7 on the UK Singles Chart[4] and being certified Silver by the BPI for sales in excess of 200,000 copies.

However, in a subsequent episode of Top of the Pops where the song was used as the 'play-out track' without the band in the studio, the original "bloody" lyric was left in and was clearly audible.

[7] Reporting a 2011 interview with lead singer Neil Arthur, Sarah Nixey suggested that ".. it was the Indian influences of Pandit Dinesh on tablas and Deepak Khazauchi on sitar who had both given 'Living on the Ceiling' its alluring flavour" describing the single as "Middle Eastern tinged".

Of the album from which it was drawn Nixey wrote: "Fusing the rhythmic dash of Talking Heads with the intensity of Joy Division plus the melodic framework of OMD and Yazoo on top, Arthur and Luscombe won critical admiration and respectable sales for their debut.

"[8] The promotional video, made to accompany the song, was set in Cairo, Egypt, and was directed by Clive Richardson.