveal the original demo!
Firstly, we’re really pleased that so many of you have taken the opportunity to top up on previous releases while collecting the new ‘Girl On A Train’ singles. So much so that ‘Get Ready To Go' Green has sold out, ‘Get Ready To Go’ Red and ‘Eight Miles High' have almost gone - and the new singles are not far behind!
We have also been intrigued by the number of you that have expressed a preference of Every Trick In The Book (Of Love), over the A-side as favourite track on the single! The B-side of ‘Girl On A Train’ is often forgotten, after being replaced by a newer recording on The Singles Album. In fact, the Japanese Vivid Sound Corporation CD 2011 reissue of The Singles Album originally alerted us to a cohort of fans that loved this version of the song, and the label insisted that this 7-inch B-side version was added to their release as a bonus track!
‘Every Trick’ remains an interesting oddity in the Squire repertoire because it's the song with the identity crisis - and with the most recorded versions!
Firstly, the song is called ‘Every Trick In The Book (Of Love)’ on the original disc label, but only ‘Every Trick In The Book’ on the back of the sleeve!
The difference is simply down to how record sleeves were designed in the early 1980s with letterset or typeset text stuck on art board with glue. The title was too long for the design and so the extra words were left off. We still have these actual spare words and they have been added back for the first time to take the picture below!
The song was then retitled ‘Every Trick (In The Book Of Love)’, as by then everyone was calling the song ‘Every Trick’, instead of ‘Every Trick In The Book’ so we shifted the brackets to identify this as the new recording.
We can count at least six recorded versions of the song! The original B-side recorded and mixed on June 1982 was a slower version in the key of A. The re-recording later in the year during the Get Smart sessions is in the higher key of B, and has different instrumentation, featuring the 12-string guitar and adding a double string quartet to make it the ‘baroque-pop’ version.
This recording was first mixed in Los Angeles, and is the version that appears on the Get Smart LP.
It was then re-mixed back in Britain, especially for an expected 7-inch single release, and its the British re-mix that ended up on The Singles Album, subtly different in the reverb and balance.
Then there is a 12-inch ‘elastRIC’ mix that extended this British mix version to over five minutes.
Finally there is another version, the very first ‘demo’ version, that has never been heard, and which appears at the bottom of the page for the very first time for its debut appearance!
You can hear the Casio VL-Tone keyboard, first heard on ‘No Time Tomorrow’, is still providing the rhythm accompaniment, the harmony ideas are in place, and it was this 6 string electric arrangement that we went into the studio to record. In fact, as this was the newer song of the two, ‘Every Trick’ was planned to be the A-side. However, something in the arrangement made us return for a second attempt, and it eventually ended up as the B-side. In hindsight, the original key suited a more acoustic rendition. With drums and a band sound added in the studio, the voice needed more urgency, a style that was achieved by raising the key a tone higher from A to B, which is how the song was subsequently recorded, and how it is performed live. However, the original version remains a firm favourite amongst Squire fans!
As a final note, there are various live versions, starting with the recording at 100 Club, London on 4th September 1982. You can hear this on the concert we added to YouTube two weeks ago. There have been many live recordings since then! And in a few weeks, a remarkable recording will appear, also including ‘Every Trick’, which we will discuss very soon, and which adds yet another version!
All the best, and keep in touch with Squire by subscribing to the email newsletter!