| "Go West (Crazy Spinning Circles)" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Single by The Cult | ||||
| from the album Dreamtime | ||||
| B-side |
| |||
| Released | 3 August 1984 [1] | |||
| Genre | Post-punk, gothic rock | |||
| Label | Beggars Banquet (BEG 115) | |||
| Songwriter(s) | Ian Astbury Billy Duffy | |||
| Producer(s) | John Brand | |||
| The Cult singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
"Go West (Crazy Spinning Circles)" is a single by the English rock band The Cult and was released on 3 August 1984. Often truncated as just "Go West", it is the second single from the Dreamtime album.
The B-side of the seven-inch single is the song "Sea And Sky". The song originated from when the group was still Death Cult where it was entitled "The Waste Of Love". When the group recorded the song for the radio sessions for the David Jenson show on BBC Radio One (later released on the compact disc collection of Death Cult recordings entitled Ghost Dance ) the title of the song had been changed to "With Love". When "Sea And Sky" was finally recorded by The Cult, during the "Go West (Crazy Spinning Circles)" recording sessions (on 22 June 1984), it was done so under the working title of "Ship Of Fools". "Sea And Sky" was later, in 1986, included on the first United Kingdom compact disc versions of the Dreamtime album (Beggars Banquet catalogue number BEGA 57CD) as a bonus track.
The B-side to the twelve-inch single is also "Sea And Sky" along with a live version of the Death Cult song "Brothers Grimm". The song was recorded live on 20 May 1984 at the Lyceum Ballroom in London, England. Most of the entire live performance from that concert was originally released, on 10 September 1984, on the Dreamtime Live At The Lyceum album sans "Brothers Grimm".
No "official" music video was recorded for the song "Go West (Crazy Spinning Circles)". When the group released the music video collection Pure Cult: The Singles 1984-1995 (the companion to the Pure Cult: The Singles 1984–1995 album) their live performance of "Go West (Crazy Spinning Circles)" from their concert film Dreamtime Live At The Lyceum (the companion to their 1984 Dreamtime Live At The Lyceum album) was included in place of a "proper" music video.
What some thought was a "promotional video" for "Go West (Crazy Spinning Circles)" was posted on YouTube in 2010. The music video featured the group lip synching the single version of song in front of an open-air public swimming pool (something seemingly awkward for the group). It was later discovered that the music video was recorded for the German television show Music Convoy and was not an "official" music video for the song. During the performance, Astbury holds the back of his guitar up to the camera. A sign, reading "SIGN US NOW!," is taped to the back. According to Duffy, "At the time we didn’t have a record deal in Europe and Ian stuck a sign to the back of his guitar saying ‘SIGN US NOW’. It was also just before we recorded Ressurection Joe in Germany." [2]
| Chart | Peak position |
|---|---|
| UK Singles Chart | 90 [3] |
Release information pertains to the United Kingdom release only.
Source: [4]
Along with the United Kingdom releases, "Go West (Crazy Spinning Circles)" was also released as a single in Australia/New Zealand and France.
The Australia/New Zealand version was only issued in the seven-inch single format and was distributed by the Roxy Records label (catalogue number 104371). It was released in 1984, but the specific day and month of the release is unknown. The track listing is the same as the United Kingdom seven-inch single.
The French version was only issued in the seven-inch single format and was distributed by the Disc' AZ label (catalogue number 1012). It was released in 1984, but the specific day and month of the release is unknown. Unlike the United Kingdom release, the A-side is "Go West (Crazy Spinning Circles)" while the B-side is "Dreamtime".
Also credited:
The Cult are an English rock band formed in Bradford in 1983. Before settling on their current name in January 1984, the band performed under the name Death Cult, which was an evolution of the name of lead vocalist Ian Astbury's previous band Southern Death Cult. They gained a dedicated following in the United Kingdom in the mid-1980s as a post-punk and gothic rock band, with singles such as "She Sells Sanctuary", before breaking into the mainstream in the United States in the late 1980s establishing themselves as a hard rock band with singles such as "Love Removal Machine". Since its initial formation in 1983, the band have had various line-ups; the longest-serving members are Astbury and guitarist Billy Duffy, who are also the band's two main songwriters.
Ian Robert Astbury is an English singer, best known as the lead vocalist, frontman and a founding member of the rock band the Cult. During various hiatuses from the Cult, Astbury fronted the short-lived band Holy Barbarians in 1996, and later from 2002 to 2007 served as the lead singer of Riders on the Storm, a Doors tribute band that also featured original Doors members Ray Manzarek and Robby Krieger. Astbury replaced Rob Tyner during an MC5 reunion in 2003, and has contributed guest vocals on several recordings by other artists.
Dreamtime is the debut studio album by the English rock band the Cult. Released on 31 August 1984 by Beggars Banquet Records, it peaked at No. 21 on the UK Albums Chart and was later certified silver by the BPI after having sold 60,000 copies. The first single, "Spiritwalker", peaked at No. 1 on the UK Independent Singles Chart. Dreamtime has subsequently been reissued in roughly 30 countries worldwide.
Love is the second studio album by the English rock band The Cult, released on 18 October 1985 by Beggars Banquet Records. The album was the band's commercial breakthrough, reaching number four in the UK and staying on the chart for 22 weeks. It produced three Top 40 singles in the UK, "She Sells Sanctuary", "Rain", and "Revolution". It has been released in nearly 30 countries and sold an estimated 2.5 million copies. Love was recorded at Jacob's Studios in Farnham, Surrey, in July and August 1985.
William Henry Duffy is an English rock musician, best known as the guitarist of the band The Cult.
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Pure Cult is the first of several greatest hits compilations by the British rock band The Cult, released in 1993. The title of the original release was Pure Cult: for Rockers, Ravers, Lovers, and Sinners while the 2000 reissue was titled Pure Cult: The Singles 1984–1995.
Death Cult is the debut four-track EP by the post punk/gothic rock band Death Cult. Released in July 1983 on the Situation Two label, the EP reached No. 2 on the UK Independent Chart. The EP is often erroneously referred to as Brothers Grimm.
James Alec Stewart is a retired British musician who was the bassist of the post-punk/hard rock band The Cult. He recorded on The Cult's first four albums, Dreamtime, Love, Electric and Sonic Temple.
The Cult is the sixth studio album from English rock band The Cult. It was released in October 1994 on Beggars Banquet Records and it is also the band's last album on Sire Records in the US. It is also commonly referred to as the "Black Sheep" record, due to the image of a Manx Loaghtan black sheep on the front cover. The record also features one of the very rare times when Ian Astbury and Billy Duffy have shared songwriting credit with anyone: bassist Craig Adams is credited as co-author of "Universal You".
Live at the Lyceum is a live album by English rock band, The Cult, recorded live at the Lyceum Ballroom in London on 20 May 1984. The band performed 15 songs at the concert, which was edited down to nine songs for this release. In the UK, it was released with the first 30,000 copies of the Dreamtime LP, and also found on side 2 of the Dreamtime cassette. It was released separately as a live LP in Canada and Japan. The live version of "Bone Bag" was released as a videosingle in Argentina.
"She Sells Sanctuary" is a song by British rock band the Cult. It is from their second studio album, Love (1985), and was released as a single on 13 May 1985, peaking at number 15 on the UK Singles Chart in July of the same year. In March 2023, the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) awarded the song a platinum certification for sales and streams of over 600,000. In January 1993, the song was re-released as "Sanctuary MCMXCIII" and experienced chart success once more, matching its original peak on the UK Singles Chart and entering the top 10 in New Zealand.
Pure Cult: The Singles 1984–1995 is a singles compilation by The Cult, authorized by the band to replace the previous unauthorized High Octane Cult. It is also a reissue of the 1993 compilation Pure Cult: for Rockers, Ravers, Lovers, and Sinners, with minor changes.
"Fire Woman" is a song by British rock band the Cult, written by singer Ian Astbury and guitarist Billy Duffy. It was the first single released from their fourth studio album, Sonic Temple, and was subsequently featured on all of the Cult's compilation/greatest hits albums, as well as being a steady fixture of the band's live performances.
"Spiritwalker" is a single by the English rock band The Cult and was released on 11 May 1984. "Spiritwalker" is the lead single from the Dreamtime album, although it was released nearly five months before the album was released.
"Gods Zoo" is a single by the English post-punk/gothic rock band Death Cult, released on 23 October 1983 by Situation Two. The song is often, erroneously, spelled "God's Zoo".
"Ressurection Joe" is a single by the English rock band The Cult, it was released on 14 December 1984 and wasn't found on any previous studio album by the group.
Rare Cult is a limited edition, six-CD box set from British rock band the Cult, released in November 2000. The chronologically-organized set contains 90 tracks of studio B-sides, radio sessions, 12-inch mixes, alternate mixes, demos and the complete then-unreleased Peace album. The set is packaged in a matte black box with gold lettering, containing three 2-disc gatefold digipaks and an extensive 80-page booklet of liner notes and photos.
Under the Midnight Sun is the eleventh studio album by the British rock band The Cult, released on 7 October 2022 through Black Hill Records. The record was produced by Tom Dalgety primarily at Rockfield Studios, where the band had recorded their debut album Dreamtime in 1984.
