"Cross That Bridge" is a song by British pop-rock band the Ward Brothers, which was released in 1986 as the second single from their debut studio album ''

Madness of It All ''Madness of It All'' is the debut studio album from the British pop-rock band The Ward Brothers, which was released by Siren in 1987. The album was not a commercial success, but two of its singles were UK chart entries; " Cross That Bridge" reach ...

''. It was written by Graham Ward, and produced by

Don Was Don Edward Fagenson (born September 13, 1952), known professionally as Don Was, is an American musician, record producer and record executive. Primarily a bass player, Was co-founded the funk-rock band Was (Not Was). In later years he produced s ...

and Phil Brown. "Cross That Bridge" reached No. 32 on the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

and remained in the Top 100 for ten weeks. It was the band's only UK Top 40 hit. The song's music video was directed by

Meiert Avis Meiert Avis is an Irish music video and commercial director. Avis has directed videos for artists such as Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, U2, Avril Lavigne, Paramore, Alanis Morissette, Flyleaf, Jennifer Lopez, New Found Glory and Josh Gro ...

. It was filmed both inside and outside the

Thames Barrier The Thames Barrier is a retractable barrier system built to protect the floodplain of most of Greater London from exceptionally high tides and storm surges moving up from the North Sea. It has been operational since 1982. When needed, it is c ...

, with other segments filmed on a sound stage.

Critical reception

On its release, Danny Van Emden of ''

Music Week ''Music Week'' is a trade publication for the UK record industry distributed via a website and a monthly print magazine. It is published by Future. History Founded in 1959 as '' Record Retailer'', it relaunched on 18 March 1972 as ''Music W ...

'' noted the song's "warm, insistent soul hook" which he considered to be "reminiscent of

Was (Not Was) Was (Not Was) is an American pop rock group founded in 1979 in Detroit, Michigan, by David Weiss and Don Fagenson, who adopted the stage names David Was and Don Was. Their song catalog features an eclectic mix of pop and rock styles, often ...

". John Lee of the ''

Huddersfield Daily Examiner The ''Huddersfield Daily Examiner'' is an English local daily evening newspaper covering news and sport from Huddersfield and its surrounding areas. History The first edition was published as a weekly, starting on 6 September 1851, as the '' ...

'' praised it as a "smart toe-tapper" which he felt "given the push, could pilot the Ward Brothers ship into big-buck harbour". In a review of ''Madness of It All'',

Robin Denselow Robin Denselow is a British writer, journalist, and broadcaster. Education Denselow was educated at Leighton Park School, a boys' Quaker boarding independent school (now co-educational) in Reading, Berkshire, followed by New College, Oxford, whe ...

of ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide ...

'' commented, "The Ward Brothers are best-known for their light and tuneful single "Cross That Bridge", which is the best song here. The rest of the LP sounds classy but anonymous." Jack Lloyd of ''

The Philadelphia Inquirer ''The Philadelphia Inquirer'' is a daily newspaper headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The newspaper's circulation is the largest in both the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the Delaware Valley metropolitan region of Southeastern Penns ...

'' described the song as an "above-average number".

Track listing

;7" single #"Cross That Bridge" - 3:47 #"Cross That Bridge" (Instrumental) - 4:16 ;7" single (US promo) #"Cross That Bridge" (NY Mix) - 3:38 #"Cross That Bridge" (NY Mix) - 3:38 ;12" single #"Cross That Bridge" (12 Mix) - 6:55 #"Cross That Bridge" (Dub Mix) - 7:25 ;12" single (US promo) #"Cross That Bridge" (Kitchen Sink Mix) - 6:55 #"Cross That Bridge" (NY Mix) - 3:38 ;CD single #"Cross That Bridge" (7" Version) - 3:47 #"Cross That Bridge" (12" Version) - 6:55 #"Cross That Bridge" (Instrumental) - 4:16 #"Easy Prey" (Cloth Cap Mix) - 6:12

Personnel

The Ward Brothers * Dave Ward - lead vocals, backing vocals, drums, arranger * Derek Ward - keyboards, arranger * Graham Ward - guitar, backing vocals, arranger Additional musicians * Martin Bullard - synth bass, keyboards Production *

- producer of "Cross That Bridge" and "NY Mix" * Phil Brown - producer of "Cross That Bridge", engineer, mix engineer on "Kitchen Sink Mix" *

Frank Filipetti Frank Filipetti is an American record producer, audio engineer and mixer, who was born in Bristol, Connecticut, United States. Filipetti has seven Grammy Awards and ten nominations for his work on '' The Color Purple'', ''The Book of Mormon'', '' ...

- producer on "NY Mix" *

Mike Howlett Michael John Gilmour Howlett (born 27 April 1950) is a record producer and teacher based in the United Kingdom and Australia. Career In the late 1960s, Howlett was the bassist in Sydney pop band the Affair, which included vocalist Kerrie Bidd ...

- producer of "Easy Prey" Other * The Design Clinic - sleeve design

Charts

References

{{authority control 1986 songs 1986 singles The Ward Brothers songs A&M Records singles Virgin Records singles Song recordings produced by Don Was