A New South Wales was released as a double A sided single in the UK and parts of Europe on 23rd October 1989. It was released in the UK in a number of formats. standard 7″ vinyl, gate-fold 7″ vinyl, 10″ white vinyl, standard 12″ vinyl, CD and cassette. The other tracks featured on these released were The Rock, Rivers To Cross, Working Class Hero, Breaking Point and Vigilante man. Alongside this a Welsh language version Hwylio Dros Y Mor was also released


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UK Official Singles Chart positions
4th November 1989 – Enters at number 51
11th November 1989 – Climbs to number 31
18th November 1989 – Remains at number 31
25th November 1989 – Drops to number 39
2nd December 1989 – Drops to number 60
Leaves the Top 100 official UK singles

Song Recording Details
A New South Wales was recorded with Mike Peters on lead vocals, Mark Taylor on piano, The Morriston Orpheus Male Choir on backing vocals, The Welsh Symphony Orchestra performing the strings arrangement
The song was recorded live on 25th June 1989 at Studio One, BBC Wales, Cardiff, Wales
Produced and engineered by Tony Visconti

The Rock was recorded with Mike Peters on lead vocals, Dave Sharp on electric “slide” guitar, Eddie Macdonald on bass guitar and backing vocals, Nigel Twist on drums, percussion and backing vocals, Mark Taylor on piano, synthesizer and Hammond organ
The song was recorded at The Skylight Suite, London on 9th May 1989
Produced and engineered by Tony Visconti

Rivers To Cross (live) was recorded with with Mike Peters on lead vocals and acoustic 6 string guitar, Dave Sharp on acoustic 6 string guitar, Eddie Macdonald on bass guitar and backing vocals, Nigel Twist on drums, Mark Taylor on piano, Peter Knight on violin
The song was recorded live on 25th June 1989 at Studio One, BBC Wales, Cardiff, Wales
Produced and engineered by Tony Visconti

Working Class Hero was recorded with Mike Peters on lead vocals, Dave Sharp on acoustic guitar
This is a cover version of the John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band song
The song was recorded live on 20th September 1989 at Piccadilly Radio Key 103, Manchester, England
Engineered by Mike Thornton

Breaking Point was recorded with Mike Peters on lead vocals, Dave Sharp on 12 string and 6 string acoustic guitars, Eddie Macdonald on bass guitar and backing vocals, Nigel Twist on drums, tambourine, bongos and backing vocals, Mark Taylor on piano and Hammond organ
The song was recorded at The Skylight Suite, London on 24th May 1989
Produced and engineered by Tony Visconti

Vigilante Man was recorded with Dave Sharp on lead vocals and acoustic guitar, Mike Peters on harmonica
This is a cover version of the Woody Guthrie song
The song was recorded live on 20th September 1989 at Piccadilly Radio Key 103, Manchester, England
Engineered by Mike Thornton

To promote the single a video recorded to be show on television.
The video appears on the Standards VHS video release in 1990, this release included all of the promotional videos made for the singles

Click on image for video of The Alarm A New South Wales Official 1989 Promotional video
This official video was a nominee in the 1989 in The Brit Award for British Video of the Year was an award given by the British Phonographic Industry, an organisation which represents record companies and artists in the UK. The accolade is presented at the Brit Awards, an annual celebration of British and international music. The nominees are determined by the Brit Awards voting academy with over one-thousand members, which comprise record labels, publishers, managers, agents media, and previous winners and nominees
In 1989 winners were The Cure – “Lullaby”
Full list of nominations
The Alarm – “A New South Wales”, The Beautiful South – “Song for Whoever”, Billy Joel – “We Didn’t Start the Fire”, De La Soul – “Eye Know”, Eurythmics – “Don’t Ask Me Why”, Farley Keith – “Free at Last”, Four Tops – “Loco in Acapulco”, Guns N’ Roses – “Paradise City”, Holly Johnson – “Love Train”, Janet Jackson – “Miss You Much”, Kaoma – “Lambada”, Lisa Stansfield – “All Around the World”, M – “Pop Muzik”, Neneh Cherry – “Manchild”, Paul McCartney – “My Brave Face”, Prince – “Batdance”, Queen – “The Invisible Man”, Salif Keita – “Nou Pas Bouger”, Simply Red – “If You Don’t Know Me by Now”, Tears for Fears – “Sowing the Seeds of Love”, Tina Turner – “The Best”

To promote the release of the single there were some TV show performances of the song these included
Click on image for video of The Alarm appearance on Wogan, 1989 BBC TV appearance

Click on image for video of The Alarm appearance in 1989 on the Elinor Jones show, Welsh TV


Discography
A New South Wales was released in the following formats

UK Releases
23rd October 1989 : 7″ Vinyl – A New South Wales 
Track listing : A New South Wales / The Rock (edit) 
IRS Records, catalogue number EIRS 129


23rd October 1989 : 7″ Vinyl – A New South Wales
Track listing : A New South Wales / The Rock (edit) 
Die cut sleeve gate-fold with 4 pages of photos 
IRS Records, catalogue number EIRSB 129



23rd October 1989 : 10″ White Vinyl – A New South Wales 
Track listing : A New South Wales / Rivers To Cross (live) / The Rock (long) / Working Class Hero 
IRS Records, catalogue number EIRS TEN 129


23rd October 1989 : 12″ Vinyl – A New South Wales 
Track listing : A New South Wales / Breaking Point / (b-side) The Rock (long) / Vigilante Man 
IRS Records, catalogue number EIRST 129


23rd October 1989 : CD Single – A New South Wales 
Track listing : A New South Wales / The Rock (long) / Breaking Point / Working Class Hero
IRS Records, catalogue number EIRSCD 129


23rd October 1989 : Cassette Single – A New South Wales 
Track listing : A New South Wales / The Rock
IRS Records, catalogue number EIRSC 129

Europe Releases :
October 1989 : 7″ Vinyl – A New South Wales
Track listing : A New South Wales / The Rock (edit) 
IRS Records, catalogue number 006-24 10407

October 1989 : 12″ Vinyl – A New South Wales 
Track listing : A New South Wales / Breaking Point / The Rock (long) / Vigilante Man
IRS Records, catalogue number 060-24 10406

October 1989 : CD3 – A New South Wales 
Track listing : A New South Wales / The Rock (long) / Breaking Point / Working Class Hero 
IRS Records, catalogue number IRS 2410403


Japan Release :
1989 : 7″ Vinyl – A New South Wales / Sixty Eight Guns

(Page updated 26/01/2021)