Pure (song)

"Pure"
Single by Lightning Seeds
from the album Cloudcuckooland
Released5 June 1989 (1989-06-05)[1]
Length3:45
LabelGhetto
Songwriter(s)Ian Broudie
Producer(s)Ian Broudie
Lightning Seeds singles chronology
"Pure"
(1989) 		"All I Want"
(1989)

"Pure" is a song by British music group the Lightning Seeds from their debut album, Cloudcuckooland. Released in June 1989, the song peaked at No. 16 in the UK. The track is the band's sole entry on the US Billboard Hot 100's top 40, peaking at No. 31, and was the first hit for the band on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart, peaking at No. 8 in May 1990.

Background

The first Lightning Seeds single release, "Pure" is significant in that it was the first song Ian Broudie had "completely written and sung, ever".[2] It was when producing a track for the Pale Fountains that Broudie was offered a chance to release some of his own material. He was originally apprehensive:

I didn't think that many people would be interested if I'm going to be honest, I suppose I didn't have the confidence really and I wasn't in a band but I did want to put my music out and get it heard.

— Ian Broudie[3]

Nonetheless, Broudie proceeded to record "Pure" at a studio in Kirkby. 200 copies of the single were originally pressed, but after some radio play and attention at The Haçienda, the song soon sprang to mainstream consciousness.

Charts

Weekly chart performance for "Pure"
Chart (1989–1990) Peak
position
Australia (ARIA)[4] 92
UK Singles (OCC)[5] 16
US Billboard Hot 100[6] 31
US Modern Rock Tracks (Billboard)[7] 8

Certifications

Region Certification Certified units/sales
United Kingdom (BPI)[8] Silver 200,000‡

‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

References

  1. ^ "New Singles". Music Week. 3 June 1989. p. 30.
  2. ^ Like You Do - The Greatest Hits Interview with Ian Broudie and Martyn Campbell
  3. ^ Interview: The Lightning Seeds' Ian Broudie – "'Three Lions' Is Like a Christmas Carol", Carl Stanley, Live4ever. Retrieved 1 June 2011.
  4. ^ Ryan, Gavin (2011). Australia's Music Charts 1988–2010 (PDF ed.). Mt Martha, Victoria, Australia: Moonlight Publishing. p. 165.
  5. ^ "The Lightning Seeds: Artist Chart History". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 7 August 2017.
  6. ^ "Billboard Hot 100". Billboard. 28 July 1990. Retrieved 15 August 2023.
  7. ^ "Alternative Airplay". Billboard. 5 May 1990. Retrieved 15 August 2023.
  8. ^ "British single certifications – Lightning Seeds – Pure". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 9 November 2024.
Stub icon

This 1980s single–related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.