Album · China Crisis
Working With Fire And Steel (Possible Pop Songs Volume Two) by China Crisis
Working With Fire And Steel (Possible Pop Songs Volume Two) is an album by China Crisis, released in 1983. 3 songs from it have charted on rock radio countdowns, with 6 countdown appearances in total. The biggest is “Wishful Thinking”, on 3 lists with a best position of #197.
Working with Fire and Steel, subtitled Possible Pop Songs Volume Two, is China Crisis's second album, out on Virgin on 31 October 1983, and the subtitle tells the story. The band from Kirkby, near Liverpool, had started out as a politically charged post-punk outfit in thrall to Brian Eno's ambient washes, and here they are shaping songs for the charts.
Mike Howlett produced, and the core pair of Gary Daly on lead vocals and keyboards and Eddie Lundon on guitar and vocals were joined by bassist Gazza Johnson and drummer Kevin Wilkinson. It's a soft-focus, sophisticated synth-pop record, all gleaming keyboards and gentle melancholy, and "Wishful Thinking" became a UK top ten hit. The album hung around the UK chart for 16 weeks, peaked at No. 20 in February 1984 and went gold.
Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.
Songs from Working With Fire And Steel (Possible Pop Songs Volume Two) on radio countdowns
| # | Song | Strength | Lists | Best | #1s | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Wishful Thinking | 3 | #197 | – | 1988–2003 | |
| 2 | Working with Fire and Steel | 2 | #491 | – | 1999–2003 | |
| 3 | Hanna Hanna | 1 | #2037 | – | 2003 |
Only songs that appear on at least one countdown are listed. Release data from MusicBrainz.