Song · China Crisis
“African And White” by China Crisis
From the album Difficult Shapes & Passive Rhythms, Some People Think It’s Fun to Entertain (1982)
“African And White” by China Crisis appears on 2 radio countdowns from 2 stations between 1982 and 1991. It was first released in 1982 on the album Difficult Shapes & Passive Rhythms, Some People Think It’s Fun to Entertain. Its best result is #22 on the John Peel's Festive Fifty of 1982. In the combined RockLists rankings it is the #67 alternative song of 1982 and #6,124 alternative song of all time.
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"African and White" was China Crisis's debut single, cut in 1981 and first pressed on the small Liverpool label Inevitable, and it later found a home on their 1982 debut album, Difficult Shapes & Passive Rhythms, Some People Think It's Fun to Entertain. Gary Daly wrote the words and sings, and the music belongs to Daly, Eddie Lundon and Dave Reilly, with Lundon on guitar and keyboards and Reilly on percussion. Jeremy Lewis produced.
The indie pressing barely got around, but John Peel played it on Radio 1 and handed the band their first BBC session. Virgin then put out a remix in August 1982, which gave China Crisis their first UK chart entry and a round of good notices; Smash Hits singled out the smart lyrics, the nagging hook and the clever drumming.
Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.
RockLists rankings
Alternative & Modern Rock
All Rock Formats
Year-end countdowns
| Year | # | Station | Countdown | of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1982 | 22 | John Peel (BBC Radio 1) | John Peel's Festive Fifty of 1982 | 50 |
All-time and decade countdowns
| Year | # | Station | Countdown | of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1991 | 710 | CFNY 102.1 The Edge | CFNY Top 1002 Songs of All-Time (1991 Edition) | 1002 |
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