A-side "Bittersweet" Released June 1985 (Australia) | B-side "Mars Needs Guitars" Format 7" vinyl12" vinyl Length 3:46 | |
"Bittersweet" was a single by Australian rock group Hoodoo Gurus which reached #10 on the Melbourne Record Charts. It was released on Big Time Records in June, 1985; and was written by Dave Faulkner.
Contents
"Mars Needs Guitars" (B side), was written by all five Gurus (James Baker, Clyde Bramley, Faulkner, Mark Kingsmill and Brad Shepherd) and lead vocals were by Brad Shepherd.
It was also released in 1985 in the United States by Elektra with "Bring the Hoodoo Down" as the B-side, and in the United Kingdom as a 12" single by Chrysalis Records with two B-sides, "Bring the Hoodoo Down" & "Turkey Dinner".
"... I vowed to myself that I would write less comic narratives and try to express my sentiments in a more forthright way. I feel I succeeded with "Bittersweet" though at the time I didn't think that a) the band would want to play it and b) our audience would want to hear it. I was happily wrong on both counts." - Dave Faulkner.
Cover versions & others
Courtney Love provided lead vocals for her band Hole's version of "Bittersweet" with Faulkner's backing vocals at Hole's 1999 Big Day Out performance.
The song "Bittersweet" was used in the video game MVP Baseball 2004.
7" version
- "Bittersweet" (Dave Faulkner) — 3:46
- "Mars Needs Guitars" (James Baker, Clyde Bramley, Faulkner, Mark Kingsmill and Brad Shepherd) — 2:51
7" version (US)
- "Bittersweet" (Faulkner) — 3:46
- "Bring the Hoodoo Down" (Faulkner)- 3:00
12" version
- "Bittersweet" (Faulkner) — 3:44
- "Bring the Hoodoo Down" (Faulkner) - 3:09
- "Turkey Dinner" (Faulkner) - 4:23
Personnel
Credited to: