THE 1000 BEST SONGS IN THE WORLD EVER.

783-The Railway Children-Every Beat of the Heart.

1990-Number 68 single. When it was re-issued in 1991 it peaked at Number 24.

Best Bit-At 0.13. I don’t know for sure, but it’s a fair bet that ‘The Railway Children’ took their name from the 1970 film of the same name.

The Railway Children were formed in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England, in 1984, by Gary Newby, (vocals, guitar, and keyboards,) Brian Bateman (rhythm guitar,) Guy Keegan, (drums) and Stephen Hull, (bass) the quartet were active through until 1991, with Newby continuing as a solo artist from 1996, but retaining the bands name. Newby also spent several years in Japan from 2002 onwards, writing, arranging music, and lyrics, for major Japanese artists including Anna Tsuchiya, Every Little Thing, V6, Detroit Metal City, Sailor Moon, and Yoshikuni Douchin. After the band split in 1991, Guy Keegan joined the Wigan based ‘Folk/Rock’ band ‘The Tansads, while Brian Bateman, and Stephen Hull retired from music. In 2016 all four original members began rehearsing together, and went on to play several times, including in London, and Berlin, their official website states that they have not been active since 2019.

Commercially The Railway Children met with limited success, releasing four studio Albums between 1987-1997, with none of them reaching the UK top 40, although their debut Album ‘Reunion Wilderness,’ did make the Number 1 position on the ‘UK Independent Singles and Albums Charts.’ There are also five official compilation Albums available, of which the 2007, and 2010 releases ‘Rarities 1#’ and ‘Rarities 2#’ are only available by download. The Railway Children have also released 10 singles between 1986-2002, with only ‘Every Beat of the Heart’ reaching the UK top 40, while in America the song did reach Number 1 on the Billboard ‘Alternative Airplay’ chart.

‘Every Beat of the Heart’ was the first of three singles released from The Railway Children’s third studio Album ‘Native Place,’ from 1990. The song was written by Gary Newby, who also wrote all the other 11 tracks on the Album, with the production being by Steve Lovell, (-2021) and Steve Power. Along with the four members of The Railway Children, also playing on ‘Every Beat of the Heart’ was Matt Irving, (1950-2015) who provided additional keyboards. Irving had been a member of ‘ Manfred Mann’s Earth Band,’ between 1981-1986, and after leaving that group, he had played keyboards for acts including ‘Squeeze,’ Chris Rea,’ and Paul Young, he died in 2015 due to prostrate cancer.

Steve Power who co-produced ‘Every Beat of the Heart’ was born in Liverpool, England, and has been a record producer, and Mixer, since 1981. Power began his career working alongside local Liverpool bands ‘Frankie Goes To Hollywood,’ ‘Dead or Alive,’ ‘Black,’ and ‘A Flock of Seagulls,’ but he his best known for his work with Robbie Williams, (see also best songs 406) producing the first five of his studio Albums between 1997-2002, which have each sold over 2 million copies, helping make Robbie Williams the best selling British solo artist in the history of the United Kingdom.

‘Every Beat of the Heart’ is about the break-up of a relationship, with the narrator realising that he wants to be free to start over again, he wants a clean break, with no drama.

‘That’s some angry sky behind me, but I don’t need you here to guide me. Identify too familiar ground, and I’ll keep away, I’ll keep away. I think I can control my need, but you’re so precious when you leave. Don’t demonstrate, its life and death, in front of me, in front of me.’