Happy Anniversary: Sisters of Mercy, “Temple of Love 1992”

24 years ago today, the Sisters of Mercy released an updated version of a single that they’d originally released back in 1984. The original version didn’t chart. The updated version became the biggest hit of their career.

Remember, kids: recycling pays.

When the Sisters got started in the late ‘70s, it would be fair to say that their sound was not necessarily one which lent itself to mainstream popularity, and this was borne out by the fact that none of their first five singles – “The Damage Done “ (1980), “Body Electric” (1982), “Alice” (1982), “Anaconda” (1983), and the aforementioned “Temple of Love” – made their way onto the chart in the UK, let alone anywhere else. In 1984, however, the band’s profile began an upward trajectory, starting with their “Body and Soul” single, and by the time 1992 rolled around, they’d accrued five top-40 singles in the UK: “This Corrosion,” “Dominion,” “Lucretia My Reflection,” “More,” and “Dr. Jeep.”

In ’92, with no new album on the immediate horizon, the decision was made to compile the band’s earliest singles and reissue them on a collection entitled SOME GIRLS WANDER BY MISTAKE, but more or less in conjunction with this release, the Sisters recorded a new version of “Temple of Love,” this time featuring the late, great Israeli vocalist Ofra Haza. The caveat of “more or less” is included because the new version was not included on the compilation, although you can find it on a different compilation: A SLIGHT CASE OF OVERBOMBING, the band’s greatest-hits album, which was released in August 1993.

As noted, “Temple of Love ‘92” was a smash for the Sisters, making it all the way to #3 on the UK Singles chart. Unfortunately, we’re still waiting for that next new album by the band, so if you know Andrew Eldritch, please tell him it’s very hard to type with our fingers crossed that we’ll still get it one of these days.