While B-MOVIE released an album comprised of lost and unreleased material titled ‘Hidden Treasures’ last year, a long player of new material has been conspicuous by its absence, the most recent being ‘Climate of Fear’ in 2016.
The band’s two constants Steve Hovington and Paul Statham have been busy though; the latter has continued with his “dark country” project THE DARK FLOWERS featuring The Anchoress, Gabriella Cilmi and Jim Kerr from SIMPLE MINDS but the former has been working with Roger Lyons of the big-beat act LIONROCK on the more post-punk GREY DISCO. Fusing a rock DNA with modern electronic textures, GREY DISCO attempt to balance grit and elegance on ‘Shades’ to make ”music for late nights, empty streets, dim lights or crowded rooms—equally suited to headphones or the dancefloor.”
Announcing that the album is “a soundtrack for the night with low-burning guitars and electronics”, opener ‘Vigil’ rocks with prominent bass guitar, synth and bombastic drums. But taking on a more throbbing backbone, the excellent ‘Paris’ is less aggressive and has the air of PET SHOP BOYS; but for Hovington’s growl, it is something of a “Princess Stéphanie” song and is appropriately in keeping with the GREY DISCO moniker.
‘Fool’s Paradise’ recalls filmic Britpop hopefuls RIALTO while ‘Just Wanna’ is much darker with sombre synthbass. The minimal goth of ‘Shadow Of A Dream’ possesses an intriguing mechanical mystery but the remainder of the album contains either frantic guitar tracks like ‘Renaissance Man’ and ‘World Inaction’ or intense linear set pieces like ‘The Wheel of Misfortune’.
‘Shades’ is more than likely to connect with B-MOVIE fans thanks to Steve Hovington’s angst-ridden instinct for melody and lyrical imagery, while Roger Lyons’ rhythmic sonic twists are a diversion from the proggier keyboard interventions associated with the band. Very much rooted in post-punk with the benefit of 45 years hindsight, GREY DISCO will fit nicely in the interim until there’s a new B-MOVIE album.
50 years from KRAFTWERK appearing on the BBC’s ‘Tomorrow’s World’ to perform ‘Autobahn’ and demonstrate the future of music, as Ralf Hütter remarked at the start of the 21st Century, “electro is everywhere” and can now be made on your mobile phone!
And while the KRAFTWERK brand continues to be fronted by the 79 year old Hütter with an extensive UK tour pencilled in next year, 2025 saw the sad passing of Synth Britannia heroes Dave Ball and Stephen Luscombe, while there was also the loss of COVENANT associate Andreas Catjar-Danielsson, NITZER EBB frontman Douglas J McCarthy and Gary Numan’s brother / former live band member John Webb. Outside of the genre, cult film director David Lynch, BLONDIE drummer Clem Burke, veteran diva Marianne Faithfull, The Prince Of Darkness Ozzy Osbourne and Head Beach Boy Brian Wilson were among those who left this mortal coil.
Among the new talent making a good impression were Spike, Shears and Hannah Hu who is currently working on her first album with Dean Honer of I MONSTER. Having already released a couple of albums, on the ascendancy was self-styled Californian “retro electro artist”Sophie Grey who was joined by Trevor Horn during her live cover of ‘Video Killed The Radio Star’ while supporting Sting at the London Forum.
On the gentler side of electronics, Patricia Wolf and Loula Yorke came up with their fabulous respective instrumental offerings ‘Hrafnamynd’ and ‘Time Is A Succession Of Such Shapes’. There was also the return of LADYTRON as well as Alison Goldfrapp, Claudia Brücken and Kim Wilde. Going back to glitzy electropop on her new record ‘Mayhem’, Lady Gaga did an impression of Taylor Swift doing YAZOO on one of its highlights ‘How Bad Do U Want Me?’; meanwhile Taylor herself appeared to have turned into Los Angeles trio CANNONS on ‘The Fate Of Ophelia’, the synthy opening song of her 12th album ‘The Life Of A Showgirl’.
Photo by Oliver Blair
Swedish producer Johan Agebjörn proved to have one of the most prolific years in his music career with not only collaborations with R.MISSING on ‘Fakesnow’ and NINA on ‘Hush Hush Baby’ but also a new SALLY SHAPIRO album ‘Ready To Live A Lie’ and a solo long player ‘Southern Forest’; all this while holding down his day job as a psychotherapist! Another releasing two albums in 2025 was Paul Statham although one was a collection of archive recordings for what could have been the intended 1982 debut album by B-MOVIE entitled ‘Lost Treasures’; the other was a second record from his dark country project THE DARK FLOWERS featuring Jim Kerr of SIMPLE MINDS whose most recent single ‘Your Name In Lights’ had been co-written by Statham.
Impressively, SPARKS got ‘MAD!’ and then ‘MADDER!’ while undertaking a huge world tour with Ron Mael still tap dancing at 80 years of age during the drum solo of ‘No1 Song In Heaven’ and Russell Mael able to hit many of those high notes at 77. As ERASURE made a tentative return with a series of special UK fan club shows to celebrate their 40th anniversary, Andy Bell toured his solo album ‘Ten Crowns’ with KNIGHT$ not doing himself any harm being the opening act on the German leg ahead of a new album ‘Supernatural Lover’ out in early 2026.
After a few years of recorded absence, former TANGERINE DREAM members released long awaited albums with Peter Baumann from the classic line-up issuing the esoteric ‘Nightfall’ while Jerome Froese, son of co-founder Edgar, came up with the guitartronica of ‘Sunsets In Stereo’. Playing with the atonal atmospheres of early TANGERINE DREAM in places, the dark cerebral concept of ‘The Ray Bradbury Chronicles’ by Levente was worthy of investigation.
With their keyboard player Christian Berg now something of a modern day Rick Wakeman, KITE established themselves as a major world force with a spectacular show on ice at Stockholm’s Avicii Arena which saw special guest Nina Persson of THE CARDIGANS skating with the Helsinki Rockettes while singing their mighty collaboration ‘Heartless Places’.
Tom Shear released one of his most impressive and on-point albums as ASSEMBLAGE 23 in ‘Null’ while UNIFY SEPARATE didn’t mince their words on their ‘Heavy Meta’ EP. While Tobias Bernstrup kept the dark Italo flame alive with ‘Shadow Dancer’, Berlin continued to remain a force in underground club culture with two of its leading exponents Franz Scala and Kalipo presenting well-received long players that worked on the home hi-fi as well as on dancefloors. On the more poptronica front, Eddie Bengtsson finally stopped trying to “Numanise” his sound and came up with ‘Inget Motstånd’, a record in the more classic PAGE vein.
While synthwave appeared to be dead (as the controversial blog Iron Skullet declared in 2019), the influx of generic darkwave was a major blight on electronic music in 2025. The major label supported Mareux and his second album ‘Nonstop Romance’ had any potential painfully ruined by overused deliberate distortion to make it sound like it was recorded down a drainpipe.
Meanwhile PORCELAIN DANCER seemed to be the Rob Newman parody of Robert Smith as seen on ‘The Mary Whitehouse Experience’ resurrected only several octaves lower; his live performance provoked unintentional laughter from those who arrived early to see KORINE in London!
DEPECHE MODE released 4 songs that were originally deemed not good enough to put on their 2023 album ‘Memento Bori’ to append the live album accompanying their Mexico City concert film ‘M’. But 2025 was notable for a number of figures in the British DM fan community who were coming out with particularly repugnant far right views, seemingly oblivious to the decades of lyrical messages from the two remaining mixed race band members!
But there was hope in the darker side of synth with A THOUSAND MAD THINGS; with his haunted demeanour while navigating young manhood as a tortured outsider, William Barradale’s doomed romantic delivery reminiscent of Billy MacKenzie and Trevor Herion made him undoubtedly the most promising UK act since MIRRORS; his debut 5 song EP ‘Cry & Dance’ was one of 2025’s best bodies of work. This more than made up for ‘Dance Called Memory’, the extremely dull fourth album from NATION OF LANGUAGE which was anything but memorable…
After looking back at 1981, ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK were pleased to be return to the variously compiled podcast ‘Back To NOW’ to discuss the ‘NOW 1982 Yearbook’ with genial host Iain McDermott and Ian Wade, author of ‘1984: The Year Pop Went Queer’. While general music and culture podcasts such as ‘Back To NOW’, ‘Word In Your Ear’, ‘The Rest Is Entertainment’, ‘The Rockonteurs’, ‘SoundPower’ and Miranda Sawyer’s new offering ‘Talk 90s To Me’ were highly engaging listens, specific broadcasts focussed on synth and electronic music were usually weak, suffering from poor hosting and ham-fisted background research. But when a professional presenter was involved, synth-oriented chats could be enlightening as the appearance of John Foxx on ‘The Adam Buxton Podcast’ proved, despite the annoying jingles that accompanied it.
Featuring commentary from PET SHOP BOYS’ Neil Tennant, the BBC’s retrospective look at the collapse of EMI called ‘Music Money & Mayhem’ showed once again that when those who know nothing about music get involved in the music business, it will end in tears. Looking at the story of the history of Beggars Banquet label in its first series and featuring Gary Numan in its opening episode, ‘States Of Independence’ documented how creative enthusiasm from the heart can actually thrive.
So where are the audiences for live electronic music these days? Certainly, if the full houses for Marie Davidson, Geneva Jacuzzi, Loscil and KITE in London’s club-sized venues were anything to go by, the crowds are out there. This was not the case for some other acts on the circuit at new, cult and one-hit wonder level who were struggling to get above half capacity or had downsized considerably since their perceived highest profile. However, new music night Release Me managed to get very good attendances for their evenings in 2025 with the premise that all acts must perform previously unreleased material; this focus on their events being about the music with announced requests to not talk during sets was a fresh and very welcome approach.
Photo by Tom Casey
Elsewhere, the retro business did prosper with reunions, exhibitions, summer hits shows, classic album tours, deluxe reissues of albums that were never that good in the first place and notable records re-released in yet another expanded set for the 5th or 6th time! There were those trying to exploit the fading nostalgia of those heady romantic times, writing memoirs that left out so many important facts omitted that there were grounds for inclusion in the “fiction” section.
Then there were others releasing overlong collections with an average track length of between 6-8 minutes that no-one asked for nor desired… filtering and editing is such an important aspect to producing music so there was no excuse for these veterans! Some even sent out unmastered music files to review outlets, blissfully unaware that the sound quality might actually be mentioned, only to get stupidly angry about it when highlighted due to their own numbskull promotional abilities; it’s a funny old entitled world…
The positive and negative of modern day music consumption is growth CAN happen organically in its own internet powered niche. But with the fragmentation of promotion with social media actually being a choice despite wider protestations, even the AXS newsletter listing the acts soon to be playing the 20,000 capacity O2 arena in London provoked cries of “WHO?”; but that is how it is now and it needs to be accepted. Why should a Boomer or Gen X-er know about the bright young thing headlining Glastonbury?
However, you CAN create your own musical universe today, not listen to radio, create your own playlists and exclude as appropriate. After all, as Nick Rhodes from DURAN DURAN once remarked: “Good taste is exclusive” – nobody should have to like what you like and neither should what somebody else likes appeal to you… niche interests are fine.
There is no doubt fandom has become more tribal and is now akin to away game support for football teams. But as a result, it has therefore got more toxic, with some fans getting ridiculously angry on socials about old less-than-positive reviews that David Hepworth, Mark Ellen, Ian Cranna, Dave Rimmer, Tom Hibbert or Neil Tennant might have written for Smash Hits 43 YEARS AGO!! “Bet he regrets that…” someone will quip smugly but the reality is, if there is a review that a writer will regret, from the experience of ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK, it will usually be the one that is too gushing with praise!
The gist of Smash Hits during its imperial phase that coincided with Neil Tennant’s tenure as Assistant Editor was it was a magazine which treated “pop” as the most “important” thing in the world while simultaneously highlighting how “ridiculous” it was too, with references to “the dumper”, “summer colds” and the “tongue sarnie”… often dismissed as a “teen mag”, a good number of teenagers could see through the up-itself pretentions of the NME so relished the more amusing and knowing “scribblings” of the Smash Hits team!
The wider public forgets that it might likely have the benefit of 4 decades of hindsight as well as weekly if not daily plays of a record in the first few years of its possession. While it has always been associated with “free speech”, “opinion” or “freedom of expression”, one of the problems with social media is the narcissistic self-seeking of validation as part of the main character syndrome that afflicts many in this modern world…
U2 once asked “how long must we sing this song?”; so to end a divisive year where evil men with racist views have been casually normalised, the message outlined in 1981 by a trio of philosophers from South Yorkshire must continue to be repeated loud and clear: WE DON’T NEED THIS FASCIST GROOVE THANG! #FuckFarage #FuckReformUK #FuckTommyRobinson #FuckFlagshaggers #FuckTrump
Paul Statham is undoubtedly the silent success story of the ‘Some Bizzare Album’.
The guitarist of B-MOVIE who also comprised Steve Hovington (vocals + bass), Rick Holliday (keyboards) and Graham Boffey (drums), their track ‘Moles’ was included alongside DEPECHE MODE, SOFT CELL, BLANCMANGE and THE THE on the iconic futurist showcase compiled by DJ Stevo Pearce that was released in early 1981.
Signing to Phonogram via Some Bizzare, despite an imperial trio of singles ‘Remembrance Day’, ‘Marilyn Dreams’ and ‘Nowhere Girl’, the quartet were unable to get their deserved mainstream chart breakthrough and as the band fragmented, the B-MOVIE story became just that. Although a belated album ‘Forever Running’ would emerge in 1985, the remaining founding duo of Hovington and Statham disbanded B-MOVIE not long after.
Photo by Peter Ashworth
In 1988, Statham found solace in Peter Murphy who had recently gone solo after 4 studio albums fronting goth trailblazers BAUHAUS. Becoming Murphy’s main songwriting partner over 4 successive albums, during the making of the 1995 album ‘Cascade’, Statham met producer Pascal Gabriel who proposed working together on a more dance oriented “ABBA meets THE KLF” type of project; starting out as NEURONIC and with the addition of dance and vocalist Lisa Lamb, they would become the electropop trio PEACH whose song ‘On My Own’ was featured during a key scene in the Gwyneth Paltrow movie ‘Sliding Doors’.
PEACH would become a springboard for Statham to find considerable success as a songwriter and producer, working with artists as diverse as Kylie Minogue, Rachel Stevens, Dot Allison, Dido, Sarah Nixey, Lisa Scott-Lee, Tina Arena, Shelly Poole, and Gabriella Cilmi as well THE SATURDAYS, BANANARAMA, RIGHT SAID FRED and SIMPLE MINDS.
Photo by Adrian Green
In parallel to his songwriting and production career, the original line-up of B-MOVIE reformed in 2004 while in 2009, Statham started his dark country project THE DARK FLOWERS. There has also been a series of solo experimental electronic albums in parallel to launching his own label Loki Records.
Despite releasing two new albums ‘The Age of Illusion’ (2013) and ‘Climate of Fear’ (2016) since their reformation, talk always returned to B-MOVIE’s Some Bizzare period with demand for their imperial trilogy of singles to be made available in the digital era. Those three singles plus 7 previously unreleased recordings from between 1981-1982 were digitised and restored to create the debut “that never was”. Titled ‘Hidden Treasures’, it presented documentary evidence as to why back in the day, the major record labels were clamouring for B-MOVIE’s signature.
Thanks to the positive reception for ‘Hidden Treasures’, another compilation album is planned focussing on ‘The Age of Illusion’, ‘Climate of Fear’ and latter era of B-MOVIE which Statham says will feature “more of the time and songs when I co-wrote a lot more with Steve and produced the tracks”.
After the recent B-MOVIE show in London, Paul Statham sat down to offer some insightful commentary on 20 career highlights selected by ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK from his long and varied music career.
B-MOVIE Moles (1981)
“We were always amazed at how fast Rick could play solos!” said Statham of B-MOVIE’s ‘Some Bizzare Album’ breakthrough, “Recorded at Studio Playground Wragby, we felt like a proper band in this 8 track studios with a live room. The fact we travelled there from Mansfield unified us. In Andy Dransfield, we had a sympathetic producer/engineer who more to the point would buy us a round of drinks in the village pub. All good bands bond in the pub!”
Originally from the ‘Some Bizzare Album’ (V/A), now available on the B-MOVIE expanded CD + digital album ‘Hidden Treasures’ via Wanderlust Records
“Terrible press shot in a fake desert setting that became the back cover” remembered Statham of the standalone single ‘A Letter from Afar’ which was based around his sequencer programming on a Roland JX3P and a ghostly SIMPLE MINDS-type pad on the intro; “During the London recording, producer Jellybean Benitez invited me to New York to finish adding parts. We worked out of Sigma Studios, I got an insight into how professional musicians can add to the song”.
Available on the B-MOVIE album ‘The Platinum Collection’ via Warner Music
“I loved writing music for Peter” said Statham of his partnership with the BAUHAUS front man, “He is highly individualistic, it was always great waiting to hear how he shaped tracks I’d give to him”. Sometimes just a few chords and sometimes fully formed backing tracks”. The guitars on the verse chord progression of ‘Roll Call – Reprise’ paid homage to Iggy Pop while there was a sombre synth brass close; “Peter later said the ‘With Your Red Shirt’ lyric was about me going out clubbing!”
Available on the PETER MURPHY album ‘Deep’ via Beggars Banquet Records
“Things went south a little with Peter’s management on ‘Cascade’” recalled Statham, “so Pascal Gabriel offered me a way out to start a Europop band with him, big bright and bold and he would go play it to Daniel Miller at Mute and get us a deal… hard to believe but that was exactly what happened. Daniel gave us a deal on the spot, with just 2 backing tracks and no singer”. The vocals on ‘Heaven’ came from session singer Anna Ross, now touring with DURAN DURAN.
‘Heaven’ was originally released as a NEURONIC single via Interpop / Mute Records, currently unavailable
“NEURONIC quickly morphed into PEACH with the addition of the lovely Lisa Lamb… Lisa Cougar would be a better fit, she would laugh at that, believe me! We changed direction, producing electronic symphonies and kitchen sink dramas that led to the first single ‘On My Own’ going into the film ‘Sliding Doors’ and giving us a bona fide US Billboard hit single peaking at #11 on the pop airplay charts” Statham said but “We promptly split up after supporting ERASURE.”
Available on the PEACH album ‘Audiopeach’ via Mute Records
“I bought the ONE DOVE album that Dot Allison sang on and she looked so elegantly cool on the cover… I wondered how on earth do I meet singers like that to work with!” pondered Statham, “Then here she was! Mike Sault, our respective publisher set up a co-write with Pascal and me. I really found a niche here, writing tracks with strings, synths and electric guitars with Pascal providing big beats! Dot is a great writer, anything with the word ‘Satellite’ in is always a good lyric!”
Available on the DOT ALLISON album ‘Afterglow’ via Heavenly Records
Inspired by Brian Eno’s ‘Apollo’ album, this was a life changer for Statham: “Dido was an occasional backing vocalist in her brother Rollo’s band FAITHLESS. The Dot Allison single had laid the groundwork and ‘Here With Me’ was a sophisticated cousin to ‘Close Your Eyes’. Dido has a beautiful voice, fully formed, everything she sang sounded cool!. It became the opening theme to the US TV series ‘Roswell’. Having a big hit like this was without a doubt a very nice feeling.”
Available on the DIDO album ‘No Angel’ via Arista / BMG
“Writing with Kylie was undoubtably a high point” said Statham, “Back then, it wasn’t file sharing and a day with the artist, we had a full week of writing together. Just sitting with her and writing lyrics was a little ‘pinch yourself’ moment, especially when she dropped me at the pub in front of friends! She is extremely hardworking and yet unfailingly polite. In hindsight we should have gone more electronic, especially as we had an early listen to ‘Can’t Get You Out Of My Head’.”
Available on the KYLIE MINOGUE album ‘Fever’ via EMI Music
“It seems that writing with very attractive women became almost normal!” Statham said on the call to provide a song for the now-solo SCLUB7 starlet’s second album, “But I never met Rachel Stevens. The track was predominantly written with Pascal and Hannah Robinson, a great writer too. I love the electro pulse and the dry drum sound in this track, her vocal delivery has a sort of strange indifference that suits the sombre lyric about a dead friend.”
Available on the RACHEL STEVENS album ‘Come & Get It’ via Polydor Records
“Sarah Nixey was a joy to work with, she was indie-influenced and great fun too” said Statham of the former vocalist of BLACK BOX RECORDER who liked to project a stern persona, “There was no real remit here, we wrote 3 songs together over a period and I found her lyrics to be intelligent and offbeat at the same time. My original version wasn’t as programmed as the final mix and had a more organic leaning which I feel better suited the song”.
Available on the SARAH NIXEY album ‘Sing, Memory’ via ServiceAV
Statham was invited to work with THE SATURDAYS on their debut album: “Having only a small, converted bedroom as a studio was a challenge with all 5 girls and my friend / co-writer Hannah Robinson, a challenge I was happy to accept! They were enthusiastic and hardworking, Una and Vanessa were great singers too. The song had a Motown feel with a great melodic arc through leading to a strong chorus, it was mixed with a more electronic feel to the demo.”
Available on THE SATURDAYS album ‘Chasing Lights’ via Polydor Records
Having reformed in 2004, a new B-MOVIE long player emerged in 2013: “A favourite of mine from an overlooked album, written by Steve and produced by myself, it has a dark quality that goes against the more uptempo feel of the album. Here, working predominantly in a sparsely produced electronic vein, we got it right. I played most of the keyboards as well on this album as Rick had begun to get disillusioned… the opposite to the title and Rick liked to swim upstream!”
THE DARK FLOWERS Radioland featuring JIM KERR (2013)
Conceived whilst Statham was reading Sam Shepard’s ‘Motel Chronicles’ and listening to an instrumental album ‘The Hired Hand’ by Bruce Langhorne featuring old instruments left out to weather in the same US deserts, he said of THE DARK FLOWERS: “It involved me mixing Eno sequences electronics with piano / banjo and found sound. Jim nailed this perfectly, a slightly Bowie vocal for the dark tale of a man who inhabits an imaginary ‘Radioland’.”
Available on THE DARK FLOWERS album ‘Radioland’ via Lojinx
“As huge SIMPLE MINDS fans, Steve Hovington and I saw them numerous times” said Statham, “my younger self would find it hard to believe Jim would become a good friend and I would write tracks with him! Based around the bassline that echoes Gina X ‘No GDM’, I tried to evoke the early feel of SIMPLE MINDS. An instrumental demo was passed on to Jim in a chain link of 4 different friends of friends and he called me straight away on hearing it and was in my studio a week later!”
Available on SIMPLE MINDS album ‘Big Music’ via Demon Music Group
Statham’s more experimental work came after meeting art curator Victor De Circasia in their daughters’ school playground: “I became involved in the world of painters and sculptors, where I would be commissioned to write music to accompany an exhibition or as part of the installation” he said, “‘Asylum’ was music that was based initially from these interactions acting as an almost palimpsest that I overlaid and sculpted, so the original idea was covered multiple times”.
Available on PAUL STATHAM album ‘Asylum’ via Loki Records
“A real gem and one that we should go back to!” said Statham of the best B-MOVIE song of their reunion era, “this was also a very creative time and we released a lot of one-off songs that were great to produce and write and that went down well with fans and live too. I put it in the same feel as ‘A Letter From Afar’ in that it is sequencer-driven, lyrics musing on the folly of war with a slight Eastern feel in some of the melodic instrumental passages.”
Available on B-MOVIE EP ‘Repetition’ via Loki Records
“To be updated!” confirmed Statham on AFTER THE RAIN, “I wanted to release my own project that had some vocal element and at that time not wanting to use my own voice, this went down the route of Moby’s ‘Play’ album, using old vocals lifted from Blues and Gospel. It was never fully released on streaming platforms, but I remain committed in 2025 to releasing these tracks, mixed properly and continuing in an 80s electro feel with my own vocals and guests.”
THE DARK FLOWERS Dead & Lovely featuring THE ANCHORESS (2021)
From an interim Murder Ballad covers EP, the highlight was this Tom Waits song: “I asked long-time collaborator Catherine Anne Davies aka THE ANCHORESS to do this version” Statham said, ”Catherine always sings so well but I feel my production was not quite right on this. It’s way too happy and synthetic in places. The main problem is that it’s a very long song and the narrative arc is necessary to tell the tale, but I did almost edit it down!”
The songwriting module leader at Solent University, Statham became friends with experimental music module colleague Dan Pennie: “He is a fabulous guitarist with his own outfit NOISE IN YOUR EYE. I had conceived these tracks as a follow-up to ‘Asylum’ but once I sent one to Dan, and he added guitar loops to run through the track, it made sense for the album to go down this avenue, making it less predictable with some unexpected rhythm and textures from his guitar playing”
Coming back to the here and now, Statham was working with SIMPLE MINDS again: “My writing with Jim Kerr and Charlie Burchill for me is one of the highlights of my career in music. Jim has an iconic voice and Charlie is one the three inspirational guitarists to me, the others being John McGeoch and Robin Simon. Predominantly keyboard led with a KRAFTWERK-style pulse and a dark meditation on fame, that they chose it as a standalone single made my year”.
“It’s nice to hear B-MOVIE are finally getting a chance to release their forgotten gems”: Matt Johnson
Comprising of Steve Hovington (vocals + bass), Paul Statham (guitar), Rick Holliday (keyboards), and Graham Boffey (drums), while B-MOVIE had already released 2 EPs on Lincolnshire independent label Dead Good in 1980, it was their inclusion on 1981’s ‘Some Bizzare Album’ compiled by Futurist DJ Stevo Pearce which put them on the wider map.
Their song ‘Moles’, alongside contributions from then-unknown bands such as DEPECHE MODE, SOFT CELL, BLANCMANGE and THE THE was one of the album’s highlights. Having previously included them in his ‘Futurist’ chart for music paper Sounds, Stevo continued his support and subsequently became manager of B-MOVIE while SOFT CELL and THE THE were also added to the expanding Some Bizzare roster.
B-MOVIE’s synth-laden new wave brought them to the attention of Phonogram Records who saw the band as their answer to DURAN DURAN and SPANDAU BALLET. While B-MOVIE could do pop as proven by their best known song ‘Nowhere Girl’, their pessimistic post-punk demeanour meant the quartet had more in common with JOY DIVISION, THE CURE and TALK TALK rather than the New Romantics. If they have a 21st Century equivalent, then the nearest comparison would probably be WHITE LIES.
Ever the shrewd operator, Stevo insisted on a 2-for-1 deal which included SOFT CELL for Phonogram to sign B-MOVIE. Marc Almond and Dave Ball got to No1 with their cover of ‘Tainted Love’ in 1981 to begin an outstanding run of a five Top3 singles into 1982, but B-MOVIE were unable to breakthrough into the UK Top40 despite releasing a trio of excellent singles in ‘Remembrance Day’, ‘Marilyn Dreams’ and ‘Nowhere Girl’.
Photo by Peter Ashworth
Stevo Pearce loved chaos but chaos ultimately destroys and the struggle for success, coupled with internal tensions led to Boffey and Holliday departing the band. Severing ties with Stevo, the album they had demoed lay dormant for over 40 years and legend had it that the tapes were under his bed. But the recordings made during this period had actually been stored in Universal Music’s huge vault. After years of enquiries and negotiations, B-MOVIE have acquired the rights back to these tapes and with their restoration, the 1982 debut LP that “never was” is now available under the fitting title of ‘Hidden Treasures’.
The fact that these recordings were shelved back in the day by record label and management politics is nothing short of criminal, but “better late than never” goes the saying and anyone who has ever been entranced by ‘Remembrance Day’, ‘Marilyn Dreams’ and ‘Nowhere Girl’ will LOVE this collection. And for those long standing fans who actually bought their records, the CD has the bonus of addition of B-sides, 12” versions and ‘Moles’ which featured some magnificent synth playing from Rick Holliday.
Those three Some Bizzare era singles need no introduction from the anti-war anthem ‘Remembrance Day’ to the anti-fame art rock of ‘Marilyn Dreams’ but one that should have been a single was ‘Polar Opposites’; although there is what is now widely accepted as the perfect take in the 1981 John Peel session version, this version on ‘Hidden Treasures’ is shorter, grittier and slightly faster in the vein of Leeds’ GANG OF FOUR. Meanwhile the jagged album opener ‘Citizen Kane’ captures that psychedelic Liverpool flavour of the times, coming over like a cross between THE TEARDROP EXPLODES and ECHO & THE BUNNYMEN.
Very different to the arrangement of the 1981 John Peel version, the intense Cold War angst of ‘All Fall Down’ with references to Ronald Reagan may capture another time, but its words are chillingly relevant again and an indicator as to why this compendium of recordings from 1981-1982 sound so on point in 2025.
‘Ice’ is feisty gem of song with a hand played synth bass battling with frantic rhythm guitars and a speedy drumming run from Graham Boffey that would have made Stephen Morris proud, while the bright synth melodies on ‘La Lune Lunatique’ mask the shadier lyrical overtones. Less post-punk and much more of a melodic electronically styled pop song, ‘Crowds’ is not that dissimilar from say OMD or A FLOCK OF SEAGULLS and points towards the more commercial sound that Phonogram had signed B-MOVIE for. But as a complete flip to that mood, the gloomy progressive drama of ‘Beginning To Fade’ makes an ominous ‘Hidden Treasures’ closer.
The CD bonus tracks include longer takes of ‘Remembrance Day’ and ‘Marilyn Dreams’ but it’s the mighty ‘Nowhere Girl’ with the extended Rick Holliday’s concert piano and synthbass intro breakdown that excels as a classic 12” version. Of the B-sides, the remix of ‘Institution Walls’ from the second of the Dead Good EPs and ‘Scare Some Life Into Me’ both capture the raw vocal anxiety in Steve Hovington’s paranoia. Meanwhile the icy drum machine laden ‘Film Music’ was Holliday’s instrumental excursion into the monochromatic Mittel Europa atmospheres of ‘The Third Man’ and ‘The Spy Who Came in from the Cold’.
While the fragmented B-MOVIE led by Hovington and Statham did release a debut album in the disappointing ‘Forever Running’ in 1985, it is the three singles from this ‘Hidden Treasures’ period that are held in the highest esteem, so much so that the American electro-rock band THE FAINT used ‘Remembrance Day’ as the basis for their own ‘Southern Belles in London Sing’ in 2004. At around the same time, B-MOVIE reformed with their original line-up and despite the departure of Holliday again in 2022, continue today.
‘Hidden Treasures’ provides the missing links to ‘Remembrance Day’, ‘Marilyn Dreams’ and ‘Nowhere Girl’, along with the context as to why for a period, B-MOVIE were judged to become the next big thing. It didn’t happen for them, but this lost album superbly restored by Roger Lyons puts them on an equal footing with many of the best post-punk synth-laden bands of the era.
Absence can make the heart grow fonder and this case highlights how despite the passing of 43 years, B-MOVIE’s music from this period really has stood the test of time.
Set to the music of Buddy Holly, “Re-Record, Not Fade Away” was the iconic strapline voiced by veteran British actor Deryck Guyler as a jolly skeleton to advertise Scotch video cassettes in 1987. The premise was that these tapes were of such resilient high quality that they could be used for a lifetime and even outlive the purchaser.
But “Re-Record, Not Fade Away” could also be seen as a reference to the longevity of music through cover versions of classic songs. So what about when an artist effectively covers their own song by re-recording it?
Artists and producers are forever tinkering with their work. Sometimes it is to improve on a track or create a new vision. But also, it can be done simply to own a new copyright where the original is now in the hands of a less than co-operative custodian; the most recent high profile case of this has been Taylor Swift who has been re-recording all of her previous albums with each labelled as “Taylor’s Version”.
ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK presents its own list of 25 remakes and remodels from over the years. Most are more familiar than the originals and have been widely accepted as the superior versions while others continue to divide fans.
Presented in yearly and then alphabetical order with a restriction of one track per artist moniker, this listing does not include remixes, live recordings or radio sessions. Meanwhile originals refer to the first released versions so demos do not count!
ULTRAVOX! Hiroshima Mon Amour (1977)
ULTRAVOX! first released ‘Hiroshima Mon Amour’ as a fierce and frenetic art rock piece for the B-side of ‘ROckwrok’, but it was slowed right down for the ‘Ha! Ha! Ha!’ album version. Moving into the moody ambience of CLUSTER with a modified Roland TR77 rhythm machine and Elka Rhapsody string machine chillingly taking centre stage, the colder aesthetics were counterpointed by guest saxophonist CC from GLORIA MUNDI.
Available on the ULTRAVOX! album ‘Ha! Ha! Ha!’ via Island Records
After leaving ULTRAVOX, the full length solo debut ‘Metamatic’ from John Foxx featured a highlight in ‘No-One Driving’. Despite the album also including a song called ‘Blurred Girl’, the single re-recording had much sharper focus and slightly altered lyrics, reaching No32 in the UK charts. Released along with three new tracks ‘Glimmer’, ‘This City’ and ‘Mr No’, ‘No-One Driving’ remains one of the best double single packages ever.
The original Fast Product single version of ‘Being Boiled’ from 1978 was recorded in mono and had its own charm. But THE HUMAN LEAGUE took the opportunity to update their calling card with producer John Leckie for the ‘Travelogue’ album to more fully realise its funky FUNKADELIC inspired overtones. Using a varispeeded synth brass section named THE BOYS OF BUDDHA, the end result was more dynamic and livelier.
Available on THE HUMAN LEAGUE album ‘Travelogue’ via Virgin Records
With the 1979 ‘Unknown Pleasures’ version channelling THE STOOGES, the idea behind JOY DIVISION re-recording ‘She’s Lost Control’ was to make a really loud and dynamic 12 inch disco single. The result was a big cacophony of electronic and acoustic drums as well as an aerosol! Meanwhile, synths which had not been present before were now very much heard in the second half while Ian Curtis’ vocal delivery was even more foreboding.
Available on JOY DIVISION album ‘Substance’ via Rhino Records
On the debut self-titled OMD album, ‘Messages’ was a song that actually featured guitar with potential as a single. Utilising a pulsing repeat function on a Korg Micro-Preset shaped by hand twisting the octave knob, it was decided to re-record ‘Messages’ for its singular release. Produced by Mike Howlett, the new version included the addition of separately recorded drums for a cleaner snap to produce a breakthrough UK chart hit.
Available on the OMD album ‘Souvenir’ via Virgin Records
The much darker and aggressive first version of ‘Photographic’ for the ‘Some Bizzare Album’ was driven by Mute supremo Daniel Miller’s klanky Korg 55 Rhythm box. Featuring much more sophisticated sequencing and programmed percussion palettes, an understated approach was taken on the re-recorded ‘Speak & Spell’ version with snares sounds only making their presence felt a third of the way through.
Available on the DEPECHE MODE album ‘Speak & Spell’ via Universal Music
Compared with the original ‘Mutant Moments’ version of ‘Frustration’ which was akin to the unsettling demeanour of THROBBING GRISTLE, the ‘Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret’ take was like a completely different song. The lyrics were mostly written by Dave Ball about his own father while Marc Almond let his theatrical energetics go wild as sparkling Synclavier, a Roland Synthe-Bass and sleazy sax battled for audio supremacy.
Originally recorded for a 1980 EP on Dead Good Records, ‘Nowhere Girl’ was undoubtedly the most immediate pop tune in the B-MOVIE portfolio. The quartet were under pressure to have a hit with Phonogram label mates SOFT CELL having scored a No1. Produced by Steve Brown, the new recording had tinkling ivories like ULTRAVOX in full flight alongside pulsing bass and harp-like synths. Alas, ‘Nowhere Girl’ stalled at No67!
Originally recorded for a 1980 single on Mute Records in a band format featuring guitar and hand-played synths, ‘Kebabträume’ was subsequently reworked by DAF with sequencers under the production supervision of the legendary Conny Plank. Transforming into something much heavier, the memorable if controversial line “Deutschland, Deutschland, alles ist vorbei!” had more bite on this superior version.
Available on the DAF album ‘Für Immer’ via Grönland Records
Seeing out 1981 after the success of their self-titled debut album with the release of ‘My Own Way’, the single was characterised by its fast tempo and a disco string section. However, DURAN DURAN would express dissatisfaction at the recording. So for their second album ‘Rio’, the song was re-recorded in a slightly slower electro-funk style with a harder rhythmic edge while Simon Le Bon ad-libbed about “7UP between Sixth and Broadway”
Available on the DURAN DURAN album ‘Rio’ via EMI Music
Written when Wayne Hussey, later of THE SISTERS OF MERCY and THE MISSION, was in DEAD OR ALIVE, ‘The Stranger’ first surfaced as a single on Black Eyes Records. The tighter re-recording appeared as a B-side of the ‘What I Want’ single, dialling down the more gothic and acoustic elements while making the electronics and drum machine much more prominent. Despite this, it was a million miles from the HI-NRG sound that Pete Burns would find fame and fortune with.
HEAVEN 17 were misinterpreted by Thatcher’s yuppies who thought ‘Let’s All Make A Bomb’ was about making a financial killing, when it actually referred to a different type of killing altogether. The original ‘Penthouse & Pavement’ version was all analogue electronics including its rhythm track. For the B-side of ‘Come Live With Me’, this New Version was more digital with metallic samples for a type of industrial funk.
Available on the HEAVEN 17 album ‘Endless’ via Virgin Records
The original 1982 single version of ‘Pale Shelter’ was produced by Mike Howlett and began with an unsettling, reverse spoken vocal from Roland Orzabal. It failed to chart but with TEARS FOR FEARS flush from the success of ‘Mad World’ and ‘Change’, the parent debut album ‘The Hurting’ featured a re-recording produced by Ross Cullum and Chris Hughes with a much looser feel. Re-released as a single, it gave the duo their third UK Top5 hit.
When ‘Uncertain Smile’ was released as a Mike Thorne produced single in 1982, it featured a wonderfully rigid TR808 pattern, synths and a variety of woodwinds including flute and sax. Come the ‘Soul Mining’ album produced by Paul Hardiman, the song was newly recorded with live drums and an extended boogie-woogie piano section from Jools Holland at the end. Some love it, some don’t but THE THE main man Matt Johnson is in the former camp.
Available on the THE THE album ’Soul Mining’ via Epic Records
Benny Andersson said that ABBA’s ‘The Day Before You Came’ was “a really good song, but not a good recording” and by coincidence, the first attempt by BLANCMANGE produced by John Luongo for the ‘Mange Tout’ album was underwhelming. But this was put right for single release in a rhythmically tighter re-recording helmed by Peter Collins which also made more of Neil Arthur’s melodramatics and Northern English quirkiness.
‘Forbidden Colours’ was the David Sylvian vocalled version of theme to the film ‘Merry Christmas Mr Lawrence’ which was composed by Ryuichi Sakamoto who also starred in it alongside David Bowie. But Sylvian wanted to do his own “not so grand” version for his debut album ‘Brilliant Trees’. Featuring Sakamoto on piano with Sylvian on synths and Steve Jansen on live drums , it was eventually dropped for ‘The Ink In The Well’ but ended up as the B-side to ‘Red Guitar’.
Tony Mansfield of NEW MUSIK did the original production on ‘Take On Me’ in 1984. However, A-HA were unhappy with the Fairlight-assisted results so it was remixed by their manager John Radcliff. The single failed to chart but with Warner music sensing a potential hit, a re-recording was commissioned with Alan Tarney as producer and showing off Morten Harket’s blistering vocal range. The single flopped again but on the third attempt, became the international hit they desired.
The original version of ‘West End Girls’ had been produced by New Yorker Bobby Orlando and released by Epic Records in 1984 , but while it has been a cult favourite, it was not a mainstream chart success. After signing to EMI, it was re-recorded with a lush cinematic aesthetic produced by Stephen Hague. It was stylistically at odds with pop duos like WHAM! but gave PET SHOP BOYS the first of their 4 UK No1s.
Available on the PET SHOP BOYS album ‘Smash’ via EMI Music
A plaintive song about the wandering eye, ‘No-One Is To Blame’ was one of the best Howard Jones ballads. A highlight in its first guise from his second album ‘Dream Into Action’, with Trans-Atlantic hit potential and Phil Collins riding high in that market, a re-recording was made with the GENESIS drummer producing alongside Hugh Padgham. Mission accomplished, the single became Jones’ biggest US hit.
The original ‘Temptation’ was the first Top30 UK single for a rejuvenated NEW ORDER. For their ‘Substance’ compilation, the track was re-recorded in line with how the band were playing it live, with ARPs and Simmons drums now replaced by Yamahas and a harder digital snare while the vocal was perhaps more restrained. Thanks to the huge success of ‘Substance’, this is probably now the best known version of ‘Temptation’.
Available on the NEW ORDER album ‘Substance’ via Warner Music
The original stark 1975 recording had ambigious references to radio activity but accepting the criticism they were getting from environmentalists, KRAFTWERK gave a pointed anti-nuclear message on this powerful 1991 re-recording. The most significant makeover was its additional unsettling machine chant of “TSCHERNOBYL – HARRISBURGH – SELLAFIELD – HIROSHIMA” highlighting recent atomic catastrophes.
Available on the KRAFTWERK album ‘The Mix’ via EMI Music
Despite not being a single, ‘Metal’ is a bonafide Gary Numan classic from 1979’s ‘The Pleasure Principle’. But in his stock on the rise again after several lean years and signing to Eagle Records, he revisited it to include as a bonus track for the single release of ‘Dominion Day’ from the ‘Exile’ album. A much more brooding grandiose reinterpretation, things were taken a step further by NINE INCH NAILS cover on ‘Things Falling Apart’ in 2000.
LUSTANS LAKEJER were seen as Sweden’s answer to DURAN DURAN; ‘Begärets Dunkla Mål’ was originally a moody unga moderna disco song which opened their self-titled 1981 debut album. The song was given a full Düsseldorf electronic makeover for their greatest hits collection 26 years later. Produced by Peder Livijn of SYSTEM, with a bounce reminiscent of KRAFTWERK’s ‘Das Model’, it became the catchy synthpop tune it had the potential to be.
The very KRAFTWERK influenced lead single from the third RHEINGOLD album ‘Distanz’, neither ‘Computer Beat’ or its parent long player have been reissued by CBS in the digital age. Re-recorded for a self-released ‘Best Of’ along with their German hits ‘Fluss’, ‘3Klangsdimensionen’ and ‘FanFanFanatisch’, unlike the majority of the tracks in this list, the aim was to make the rework sound as much like the original as possible.
Available on the RHEINGOLD album ‘Best Of’ via 3Klang Records
Originally recorded as a guitar-driven indie pop tune in 2008, ‘Blue Motorbike’ was the best known tune by Swedish singer-songwriter Oskar Humlebo under his MOTO BOY alias. 10 years later and reflecting his now-more laid back cinematic aesthetic, he revisited it as a pretty synthpop ballad for the Original Motion Picture Soundtrack of the Swedish thriller ‘Videoman’ which also featured notable synthwave exponents such as Robert Parker and WAVESHAPER.
Available on the Original Motion Picture Soundtrack album ‘Videoman’ (V/A) via Lakeshore Records
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