Working with Fire and Steel (song)

"Working with Fire and Steel"
Single by China Crisis
from the album Working with Fire and Steel – Possible Pop Songs Volume Two
Released3 October 1983 (1983-10-03)[1]
GenreNew wave
Length3:41
LabelVirgin
Songwriter(s)
  • Gary Daly
  • Eddie Lundon
Producer(s)Mike Howlett
China Crisis singles chronology
"Tragedy and Mystery"
(1983) 		"Working with Fire and Steel"
(1983) 		"Wishful Thinking"
(1983)
Music video
"Working with Fire and Steel" on YouTube

"Working with Fire and Steel" is a song by the English new wave band China Crisis, released as the second single from their second studio album Working with Fire and Steel – Possible Pop Songs Volume Two (1983). It peaked at No. 48 on the UK Singles Chart[2] and at No. 47 in Australia.[3] It was also a hit on the US Billboard Hot Dance Club Songs chart where it reached No. 27.[4]

Critical reception

Spin said the song was, "pop in every sense of the word" but the meaning was, "too precious and couched in metaphor and the whole mix was too crowded with different sounds and instruments to be considered strictly pop. It was more than the average listener could decipher while watching MTV or tuning his car radio."[5]

Track listing

UK 7" single / 7" silver vinyl

  1. "Working with Fire and Steel"
  2. "Dockland"
  3. "Forever I and I"

UK 12" single

  1. "Working with Fire and Steel
  2. "Fire and Steel" (Mix)
  3. "Dockland"
  4. "Forever I and I"

US 12" single (Warner Bros.)

  1. "Working with Fire and Steel"
  2. "Fire and Steel" (Mix)
  3. "Dockland"
  4. "Forever I and I"

Canada 7" single (Virgin)

  1. "Working with Fire and Steel"
  2. "Dockland"

Europe 7" single

  1. "Working with Fire and Steel"
  2. "Forever I and I"

References

  1. ^ "New Crisis" (PDF). Number One. 1 October 1983. p. 5. Retrieved 16 August 2022.
  2. ^ "CHINA CRISIS | full Official Chart History | Official Charts Company". Officialcharts.com. 2016-01-04. Retrieved 2016-04-12.
  3. ^ Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992. St Ives, NSW: Australian Chart Book. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
  4. ^ China Crisis Awards Allmusic.com
  5. ^ Steve Matteo (October 1985). "Spins". Spin. No. 6. p. 31.