Push (Bros album)

Push is the debut album by British pop band Bros and was released on 28 March 1988 on CBS. The album peaked at number two in the UK Albums Chart and was certified quadruple platinum in the UK. It was also a worldwide success, reaching number one in New Zealand, and the top ten in Australia and several countries in Europe.

Push
Studio album by Bros
Released	28 March 1988
Recorded	1987
Studio	Hot Nights Studio, Fulham, London
Genre	Teen pop, dance-pop
Length	42:13
Label	CBS
Producer	Nicky Graham
Bros chronology
Push (1988) The Time (1989)
Singles from Push
"I Owe You Nothing" Released: 31 August 1987 "When Will I Be Famous?" Released: 16 November 1987 "Drop the Boy" Released: 7 March 1988 "I Owe You Nothing (reissue)" Released: 6 June 1988 "I Quit" Released: 5 September 1988 "Cat Among the Pigeons"/"Silent Night" Released: 21 November 1988

In late 2013, a 25th Anniversary 3-CD remastered and expanded edition of Push was released on the Cherry Pop record label, a subsidiary of Cherry Red Records. The song "Silent Night", originally released as a double A-side single with "Cat Among the Pigeons", was included on the expanded edition, as well as B-sides and remixes from the five singles that were released from the album.

Writing and composition

All the songs were written by Nicky Graham and Bros' manager Tom Watkins, with Graham composing the music and Watkins writing the lyrics. The pair used the pseudonym "The Brothers" in order to imply that the songs had been written by the Goss twins, and that the group was not simply a manufactured pop outfit. In his autobiography Watkins described how he had deliberately come up with song titles and lyrics that the teen market could identify with, such as "Drop the Boy" being about a youth asking to be treated as an adult. Other themes included childhood poverty ("Ten Out of Ten"), the then-current AIDS epidemic ("Shocked"), and past relationships ("I Owe You Nothing"). One of the album's more serious lyrical subjects was the closing ballad "Cat Among the Pigeons", which Watkins stated was about a friend who had struggled to cope with the early death of their father, and as a result had embarked on tempestuous and doomed relationships. Watkins also admitted that his original, more explicit lyric for "When Will I Be Famous?", a song that had been created for his own short-lived band the Hudsons, had been written as a conversation between two gay men: a young man desperate for fame and attention, and an older, more experienced man giving his advice. When he and Graham decided to give the song to Bros to record, Watkins toned down the lyrics and removed the references to homosexuality.[1]

Graham composed the music using some basic equipment at his home in Wimbledon in south-west London, before taking the songs to his Hot Nights studio a short distance away in Fulham. There he played all the instruments and programmed all the keyboards, before inviting the group to the studio to learn their parts and record Matt Goss' vocals.[2]

Talking to Smash Hits in April 1988, Matt Goss explained why the album was titled Push: "Well, when we were in the studio recording it, if one of us was really, like, going for it we'd say, 'Right man, that's really pushing it.' It's a word we all latched on to, and Nicky latched on to it too. We'd all be going, 'Is that pushing it? Yeah, that's push.' So the album couldn't really be called anything else."[3]

Critical reception

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[4]
Encyclopedia of Popular Music	[5]
Record Mirror	[6]

Reviews of Push in the UK music press were mixed. In Melody Maker Jonh Wilde described the album as "ten songs that are entirely modern in an entirely charmless way", and called it "sad and useless" and "mediocrity's snowy mountain-top".[7] However, Tim Nicholson of Record Mirror stated that "Push is perfectly crafted pop oozing pre-sex appeal".[6]

In a retrospective review for AllMusic, Brendan Swift highlighted "When Will I Be Famous?" and "I Owe You Nothing" as good examples of 1980s pop music, and that while the album contained few low points it also lacked depth, commenting that "Push makes for far better dancing than listening".[4]

Chart performance

In the UK Albums Chart, Push was kept off the number one spot by the compilation album Now 11 for two weeks, and then by Tracy Chapman's self-titled album for a week, although Push went on to sell more copies than both albums in 1988 and ranked as the fourth best-selling album for that year in the UK.[8]

Track listing

All tracks written by The Brothers (a pseudonym for Nicky Graham and Tom Watkins).

Side one ("Push Side")

No.	Title	Length
1.	"When Will I Be Famous?"	5:02
2.	"Drop the Boy"	4:08
3.	"Ten Out of Ten"	4:06
4.	"Liar"	3:42
5.	"Love to Hate You"	5:17

Side two ("Pull Side")

No.	Title	Length
1.	"I Owe You Nothing"	3:40
2.	"I Quit"	3:32
3.	"It's a Jungle Out There"	4:14
4.	"Shocked"	4:19
5.	"Cat Among the Pigeons"	4:05

2013: Deluxe Edition (Disc 1 Continued.)

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
11.	"I Owe You Nothing (7" Mix)"		3:35
12.	"I Quit (Single Mix)"		3:32
13.	"Drop The Boy (Single Edit)"		3:49
14.	"When Will I Be Famous? (Single Edit)"	Nicky Graham, Tom Watkins	4:00

2013: Deluxe Edition Bonus Tracks (Disc 2)

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"The Boy Is Dropped"	Nicky Graham, Tom Watkins	3:54
2.	"Silent Night"	Traditional	3:53
3.	"Shocked (Live)"	Nicky Graham, Tom Watkins	6:07
4.	"The Big Push Overture"	Nicky Graham, Tom Watkins	5:50
5.	"I Owe You Nothing (The Pettibone Remix)" (Remix - Shep Pettibone)	-	6:38
6.	"I Owe You Nothing (Pettibeats)" (Remix - Shep Pettibone)	-	3:41
7.	"I Owe You Nothing (The Voice)"	-	3:18
8.	"I Owe You Nothing (Club Mix)"	Nicky Graham, Tom Watkins	7:42
9.	"I Owe You Nothing (The Beats)"	Nicky Graham, Tom Watkins	3:42
10.	"I Owe You Nothing (Over 18 Mix)"	-	18:01

2013: Deluxe Edition Bonus Tracks (Disc 3)

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"When Will I Be Famous? (Contender Dub Mix)"		8:21
2.	"When Will I Be Famous? (Infamous Mix)"	-	5:44
3.	"When Will I Be Famous? (Club Mix)"	The Brothers	8:11
4.	"When Will I Be Famous? (Acapella Mix)"	-	4:05
5.	"When Will I Be Famous? (Bonus Beats)"	-	2:56
6.	"Drop The Boy (Art Mix)"	-	5:56
7.	"Drop The Boy (Shep Pettibone Dub Mix)" (Remix - Shep Pettibone)	-	7:04
8.	"Drop The Boy (Shep Pettibone Mix)" (Remix - Shep Pettibone)	-	6:47
9.	"I Quit (Acid Drops)"	-	4:01
10.	"I Quit (The "Turn-On" Mix)"	-	6:55
11.	"I Quit (The Acidic Mix)"	-	8:07

Personnel

Bros Matt Goss – vocals Luke Goss – drums Craig Logan – bass Additional personnel Nicky Graham – keyboards, programming and arranging Pete Glenister – guitars Andy Richards – Fairlight Series III Jimmie Gallagher – saxophones Helena Springs – backing vocals Dee Lewis – backing vocals Shirley Lewis – backing vocals

Production Mixed and Produced by Nicky Graham Engineered by Christopher Marc Potter Assisted by Alex Osman, Richard Edwards Designed by Three Associates Photography by Neil Matthews

Charts

Weekly charts Chart (1988) Peak position Australian Albums (ARIA)[9] 4 Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[10] 14 Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[11] 32 European Albums Chart[12] 6 Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista)[13] 7 French Albums (SNEP)[14] 22 German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[15] 6 Iceland Albums (Tonlist)[16] 2 Italian Albums (FIMI)[17] 7 Japanese Albums (Oricon)[18] 49 New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[19] 1 Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)[20] 6 Spanish Albums (PROMUSICAE)[21] 31 Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[22] 29 Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[23] 3 UK Albums (OCC)[24] 2 US Billboard 200[25] 171 Zimbabwe Albums (ZIMA)[26] 10

Year-end charts Chart (1988) Rank Australian Albums[27] 9 Austrian Albums[28] 22 German Albums[29] 28 Italian Albums[30] 51 UK Albums (Gallup)[8] 4

Certifications

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
France (SNEP)[31]	Gold	100,000^*
Germany (BVMI)[32]	Gold	250,000^^
New Zealand (RMNZ)[33]	Platinum	15,000^^
Spain (PROMUSICAE)[34]	Gold	50,000^^
Switzerland (IFPI Switzerland)[35]	Gold	25,000^^
United Kingdom (BPI)[36]	4× Platinum	1,200,000^^
^*sales figures based on certification alone ^^shipments figures based on certification alone

Release history

Region	Date	Label	Format	Catalog
United Kingdom & Europe Australia	28 March 1988	CBS	LP	460629 1
			LP picture disc	460629 0
			cassette	460629 4
			CD	460629 2
			limited edition picture CD	460629 9
Japan	22 June 1988	Epic	cassette	25 6P-5022
			CD	25 8P-5022
United States	July 1988[37]		LP	E 44285
			cassette	ET 44285
			CD	EK 44285
Canada			LP	BFE 44285
			cassette	BFET 44285
			CD	BFEK 44285
United Kingdom & Europe	24 July 2004	Columbia	remastered CD	460629 2/4606292004
United Kingdom	4 November 2013	Cherry Pop	3-CD deluxe version	CRPOPT137

References

1. Watkins, Tom; Lindsay, Matthew (2016). Let's Make Lots of Money: Secrets of a Rich, Fat, Gay, Lucky Bastard. Virgin Books. ISBN 978-0-75354-196-8.
2. Graham, Nicky (September 2017). "I Wrote That: Bros – When Will I Be Famous". M. No. M65. Performing Rights Society. Retrieved 15 March 2019.
3. Shaw, William (6–19 April 1988). "'We're the Only Group Who Write About Our Generation'". Smash Hits. pp. 14–15.
4. Swift, Brendan. "Bros Push". AllMusic. Retrieved 11 April 2019.
5. Larkin, Colin (2011). "Bros". The Encyclopedia of Popular Music (5th concise ed.). Omnibus Press. ISBN 0-85712-595-8.
6. Nicholson, Tim (2 April 1988). "Bros – Push". Record Mirror. p. 30.
7. Wilde, Jonh (16 April 1988). "Bros – Push". Melody Maker. p. 35.
8. Scaping, Peter, ed. (1991). "Top 100 Albums: 1988". BPI YearBook 1989/90. London, England: British Phonographic Industry. pp. 66–67. ISBN 978-0-9061-5410-6.
9. "Australiancharts.com – Bros – Push". Hung Medien.
10. "Austriancharts.at – Bros – Push" (in German). Hung Medien.
11. "Dutchcharts.nl – Bros – Push" (in Dutch). Hung Medien.
12. "Hits of the World – Pan-European Charts". Billboard. 7 May 1988. p. 71.
13. Pennanen, Timo (2006). Sisältää hitin - levyt ja esittäjät Suomen musiikkilistoilla vuodesta 1972 (in Finnish) (1st ed.). Helsinki: Kustannusosakeyhtiö Otava. p. 263. ISBN 978-951-1-21053-5.
14. InfoDisc : Tout les Titres par Artiste Archived 15 July 2015 at the Wayback Machine
15. "Offiziellecharts.de – Bros – Push" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts.
16. "Tonlist Top 40". DV. Retrieved 9 February 2017.
17. Hit Parade Italia – ALBUM 1988
18. http://www.oricon.co.jp/prof/artist/3167/ranking/cd_album/
19. "Charts.nz – Bros – Push". Hung Medien.
20. "Norwegiancharts.com – Bros – Push". Hung Medien.
21. Salaverri, Fernando (September 2005). Sólo éxitos: año a año, 1959–2002 (1st ed.). Spain: Fundación Autor-SGAE. ISBN 84-8048-639-2.
22. "Swedishcharts.com – Bros – Push". Hung Medien.
23. "Swisscharts.com – Bros – Push". Hung Medien.
24. "Bros | Artist | Official Charts". UK Albums Chart.
25. "Bros Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard.
26. • Zimbabwe. Kimberley, C. Zimbabwe: albums chart book. Harare: C. Kimberley, 2000
27. Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970-1992. St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
28. "Jahreshitparade Alben 1988". Hung Medien. Retrieved 8 January 2019.
29. "Top 100 Album – Jahrescharts: 1988". Offizielle Deutsche Charts. Retrieved 8 January 2019.
30. http://www.hitparadeitalia.it/hp_yenda/lpe1988.htm
31. "French album certifications – Bros – Push" (in French). Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique.
32. "Gold-/Platin-Datenbank (Bros; 'Push')" (in German). Bundesverband Musikindustrie.
33. "New Zealand album certifications – Bros – Push". Recorded Music NZ.
34. "Sólo Éxitos 1959–2002 Año A Año: Certificados 1979–1990" (in Spanish). Iberautor Promociones Culturales. ISBN 8480486392.
35. "The Official Swiss Charts and Music Community: Awards (Bros; 'Push')". IFPI Switzerland. Hung Medien.
36. "BRIT Certified Awards – Bros – Push".
37. "Album Releases". Billboard. 16 July 1988. p. 36.