Snowy Red

Snowy Red/Micky Mike was a stage name for a Belgian musician Marcel Thiel who was musically active from the late seventies all the way to the teens. Influenced by Suicide, Marilyn Monroe and the Belgian Art scene, Micky released four albums, both as a solo artist and band. He remained as one of the leading figures in Belgian underground DiY and electronic music scene. In the internet era, the interest for the music of Snowy Red was revived. Micky sadly passed away in 2009 at the age of 52.

Photography by Marc Portée

 Micky Mike’s first adventure in music started in the local Punk band from the French speaking part of Belgium and lasted not longer than two years. In general his early music start was on a long wandering from aborted band to aborted band. 

Then in 1980, Micky decided to go solo and picked the name Snowy Red. He recorded some ten tracks, alone at home, in a fortnight’s time which was mostly experimental work released in 1,000 copies. This became his eponymous solo album. During the writing and recording of the album, Snowy Red made their stage debut. For the First Belgium Rhythmbox Contest, Micky shared the bill with Pseudocode, Etat Brut, Nausea and another new band, Polyphonic Size. To complete the stage set, slides were projected on one side, polaroids on the other, courtesy of photographer Stéphane Sergeant. Together with Sylviane V, Stéphane created the visuals for the record sleeves and promotional photos. 

From 18th May to 30th June 1981, Micky Mike took to the stage in the Cool Gate (Brussels) to perform live his soundtrack for the play “Inquest into the death of Marilyn Monroe” written and directed by Serge Nicolas, played by Yolanda Soniga. In this work of fiction, Marilyn Monroe is still alive in 1981. She is 55 years old and leads a secluded life in a shabby attic apartment in New York.

  Not long after the first Snowy Red album and its success, Micky started work on a new project soberly entitled Carol, after the girl of the same name. The single “Breakdown/So Low” was the result of a romantic encounter. Carol, a young lady without artistic background, and Micky Mike, already known under the name Snowy Red, composed these two haunting melodies together. He came up with the music and arrangements, Carol wrote the lyrics and the melody line. By the time you were about to release second single, they decided to go separate ways. 

In October 1981, Snowy Red celebrated their first anniversary and Micky started work on the second album. The minimal austerity of the first album was still there, but warmer sounds were added by a guitar, a bass, and more confident vocals. The single “I’m Hurt” announced the release of ‘The Right  to Die’. The opening track “Euroshima (Wardance)” was a rushed job, written to fill out the playing time. It would enjoy an unexpected destiny a few years later. The album was praised by the entire Belgian press and by the English Melody Maker and Vinyl. 

In 1983, Micky decided to form a band with some local musicians from other bands. Paul, Stephan Barbery (formerly of Digital Dance and Thrills) and Alain Lefèvre (a.k.a. Robert Leff, formerly of Thrills) to become full-time members of Snowy Red in 1983. The 4-piece band was then joined by singer Nikki Mono, who had started getting noticed through her collaboration with Tuxedomoon. Here was the new Snowy Red, with the third album, 'Vision'. A crucial milestone for Micky Mike, because the record showed the evolution of his ideas towards a unique artistic approach, quite unknown in the rest of Belgium. This third collection was recorded and produced with the same limited means as its two predecessors, but departed from their cold, hyper-synthetic atmosphere. 'Vision' embodied a new soul and a fashionable sound, but with a depth that owed more to Gary Numan than to the Human League or Simple Minds. 

With 1984 and its concerts behind him, Micky gave his project a new twist and an appendix to its name, becoming Snowy Red Mk II and going for a blues-tinged rock sound. 1988 not only marked the return to a one-man band formula, it also heralded other changes: a new label and a new sound. Micky signed onto Antler early in the year. His first release on this label was 'Snowy Red, The Compilation 1980- 1984'. The following year saw the release of 'The Beat is Over', the fourth and last official Snowy Red album. Once again, Micky went for a raw, personal approach. 

The early nineties were yet another transitional phase for Micky. He put Snowy Red on the back burner to devote himself to a band formula. He formed Invaders From Mars with now official member H.H. Del Rio on guitar, Paul Zahl, former drummer with Tuxedomoon and Simi Nah. In 2004 Snowy Red appeared as a duo at the Belgian Independent Music festival.
 On May 26, 2009 the French speaking Belgian broadcast RTBF announced the death of the Belgian New wave legend Mickey Mike. Aged 52 he died in a Brussels hospital after months of health problems. The Onderstroom label picked all the work dated from 1980-1984 and released it on a compilation entitled, ‘The Ultimate Edition 1980-1984’.

Source: Facebook Fan Page
https://www.facebook.com/Snowy-Red-official-179154485437205/

Mark Hollis and Talk Talk

Talk Talk is an English band which was formed in the early 80’s consisting of Mark Hollis (vocals), Simon Brenner (keyboards), Lee Harris (drums) and Paul Webb (bass guitar). The group released five brilliant studio albums and several hit singles during their ten year existence. In the early years, they were generally associated with the New Romantic movement and their music was mainly based on synthesizer sound. Due to some line-up changes, the band managed to transform their music into the authentic Talk Talk and to serve more complex and organic sound. On both tracks, the band remains as one of the most influential bands in the music history.

The group was formed around a nucleus of drummer Lee Harris, bassist Paul Webb, and singer and chief songwriter Mark Hollis. Previously Mark had been in the band the Reaction until its disintegration in 1979. Mark Hollis continued to write music and he was offered some studio time to demo his song writing in 1981. Rehearsals with Hollis's new material went well, Simon Brenner was introduced on keyboards and the band officially became a four–piece group Talk Talk. The band's demo material and a couple of gigs secured them a session on Radio One, and a subsequent deal with EMI.

Talk Talk's first line-up released a self-titled debut EP in 1982 which was quickly expanded into a full-length album entitled ‘The Party's Over’ which was produced by Colin Thurston who was also producing albums for label mates Duran Duran. The album itself was not a huge success upon release and reached 21 after the single “Today” topped the charts. ‘The Party’s Over’ remained the only album on which writing credits were shared by the entire band.

In 1983 Simon Brenner left the band, just after the non-LP single “My foolish Friend” was released as a single. Later he was replaced by Tim Fries-Greene who became Talk Talk’ unofficial fourth member, Hollis frequent songwriting partner and a major contributor to the band’s studio output. Friese-Greene did not regularly play with the band during live shows or appear in publicity material and the band was officially a trio.

Nothing further was released for a year and Mark Hollis spend the whole year writing new material and assembling musicians to record a follow-up. Talk Talk became a looser more flexible creative unit and abandoned synthesizer s as the main instrument of the band. Their second album ‘It’s my Life’ was released in 1984 and two songs from the album, "It’s my Life" and "Such a Shame" became top ten hits around Europe, but were largely ignored in their native UK. Their new sound featured more melodic arrangements and guitars for the first time. Things went quiet after the third single release and Talk Talk came up with a mini LP release which featured extended and remixed versions of the previously released singles.

The band started recording again throughout 1985 and their first result was the stunning new single “Life’s What You Make It”, released in 1986. The album was released a month later. Instead of synthesizers the, ‘The Colours of Spring’ was a record of rich textures and featured natural instruments and more organic sound. The album went gold and became their biggest studio album success in the UK. Talk Talk launched a major world tour to promote it. Most notable among those concerts was the one at the 'Montreaux Jazz Festival'.

The success of ‘The Colour of Spring’ afforded the band a bigger budget and schedule for the recording of their next album. Their next record ‘Spirit of Eden’ was released in 1988, on EMI's Parlophone label. The album was assembled from many hours of improvised instrumentation that Hollis and Friese-Greene had edited and arranged using digital equipment. The result was a mix of rock, jazz, classical, and ambient music. Although the album made the UK Top 20 upon release, the band declared they would not tour in support of it. During the making of ‘Spirit of Eden’, Talk Talk manager Keith Aspden had attempted to free the band from their recording contract with EMI, and after many months of litigation, the band ultimately succeeded in extracting themselves from the contract. EMI then sued the band, claiming that 'Spirit of Eden' was not "commercially satisfactory", but the case was thrown out of court.

With the band now released from EMI, the label released the retrospective compilation ‘Natural History’ in 1990. It peaked at number 3 on the UK album chart and was certified Gold by the BPI for sales of over 100,000 copies, and eventually went on to sell more than 1 million copies worldwide. The 1984 single "It's My Life" was also re-released, and this time became the band's highest charting single in their native country, reaching number 13 on the UK Singles Chart. A re-release of the single "Life's What You Make It" also reached the Top 30. Following up on this renewed popular interest in the band, the label then released ‘History Revisited’ in 1991, a compilation of 12 inch singles and alternative versions which made the Top 40, an unusually high placing for what was effectively a remixes album. The band sued EMI for releasing the remixed material without their permission.

In 1990, Talk Talk signed a two-album contract with Polydor Records. They released ‘Laughing Stock’ on Polydor's Verve Records imprint in 1991. The album crystallized the experimental sound the band started with ‘Spirit of Eden’ and adopted an even more minimalist style than its predecessor.

Note:The artist James Marsh designed the first cover image for It's My Life based on the band's name. He followed the theme for subsequent singles, remaining the band's artistic frontman and creating all their covers and posters throughout their career.

After Laughing Stock, Talk Talk disbanded in 1992. Paul Webb rejoined Lee Harris, and the two went on to form the band .O.rang, while Tim Friese-Greene started recording under the name Heligoland. In 1998, Mark Hollis released his self-titled solo début 'Mark Hollis', which was very much in keeping with the minimalist post-rock sound of 'Spirit of Eden' and 'Laughing Stock'. Hollis retired from the music industry shortly afterwards.

Twenty years after Talk Talk disbanded, EMI has reissued a double CD compilation which features the group’s most successful albums to date, ‘It’s My Life and ‘The Colour of Spring’. In his recent blog entry Alan Wilder announced that he has recorded a cover track for the upcoming Talk Talk tribute album. Full updates will be up as the project is confirmed.

On February 24th, it was reported on social media that the lead singer and the creative mastermind of Talk Talk has passed away. The news was confirmed the next day. His former manager confirmed that his death after two days saying that Hollis died  after "a short illness from which he never recovered"

Source:
Wikipedia (edit)
Mark Hollis Unofficial (edit)
News about Talk Talk Tribute Album

Bron Area

Bron Area was a British duo formed in 1979 in Nuneaton in England. Originally the group consisted of Martin Packwood and Steven Parker who had been involved in a number of bands before starting Bron Area. Steven had been playing piano for 4 years and sang in a punk band Addix through ’77. Martin had played 'My Way' to drunks in social clubs on the organ for some time. They recorded their debut cassette album for Ambivalent Scale Recordings in 1980 with the title 'One Year'. The album featured experimental sound mixing raw electronic collages with post punk sound.

The band's first official Single EP 'Fragile Sentences' was released in 1981 with the wonderful "Green Avenue" as a b-side. David Barker of 'Glass Records' approached the band after having heard 2 songs from the Alternative Sounds fanzines compilation tape Facet 1 and asked them to appear on his 'Wonderful World of Glass Vol. 1 LP'. Bron Area were signed to 'Glass' at the beginning of 1982. The first vinyl was a 12” Ep entitled "Different Phrases" released in March ’82 and later released as a 7” on 'Posh Boy Records' in the USA. With the release of their second record few more musicians were recruited which changed their music and gave the their following LP 'The Trees and the Villages' which appeared in 1982 a fresh new sound.

The founding members of Bron Area Martin Packwood and Steven Parker both released new material after the split of  Bron Area. Steven Parker recorded another cassette album with Kevin Harrison in the same year, while Martin Packwood was credited for playing bass on Martyn Ware's solo LP released in 1987.
Bron Area's recording material has never been reissued on CD.

Source: http://www.eyelessingaza.com/bron.html

The Golden Hour Of The Human League

The Original Human League

In April, 1979 The Human League released their first EP under Fast Record entitled ‘The Dignity of Labour’, which contained four experimental instrumentals. Although the EP barely charted, major record labels began approaching the band. Eventually in May 1979, the band accepted an offer by Richard Branson's Virgin Records. The band recorded and released their first full studio album Reproduction in August, 1979. Both the album and the single "Empire State Human" failed to make any impact on the charts.
In 1980, the band released their second album Travelogue and made their first TV appearance on BBC TV Top of the Pops. The re-release of “Empire State Human" failed to make any good chart impacts and due to their lack of commercial success, Virgin refused to release further singles from Travelogue and the general discontent among the members led to internal conflict within the band. Oakey and Ware often quarreled over creative and personal matters. Ware insisted the band maintain their pure electronic sound while Oakey wanted to emulate more successful pop groups. In the same year Ware decided to quit the band with Ian Craig Marsh joining him. Ware and Marsh became Heaven 17.

The Human League 'Mk2'

After Ware and Marsh departed from the Human League, Phil Oakey carried on with the name and he was responsible for all Human League debts and commitments. The Human League also had to pay Ware and Marsh one percent of royalties of the next Human League album under the Virgin contract. With the tour only ten days away promoters started threatening to sue Oakey if the tour was not completed as contracted. To complete the tour, Oakey had to recruit new people in a matter of days. Oakey and his then girlfriend went into Sheffield city centre on a Wednesday night with the intention of recruiting a single female backing vocalist. After looking in various venues, they visited the Crazy Daisy Nightclub on High Street where Oakey spotted two teenage girls dancing together on the dance floor. Susan Ann Sulley and Joanne Catherall were just schoolgirls on a night out together. Neither had any experience of singing or dancing professionally. With no preamble, Oakey asked both girls to join the tour as dancers and incidental vocalists. Phil said that having two female vocalists/dancers would also add potential glamour to the band. Another two band members joined the band Ian Burden from Sheffield synth band Graph who was covering the keyboards for the tour due to departure of Ware and Marsh. In April 1981, the fifth final member of the group was joining the band, another professional musician who used to play in the band called the Rezillos. The Mk2 Human League formation was now complete.

Dare!

Dare is considered as the Human League’s most successful album to date. The musical style of the band has rapidly changed with the new Human League formation leaving the experimental e avant-garde electronic style to the past and welcoming the new commercial synth pop sound. ‘Dare!’ was recorded between March and September 1981 and first released in the UK on 20 October 1981, then subsequently in the U.S. in mid-1982. The album was produced by none other than the veteran producer Martin Rushent who was an expert on emerging music technologies of the time. During 1981 the group enjoyed huge commercial success with both the album and the singles. The fourth single “Don’t You Want Me Baby” reached the top positions in the UK and USA. Dare became critically acclaimed and has proved to be a genre-defining album, whose influence can be felt in many areas of pop music today.

"Don’t You Want Me"

"Don't You Want Me" is a single by British synthpop group The Human League, released from their third album: Dare on 27 November 1981. It is the band's best known and most commercially successful recording to date, and was the Christmas number one in the UK where it sold over 1,400,000 copies, making it the 25th most successful single in UK Singles Chart history.

The lyrics were originally inspired after lead singer Philip Oakey read a story in a "trashy US tabloid" and the very expensive and elaborate promotional video for the song was created by filmmaker Steve Barron. The Music video was a very new phenomenon and cable TV station MTV had only just started up to capitalize on this new media but had very little material to work with. Virgin Records syndicated the video to MTV which was played around the clock. The video is credited for making Oakey, Sulley and Catherall visual icons of the early 1980s.

Source: Wikipedia (edit)

The Rise of Human League (Part I)
The Human League- Hysteria (Part III)

(All media is copyrighted by their respective copyright owners)

Blancmange

Blancmange was formed in Harrow, Middlesex in 1979 by singer Neil Arthur and instrumentalist Stephen Luscombe. The duo released one EP, three albums and several singles during early-mid eighties. They were among the synth-pop pioneers of that time a long with Human League, Soft Cell, Depeche Mode who made edgy but accessible synth-pop for wider audience. Almost 25 years after their last record release, they are back with a new album.

During the late 70's, Neil and Stephen were in a variety of alternative rock bands. In 1978 they decided to join forces with Neil on lugubrious vocals and guitar and Stephen on keyboards. Their motto was “anything goes” and it showed, what with their use of Tupperware and tin foil for percussion, tape loops and borrowed synth equipment. Following a mad moment during which they toyed with the idea of calling themselves A Pint of Curry, Blancmange were born.

They became "official" in 1980 with the release of their debut EP, "Irene and Mavis", a 1000-copy affair with the image of the nattering old dears on the cover that led Daniel Miller of Mute Records to christen Blancmange the “maiden aunts of techno”. Further exposure came over the next 12 months when they toured as support to eccentric performance artist and multi-instrumentalist Nash the Slash and appeared alongside Depeche Mode, Soft Cell and The The on the celebrated ‘Some Bizzare’ compilation album of new electronic pop acts with their track “Sad Day”. This would attract the attention of London Records and, in 1982, secure the pair a major label deal.

By the following April, they were heading for the charts: the Talking Heads-influenced "God’s Kitchen", the follow-up single "Feel Me" and the supremely infectious “Living on the Ceiling” with its blend of Indian textures and World Music flavors with primitive but powerful electronics which reached number 7 and remained on the charts for 14 weeks. There followed tours with Depeche Mode and Japan and further hits featuring "Waves", "Blind Vision", "That’s Love, That Is", "Don’t Tell Me".

In July ’84, Blancmange made the last of their many appearances on Top of the Pops when they charted at number 22 with an unexpected cover of Abba’s “The Day before You Came”. In September ’85 they had their last top 40 entry with "What’s Your Problem?" and in May ’86 they grazed the top 75 for the final time with "I Can See It". They had released three albums of dark, compulsive electronic pop – 1982’s 'Happy Families', 1984’s 'Mange Tout' and 1985’s 'Believe You Me' – and they realized they had probably taken things as far as they could. Blancmange formally split up in 1987.

They didn’t exactly retire from the music industry after the split. Neil worked on a project called Saturn 5 with Malcolm Ross and David McClymont of Josef K and Orange Juice and reggae producer Dennis Bovell. He began composing music for TV back in the UK and also released solo album entitled ‘Suitcase’. Meanwhile, Stephen collaborated with longtime Blancmange associate Pandit Dinesh as West India Company. He did soundtrack work for film and TV, music for the Channel 4 series Lonely Planet, a score for BBC film The Legend of Leigh Bowery.

Throughout it all, Neil and Stephen resisted offers to reform, although they did communicate regularly and even tentatively worked on new material. Finally, in 2010, perhaps encouraged by the use of Living On The Ceiling on the Berocca TV advert, the Faithless remix of "Feel Me" or the regular citing of Blancmange as an influence by the new wave of electro acts, from Hot Chip to La Roux, they began working on their first album for a quarter century.

The result is 'Blanc Burn', an album of creeping atmospherics, crunching electronics, chart-friendly melodies and lyrics that explore the darker recesses of the human condition. There may have been a 25-year gap between it and the third, but Blancmange’s fourth album is worth the wait in gold.

Source: http://www.blancmange.co.uk  edited version

New Musik

New Musik was a synth pop group from England, formed in 1978. The original line up of the band consisted of Tony Mansfield, Clive Gates, Tony Hibbert and Phil Towner. Their music developed from consumable pop records to doomy and complex sounds. They released three great albums and several singles before disbanding in 1982.

New Musik was formed as a result of long standing friendships and chance meetings during the seventies growing out of a casual band of South London school friends in 1978. The group was having several sessions at TMC which would later result as their debut album. Their first single was released in August 1979. 'Straight Lines' amply demonstrated their intentions. that they were aiming for radio music. Despite being very radio friendly tune, it failed to make a major dent in the charts, but New Muisk made their appearance on Top of the Pops and their debut album reached the top 40 in the UK.

Several singles from the album followed including “Living by Numbers” which was later adapted for a Casio advert on national TV. The third single “This World of Water” did well enough in the charts to prove that the album would not remain a one hit wonder. “This World of Water” also revealed a more complex and deeper approach to their music. To coincide with the album release, the band embarked on their first UK tour, as well as playing some dates in Europe.

In 1981, the band announced the release of their second album ‘Anywhere’. Armed with the desire to experiment, they recorded a far more complex album and released it in March 1981. It was released both on vinyl and as a cassette. To many fans it was their best album, but it failed to impress wider audience and gain the success of the debut album. Their label GTO started to fold leaving New Musik to the mercy of the parent company CBS.

The group went through a period of turmoil with a result of Tony Hibbert and Phil Towner quitting the band. Mansfield and Gates hired a new drummer and went to record the third album as a trio. The final album ‘Warp’ was released in 1982 and it was even more experimental than the previous release. It was entirely electronic and recorded with digital samplers and emulators. New Musik disbanded shortly after this release in the same year.

All three albums will be reissued by the Cherry Red Record label on January 17, 2011. Stay tuned for more info.

Source:
http://www.new-musik.co.uk/gallery-band.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Musik



(All media is copyrighted by their respective copyright owners)

Chrisma (Krisma)

Krisma (formerly Chrisma) is an Italian group which was formed in 1976 by Maurizio Arcieri and his wife Christina Moser. The group started out as electronic disco outfit in the late 70’s and continued to be the leading group of the Italian New wave, successfully releasing several singles and albums during the 80’s decade.

In the same year as the group was formed in 1976, the couple moved from Milan to London to record "U" and "Amore" with the producer Nico Papathanassiou and his brother Vangelis. Their collaboration with Papathanassiou and Vangelis continued through 1977/78. During this time, the duo released the debut album 'Chinese Restaurant' and their the single "Lola" entered the Top 10.

In 1979 Chrisma released their second album 'Hibernation' which brought them international breakthrough. Subsequently the duo moved to London and was firmly established in the London music scene. They caused  a scandal with the single "Aurora B" because the promotional video for the single showed Christina and Maurizio in simulate sexual acts as well as a suicide in a subway station. In 1980 the band officially changed its name from "Chrisma" to Krisma. Their third album, 'Cathode Mamma' featured Hans Zimmer on synthesizer. The single "Many Kisses" was a big hit in Europe. Around this time Krisma developed the first mini sequencer, known as "Krismino". Krisma left Polygram for CGD in 1981.

The year1982 saw the release of the experimental "Clandestine Anticipation" album. The album dealed with water in all of its forms (liquid, ice, vapor, fog, snow and rain) and was supported by a series of videos filmed in tropical locations. The clips were first shown on Carlo Massarini's Mister Fantasy program.

Krisma released another album with the lead single "Nothing To Do With The Dog" before moving to New York City in 1986. They directed three videos for MTV, and soon after they began to work for France 2. In Italy they often appeared on the program "Be Bop a Lula" hosted by Red Ronnie for Italia Uno. The single "Nothing To Do With the Dog" and "Iceberg" were released during this time. In 1988 "Non Ho Denaro" was released. It was their last album to be released on vinyl, and today, it is one of the most obscure Krisma records.

During the 1990s Krisma's first records were remastered. They continued to do freelance work for the Italian state broadcasting company Rai Tre, and they were credited for crafting the special effects on the Marco Ferreri film Nitrato d'Argento. Maurizio and Christina also designed several video-art installations and worked as consultants for Benetton's Centro Ricerca Comunicazione. On July 22, 1998 the couple launched Krisma TV, which was broadcast through the Skyplex satellite service to Europe, North Africa and the Middle East. In June 2000 the band opened their website, www.krismatv.net. Maurizio made a comeback attempt with "Re-Birth," a solo project. The CD single Kara was released in 2001 in both Italian and English versions. Their first two albums 'Hibernation' and 'Chinese Restaurant' were reissued this year by 'Medical Records LLC'.


Note:
The reissue is sold out, but the second pressing will be out early January (black 180gm vinyl this time - limited edition of 500 each)
http://medical-records.org/releases/

Secession

Secession was a Scottish synth pop band that existed between 1983 and 1987. The original incarnation comprised Peter J. Thomson, Jack Ross, Jim Ross and Carole L. Branston. Secession was mainly on two different record labels during their short career: Beggars Banquet and Siren Records. They released a number of singles starting in 1983, until they released their only album, 'A Dark Enchantment', in late 1987.

Prior to being renamed Secession, the band played at least one gig as 'The Gift', during which Jim Ross performed with one arm in a full plaster cast following an accident. After a performance at Buster Brown’s nightclub in Edinburgh, the band were introduced to Hamish Brown, a local entrepreneur, who offered to manage them. This was followed by the addition of a fifth member, Alistair MacLeod (percussion and vocals), a friend of the original members who had also provided the photograph for the sleeve of the band's independently released debut single, "Betrayal".

Shortly after recording demo material at Palladium Studios in Edinburgh, Jack Ross, disillusioned with the direction the music was taking, left the band. MacLeod was then asked to divide his contribution between percussion and synthesizer/sequencing, and the band continued in this form for a short period of time until Jim Ross left, cutting the line-up to a threesome. This was the unit which produced the original demo of "Fire Island" at Planet Studios in Edinburgh, which subsequently came to the attention of Beggars Banquet Records A&R department.

After being signed by Beggars Banquet the trio re-recorded "Fire Island" at REL Studios in Edinburgh, later remixed by the production team associated with Freeez, John Rocca. Prior to its release, MacLeod left the band to concentrate on photography, and was replaced by Charlie D. Kelly.

The final incarnation of Secession, associated with almost the entire released catalogue, consisted of Thomson, Branston, Kelly, and J.L. Seenan. Their singer, Thomson, who penned their most commercially successful song, "Touch (Part 3)", died in the late 90's. After Secession's split, members Charlie Kelly and James Seenan co-formed Scottish pop band the Vaselines with Charlie's brother Eugene and Frances Mckee.

Source
Secession Tribute Page

Elisa Waut

Elisa Waut was a Belgian band which was formed in Bruges in the early 80's. The band consisted of the singer Elsje Helewaut her brother Hans and the bass player Cheri Derycke. Their music is a clear uptempo pop with distinct influence of Jazz, always poetic and sensitive in a shape of melancholic songs. 

Originally intended to become an experiment between brother and sister, the band took shape after they teamed up with the bass player Cheri Derycke who was in the punk & coolwave band Red Zebra before joining Elisa Waut. The band got its first recognition after they won the major Belgian talent contest in 1984 which was not a small accomplishment, considering the peak in Belgian pop music that was happening at that time. During the1985 the the group made their debut releasing a 6 track self titled EP which was followed by two single releases on Ariola, "It Should Be You" and "Growing Pain".

In 1987, Els releases a poetry book "Het arme huis van gisteren", but it also means a breakthrough to the general public with the song "Sailor's don't cry" by "Elsje & Raymond". This song is produced for the soundtrack to the movie of the same name my Belgian director (and rock journalist) Marc Didden. The song is a cooperation between Els and Raymond van het Groenewoud.

In the same year they also released their first full album 'Commedia'. Another album followed in 1989 but none of these albums really generated a major upheaval, big records sales or smash hits : it are just four testimonies of a growing band, ever becoming better a their "thing". The exception to this rule is Japan, where the group was welcomed as the next big thing and the blond figure of Else generated a lot of enthusiasm.

Read the whole story here

Figures on the Beach

Figures on a Beach was a musical band from Detroit, Michigan, formed in the early 80's out of the ashes of the dada-ist electronic art band Razor 1922. The group was formed by the vocalist Anthony Kaczynski and guitarist John Rolski and the group's line up was almost completed after keyboardist Christopher Ewen, bassist Perry Tell and drummer, multimedia designer, animator, and illustrator Michael "Smitty" Smith joined the group.

From the beginning, Figures On A Beach played in an artistic New Romantic/angular techno-pop style that belied their Detroit roots, and stood out from the thriving and predominantly guitar-driven local punk/underground scene at the time. Their first record, an obscure four track EP release titled 'Swimming', was released through the Metro-America label in 1983. Then a year later in 1984, FOTB released their debut single "Breathless" which brought new styles into New wave marking the beginning of Detroit house and techno. Soon after, bassist/guitarist Perry Tell completed the line-up, and the band recorded the double A-sided EP 'Paradise/In Camera Obscura' in early 1985.

In the late 1985, Figures on the Beach moved to Boston and they were signed by Seymour Stein of Sire Records. They released their first full length LP 'Standing on Ceremony' in 1987 with the emphasis track and video for "No Stars", but the group’s sound was a little late for the 80’s party and a radio campaign & tour to support the record weren’t very rewarding. The self-titled LP & CD 'Figures On A Beach' followed in 1989. It contained the popular club-scene hit "Accidentally 4th Street (Gloria)" and a tongue-in-cheek cover of Bachman-Turner Overdrive's "You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet", which became a minor radio hit. The band continued to play live, write and record new material, but disbanded in 1991 before completing a third album.

Today, Figures on a Beach are available for download. Every song and album recorded on the Sire/Warner record label is now available for download at iTunes. They are currently building a thorough and comprehensive web site to help inform you of all things Figures on a Beach. Check out the link for additional information.

http://www.figuresonabeach.com/intro.htm

Modern Eon

Modern Eon was a band from Liverpool. They were among the bands and artists that sprang of in the New Liverpool scene in the late 70’s around Eric’s club. The band consisted of Alex Plain, Bob Wakelin, Cliff Hewitt, Danny Hampson, Tim Lever.

The bands beginnings are a bit unclear. The founding member of the group was Alex Johnson- Alix who teamed up with Danny Hampson to form Luglo Slugs. They went through several name changes until Modern Eon was born in the late 70’s.

Their music of Modern Eon is moody, melodic and always leaves a certain mysterious impression. It defies the routine by occasionally adding odd analog electronics and saxophone with a definite influences from Joy Division and Echo & the Bunnymen.

Their first release appeared on a compilation ‘Street to Street’: A Liverpool Album and the first self released single ‘Pieces’ followed. In 1980, they recorded the single 'Euthenics' for Inevitable Records and in early 1981 a re-recorded version of 'Euthenics' was released on DinDisc which also brought some lineup changes. They recruited Bob Wakelin and also Tim Lever for guitar and Saxophone and a 17 year old Cliff Hewitt on drums.

In the early 1981, they released a single on DinDisc label as well as their debut album ‘Fiction Tales’. A tour with the Stranglers was arranged but during rehearsal sessions Cliff Hewitt critically injured his wrist. He did contribute to scheduled appearances for the John Peel, Richard Skinner and In Concert Radio One radio shows, but it soon became apparent that the rigors of a tour would be too much for him and a suitable replacement was not easily found. The solution was that they toured with Cliff's drum tracks on a tape machine and let Cliff operate it.

The end of 1981 found Modern Eon at work on demos for a second album and Cliff back on his drum stool but sadly, Modern Eon faded away, never to release a follow up album.

Source:
http://www.soulsaw.com/modern-eon/

(All media is copyrighted by their respective copyright owners

Trevor Herion/ The Fallout Club

Trevor Herion, born John Trevor Herion, (1959 – 1988) was an Irish singer who was a member of few music groups in the late 70’s and early 80’s New wave scene, including The Civilians and The Fallout Club. He later went to release one solo album which also defined the end of his musical career. He died in October 1988.

Herion's musical career starts in the late 70’s when he was a member of an unsigned local band which was dealing with name changes. They started with the B-52’s and changed their name to The Puritans after discovering the existence of the similarly named US band. After the dissolution of the band Trevor joined the Post punk band called The Civilians with Paul Simon from Neo and Radio Stars and Mark Scholfield on guitar and Michael French on bass. They released two singles, “Made For Television”/”I See My Friends” and “In America”/”In Search Of Pleasure” before disbanding, Scholfield and French went to form Academy One, while Trevor formed a new band with the old band mate Paul Simon under the name The Fallout Club.

The Fallout Club was formed out of the ashes of the Civilians and was joined by the future star Thomas Dolby as a producer on keyboards and member Matthew Seligman on bass, both former members of the Camera Club. The band only released three singles during their short existence. They debuted with their minimal beat driven “The Falling Years”/ “Beat Boys” in 1980 and continued with softer, melancholic synth-pop sound, releasing the singles “Dream Soldiers” and “Wonderlust”.

In 1981 the Fallout Club fell apart. Simon went to work with Glen Matlock, Seligman joined the Thompson Twins and Dolby and Herion began their solo careers. Thomas Dolby already released his first solo singles including “Europa and the Pirate Twins” in the same year while Trevor Herion continued to record music and released several singles including his solo debut “Kiss of No Return”. All his songs appeared on his only album Beauty Life which moved the sound more towards pop, funk and soul. It was released through Interdisc in 1983 but didn’t gain any major success.

In the late 80’s, during the year 1988, Trevor began to suffer from severe depression which eventually overcame him leading to his tragic suicide on the 1st of October 1988. The songs that were released as singles in during the 80's recorded as Fallout Club were reissued on CD for the first time in 2017 on a compilation entitled Dangerous Friends while Trevor Herion's solo album was reissued twice, in 2016 and 2023.

Source:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trevor_Herion
http://www.trevorherion.com/

Vice Versa

Vice Versa was a synthpop group from Sheffield, England. The band was formed in 1978 by Stephen Singleton and Mark White. Their record label ‘Neutron Records’ played an important role in Sheffield’s late 70’s music scene. The group later transformed their sound into pop after Martin Fry joined the band and became a lead singer.

Vice Versa were formed in 1978 in Sheffield. They founded their own record label ‘Neutron Records’ and succeeded in gaining public attention with their blend of electronic which was inspired by Cabaret Voltaire and The Human League. In September 1979, they released their first record on ‘Neutron Records’, an EP called ‘Vice Versa Music 4’, including the 4 songs "Riot Squad", "Camille", "New Girls/Neutrons" and "Science - Fact". Their record label made sharp and intelligent statement with their music announcing the new decade in music. Vice Versa also won a NME’s famous song of the week. In 1980 the label released ‘The First 15 Minutes’ EP which featured unsigned, local bands of Sheffield including Vice Versa and Clock DVA. The group also supported the Human League during their first Sheffield gig.

Martin Fry who was running the fanzine ‘Modern Drugs’ interviewed the group and joined the group after David Sydenham left. Vice Versa made two more releases before they changed their sound. They released a cassette only '8 Aspects of' followed by their only single release “Stilyagi/Eyes of Christ”
During their Holland tour Martin started improvising on vocals and soon became a new lead singer after, while Mark White took over the song writing. The new concept was born. Vice Versa went pop. The rest of the history is ABC.