The Teardrop Explodes' "Treason" earns Single of the Week

The Teardrop Explodes : Treason ( It's Just a Story)

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In February 1980 Teardrop Explodes released "Treason", their third and final single on Zoo Records. The debut album is still months away. Recorded in London with producers Clive Langer and Alan Winstanley, the single would move 16,000 copies in its first week and peak at #3 on the UK Indie chart. Sounds' Dave McCullough declared the "Treason the "Single of the Week", writing:

"This is marvelous! Over a thrusting, vibrant pop background that only the Attractions could equal for earth panache, Julian Cope sings a complex love song in the kind of way that has you splitting the line sup in your head, seeing just how he phrases this or that line, marveling at how he says ' Consequently...my reaction is getting rather strange,' where his slight lisp and rich Liverpudlian tones turn every nuance into little works of art...Everything points to a record of 'classic' stature."

The b-side was a version of the Cope/McCulloch song "Read It In Books", which Echo and the Bunnnymen had already released as the b-side to their debut single, "The Pictures On My Wall".

The French version: