"Perfect Skin" is a song by the British

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wale ...

and

pop Pop or POP may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Pop music, a musical genre Artists * POP, a Japanese idol group now known as Gang Parade * Pop! (British group), a UK pop group * Pop! featuring Angie Hart, an Australian band Album ...

band

Lloyd Cole and the Commotions Lloyd Cole and the Commotions were a British rock and pop band that formed in Glasgow, Scotland in 1982. Between 1984 and 1989, the band scored four Top 20 albums and five Top 40 singles in the UK; it also had success in several other countri ...

, released in May 1984 as the debut single from their debut studio album ''

Rattlesnakes Rattlesnakes are venomous snakes that form the genera '' Crotalus'' and ''Sistrurus'' of the subfamily Crotalinae (the pit vipers). All rattlesnakes are vipers. Rattlesnakes are predators that live in a wide array of habitats, hunting small an ...

''. The song was written by

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

and produced by

Paul Hardiman Paul Hardiman is a British record producer. He worked with Lloyd Cole and the Commotions (on their debut ''Rattlesnakes'') and Lloyd Cole's solo career. His other production credits include Chris de Burgh's most commercially successful albums '' I ...

. It peaked at number 26 in the UK Singles Chart and remained in the top 100 for ten weeks.

Writing

Cole wrote and demoed the song during a weekend in 1983, in his room at Glasgow Golf Club, where his parents worked and lived. He demoed the track using a

Portastudio Portastudio refers to a series of Multitrack recording, multitrack recorders produced by TASCAM beginning in 1979 with the introduction of the TEAC Corporation, TEAC 144, the first four-track compact cassette-based recorder. A TASCAM trademark, "p ...

, a amahaDX7 and a

drum machine A drum machine is an electronic musical instrument that creates percussion sounds, drum beats, and patterns. Drum machines may imitate drum kits or other percussion instruments, or produce unique sounds, such as synthesized electronic tones. A d ...

, all of which the band had recently purchased after securing a publishing deal. The band signed a recording contract with

Polydor Records Polydor Limited, also known as Polydor Records, is a British record label that operates as part of Universal Music Group. It has a close relationship with Universal's Interscope Geffen A&M Records label, which distributes Polydor's releases in ...

shortly after. Speaking to ''

Melody Maker ''Melody Maker'' was a British weekly music magazine, one of the world's earliest music weeklies; according to its publisher, IPC Media, the earliest. In January 2001, it was merged into "long-standing rival" (and IPC Media sister publicatio ...

'' in 1984, Cole said of the song, "I would say that 'Perfect Skin' is just a few ideas linked by a title. It's just like ' Michelle, ma belle', wee verses that I thought sound good – the literal meaning of the words didn't have a lot to do with it. It was a whole atmosphere." He added in an interview with '' Sounds'', "If I hadn't listened to '

Subterranean Homesick Blues "Subterranean Homesick Blues" is a song by Bob Dylan, recorded on January 14, 1965, and released as a single by Columbia Records, catalogue number 43242, on March 8. It is the first track on the album ''Bringing It All Back Home'', released som ...

' I could never have written 'Perfect Skin'. I was totally drunk on obDylan at the time I wrote that song and all the imagery is deliberately Dylanesque."

Critical reception

Upon its release as a single, Jennet Dainty of ''

Record Mirror ''Record Mirror'' was a British weekly music newspaper published between 1954 and 1991, aimed at pop fans and record collectors. Launched two years after ''New Musical Express'', it never attained the circulation of its rival. The first UK Album ...

'' described "Perfect Skin" as "

avant-garde In the arts and literature, the term ''avant-garde'' ( meaning or ) identifies an experimental genre or work of art, and the artist who created it, which usually is aesthetically innovative, whilst initially being ideologically unacceptable ...

meets

country and western A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. When referring to a specific polity, the term "country" may refer to a sovereign state, state with limited recognition, constituent country, or d ...

" and "an interesting one that grows and grows". She added, "If

Lou Reed Lewis Allan Reed (March 2, 1942October 27, 2013) was an American musician and songwriter. He was the guitarist, singer, and principal songwriter for the rock band the Velvet Underground and had a solo career that spanned five decades. Althoug ...

had ever sung the lyrics to a

spaghetti western The spaghetti Western is a broad subgenre of Western films produced in Europe. It emerged in the mid-1960s in the wake of Sergio Leone's filmmaking style and international box-office success. The term was used by foreign critics because most o ...

this would have been exactly how he'd have done it." Martin Townsend of '' Number One'' and stated that it "sounds more like Lou Reed than Lou Reed does these days" and praised the "shamefully infectious melody". Jerry Smith 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 We ...

'' considered the band to have the "same pop spirit that produced

Aztec Camera Aztec Camera were a Scottish pop/ new wave band founded by Roddy Frame, the group's singer, songwriter and only consistent member. Established in 1980, Aztec Camera released a total of six studio albums: '' High Land, Hard Rain'' (1983), ''Kn ...

and

Orange Juice Orange juice is a liquid extract of the orange (fruit), orange tree fruit, produced by squeezing or reaming oranges. It comes in several different varieties, including blood orange, navel oranges, valencia orange, clementine, and tangerine. As ...

". He noted the sound on "Perfect Skin" is "based on acoustic guitars, with some echoing lead guitar and a soulful vocal that's reminiscent of

Paul Haig Paul Haig (born 4 September 1960)Strong, Martin C. (2003) ''The Great Indie Discography'', Canongate, , p. 386-7 is a Scottish indie musician, singer and songwriter. He was originally a member of post-punk band Josef K, active between 1979 ...

Edwyn Collins Edwyn Stephen Collins (born 23 August 1959) is a Scottish musician, producer and record label owner. Collins was the lead singer for the 1980s post-punk band Orange Juice, which he co-founded. After the group split in 1985, Collins started a so ...

Track listing

7–inch single (UK, European, South Africa, Australasia and Canada) # "Perfect Skin" – 3:10 # "The Sea and the Sand" – 3:03 12–inch single (UK and France) # "Perfect Skin" – 3:10 # "The Sea and the Sand" – 3:03 # "You Will Never Be No Good" – 2:40

1985 release

7–inch single (Germany, the Netherlands and Australasia) # "Perfect Skin" (Remix) – 3:10 # "Andy's Babies" – 2:50 12–inch single (Germany and Australasia) # "Perfect Skin" (Remix) – 3:10 # "Four Flights Up" (Remix) – 2:39 # "Andy's Babies" – 2:50 # "Glory" – 2:39

Personnel

Lloyd Cole and the Commotions *

– vocals * Neil Clark – guitar * Blair Cowan – keyboards *

Lawrence Donegan Lawrence Donegan (born 13 July 1961) is a Scottish journalist and former musician.Lawrence Donegan ...

– bass *

Stephen Irvine Stephen Irvine (born 1959) is a Scottish musician, formerly a member of Lloyd Cole and the Commotions. Following the breakup of that band, he continued to work in the music industry and as a session musician worked with Del Amitri, Étienne Dah ...

– drums Production *

– producer ("Perfect Skin", "The Sea and the Sand", "You Will Never Be No Good", "Andy's Babies", "Glory") *

Ric Ocasek Richard Theodore Otcasek (March 23, 1944 – September 15, 2019), known as Ric Ocasek ( ), was an American musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer. He was the primary vocalist, rhythm guitarist, songwriter, and frontman for the America ...

– remixer ("Perfect Skin", "Four Flights Up") * Peter Watts – producer ("Four Flights Up") Other * Peter Anderson, Neil Clark, Lloyd Cole – design (1984 sleeve) * Da Gama – design (1985 sleeve)

Charts

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Perfect Skin (Lloyd Cole And The Commotions Song) 1984 songs 1984 debut singles Lloyd Cole songs Songs written by Lloyd Cole Polydor Records singles