"Don't Look Back" is a song by English singer, songwriter and musician

Lloyd Cole Lloyd Cole (born 31 January 1961) is an English singer and songwriter. He was lead singer of Lloyd Cole and the Commotions from 1984 to 1989 and subsequently worked solo. Early life Cole was born in Buxton, Derbyshire, England. He grew up in ...

, released in 1990 as the second single from his self-titled studio album. The song was written by Cole and produced by Cole, Fred Maher and Paul Hardiman. It peaked at number 59 in 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 three weeks.

Music video

The song's music video was directed by Matthew Chapman and produced by

Laura Bickford Laura Conde Bickford (born September 30, 1968 in New York City, New York, USA) is an Academy Award nominated and Emmy Award nominated film and television producer who produced ''Traffic'', '' Che'', ''Duplicity'', ''Arbitrage'', and ''Beasts of No N ...

for the production company VIVID.

Critical reception

Upon its release as a single, David Giles 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 ...

'' described "Don't Look Back" as "a fairly downbeat, almost countrified blues, track loaded with references to Cole's adopted homeland

he US He or HE may refer to: Language * He (pronoun), an English pronoun * He (kana), the romanization of the Japanese kana へ * He (letter), the fifth letter of many Semitic alphabets * He (Cyrillic), a letter of the Cyrillic script called ''He'' ...

. He noted that there was "none of the subtle twists and turns of old, unfortunately".

Tom Hingley Thomas William Hingley (born 9 July 1965) is an English singer, songwriter and guitarist, best known as the frontman of Inspiral Carpets.Strong, Martin C. (2003) ''The Great Indie Discography'', Canongate, , p. 803 Early life Hingley was born ...

Inspiral Carpets Inspiral Carpets are an English rock band, part of the late-1980s/early-1990s Madchester movement. Formed in Oldham in 1980, the band's most successful lineup featured frontman Tom Hingley, drummer Craig Gill, guitarist Graham Lambert, bassi ...

, as guest reviewer for '' NME'', commented, "The musical content of this record makes

Dire Straits Dire Straits were a British rock band formed in London in 1977 by Mark Knopfler (lead vocals and lead guitar), David Knopfler (rhythm guitar and backing vocals), John Illsley (bass guitar and backing vocals) and Pick Withers (drums and pe ...

sound radical. You can hear tons of influences but it's all so unchallenging and formularised. It's quite pleasant sounding but who gives a fuck about that?" Robin Smith of ''

Record Mirror ''Record Mirror'' was a British weekly music newspaper between 1954 and 1991 for pop fans and record collectors. Launched two years after the '' NME'', it never attained the circulation of its rival. The first UK album chart was published in '' ...

'' commented that the song "seems to have precious little substance underneath all the surrounding gloss" and added that it "gave me a hankering for those glorious days of '

Jennifer She Said "Jennifer She Said" is a song by British band Lloyd Cole and the Commotions, released in 1987 as the second single from their third and final studio album ''Mainstream'' (1987). The song was written by the band and produced by Ian Stanley. It pe ...

'". Penelope Leyland of Australia's ''

The Canberra Times ''The Canberra Times'' is a daily newspaper in Canberra, Australia, which is published by Australian Community Media. It was founded in 1926, and has changed ownership and format several times. History ''The Canberra Times'' was launched in ...

'' considered it to be "workmanlike pop/rock" and noted that Cole "sounds much the same" as he did with the Commotions.

Track listing

7–inch single (UK, Europe and Australia) and cassette single (UK) #"Don't Look Back" – 3:46 #"Blame Mary Jane" – 3:49 10–inch limited edition and numbered single (UK and Europe) #"Don't Look Back" – 3:46 #"Blame Mary Jane" – 3:49 #"Witching Hour" – 3:53 12-inch and CD single (UK and Europe) #"Don't Look Back" – 3:46 #"Blame Mary Jane" – 3:49 #"Witching Hour" – 3:53

Personnel

Credits are adapted from the ''Lloyd Cole'' CD album liner notes and the UK CD single. "Downtown" *

– vocals, backing vocals, guitars *

Robert Quine Robert Wolfe Quine (December 30, 1942 – May 31, 2004) was an American guitarist. A native of Akron, Ohio, Quine worked with a wide range of musicians, though he himself remained relatively unknown. Critic Mark Deming wrote that "Quine's eclect ...

– guitars * Blair Cowan – Hammond organ *

Matthew Sweet Sidney Matthew Sweet (born October 6, 1964) is an American alternative rock/ power pop singer-songwriter and musician who was part of the burgeoning music scene in Athens, Georgia, during the 1980s before gaining commercial success in the 199 ...

– bass * Fred Maher – drums * Nicky Holland – backing vocals Production * Lloyd Cole – producer * Fred Maher – producer * Paul Hardiman – producer * John Herman – additional engineering ("Don't Look Back") * Tim Young – mastering ("Don't Look Back")

Charts

References

{{authority control 1990 songs 1990 singles Lloyd Cole songs Songs written by Lloyd Cole Song recordings produced by Fred Maher Polydor Records singles