It's No Good

"It's No Good"
Single by Depeche Mode
from the album Ultra
B-side	"Slowblow"
Released	31 March 1997
Format	7" vinyl 12" vinyl Cassette CD
Recorded	January 1996–February 1997 Abbey Road, Eastcote, Westside, Strongroom, RAK, London Electric Lady, New York Larrabee West, Los Angeles
Genre	Synthpop[1]
Length	5:58 (album version) 4:06 (radio edit)
Label	Mute Records
Writer(s)	Martin Gore
Producer(s)	Tim Simenon
Depeche Mode singles chronology
"Barrel of a Gun" (1997) "It's No Good" (1997) "Home" (1997)
Music sample Depeche Mode - "It's No Good" Ultra track listing "Home" (3) "It's No Good" (4) "Uselink" (5)

"It's No Good" is Depeche Mode's 32nd UK single, released on 31 March 1997 (15 April in the US), and the second single for the then upcoming album Ultra. It reached number 5 in the UK Singles Chart.^[2]

Description

"It's No Good" is a moodily rhythmic song with a distinct lyrical hook in the chorus:

• Don't say you want me
• Don't say you need me
• Don't say you love me
• It's understood

It played well on American radio and MTV. The "Speedy J Mix" made it onto Remixes 81–04 in 2004, as did the "Club 69 Future Mix" (Remix Peter Rauhofer), which was previously promo only.

The B-side is another instrumental, called "Slowblow". It was the last actual B-side from the Ultra era, making the album the only one by Depeche Mode to not have a non-remix/non-live vocal B-side track (Although if you exclude non-exclusive songs, Black Celebration can count as well). The instrumental itself is slow and moody.

On 15 May 1997, the band went on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno and performed the song, a recording made available at the official Depeche Mode website.^[3] It was the first time they performed a song on an American TV show since 1988, when they performed "Strangelove". The "Hardfloor Mix" of the song was featured briefly in the Friends episode "The One with Joey's Dirty Day". "It's No Good" was also used in an episode of Nash Bridges.

Electronic musician Brian Transeau created a remix for the song. That remix, though, was never released publicly.

Chevelle covered "It's No Good" on 2002's "Wonder What's Next Deluxe Version". The Dreaming also covered the song on their 2011 album Puppet.

Music video

The music video for "It's No Good" was directed by Anton Corbijn, depicting the band as a low-rent lounge act at a number of sleazy gigs. An alternate video was recorded for "It's No Good" in 2001 as a screen projection for the Exciter Tour.

Track listings

All songs written by Martin Gore.

12": Mute / 12Bong26 (UK)

1. "It's No Good (Hardfloor Mix)" (6:44)
2. "It's No Good (Speedy J Mix)" (5:01)
3. "It's No Good (Motor Bass Mix)" (3:53) (Philippe Zdar (later of Cassius) and Étienne de Crécy)
4. "It's No Good (Andrea Parker Mix)" (6:12)
5. "It's No Good (Bass Bounce Mix)" (7:14) (remixed by Dom T)

• The "Motor Bass Mix" is a vinyl edit, and not the same as the ones on the CDs.

CD: Mute / CDBong26 (UK)

1. "It's No Good" (6:00)
2. "Slowblow (Darren Price Mix)" (6:29)
3. "It's No Good (Bass Bounce Mix)" (7:14)
4. "It's No Good (Speedy J Mix)" (5:01)

CD: Mute / LCDBong26 (UK)

1. "It's No Good (Hardfloor Mix)" (6:44)
2. "Slowblow" (5:27)
3. "It's No Good (Andrea Parker Mix)" (6:12)
4. "It's No Good (Motor Bass Mix)" (3:47)

CD: Mute / CDBong26X (EU)

1. "It's No Good" (5:59)
2. "Slowblow" (5:27)
3. "It's No Good (Bass Bounce Mix)" (7:14)
4. "It's No Good (Speedy J Mix)" (5:01)
5. "It's No Good (Hardfloor Mix)" (6:44)
6. "Slowblow (Darren Price Mix)" (6:29)
7. "It's No Good (Andrea Parker Mix)" (6:12)
8. "It's No Good (Motor Bass Mix)" (3:47)

• This CD is the 2004 re-release

Promo 12": Mute / PL12Bong26 (UK)

1. "It's No Good (Club 69 Future Mix)" (8:35)
2. "It's No Good (Club 69 Future Dub)" (7:06)
3. "It's No Good (Club 69 Funk Dub)" (5:06)

Radio Promo CD: Mute / RCDBong26 (UK)

1. "It's No Good (Radio Edit)" (4:06)
2. "It's No Good (Album Version)" (5:58)

Promo CD: Mute / XLCDBong26 (UK)

1. "It's No Good (Live)" (4:07)

7": Reprise / 17390-7 (US)

1. "It's No Good" (5:58)
2. "Slowblow" (5:25)

CD: Reprise / 17390-2 (US)

1. "It's No Good" (5:58)
2. "Slowblow (Darren Price Mix)" (6:29)
3. "It's No Good (Bass Bounce Mix)" (7:14)

CD: Reprise / 9 43845-2 (US)

1. "It's No Good" (5:58)
2. "It's No Good (Hardfloor Mix)" (6:43)
3. "Slowblow" (5:24)
4. "It's No Good (Speedy J Mix)" (5:05)
5. "It's No Good (Bass Bounce Mix)" (7:15)

Promo 12": Reprise / PRO-A-8662-A (US)

1. "It's No Good (Speedy J Mix)" (5:04)
2. "It's No Good (Hardfloor Mix)" (6:44)
3. "It's No Good (Club 69 Future Mix)" (8:05)
4. "It's No Good (Club 69 Future Dub)" (7:06)
5. "It's No Good (Club 69 Funk Dub)" (5:06)

• "Club 69 Future Mix" on the US promo is shorter than the UK's, despite the label falsely saying they have the same length.

Promo CD: Reprise / PRO-CD-8662 (US)

1. "It's No Good (Radio Edit)" (4:01)
2. "It's No Good" (5:59)

CD-R: Reprise / n/a (US)

Several versions of these exist, with different tracklists, each with one or two of the following:

1. "It's No Good (Club 69 Mix/BRAT Radio Edit)" (4:08)
2. "It's No Good (Dom T Mix/BRAT Radio Edit)" (3:52)
3. "It's No Good (Hardfloor Mix/BRAT Radio Edit)" (3:18)

Chart performance

Weekly charts Chart (1997) Peak position Australia (ARIA Singles Chart)[4] 52 Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40)[5] 28 Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)[6] 43 Belgium (Ultratop 50 Wallonia)[7] 14 Canada Rock/Alternative (RPM)[8] 2 Canada Top Singles (RPM)[9] 36 Denmark (IFPI)[10] 1 Europe (Eurochart Hot 100)[11] 10 Finland (Suomen virallinen lista)[12] 5 Germany (Official German Charts)[13] 5 Ireland (IRMA)[14] 13 Italy (FIMI)[15] 2 Netherlands (Single Top 100)[16] 50 Norway (VG-lista)[17] 11 Poland (LP3)[18] 10 Spain (AFYVE)[19] 1 Sweden (Sverigetopplistan)[20] 1 Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)[21] 30 UK Singles (Official Charts Company)[2] 5 US Billboard Adult Top 40[22] 31 US Billboard Hot 100[22] 38 US Billboard Hot Dance Club Play[22] 1 US Billboard Hot Dance Music/Maxi-Singles Sales[22] 13 US Billboard Modern Rock Tracks[22] 4

Year-end charts Chart (1997) Position Canada (RPM '97 Year End Top 50 Alternative Tracks)[23] 26 Italy (FIMI)[15] 49 US Hot Dance Club Play[24] 48

References

1. "Mister Sushi's Synthpop Playlist". 1883 Magazine. Retrieved 23 July 2013.
2. "Archive Chart: 1997-04-12" UK Singles Chart. Retrieved 23 July 2013.
3. The Tonight Show with Jay Leno (NBC/USA - May 15th, 1997) at the Wayback Machine (archived 31 October 2007). Depechemode.com. 15 May 1997. Retrieved 13 July 2014.
4. Ryan, Gavin (2011). Australia's Music Charts 1988–2010. Mt. Martha, VIC, Australia: Moonlight Publishing.
5. "Austriancharts.at – Depeche Mode – It's No Good" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40. Retrieved 23 July 2013.
6. "Ultratop.be – Depeche Mode – It's No Good" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50. Retrieved 23 July 2013.
7. "Ultratop.be – Depeche Mode – It's No Good" (in French). Ultratop 50. Retrieved 23 July 2013.
8. "Top RPM Rock/Alternative Tracks: Issue 3229." RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 23 July 2013.
9. "Top RPM Singles: Issue 3238." RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 23 July 2013.
10. "Hits of the World". Billboard 109 (19): 49. 10 May 1997. ISSN 0006-2510. See last week peak position.
11. "Hits of the World". Billboard 109 (17): 59. 26 April 1997. ISSN 0006-2510.
12. "Depeche Mode: It's No Good" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland. Retrieved 23 July 2013.
13. "Offiziellecharts.de – Depeche Mode – It's No Good". GfK Entertainment. Retrieved 23 July 2013.
14. "The Irish Charts – Search Results – It's No Good". Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved 23 July 2013.
15. "I singoli più venduti del 1997" (in Italian). Hit Parade Italia. Creative Commons. Retrieved 23 July 2013.
16. "Dutchcharts.nl – Depeche Mode – It's No Good" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Retrieved 23 July 2013.
17. "Norwegiancharts.com – Depeche Mode – It's No Good". VG-lista. Retrieved 23 July 2013.
18. "IT'S NO GOOD – Depeche Mode" (in Polish). LP3. Retrieved 23 July 2013.
19. Salaverri, Fernando (September 2005). Sólo éxitos: año a año, 1959–2002 (in Spanish) (1st ed.). Spain: Fundación Autor-SGAE. ISBN 84-8048-639-2.
20. "Swedishcharts.com – Depeche Mode – It's No Good". Singles Top 100. Retrieved 23 July 2013.
21. "Swisscharts.com – Depeche Mode – It's No Good". Swiss Singles Chart. Retrieved 23 July 2013.
22. "Depeche Mode awards – Awards". AllMusic. All Media Network. Retrieved 23 July 2013.
23. "Rock/Alternative – Volume 66, No. 15, December 15, 1997". RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 13 July 2014.
24. "Hot Dance Club-Play Singles". Billboard 109 (52): 44. 27 December 1997. ISSN 0006-2510.

External links

• Single information from the official Depeche Mode web site
• AllMusic Song Review
• AllMusic US Single Review
• Lyrics of this song at MetroLyrics