Whose Side Are You On?


Whose Side Are You On? is the debut album by British band Matt Bianco, released in 1984 by WEA. For this album, Matt Bianco was a trio of Mark Reilly, Basia Trzetrzelewska, and Danny White.
The album contains the band's first five international hits, most notably "Get Out of Your Lazy Bed", "Half a Minute", and the title song.

Overview

The original vinyl record featured 10 tracks. The cassette edition had 12 tracks, adding two bonus tracks: the 12" version of "Big Rosie" and "The Other Side", the instrumental B-side of the single "Whose Side Are You On?". Additionally, the versions of "More Than I Can Bear", "Half a Minute", "Matt's Mood", "Get Out of Your Lazy Bed" and "Sneaking Out the Back Door" on the cassette are different from the versions heard on the vinyl/CD edition. The CD edition was released slightly later, and was one of the earliest pop music compact discs to be released in the music industry.
Whose Side Are You On? achieved a considerable international success, peaking at no. 1 in Austria, where it was the second best-selling album of 1985, behind Tina Turner's Private Dancer. Furthermore, it reached the top 10 in Germany, the Netherlands and Norway. In the UK, the album charted within the top 40 and was awarded gold certification. All of its five singles charted in the top 30 in at least one European country.

Track listings

LP/CD

All tracks written by Reilly/White except "Whose Side Are You On?" by Reilly/White/Ross, and "Half a Minute" by Reilly/White/Poncioni.
  1. "Whose Side Are You On?" – 4:32
  2. "More Than I Can Bear" – 4:15
  3. "No No Never" – 3:43
  4. "Half a Minute" – 3:49
  5. "Matt's Mood" – 5:19
  6. "Get Out of Your Lazy Bed" – 3:28
  7. "It's Getting Late" – 3:20
  8. "Sneaking Out the Back Door" – 3:46
  9. "Riding with the Wind" – 3:22
  10. "Matt's Mood II" – 5:15

MC

All tracks written by Reilly/White except "Whose Side Are You On?" by Reilly/White/Ross; "Half a Minute" and "Big Rosie" by Reilly/White/Poncioni.
  1. "Whose Side Are You On?" – 4:32
  2. "More Than I Can Bear" – 4:44
  3. "No No Never" – 3:43
  4. "Half a Minute" – 4:49
  5. "Matt's Mood" – 5:29
  6. "Big Rosie" – 6:07
  7. "Get Out of Your Lazy Bed" – 4:30
  8. "It's Getting Late" – 3:20
  9. "Sneaking Out the Back Door" – 4:46
  10. "Riding with the Wind" – 3:22
  11. "Matt's Mood II" – 5:15
  12. "The Other Side" – 4:14

2016 expanded deluxe CD edition

;Disc One
  1. "Whose Side Are You On?" – 4:35
  2. "More Than I Can Bear" – 4:42
  3. "No No Never" – 3:44
  4. "Half a Minute" – 3:50
  5. "Matt's Mood" – 5:26
  6. "Get Out of Your Lazy Bed" – 3:27
  7. "It's Getting Late" – 3:24
  8. "Sneaking Out the Back Door" – 3:47
  9. "Riding with the Wind" – 3:24
  10. "Matt's Mood II" – 5:16
  11. "More Than I Can Bear" – 4:14
  12. "Matt's Mood" – 5:19
  13. "Big Rosie" – 3:29
  14. "Whose Side Are You On?" – 3:45
  15. "The Other Side" – 4:16
  16. "More Than I Can Bear" – 3:57
  17. "Whose Side Are You On?" – 3:25
;Disc Two
  1. "Get Out of Your Lazy Bed" – 4:34
  2. "Matt's Mood" – 4:36
  3. "Big Rosie" – 6:10
  4. "Matt's Mood II" – 3:41
  5. "Sneaking Out the Back Door" – 4:48
  6. "More Than I Can Bear" – 4:18
  7. "Big Rosie" – 4:55
  8. "Half a Minute" – 4:46
  9. "Matt's Mood II" – 5:31
  10. "Whose Side Are You On?" – 4:07
  11. "Half a Minute" – 3:33
  12. "Get Out of Your Lazy Bed" – 3:53
  13. "Sneaking Out the Back Door" – 3:42
  14. "Big Rosie" – 3:42
  15. "The Happy Christmas Song" – 2:46
  16. "Half a Minute" – 3:49

Personnel

Band

Production

  • Peter Collins for Loose End Productions – production on "Big Rosie"
  • Phil Harding – sound engineer on all tracks except "Matt's Mood", "Get Out of Your Lazy Bed" and "Sneaking Out the Back Door", and [Audio Audio mixing (recorded music)|mixing (recorded music)|mixing] on all tracks except "Matt's Mood"
  • John Buckley – sound engineer on "Matt's Mood", "Get Out of Your Lazy Bed" and "Sneaking Out the Back Door", mixing on "Matt's Mood"

Musicians

  • Robin Jones – percussion on all tracks except "Get Out of Your Lazy Bed" and "Sneaking Out the Back Door"
  • Ronnie Ross – baritone sax on "No No Never", "Half a Minute", "Matt's Mood", "Get Out of Your Lazy Bed", "Matt's Mood II" and "The Other Side"
  • Peter White – acoustic guitar on "Half a Minute"
  • Charles Morgan – drums on "Whose Side Are You On?"
  • Guy Barker – flugelhorn on "More Than I Can Bear"
  • Chris Dean – trombone on "It's Getting Late"
  • Luke Tanny – trumpet on "Sneaking Out the Back Door"
  • Peter Ross – drums and percussion on "Big Rosie", "Get Out of Your Lazy Bed" and "Sneaking Out the Back Door"
  • Ray Warleigh – flute on "Big Rosie"
  • Kito Poncioni – music on "Big Rosie"

Staff

  • Jallé Bakke – hair and make up
  • Monica Curtin – photography
  • Simon Pickford – graphics
  • Trina Baer – clothes
  • Peter White, Brian Carr, Richard Evans, Oliver "The Lizard" Smallman, and WEA – special thanks and collaboration

Charts and certifications

Year-end charts

Chart Peak
position
Austria 2
Germany 5
Netherlands 15