Ismism is the 4th album by Godley & Creme released in October 1981. In the US the album was released with a different title "Snack Attack". The album reached #29 in the UK, #28 in the Netherlands and became their best selling album. Again a commercial album after "Freeze Frame" from 1979 with the hit single "An Englishman In New York". To bridge the gap between "Freeze Frame" and "Ismism" they released two exclusive singles in 1980: "Submarine", an instrumental version of "Power Behind The Throne" and "Wide Boy". "Power Behind The Throne" was released later as the B-Side of "Under Your Thumb". Godley & Creme play all instruments on the album except for the saxophone. It is probably their most accessible album of their career.

 

The songs on the album talk about silly things like in "Snack Attack" about a pathological desire for food or is it about anorexia followed by a Victorian ghost story titled "Under Your Thumb"

 

"Joey's Camel" is about a search in the desert to find the tablets of the 10 commandments, finding them and then facing a certain death. 

 

"The Problem" tells the story of riddles like "If train a leaves Manchester at 7:00 am and travels at an average speed of 85 mph, etc).

 

The story of a woman pressuring a man into marriage "Wedding Bells". 

 

"Lonnie" tells the story of the real killer of Kennedy who, only carried out the deed in order to gain the recognition. 

 

"Sale Of The Century" about auctioning your hearth at the sale of the century. 

 

The album closes with "The Party"  that is ridiculing show business parties and the music industry.

Under Your Thumb - single cover

The first single of the album was "Under Your Thumb" which made #3 in the UK and #13 in the Netherlands. The second single "Wedding Bells" which reached #7 in the UK and #44 in the Netherlands.

Wedding Bells - single cover

Snack Attack - single cover

The album cover was designed by Ben Kelly. It originally was a white cover with the title spelt in holes in the cover with a contrasting colour beneath. Later editions were made of coloured dots instead of holes or with a black background. In the US a different cover was used based on the first song of the album and also titled after the first song.

Original album cover with holes
US album cover

Ismism / Snack Attack (1981)

Snack Attack / Under Your Thumb / Joey's Camel / The Problem / Ready for Ralph / Wedding Bells / Lonnie / Sale of the Century / The Party

Singles:
Submarine / Marciano (1980)
Wide Boy / I Pity Inanimate Objects (1980)
Under Your Thumb / Power Behind The Throne (1981)
Wedding Bells / Babies (1981)
Snack Attack / Strange Apparatus (edit of "An Englishman in New York")


Wedding Bells - promo video
Under Your Thumb - at Toppop

Wide Boy - Promo video