BLANCMANGE co-founder Stephen Luscombe has passed away after a long illness; he was 70.
Born in Hillington, Luscombe grew up in Southall, an area of London with a significant population of immigrant heritage from the Indian sub-continent, the music of which would prove to be a significant influence in the sound of BLANCMANGE.
Developing an interest in the violin, Luscombe became a member of the PORTSMOUTH SINFONIA, an orchestral combo who were noted for not actually having had formal training to play their instruments. One of its former members was Brian Eno who invited them to play on the lovely ‘Put A Straw Under Baby’ from his second solo album ‘Taking Tiger Mountain (By Strategy)’.
Taking to keyboards, Luscombe met Lancastrian Neil Arthur at Harrow College where the pair had played in various bands separately. Luscombe had even self-released a solo cassette ‘Do The Plastic Bag’ in 1978. Developing a mutual admiration for each other’s artistic sensibilities including a shared love of KRAFTWERK, they decided to work together.
The first track Luscombe and Arthur wrote was the instrumental ‘Sad Day’ but their debut release as BLANCMANGE was the ‘Irene & Mavis’ EP in April 1980; cramming six tracks onto a 33RPM 7” record and respectively adopting the pseudonyms of Irene ‘Disco’ Sinden and Mavis Secostas, Luscombe and Arthur came to the attention of Futurist DJ Stevo Pearce who included ‘Sad Day’ on his influential ‘Some Bizzare Album’ in January 1981 which also showcased DEPECHE MODE, SOFT CELL, THE THE and B-MOVIE.
Also becoming aware of the duo was Mute supremo Daniel Miller who would invite them to open for DEPECHE MODE and later affectionately refer to BLANCMANGE as “The Maiden Aunts of Techno”. Support slots with JAPAN and Grace Jones would follow with the statuesque songstress inviting the pair after the show to take turns sitting on her knee and to go clubbing.
Signing to London Records which allowed Luscombe to make his first synth purchase, a Roland Jupiter 8, BLANCMANGE hit paydirt with their third single ‘Living On The Ceiling’. With an authentic Eastern flavour provided by Indian musicians Pandit Dinesh on tablas and Deepak Khazauchi on sitar, ‘Living On The Ceiling’ would reach No7 in the UK singles chart in Autumn 1982 and give BLANCMANGE’s impressive debut album ‘Happy Families’ a well-deserved leg up.
A more disco-approach under the auspices of New York producer John Luongo dominated the cleverly titled second album ‘Mange Tout’ but while the first single from it ‘Blind Vision’ would hit the UK Top10, it would be ‘Don’t Tell Me’ again featuring Deepak Khazanchi and Pandit Dinesh that would provide BLANCMANGE with an even bigger hit in March 1984, reaching No8.
BLANCMANGE’s final Top30 hit would come with a cover of ABBA’s ‘The Day Before You Came’ in July 1984; the idea come while Luscombe and Arthur were holidaying in Tenerife with Vince Clarke. Immersing themselves in a cassette of ABBA’s ‘The Singles – The First Ten Years’, all present hit upon the idea of covering the Super Swedes with Clarke following suit in 1986 when ERASURE covered ‘Gimme! Gimme! Gimme!’. But while BLANCMANGE’s take on ‘The Day Before You Came’ largely followed the original arrangement, it was the sound of the Indian sub-continent that Luscombe brought in which provided some spice with Deepak Khazanchi and Pandit Dinesh again contributing.
The third album ‘Believe You Me’ in 1985 saw BLANCMANGE’s fortunes wane with the lead single ‘What’s Your Problem?’ only just denting the Top40; Luscombe and Arthur mutually decided to call it a day to save their friendship after a concert at the Royal Albert Hall 1986. In 1989, Luscombe released the album ‘From New Demons’ under the name THE WEST INDIA COMPANY, a project collaborating with a variety of guest musicians including Pandit Dinesh and Vince Clarke who had been involved as early as 1984 with the first single ‘Ave Maria (Om Ganesha)’ featuring Asha Bhosle who would later be celebrated by CORNERSHOP with the No1 single ‘Brimful Of Asha’.
Continuing to work on film and TV soundtracks, with the back catalogue reissued on CD for the first time in 2008, Stephen Luscombe and Neil Arthur quietly reconvened as BLANCMANGE. Retaining their quirkily poetic eccentricity, the end result ‘Blanc Burn’ was released in March 2011 but with Luscombe having been diagnosed with a spinal aneurysm, he was unable to take part in the subsequent live tour.
When he was able to, Luscombe would attend BLANCMANGE concerts in London, watching Arthur keep the BLANCMANGE name alive from the proximity of the balcony and after the shows, he would often be seen chatting to fans who celebrated him as a stoic keyboardist in the tradition of Ron Mael, Dave Ball, Vince Clarke and Chris Lowe.
Moby has described BLANCMANGE as “probably the most under-rated electronic act of all time” and while Stephen Luscombe leaves behind some great music, his legacy in these now-horribly divisive and racist times is his embracement of multi-culturalism and as a champion of music from the Indian sub-continent.
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
Established on 15th March 2010, ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK celebrates 15 years online.
Aiming to feature the best in new and classic electronic pop music, during that time it has conducted over 550 interviews from fledgling independent acts and veteran cult artists to established international stars.
ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK prides itself in asking interesting questions that are a bit different and seeded by knowledge of the subject. As a result, these interviews have been appreciated by those music enthusiasts who know their tape recorders from their drum machines.
As for the interviewees, the vast majority have been a joy to work with and luckily, boring or difficult interviews have been rare. However, the most disappointing situations arise when someone agrees to an interview and continues communications for several weeks but doesn’t come clean to say they are not actually interested in participating… it is the interviewing equivalent of being ghosted 😆
Photo by Rob Harris
While sending questions via email for an artist to answer in their own time is the modern way of conducting an interview and is convenient with artists who have day jobs, don’t speak English as a first language or are in a different time zone, it is not particularly interactive and lacks a conversational flow. A true interview is a two way live conversation conducted face-to-face, by phone or a conferencing platform where opinions, thoughts and recollections can be obtained through reactive questioning.
ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK lists its 25 favourite interviews from over the years. Reading like a ‘Who’s Who?’ of electronic pop, all the interviews were conducted in-person or via a live call, except those with Alan Wilder, Karl Bartos and Rob Dean which were done by email.
PAUL HUMPHREYS (2010)
This Paul Humphreys interview put ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK on the map. At his studio complex in London, he chatted about the past, present and future of OMD, hinting at the contents of the upcoming album ‘History Of Modern’. The interview proved popular and was later quoted by The Guardian in a feature about OMD. This was the first of five interviews, the most recent of which was for OMD’s 40th Anniversary in 2019.
ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK bumped into Sarah Blackwood after a HEAVEN 17 concert in Cologne and so began a long lasting friendship. Conducted at a café in St Pancras, this interview captured an interesting interregnum with our heroine between the end of CLIENT and the start of the DUBSTAR reunion. This was to be the first of two Sarah solo chats while she would be interviewed with Chris Wilkie twice as DUBSTAR.
Conducted in London to coincide with the reissue of her debut solo album ‘Love: And A Million Other Things’, Claudia Brücken talked about her time in PROPAGANDA, ACT and ONETWO while she also talked about plans for a compilation called ‘ComBined’ collecting highlights from throughout her career. Her most recent ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK interview was together with Susanne Freytag as xPROPAGANDA.
The majority of interviews are cordial affairs but this one with Andy McCluskey following the release of OMD’s comeback album ‘History Of Modern’ was a bit ‘Frost/Nixon’. ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK echoed some of the fan disappointments about the record and to his credit, he was unrepentant and batted away criticisms with aplomb. A less confrontational interview followed in 2013 for ‘English Electric’.
ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK were surprised when a request to interview Stephen Morris was accepted, especially as NEW ORDER had seemingly disbanded. The conversion had The Human Drum Machine at his best with stories about JOY DIVISION as well. But why was this interview taking place, why was he doing a fashion shoot for ‘Arena Homme+’? It was all subtle profile rebuilding as NEW ORDER was relaunched months later!
With many discussion points covered, a thoroughly entertaining hour was spent chatting to Neil Arthur in his studio during a break from rehearsals for the first BLANCMANGE live shows since 1986 in support of a new album ‘Blanc Burn’. The artist who has been interviewed the most times by ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK, he has since been featured a further nine times including with his side projects FADER and NEAR FUTURE.
The intelligent aesthetics of MIRRORS made them ideal for ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK’s first interview using the Vintage Synth Trumps format. Conducted in the dressing room of Cologne’s Gebaude9 prior to the first show of their headlining German tour, James New and Ally Young chatted about the synths used on their ’Lights & Offerings’ album. But tension was evident between the pair and it ultimately led to the sad end of the band.
While often reluctant to talk about DEPECHE MODE, when Alan Wilder auctioned off a large collection of his studio equipment, vinyl and memorabilia, he was ready to talk about the band he left in 1995 again as well his own musical venture RECOIL. For the 25th Anniversary of the release of the ‘101’ live album and documentary film in 2014 , ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK was the only platform he granted an interview to.
One of the nicest guys in the music business, ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK had the pleasure of chatting to Howard Jones about his then-upcoming tour performing his first two albums ‘Human’s Lib’ and ‘Dream Into Action’. Focussing on the period between 1983 to 85 when he became a household name and was many people’s entry point into the world of synthpop, the interview included lots of analogue and digital synth talk.
A short conversation conducted remotely, Karl Bartos talked about his new album ‘Off The Record’ and recalled his collaborations with Andy McCluskey, Bernard Sumner and Johnny Marr. When he performed at Cologne’s Live Music Hall on the same night that KRAFTWERK received a Lifetime Achievement Grammyin January 2014, ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK were granted an audience with the man himself.
The album ‘the minutes’ saw the return of Alison Moyet to electronica and this inevitably led to reminiscences about YAZOO in this delightful and sweary interview conducted face-to-face in Islington. She was frank and open about all aspects of her career, the misconception of her being a “jazz singer” and which two songs from the YAZOO portfolio she particularly hated! Can you guess without look at the transcript which ones they are?
VILE ELECTRODES remain the act that ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK has been proudest of featuring. Invited to support OMD on the German leg of their ‘English Electric’ tour following Andy McCluskey spotting the band while perusing ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK, this informative interview was conducted in Anais Neon and Martin Swan’s synth-filled apartment and completed online to update it after the news was announced.
ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK were literally given a few days notice that it was to interview Gary Numan at his home in Los Angeles by phone. Coinciding with the release of the ‘Splinter (Songs From A Broken Mind)’ album which had taken 7 years to complete, he was in buoyant mood after an artistic rejuvenation. Refreshingly honest, he admitted his original plan to make all the songs on ‘Splinter’ one-dimensional was “a sh*t idea”!
One of the fun things about the Vintage Synth Trumps series of interviews is that there is a degree of jeopardy for both interviewer and artist. Taking time to gain acclaim and recognition, the first Rodney Cromwell album ‘Age Of Anxiety’ was perfect for mainman Adam Cresswell to talk about his love of synths and DIY recording as well as the influence of NEW ORDER and SECTION 25 on his music over a fish supper in London’s Soho.
It was known that Richard Barbieri is often not that keen on talking about JAPAN and ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK assumed all the chat over the phone would be about his new album ‘Planets + Persona’. But unprompted, he chatted about his MicroMoog which was used on a number of JAPAN albums. But the crowning glory of the interview was how he did the metallic intro of ‘Ghosts’ using his Roland System 700 Lab Series.
While not as well-known as Giorgio Moroder or Conny Plank, producer Zeus B Held contacted ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK after it did a Beginner’s Guide feature on his career portfolio. A coffee meeting was arranged at Foyles bookshop in London and morphed into a full interview which saw the talkative German reflect back on working with GINA X PERFORMANCE, FASHION and DEAD OR ALIVE as well as John Foxx and Gary Numan.
When in Düsseldorf… despite the confrontational aspects of DAF, their drummer and sequencer programmer Robert Görl is something of a thoughtful and spiritual soul. This face-to-face interview was conducted before a performance of his ‘Glücksritter’ live only project and took in DAF, his wonderful solo debut long player ‘Night Full Of Tension’, working with Annie Lennox and the great standalone single ‘Mit Dir’.
Marc Almond and Dave Ball surprised all with a reunion for ‘One Night Only’ at London’s O2 Arena that has since become an ongoing world tour. But with it came a lavish boxed set, various books and new albums. In a London pub, ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK had an in-depth chat with Dave Ball focussed on the ups and downs of SOFT CELL. This was followed up with an entertaining game of Vintage Synth Trumps in 2023.
ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK has enjoyed seven interviews with Martyn Ware encompassing HEAVEN 17 and BEF, but this chat was about his time as a co-founder member of THE HUMAN LEAGUE to coincide with a live celebration of their first two albums ‘Reproduction’ and ‘Travelogue’. This was a fascinating insight into how THE HUMAN LEAGUE’s “vocals and synthesizers only” sound became the future of pop music.
Although he left JAPAN in 1980, guitarist Rob Dean gave an eye witness account to ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK into the making of their third album ‘Quiet Life’ to coincide with a remastered boxset. JAPAN were in a state of transition from the growly glam funk of their first records to the mannered artful combo people remember them for today, so with him now residing in Costa Rica, this email Q&A provided some insightful commentary.
While most of ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK’s interviews with Our Man In Berlin have been conducted remotely at his convenience, apart from an onstage interview at a 2016 event in Düsseldorf, this Vintage Synth Trumps chat was a rare live outing on Skype. Among the topics were his remixes for NEW ORDER and YELLO while there was also mention of the Transcendent 2000 which Bernard Sumner had built from a kit and given to him.
With his noted dry humour, Billy Currie was on top form for probably the best interview in the Vintage Synth Trumps series so far. With insight into the workings of ULTRAVOX and VISAGE as well solo work and his brief time in the Gary Numan live band. Of the latter, Currie went into detail about the ARP Odyssey solo on ‘On Broadway’ while also shedding light on how ‘Touch & Go’ co-written with former band mate John Foxx became ‘Mr X’.
Some say that the Belgians don’t have a sense of humour, but that was proved wrong when surviving TELEX members Michel Moers and Dan Lacksman gave a laugh a minute interview to ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK in support of their self-titled boxed set released by Mute Records. The most hilarious moment was when the pair recalled their dismay when Portugal awarded them 10 points at the Eurovision Song Contest in 1980.
ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK has had the honour of interviewing Midge Ure on a number of occasions, the first time at the world famous Abbey Road Studios. But the most recent occasion was the best where he discussed a life in music ahead of his 70th birthday and a special show at the Royal Albert Hall. This was an extensive chat which included music technology such as the PPG Wave and the Roland GR700 guitar synthesizer.
With ‘Metamatic’ about to celebrate its 45th Anniversary, it was a perfect time for ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK to chat to John Foxx about his close encounters with synthesizers over a game of Vintage Synth Trumps in Düsseldorf, the spiritual home of modern electronic pop. As well as talking about his seminal debut solo album, he recalled how ULTRAVOX came to utilise synths and drum machines in their music.
Electronic pop music laid slightly wounded in 1985.
It was a year of transition as DEPECHE MODE did not release a new album, but consolidated with a handy compilation ‘The Singles 81-85’ although its very weak new track ‘It’s Called A Heart’ was thankfully not a sign of things to come.
Meanwhile after the critical acclaim with their debut single, the Bobby Orlando produced version of ‘West End Girls’ in 1984, PET SHOP BOYS were struggling to gain traction despite signing a deal with EMI with their first single for the label ‘Opportunities (Let’s Make Lots Of Money)’ which stalled on its first release at No116; but a re-recorded version of ‘West End Girls’ produced by Stephen Hague issued towards the end of 1985 would change fortunes in time for the start of 1986.
One of the key singles of 1985 was ‘Slave To The Rhythm’ by Grace Jones; wonderful, sun-kissed funky pop in its radio version, producer Trevor Horn took the multiple remix approach he had piloted with FRANKIE GOES TO HOLLYWOOD to its zenith with the parent album. Having worked endlessy to come up with the perfect version and therefore different approaches, rather than actually do a collection of songs, why not do an album that was effectively multiple remixes and interpretations of one song?
The rise of FM synthesis, sampling and computer controlled systems during 1984, sidechained to the success of more guitar driven acts such as U2 and THE PSYCHEDELIC FURS in America, meant that traditional instruments and realistic presets were now the new badge of honour as music made with the inventive electronic sounds prevalent during Synth Britannia faced a backlash. EURYTHMICS moved away from synths to a more conventional band sound while THE SMITHS would continue to be held up by the music press as purer flagbearers of “real music” with Morrissey having already declared “there was nothing more repellent than the synthesizer…”
An early indicator of where things were heading came when ‘Don’t You (Forget About Me)’ was released by SIMPLE MINDS in February 1985 in the US as the theme to a new teen angst movie ‘The Breakfast Club’. Written by Steve Schiff with Keith Forsey who already had co-writes for ‘Flashdance’ and ‘Never Ending Story’ to his name, Radio1’s Richard Skinner called the song “bland” but highly FM radio friendly, it was an American No1 before the start of the Summer and was one of centrepieces of the US leg of Live Aid at JFK Stadium in Philadelphia. The event coincided with an explosion in corporate rock and “DDD” music made for the up-and-coming CD format by the likes of DIRE STRAITS.
This more rock-infused but technically polished new wave sound would be key to TEARS FOR FEARS’ huge success across the Atlantic with their second album ‘Songs From The Big Chair’. It saw bands like VITAMIN Z adopting that style and they even went as far as hiring Ross Cullum who co-produced TEARS FOR FEARS debut to helm their first album ‘Rites Of Passage’; despite a UK tour opening for Midge Ure, although sales were not forthcoming, singer Geoff Barradale would later use his experience to great effect when he managed ARCTIC MONEYS and took them to stardom.
The most disappointing record of 1985 was ‘Crush’ by OMD; while producer Stephen Hague made their sound more palatable for Trans-Atlantic consumption with more guitars, piano and acoustic drums as exemplified by the uninspiring single ‘So In Love’, the inner sleeve credit of “electronic keyboards” instead of individual synths as on ‘Dazzle Ships’ and ‘Junk Culture or “synthesizers” as on previous albums was a pointer to the blanding out of this once great band for a wider audience in the US.
Despite synths being less desirable in terms of Trans-Atlantic marketability in the move away from cooler European artistry, ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK has been able to assemble a list of 20 albums seen as being part of the admittedly weaker electronic legacy of 1985. Listed in alphabetical order, there is a restriction of one album per artist moniker.
ABC How To Be A Zillionaire!
After the rockisms of ‘Beauty Stab’, the third ABC album sprung a major surprise in its New York electro flavoured lead single ‘How To Be A Millionaire’. “We saw it happening in Times Square, there were B-Boys doing that whole thing to KRAFTWERK which was just amazing. The minute the Emulator II came out, we bought one. No need to pay a Fairlight programmer £750 a day!” said Mark White; ‘Fear Of The World’ would later be sampled for the ELECTRONIC B-side ‘Lean To The Inside’.
Despite being labelled a teenybop group, from the beginning A-HA were always so much more than just the catchy pop of ‘Take On Me’. Containing another three hit singles, there was the wistful ‘Hunting High & Low’ title song while ‘The Sun Always Shines On TV’ revealed a lyrical darkness as the combination of synths and edgy guitar put them in the same league as ULTRAVOX and ASSOCIATES. But ‘Living A Boy’s Adventure Tale’ was the track that outlined A-HA had longevity.
In response to THE POWER STATION, ARCADIA was Simon Le Bon, Nick Rhodes and Roger Taylor’s attempt to be JAPAN, smothered in an esoteric pond of lush arty indulgence. ‘Election Day’ featuring Grace Jones could have been a DURAN DURAN song, as could ‘The Flame’ which bore a resemblance to ‘A View To A Kill’. But ‘Goodbye Is Forever’ was art funk that pointed to where DURAN DURAN would head with ‘Notorious’.
With the departure of Alan Rankine after ‘Sulk’, Billy Mackenzie recruited Martyn Ware and Martin Rushent on its follow-up ‘Perhaps’. Although more glossy in sound, the Rushent produced ‘Waiting For The Love Boat’ could have easily come off ‘Sulk’ while ‘Those First Impressions’ produced by Ware narrowly failed to crack the UK Top40. But the epic string laden drama of ‘Breakfast’ helmed by Rushent was possibly Mackenzie’s greatest single moment.
Despite good crossover songs such as ‘Why Don’t They Leave Things Alone?’ and ‘Lorraine’s My Nurse’, with synthpop now no longer in-vogue, there was a lukewarm reception for the third BLANCMANGE album ‘Believe You Me’. With a proclamation from Neil Arthur that “I feel like I’m losin’ my mind” in the electro-funk of ‘22339’, it led to him and Luscombe calling it a day in order to protect their friendship after a show at the Royal Albert Hall.
Produced by Walter Becker of STEELY DAN, the influence of his band on ‘Flaunt The Imperfection’ resulted in much more of a live soulful feel with the contribution of accomplished session musicians while Gary Daly and Eddie Lundon focussed on the songwriting. Classic CHINA CRISIS songs like ‘Black Man Ray’ and ‘King In A Catholic Style’ secured two UK Top20 hits from a single album for the first time.
DEAD OR ALIVE looked like they’d missed the boat when their rivals FRANKIE GOES TO HOLLYWOOD reached No1 with ‘Relax’. Having heard ‘You Think You’re A Man’ by Divine, Burns recruited the song’s production team of Stock, Aitken & Waterman to work on ‘You Spin Me Round (Like A Record)’ which hit the top of the UK singles chart. The eventual ‘Youthquake’ album was a mixed bag, but included another hit ‘In Too Deep’ and the gothic funk epic ‘It’s Been A Long Time’.
After JAPAN, drummer Steve Jansen and keyboardist Richard Barbieri formed a new creative partnership. ‘Worlds In A Small Room’ was an instrumental suite commissioned by JVC to accompany a documentary about the Space Shuttle Challenger. ‘Breaking The Silence’ was a beautiful opening piece with elements recalling Ryuichi Sakamoto while the more structured ‘Moving Circles’ had a Jansen vocal added for the Japanese release’s bonus song ‘Move In Circles’.
Thanks to the success of his debut album ‘Human’s Lib’, the follow-up ‘Dream Into Action’ was written by Howard Jones on the road by necessity; “I was writing in dressing rooms on an Akai 12 track recorder…” he said, “we were experimenting a lot so it’s a much more complex record”. There were hopeful anthems in ‘Things Can Only Get Better’ and ‘Life In One Day’ while the plaintive ‘No One Is To Blame’ would become a huge Trans-Atlantic hit in a new version produced by Phil Collins.
‘Low-life’ saw for the first time, a single ‘The Perfect Kiss’ taken from a NEW ORDER album as a compromise following a new US deal with Qwest Records. ‘Low-life’ featured several other highlights and opened with the Country ‘n’ North Western ghost story ‘Love Vigilantes’. The mighty ‘Sunrise’ was another number in the tit-for-that exchange with THE CURE which was clearly influenced by ‘A Forest’ while the brilliant ‘This Time Of Night’ exuded a throbbing post-punk growl.
Co-produced with PPG operators The Wave Team, ‘The Fury’ was the best Gary Numan album since ‘Telekon’. Although very much with the times and in line with acts like FRANKIE GOES TO HOLLYWOOD and DEAD OR ALIVE, the hard but bright digital sound complimented Numan’s downbeat lyricism. Among the highlights were ‘Call Out The Dogs’, ‘Tricks’ and ‘Miracles’ while the haunting closing track ‘I Still Remember’ was a vocal reimagining of the 1979 instrumental ‘Random’.
PHILIP OAKEY & GIORGIO MORODER Philip Oakey & Giorgio Moroder
After the worldwide success of ‘Together In Electric Dreams’ and the lukewarm response to THE HUMAN LEAGUE’s ‘Hysteria’ in 1984, Virgin Records swiftly despatched Philip Oakey to record an album with Giorgio Moroder. ‘Now’ was Oakey’s heartfelt commentary on economic corruption while the thumping side one segue of ‘Why Must The Show Go On?’, ‘Good-Bye Bad Times’ and ‘Take A Chance’ was a thrilling train ride.
Düsseldorf’s PROPAGANDA were dubbed “ABBA in Hell”! The magnificent film noir of ‘Dr Mabuse’ was their opening salvo produced by Trevor Horn. The producer’s helm was handed over to engineer Stephen J Lipson for the album ‘A Secret Wish’. ‘Duel’ exuded an accessible ice maiden cool while the Teutonic ‘P.Machinery’ was full of state of the art technical tricks. With the lengthy and poetic ‘Dream Within A Dream’, the listener was taken on a massive sonic adventure.
The first major label SCRITTI POLITTI LP ‘Cupid & Psyche 85’ contained the 1984 Arif Mardin produced hits ‘Wood Beez (Pray Like Aretha Franklin)’ and ‘Absolute’, the latter also seeing input from Gary Langan and JJ Jeczalik of THE ART OF NOISE. Green Gartside embraced of mainstream dance pop and state-of-the-art studio production with new song writing partner David Gamson. Meanwhile self-produced reggae inflected ‘The Word Girl returned to sound of earlier Scritti.
After the harder new rock sound of ‘Sparkle In The Rain’ produced by Steve Lillywhite, SIMPLE MINDS brought the synths back in, albeit with a Trans-Atlantic sheen helmed by American production heavyweights Jimmy Iovine and Bob Clearmountain. Despite the modern FM rock bombast which even included a rhythm n blues flavour on ‘Sanctify Yourself’, ‘Alive & Kicking’ saw Mick McNeil’s Gaelic accordion virtuosity applied to electronic keyboards for a huge hit in the US and Europe.
“Spreading out” rather than splitting, Yukihiro Takahashi still had his YELLOW MAGIC ORCHESTRA band mates Haruomi Hosono and Ryuichi Sakamoto playing on seventh solo album ‘Once A Fool,…’; as could be expected from Japan’s answer to Bryan Ferry, this was a sophisticated production with strong percussive backdrops. ‘Providence (Subarashiki Gensou)’ was a particularly uplifting highlight while there was also a cover of Todd Rundgren’s ‘I Saw The Light’.
DespiteTEARS FOR FEARS adopting more guitar compared to its predecessor ‘The Hurting’, the more band oriented ‘Songs From The Big Chair’ were still characterised by electronics and rhythm programming in its backbone. Cold War angst provided the tension to ‘Shout’ and the big American driving hit ‘Everybody Wants To Rule The World’ while ‘Head Over Heels’ with its blistering synth solo was another Stateside hit, later in the 2001 psychological thriller ‘Donnie Darko’.
Produced by Alan Rankine, ‘Theoretically Chinese’ was as much of an electronic pop departure for Winston Tong from TUXEDMOON as Robert Görl’s ‘Night Full Of Tension’ was from DAF. The era’s inherent Cold War tensions also loomed large on the fine pulsing opener ‘Big Brother’ as well as an excellent uptempo cover of Marianne Faithfull’s ‘Broken English’ while ‘Reports From The Heart’ provided an elegant sweeping ballad.
Midge Ure finally took the solo album plunge with ‘The Gift’. Songs like ‘When The Wind Blows’, ‘That Certain Smile’ and the title track sounded like ULTRAVOX enough to potentially worry his bandmates. But ULTRAVOX would never have covered JETHRO TULL’s ‘Living In The Past’ or recorded the lovey-dovey UK No1 single ‘If I Was’ which was rescued from the unreleased vaults of MESSENGERS whose instrumentalist Danny Mitchell was Ure’s main collaborator on this great adventure.
‘The Gift’ is still available via Chrysalis Records
‘Stella’ was the first album YELLO made without founder member Carlos Perón; Boris Blank and Dieter Meier headed towards a more cinematic style of experimental pop, making greater use of the Fairlight and digital synths. It included the delightful ‘Vicious Games’ featuring vocals by Rush Winters but the album’s biggest track was ‘Oh Yeah’ which ended up in ‘Ferris Bueller’s Day Off’, ‘The Secret of My Success’ and ‘The Simpsons’.
Me? Definitely Won’t Be! Join the #SynthResistance
When ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK came into being in March 2010, synth was still on a recovery path and it seemed PET SHOP BOYS were the only act continuing to fly the flag successfully having been awarded the BRIT Award for ‘Outstanding Contribution To Music’ the previous year.
While DEPECHE MODE and SIMPLE MINDS had released albums in 2009, their latest material showed few signs of their imperial phases. BLANCMANGE, NEW ORDER and SOFT CELL had not yet returned, ULTRAVOX were still to release ‘Brilliant’ despite a well-received live return and while THE HUMAN LEAGUE were regulars on the live circuit, they had not issued a new album for 9 years. Meanwhile OMD and DURAN DURAN were in a state of creative flux having released disappointing albums in ‘History Of Modern’ and ‘Red Carpet Massacre’ respectively.
However in 2024, most of these acts are performing to sizeable audiences and while ULTRAVOX may have called it a day in 2013, Midge Ure continues to tour with songs from ‘Vienna’, ‘Rage In Eden’, ‘Quartet’ and ‘Lament’. For these heritage acts, the concert circuit is now very lucrative and a testament to their music still standing up after several decades and most importantly for longevity, appealing to new and younger audiences.
Photo by Chi Ming Lai
But for new synth music generally, particularly in Britain, it appeared to be in decline although these signs had been very apparent over the past few years. One thing that has been significant about ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK’s 30 SONGS OF 2024 was that on only 4 occasions was there full or part representation from the nation that seeded Synth Britannia… how the mighty have fallen! And when Taylor Swift is doing better electronic pop songs than most, then there’s a real problem!
First time around during 1994 to 1997, Britpop had as good as killed off the synth and with the news of the OASIS live reunion in 2025 grabbing all the headlines, it looks as though history is repeating itself. But everything is cyclical and there was a backlash against guitar bands after the new millennium began. There is hope yet but while a MIRRORS reunion is unlikely any time soon, it takes darkness to appreciate the light so anything is possible 😉
2024 was a year fraught with uncertainty and this was reflected musically. With ongoing political tensions in their homeland and having spoken out against the invasion of Ukraine by Russia, MOLCHAT DOMA relocated from Belarus to Los Angeles. Their excellent fourth album ‘Belaya Polosa’ channelled the anxiety and fear of that journey into exile and literally saw the trio change from sounding like JOY DIVISION to sounding like NEW ORDER. But have they walked from the frying pan into the fryer?
Released back in March before the US Elections, one of the best albums of 2024, ‘Masochist’ by NIGHT CLUB became a dystopian prophecy come true. Emotions were summed up by the inclusion of ‘The Lunatics (Have Taken Over the Asylum)’, a cover of the song by FUN BOY THREE. Written as a metaphor to the dangerous posturing games played by “The Cowboy” Ronald Reagan in 1981 during The Cold War, today the even crazier orange face is back followed by his flock of mindless MAGA sheep…
‘If You Tolerate This, Then Your Children Will Be Next’ sang MANIC STREET PREACHERS and more than ever in the UK, it is important to stand against the retarded racist scum getting behind the neo-fascist posturings of that pompous grifter Nigel Farage to cover up for their own life failings. Add in a crackpot billionaire who inherited blood money made during the vile South African Apartheid regime, playing a real life Dr Evil by throwing his cash into the far right and supporting the new Nazis in Germany of the AfD, and the world is in a very precarious position right now. Quoting Midge Ure who recently gave new live renditions of the ironically monikered RICH KIDS’ sadly relevant 1978 anti-Nazi anthem: “NEVER AGAIN DO I WANT TO HEAR THE SOUND OF MARCHING MEN!”
Anglo-German duo KALEIDA experienced an existential crisis due to the pressures of parenting and the shifting patterns of life. But Christina Wood and Cicely Goulder managed to make their long distance creative partnership work again and their reward was their third album ‘In Arms’. As the title suggested, it has been an impassioned battle capturing 3 years of artistic perseverance and reinforced their sense of purpose.
On a more personal level, Anglo-French artist Julia-Sophie delved deeper into the complexities of relationships by exploring themes of self-destruction, tenderness, love and emotional struggles. This is what happens when people ‘forgive too slow’ but swathed in an intriguing electronic sound, her understated fulfilment combined emotional unease with an airy beauty for some satisfying thoughtful listening for another of the best albums of 2024.
Photo by Chi Ming Lai
With the onset of climate change but still those in denial despite the scientific proof, Patricia Wolf conceived ‘The Secret Lives of Birds’. Having recorded various bird songs and calls, curiosity led her to become a conservationist and while her music was very beautiful at times, there were darker moments of angst and sadness driven by concern. Birds and their behaviour have been a creative haven for artists of a more ambient persuasion and Masayoshi Fujita continued his avian fascination on his new work ‘Migratory’.
Loula Yorke presented her new ‘Volta’ and the wonderful opener ‘It’s been decided that if you lay down no-one will die’ acted as a bittersweet meditation on overwhelm, an emotion many were feeling. For Finlay Shakespeare, his creative journey appeared to have taken its emotional toll and ‘Directions Out Of Town’ reflected turbulent times and was touted as possibly his last album. Meanwhile Polish producer ZAMILSKA summed feelings up with the impassioned ‘United Kingdom Of Anxiety’ as another exile from Belarus CHIKISS captured this moment ‘Between Time & Laziness’.
Photo by Thomas Stelzmann
While a new PET SHOP BOYS album was always on the cards and they duly delivered with their fifteenth ‘Nonetheless’, Michael Mertens and Ralf Dörper starting a new chapter of PROPAGANDA was perhaps on not on anyone’s bingo card at the start of 2024. Featuring the sultry vocals of Thunder Bae, PROPAGANDA presented an eponymous long player to signify a fresh start with the closing cover ‘Wenn Ich Mir Was Wünschen Dürfte’ being a key highlight.
There were several key esoteric releases in 2024; Gareth Jones and Daniel Miller released their third volume of ‘Electronic Music Improvisations’ as SUNROOF while Heiko Maile and Julian DeMarre offered ‘Neostalgia’, leaving Jori Hulkkonen with some ‘Hurt Humour’. And like a greeting from wherever he is now in the universe, Klaus Schulze had ‘101, Milky Way’ posthumously released in a continuation of his vast electronic legacy.
In 2024, there were albums released where 90 to 100% of the content comprised of previously released singles; one of those was the debut album by LEATHERS, the side-project of ACTORS keyboardist Shannon Hemmett which explored her love of dark electronic pop. Another was the appropriately titled ‘VII’ by Swedish duo KITE which was their seventh body of work containing music from their seven most recent singles released over the past seven years, gathering the power and the glory of their ambition.
Using a similar strategy, R. MISSING finally released an album ‘Knife Shook Your Hand’ after years of embracing a scattergun standalone song approach which at times was frustrating to follow, especially with today’s now widely embraced Netflix-led home and mobile entertainment methodology of “binge watching” TV series.
Photo by Volker Maass
CAMOUFLAGE finally took their ‘Rewind To The Future & Goodbye’ tour on the German road with a show look backing on four decades. Meanwhile celebrating 45 years of BLANCMANGE, ‘Everything Is Connected’ was a new career-spanning collection supported by a tour where Neil Arthur supported himself with his collaborative side project THE REMAINDER. Celebrating 25 years of the multi-million selling ‘Play’, Moby delivered a mighty greatest hits set in front of a packed house at London’s O2 Arena as well as highlights from that album.
Midge Ure aired his catalogue of his greatest hits and with so many ULTRAVOX songs part of the set, it was difficult not to think of his departed bandmate Chris Cross who passed away this year. Another sad loss in 2024 who had connections to ULTRAVOX and their former leader John Foxx was the iconic photographer Brian Griffin; his other subjects included DEPECHE MODE, OMD, SPANDAU BALLET and TALK TALK.
With 16 tracks speeding through its restless 40 minutes, ‘Powder Dry’ saw Tim Bowness revisiting his passion for the post-punk and electronic pop acts of his teens, having opened for the solo Billy Currie version of ULTRAVOX and worked with members of JAPAN while in his first band NO-MAN with Steven Wilson; of course the latter has been behind the spate of new remixes of ULTRAVOX for their series of lavish boxed sets.
A number of veterans returned after long new release absences. Michel Moers, best known as the front man of Belgian electronic trailblazers TELEX released what was only his second solo studio album ‘As Is’ and had Claudia Brücken guest on its lead single ‘Microwaves. Meanwhile after several years in the making, Harald Grosskopf presented ‘Strom’, translated from German as “electricity”.
Across the Atlantic, Los Angeles-based multimedia artist Geneva Jacuzzi gave a detached Eurocentric poise reminiscent of Gina X and her third album ‘Triple Fire’ was an enjoyably delightful mix of accessible electronic pop and energetic art chaos. Comprising of North America’s alternative music power couple Tom Shear and Mari Kattman, HELIX took their fans to an ‘Unimaginable Place’ as another US based couple XENO & OAKLANDER further refined their precise yet spirited productions for their eight album ‘Via Negativa (in the doorway light)’.
Newer North American acts making a splash were IMMORTAL GIRLFRIEND and Canada’s MINDREADER while Los Angeles-based duo DIE SEXUAL finally brought their erotic charge to the stage opening for the likes of IAMX and LEÆTHER STRIP. But the most promising act emerging stateside were Haute & Freddy.
Photo by Tim Darin
For the past few years, Alison Lewis has focussed on her ZANIAS solo venture but she was back playing live with Ryan Ambridge as LINEA ASPERA in the summer with the pair having been quietly writing and recording new material together. Having found TikTok fame performing synthwave styled covers, DREAMKID released his second album ‘Daggers’ to capitalise on his social media traction while both exploring much darker climes, CURSES and CZARINA released their third full length albums.
In Europe, Belgian duo METROLAND released their sixth album ‘Forum’ as well as simultaneously maintaining their solo projects 808 DOT POP and LECTREAU. In Sweden, Johan Agebjörn was a very busy man releasing EPs with Yota and Mikael Ögren while also announcing he has a work-in-progress with NINA; the Queen of Synthwave’s own musical partnership with RADIO WOLF was developing nicely, with a European tour opening for CANNONS giving the couple a chance to showcase their darker sound.
As the summer ended, IONNALEE ambitiously issued her new album simultaneously in English and Swedish while Norwegian neighbours PISTON DAMP declared there were “No Points For Trying” as they launched the more pessimistic instalment of their twin volume ‘Mastermind’ album venture.
Photo by Joanna Wzorek
Presenting the second volume of their ‘Midnight Confessions’ series, ITALOCONNECTION were back with their vintage but modern style of Italo disco while Greco-German trio DINA SUMMER showed that good electronic dance music with a grittier impassioned outlook was alive and well in Berlin. Also based in the former divided city, Polish DJ and producer CHARLIE emerged as one of the promising new stars on the Italo-Proto scene.
Retrospective sets can often compile another time, another place as exemplified by releases this year from Bryan Ferry, Peter Baumann and NO-MAN proved. But the best one came from FRANK CHICKENS whose ‘Ninja Legends 1983-1989’ captured them in their quirky prime, especially on the collection of BBC radio sessions which made it an essential purchase. On the book front, ‘1984: The Year Pop Went Queer’ was among the best.
The desire to revisit the past became a major thing in 2024, as exemplified by the frenzy surrounding the sale of tickets for the OASIS reunion shows which were among the first in the UK to employ the dreaded but perfectly legal scam of dynamic pricing. But the need to see any band years past their commercial peak with the likelihood of a less accomplished performance than before, be it vocally, musically or energetically, was a head scratching prospect. The music world has been trying to make up for lost time and money since 2021 but the post-covid gig bubble may have now burst.
With ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK having seen many bands back in the day at their best, the shows now available with a hint of nostalgia may not have been universally appealing as they were to those who were too young or not even born to have attended first time around. But paradoxically thanks to the dearth of new quality music, ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK found itself listening to podcasts of old people talking about old music! So it was an honour to be invited by host Iain McDermott to chat about our favourite year in music 1981 for his wonderful ‘Back To NOW’ podcast centred around the noted compilation album series.
‘The Album Years’ hosted by Steven Wilson and Tim Bowness remarked that “talking about music IS the new music” and on the most knowledgeable, passionate and humorous podcasts, hosts were able to express their opinion and say a record or an artist was “sh*t” without immediate fear of social media retorts while also praising where praise was deserved!
But during a recent edition of ‘The Small Town Boys’, Clark Datchler of JOHNNY HATES JAZZ remarked that while music critics back in the day could be “cynical” and “nasty”, today they are at the other extreme and “sycophants now” with “hardly any criticism of records released” – this everything is brilliant mentality has undoubtedly led to an acceptance of mediocrity and a lack of perspective in a monoculture of medium pleasure.
With those forthright and articulate expressions key to their success, live presentations of these podcasts in theatres and arenas are becoming increasingly popular and profitable thanks to lower overheads, especially when compared to concerts.
Among ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK’s favourite music podcasts in 2024 were ‘Word In Your Ear’ presented by former Smash Hits and Q editors David Hepworth and Mark Ellen, ‘Electronically Yours With Martyn Ware’ and ‘The Giddy Carousel of Pop’ discussing the history of Smash Hits. But best of all was the more general podcast ‘The Rest Is Entertainment’ hosted by Richard Osman and Marina Hyde which is part of Gary Lineker’s Goalhanger Podcast empire also behind ‘The Rest Is Politics’, ‘The Rest Is History’, ‘The Rest Is Money’, ‘The Rest Is Classified’ and ‘The Rest Is Football’; one suspects the popular socially conscious former footballer will not miss the BBC the way it will miss him 😉
If 2023 was something of a strange year, 2024 might have actually been stranger. There is a glimmer of hope for the future, but the signs are already there that things may get worse, be it socially, politically, environmentally or culturally… sometimes, people really do deserve what they get!
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