Henry Badowski emerged from punk having been briefly in CHELSEA, THE DAMNED and KING (the punk band featuring Captain Sensible, NOT the mulleted DM wearing combo who did ‘Love & Pride’!)

But the times they were a changing and the multi-instrumentalist found himself somewhere in-between the more melodic but artful form of new wave and the emerging sound of affordable synthesizers.

Summer 1979 saw the release of Badowski’s debut single ‘Making Love With My Wife’, a quirky anti-rock ‘n’ roll ode to the joys of marital sex; it later appeared alongside Gary Numan and John Foxx on ‘Machines’, a long playing showcase compiled Virgin Records of acts that used synthesizers as their primary instrumentation that also included OMD, THE HUMAN LEAGUE, SILICON TEENS and DALEK I LOVE YOU.

Issued on Deptford Fun City Records, a UK subsidiary of IRS Records co-founded by THE POLICE’s manager Miles Copeland III, it was this link that led to Badowski transferring to A&M Records for the backing that a major label could provide. “Initially my school friend James organised me joining CHELSEA, which was one of Miles’ acts” remembered Badowski, “I didn’t stay for long, but returned to the office a year later when Mark Perry (who founded the ‘Sniffin’ Glue’ punk fanzine) took me to Pathway Studio to record the ‘Making Love With My Wife’ / ’Baby Sign Here With Me’ single. Miles heard the KING John Peel version of ‘BSHWM’ and liked it. Following that, he became more involved with my situation and eventually introduced me to A&M.”

However, there had initially been scepticism about allowing ‘Making Love With My Wife’ to be included on the ‘Machines’ compilation with its explicit synthesizer association; “It was debated in the office whether or not it should be included on ‘Machines’” said Badowski, “Miles was actually against the idea as he thought I should be marketed as more ‘neo-English prog’. There was a drum machine on ‘Making Love With My Wife’ but apart from that there were no synths involved. I later added a synth noise deliberately on top for inclusion on the compilation. Silly, really!”

But while ‘Baby Sign Here With Me’ featured a Vox Continental, real drums and real instruments, the Matrix studios sessions involved an EMS AKS, Roland Promars, Prophet 5 and a Boss DR55 drum machine with an early CV/gate sequencer was used to link up the Promars and the DR55. “I’d had the EMS for a while so I was familiar with it” Badowski recalled of the recording, “I’d also had a few introduction sessions at Morley College for the basics. Linking the Promars to the DR55 was fun. I can’t remember what model the sequencer was but we got there in the end.”

Henry Badowski’s only album ‘Life Is A Grand’ was named after the English slang word meaning a thousand pounds. “A grand will always make your life easier” Badowski said, “A thousand quid would go a long way – you could buy a second-hand E-Type Jaguar or a trip to New York on Concorde. Even today, if you’ve got a grand in your pocket, you’re feeling good – life’s alright”.

Handling vocals, bass, saxophones, keyboards and percussion, this was a true solo record although former CHELSEA bandmate James Stevenson would contribute guitar and additional bass while Dave Berk and Aleks Kolkowski respectively provided drums and violin. On the opener ‘My Face’, ‘The Warm Jets’ were strong in a wonderful update of Eno’s ‘Needles In The Camel’s Eye’. Meanwhile, the quirky ‘Henry’s In Love’ provided a kind of prequel to ‘Making Love With My Wife’ but with the twist of the telling of his personal joy in the third person.

Continuing the love theme, the charming ‘This Was Meant To Be’ could have been TELEX but as much as he was enchanted by the new wave of European electro-pop, he admitted the song “was most probably inspired by ‘Funky Town’ by LIPPS INC”!

With the air of Syd Barrett, ‘Swimming With the Fish in the Sea’ saw the working relationship with co-producer Wally Brill blossom as he provided the lovely pad on ‘Swimming With The Fish In The Sea’ courtesy of a Prophet 5; by coincidence Brill had also co-produced ‘The Eyes Have It’ by Karel Fialka which also appeared on ‘Machines’

While the ‘Life Is a Grand’ title instrumental pointed to David Bowie’s ‘Low’, the ROXY MUSIC sax ‘n’ synth B-side ‘The Numberer’ written by Andy MacKay was a more explicit influence. However, like the elegant wordless album closer ‘Rampant’, both were born out of creative necessity: “I’m not a prolific songwriter and struggled with completing the quota for the album, hence the two instrumentals!”

‘Silver Trees’ had this wonderfully whimsical quality but Badowski denied that he was a hippy at heart: “I was too young to be a hippy and struggled with being a ‘punk’ and definitely rejected becoming a ‘new romantic’ despite being tarted up on the back sleeve of the LP which was not my idea!”.

Released in Summer 1981, the album did not sell as Badowski admitted: “I never promoted it, despite Miles offering to pay up to 6 people to form a band, plus offering me support slots for major tours. To be honest, I was disappointed with ‘Life Is A Grand’ as the plug was pulled when it started going over budget. The sleeve was a disaster and I lost enthusiasm. I had an idea for a sleeve involving items or life enhancing situations you could buy for a thousand pounds. It never happened and I felt pressurised into putting up with the sleeve as it became. It’s unfinished business as far as I’m concerned, but it is what it is and I’ve accepted that now”.

Despite this, his one-time band mate Captain Sensible described ‘Life Is A Grand’ as “A work of genius from start to finish”. With its very English mix of humourous surreal poetry and bouncy avant pop, Badowski looks back on what turned out to be his only album with some pride: “I think the LP managed to achieve its own identity without me specifically channelling anyone in particular”.

Over the passing decades, ‘Life Is A Grand’ would gain legendary lost album status and ultimately led to a 2025 reissue by Caroline True Records, something which has flattered Badowski: “The whole ‘cult’ thing has become a pleasant surprise and has happened over the years. I had no idea the album was so well received. I would get lovely emails from people, plus positive comments everywhere as the internet developed. I won’t even begin to speculate on how it happened. Thanks everyone, glad you like it!”

But was that follow-up to ‘Life Is A Grand’ ever a possibility? It seems not; “I had a handful of tunes kicking around but struggled to write lyrics” he lamented, “There really wasn’t a sufficient amount to justify a follow-up. I’d lost my Dad as well which slowed things up a lot. The songs that exist ‘happened’ rather than having me sit down with a quill and parchment.”

ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK gives its sincerest thanks to Henry Badowski

Additional thanks to Piers Martin

‘Life Is a Grand’ is reissued by Caroline True Records as a vinyl LP (with digital album + 5 bonus tracks or CD (with the bonus track ‘Making Love With My Wife’), available from https://carolinetruerecords.com/products/henry-badowski-life-is-a-grand-limited-vinyl-bonus-tracks-download or https://ctrmusic.bandcamp.com/album/henry-badowski-life-is-a-grand

Text and Interview by Chi Ming Lai
3rd June 2025