http://www.regenerationtour.com
Tour Dates
John Foxx began early to experiment with tape recorders and synthesizers. In 1973 he formed a band that would eventually be called Tiger Lily. The band played frequently around London in the mid seventies. After few name changes Tiger Lily was transformed in Ultravox! with an exclamation mark. Ultravox released three albums with Foxx as the lead singer including 'System of Romance', often regarded as the first synth pop album. In the beginning of 1979 Ultravox was dropped by their record label and the band came to parting of the ways during their tour. John announced his plan to go solo.“The band thing is a phase – like being in a gang. You can’t really be part of a gang all your life; it begins to feel undignified and it stunts your growth, unless you want to be a teenager forever. Some do. Some don’t. The benefits were the Gestalt - where the whole is greater than the sum of the parts, a very powerful experience - and working in a closed society with people who have the same aim”.Foxx for barcodezine.com
In the early 90's Foxx made some brief appearances in the music scene by doing some collaborations and writing music for computer games. In 1997 Foxx made a return to the music scene with the simultaneous release of two albums, 'Shifting City' and 'Cathedral Oceans'. 'Shifting City' was a collaboration with Manchester's Louis Gordon, an updated stylistic return to Foxx' Metamatic synth pop sound that also displayed the influence of 1990s underground dance music and the 'triphop' style. 'Cathedral Oceans', on the other hand, was a solo John Foxx record, an ambient return to his Catholic youth and his love of the cathedrals of England and Europe. Its roots included traditional evensong, Gregorian Chant, Brian Eno, Harold Budd, and German band Cluster.
This New York trio played a bouncy brand of dance rock rooted in chintzy '60s Farfisa organ pop and spooky horror movie soundtrack music. The group first gained recognition in 1979 with a homemade single that featured a stripped- down version of Bowie's "TVC 15," which they re-recorded for their first LP. They contributed two tracks to the influential Marty Thau Presents 2x5 compilation and their debut album, the self-titled Comateens, (1980) featured the band's bizarrely original compositions alongside covers of "Summer in the City" (The Lovin' Spoonful), "TVC 15" (David Bowie), and the theme song from TV's The Munsters.
After they were signed to Virgin Records they released the second album, 'Pictures On A String' which diverges into rock quirkiness and danceable commercialism, pushing a powerful disco beat on "Get off My Case" "Cinnamon" and other numbers. In 1984 the band released their final album, 'Deal with It', which featured live drums played by Chuck Sabo. The band also rode the New Wave by appearing on the then new and innovative MTV in several videos, and in interviews with pioneer VJs Mark Goodman and Martha Quinn.
The band split up in 1985. Oliver North died in 1987 of asthma-related heart failure. In 1988 Nic North (now Nicholas West) and Lyn Byrd recorded an album, West & Byrd, together. In 1990 the duo, again under the name Comateens, recorded the song "A Place For Me" which became a European hit. Virgin Records released a retrospective compilation of their music in 1991 called "One By One: Best Of Comateens" which has become a rare and much sought-after record among collectors of New Wave music.
Their first few singles, including 1983's "Pink Skinned Man" were produced by Dave Feeley and released on small indie labels like Kabuki. After relocating to London, they signed to Rough Trade and tapped John Porter (producer of The Smiths) to produce their debut album, 'Everybody's Fantastic'. At this time the band became acquainted with John Peel, who championed their music and gave them the first of several Peel Sessions which also gave Microdisney a wider audience.
In 1988, with chart success and mainstream acceptance having continually eluded them, Microdisney disbanded. After they disbanded Coughlan formed The Fatima Mansions and O'Hagan formed The High Llamas, retaining Jon Fell. Post break up two further compilations were issued of previously released material - 'Big Sleeping House' a Collection of Microdisney's Finest Moments, and the 'Peel Sessions' which has most of their collected BBC John Peel sessions apart from the last one.
The Reels went under few name changes in their early career and when they signed the first record contract with Australian branch of Mercury records, they then changed their name into The Reels and released their debut single “Love Will Find A Way”. Another single followed and their self-titled album was released the same year, in 1979.
After few line up changes the Reels signed a new record contract with RCA Records in 1982 and they scored their first international hit with a cover of the song “The Guys In Love With You”
In 1989 Mason appeared in the acclaimed Australian feature film Ghosts... of the Civil Dead, in which he co-starred with Nick Cave. In September 1991 the Reels issued their first original single in five years, "I Don't Love You Anymore", followed by what proved to be their last single, a remix by Filthy Lucre of "Bad Moon Rising" . The group officially disbanded to coincide with the release of the compilation CD Requiem.