Tag: Gary Numan (Page 12 of 20)

25 FAVOURITE USES OF CLASSIC SYNTH SAMPLES

12 July 2017 /

While acts like THE ART OF NOISE and DEPECHE MODE pioneered the use of sampling found sounds to use as new virtual instrumentation, eventual improvements in the technology meant whole recognisable phrases could be cut, manipulated and looped to create new compositions and arrangements.

For those on a budget, some of the samples would have been replayed as a way of saving money and not having to pay mechanical royalties to the original artist.

Previously incongruous genre blends were now more straightforward for producers and DJs as easy listening and AOR would end up sitting on top of house tracks while significantly, a number of acts who made their name during Synth Britannia would feature in R’n’B and hip-hop.

So ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK has put aside some of its snobbery to seek out 25 of the most inventive, and some would say, sacrilegious uses of classic synth samples in popular music. However in a wider context, this diverse selection of tracks acts as a popular culture record of Synth Britannia’s influence in particular, especially when the Musicians Union attempted to ban the synthesizer from studio work and live performance in 1982.

Presented in chronological and then alphabetical order with a limit of one track per artist moniker, here are the names that have gone on the list…

NEW ORDER Blue Monday (1983)

Once you delve into the background behind NEW ORDER’s ‘Blue Monday’, you will see that it is a real Frankenstein’s monster of a track including a sample of the neo-robotic Vako Orchestron choir sound from ‘Uranium’ by KRAFTWERK. And although not sampled, ‘Blue Monday’ took direct influence from a variety of sources including Ennio Morricone, Sylvester, Donna Summer and Klein + MBO.

Available on the NEW ORDER album ‘Singles’ via WEA Records

http://www.neworder.com/

THOMAS DOLBY Puppet Theatre (1984)

Mirroring the way in which KRAFTWERK had entered the urban community’s consciousness via Electro and Breakdancing, Thomas Dolby helped write and produced the single ‘Magic’s Wand’ for the Brooklyn hip-hop duo WHODINI. Centering around a superb synth riff and vocodered vocals, the track stood out from some of its contemporaries due its electronic production and TMDR himself ended up reworking elements of the song for himself on his own track ‘Puppet Theatre’.

Available on the THOMAS DOLBY album ‘The Flat Earth’ via EMI Music

http://www.thomasdolby.com/

ERASURE Blue Savannah – Der Deutsche Mix I (1990)

One of ERASURE’s best known songs, ‘Blue Savannah’ had originally been inspired by Roy Orbison and for its single release, Mute Records commissioned a plethora of remixes. ‘Der Deutsche Mix I’ by Gareth Jones and leftfield house trio FISCHERMAN’S FRIEND took the novel step of using KRAFTWERK samples from ‘Computer World’ and ’Tour De France’ but in a more obvious fashion, as opposed to a few blips as THE KLF had done on ‘What Time Is Love?’.

Available on the ERASURE boxed set ‘3’ via Mute Records

http://www.erasureinfo.com/

BOMB THE BASS Winter In July (1991)

BOMB THE BASS mainman Tim Simenon loved the Synth Britannia era, later working with John Foxx and DEPECHE MODE. ‘Winter In July’ featured a sample of the atmospheric Roland System 700 synth FX used in the intro to ‘Ghosts’ by JAPAN, while the rhythmic backbone of the track also owed a lot to the drum pattern from ‘Visions of China’. The song caught the eye of Sarah Brightman, who did her own cover for the ‘La Luna’ album in 2000.

Available on the BOMB THE BASS album ‘Beat Dis: The Very Best Of’ via Camden Records

https://www.facebook.com/Bomb-The-Bass-19785322140/

U.S.U.R.A. Open Your Mind (1992)

U.S.U.R.A.’s ‘Open Your Mind’ centred around the opening polysynth part of SIMPLE MINDS ‘New Gold Dream (81 – 82 – 83 – 84)’ and took its title from a dialogue sample from the Kuato character played by actor Marshall Bell in the Arnold Schwarzenegger film ‘Total Recall’. The Italian dance trio responsible for the frantic club track also used a short female “oh” voice sample from Ashford & Simpson’s ‘Solid’ in this fast and furious techno romp as well.

Available on the USURA single ‘Open Your Mind’ via Deconstruction Records

https://www.discogs.com/artist/66256-USURA

UTAH SAINTS Believe In Me (1993)

UTAH SAINTS were serial samplers with Annie Lennox and Kate Bush being the dominant voices on their first two singles. ‘Believe In Me’ used significant chunks from THE HUMAN LEAGUE’s ‘Love Action’ as well as Sylvester’s ‘Do You Wanna Funk?’ and CROWN HEIGHTS AFFAIR’s ‘You Gave Me Love’. Central to the track was Phil Oakey’s mid-song chant which helped propel this immensely catchy club stomper to number 8 in the UK charts in 1993.

Available on the UTAH SAINTS album ‘Utah Saints’ via FFRR Records

http://www.utahsaints.com/

THE CHEMICAL BROTHERS Leave Home (1995)

Pivotal in pioneering the Big Beat genre, THE CHEMICAL BROTHERS looped a short section from the vocodered intro to KRAFTWERK’s ‘Ohm Sweet Ohm’ track for ‘Leave Home’. Aside from the beginning of the piece, the sample doesn’t appear elsewhere and the track relies more on the “Brothers gonna work it out” vocal by American singer / songwriter Willie Hutch and a live bass part played by John ‘Segs’ Jennings of the punk band THE RUTS.

Available on THE CHEMICAL BROTHERS album ‘Exit Planet Dust’ via Virgin Records

http://www.thechemicalbrothers.com/

LEFTFIELD Snakeblood (1998)

This big beat duo of Paul Daley and Neil Barnes were said to have been one of the loudest live acts ever. At Brixton Academy in 1996, the sound system caused dust and plaster to fall from the roof. For ‘The Beach’ soundtrack, LEFTFIELD contributed a thumping instrumental track for the beginning of the film. However, on closer scrutiny, the basis of ‘Snakeblood’ appeared to be the melody line from OMD’s ‘Almost’! When challenged, the duo fessed up amicably.

Available on the LEFTFIELD album ‘A Final Hit’ via Sony Music

http://www.leftfieldmusic.com/

ARMAND VAN HELDEN Koochy (2000)

Using a repetitive scratched one bar loop from Gary Numan’s ‘Cars’, ‘Koochy’ was one of several tracks around this period which sought influence from the synth icon. Also featuring a robotic KRAFTWERK-inspired vocal and 808 cowbells, the track went Top 5 in UK national charts, despite it frankly being a bit of a mess and unfufilled in its potential. It helped prompt the steady rebirth of the former Gary Webb.

Available on the ARMAND VAN HELDEN album ‘Killing Puritans’ via Southern Fried Records

https://www.facebook.com/armandvanhelden/

BASEMENT JAXX Where’s Your Head At? (2001)

Along with ‘Koochy’, ‘Where’s Your Head At?’ certainly did no harm in helping to rehabilitate the faltering career of Gary Numan; using the sped up central Minimoog bass riff of ‘M.E.’, the song also cleverly incorporated elements of ‘This Wreckage’ too. With a brilliant video to match, the song showed that it was possible to create a synth-oriented dance track that wasn’t cheesy and almost had a punk aesthetic to it.

Available on the BASEMENT JAXX album ‘Rooty’ via XL Records

http://basementjaxx.com/

FELIX DA HOUSECAT featuring MELISTAR Harlot (2001)

Blatantly sampling the rhythmic elements of THE HUMAN LEAGUE’s ‘The Sound Of The Crowd’ without acknowledgement, nonchalant vocalist Melistar joined Felix Stallings Junior to ironically wax lyrical about the joys of using feminine charms to get by in life! With some great analogue riffage on this bridge linking past, present and future with an icy detachment, Stallings was very forward thinking and knew she was a feline… the European female’s here!

Available on the FELIX DA HOUSECAT album ‘Kittenz & Thee Glitz’ via Emperor Norton

http://www.theefelixdahousecat.com/

JENNIFER LOPEZ I’m Real (2001)

YELLOW MAGIC ORCHESTRA’s hit cover of ‘Firecracker’ forms a significant element of this single by the actress / singer /dancer /model from The Block. Interestingly Mariah Carey made an enquiry to use the sample first for her song ‘Loverboy’, but as a result of involvement from her ex-husband and Sony label boss Tommy Mottola, the riff ended up with Lopez instead, prompting a war of words between the two parties.

Available on the JENNIFER LOPEZ album ‘J.Lo’ via Sony Music

http://www.jenniferlopez.com/

GEORGE MICHAEL Shoot The Dog (2002)

‘Shoot the Dog’ was the late Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou’s protest song directed at the so-called special relationship between George W Bush and Tony Blair. Appearing a few years before PET SHOP BOYS’ ‘I’m With Stupid’, the more veiled ‘Shoot The Dog’ used the middle eight section of ‘Love Action’ by THE HUMAN LEAGUE including Phil Oakey’s vocal, while also borrowing from ABC’s ‘Be Near Me’ and his own ‘Fast Love’

Available on the GEORGE MICHAEL album ‘Twenty Five’ via Sony Music

http://www.georgemichael.com/

SUGABABES Freak Like Me (2002)

GIRLS ON TOP mash-up merchant and producer Richard X dropped Adina Howard’s R’n’B number over ‘Are Friends Electric?’ by TUBEWAY ARMY as a bootleg. A crossover hit was waiting to be unleashed but Howard refused permission for her vocal to be used; enter SUGABABES, modern pop’s equivalent of ‘Charlie’s Angels’. This Diabolus In Musica urban hybrid helped bring Gary Numan to a curious new young audience.

Available on the SUGABABES album ‘Overloaded: The Singles Collection’ via Universal Music

https://www.discogs.com/artist/21994-Sugababes

JUNIOR JACK feat ROBERT SMITH Da Hype (2003)

Belgian domiciled Italian DJ Vito Lucente dabbled in house and Eurodisco. But his best known recording borrowed from the HI-NRG scene in New York, sampling ‘I’m So Hot For You’ by Bobby O that had borrowed its riff from THE HUMAN LEAGUE’s ‘Don’t You Want Me’, which itself was inspired by ABBA’s ‘Eagle’. In amongst all this, he somehow persuaded THE CURE’s mainman to contribute some of his afflicted gothique to proceedings.

Available on the JUNIOR JACK album ‘Trust It’ via Defected Records

http://www.junior-jack.com/

RICHARD X featuring KELIS Finest Dreams (2003)

No stranger to delving into the mine of THE HUMAN LEAGUE, Richard X started his career in the underground club scene creating mash-ups. ‘Finest Dreams’ with KELIS was a reworking of ‘The Finest’ written by Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis which was made famous by THE SOS BAND. Using a similar trick to ‘Freak Like Me’, the musical structure was based around ‘The Things That Dreams Are Made Of’ and became a Top 10 hit in the UK.

Available on the RICHARD X album ‘Presents His X Factor Vol. 1’ via Virgin Records

http://blackmelody.com/

SOUL MEKANIK Basement City (2005)

SOUL MEKANIK are the duo of Kelvin Andrews and Danny Spencer. Probably best known for co-writing Robbie Williams’ ‘Rock DJ’, the pair took most of the instrumental elements of ‘Visions of China’ by JAPAN and used it as a soundbed for a new female vocal and some added portamento synths. Surprisingly successful in its conception, it was a shame this effectively well-worked track didn’t reach a wider audience.

Available on the SOUL MEKANIK album ‘Eighty One’ via Rip Records

https://www.facebook.com/SoulMekanik/

RIHANNA S.O.S. (2006)

Using a sample from SOFT CELL’s iconic cover of the Northern Soul favourite by Gloria Jones, ‘S.O.S.’ co-writer JR Rotem said “I heard ‘Tainted Love’ and wanted to take the bass line and update it with a new swing”. Utilising pitch shifted vocals worked with compression software to increase the tonal spectrum, ‘S.O.S’ was effectively a musical cry for help that was to become the Barbadian singer’s first big hit. Swathed in synth riffs and machine beats, she was to use a similar template for ‘Umbrella’.

Available on the RIHANNA album ‘A Girl Like Me’ via Def Jam

http://www.rihannanow.com/

NICOLE SCHERZINGER Steam (2006)

As if in a tit-for tat response to Jennifer Lopez’s YELLOW MAGIC ORCHESTRA-sampling ‘I’m Real’, THE PUSSYCAT DOLLS’ Nicole Scherzinger’s ‘Steam’ sampled the central riff from KRAFTWERK’s ‘Numbers’. Sounding rather out of place, after the first four singles from the planned ‘Her Name Is Nicole’ album flopped, Scherzinger shelved the project and the track did not actually see the light of day.

Never officially released

http://nicolescherzinger.com/

HILARY DUFF featuring THE PROPHET Reach Out (2008)

There was a period when DEPECHE MODE’s ‘Personal Jesus’ was either being covered by artists as diverse as Johnny Cash and Marilyn Manson or sampled for pop tunes by R’n’B starlets like Jamelia. Built around the voice samples, synth fuzzes and guitar riff from the original track, ‘Reach Out’ saw the one-time ‘Lizzie McGuire’ star attempt to sex up her previously goody two shoes image with an innuendo-laden Schaffel romp that included an obligatory rap as well!

Available on the HILARY DUFF album ‘Best Of’ via Hollywood Records

http://hilaryduff.com/

GZA featuring RZA & IRFANE KHAN-ACITO Life Is A Movie (2008)

Track number four in this listing that features a Gary Numan sample. This time WU-TANG CLAN member GZA takes elements from ‘Films’ off ‘The Pleasure Principle’ album and reworks it into a dark hip-hop track which recalled the vintage breakbeat of Da Clan. And it works largely thanks to the late Ced Sharpley’s live but solid drum breaks from the original, while Numan also makes a cameo appearance.

Available on the GZA/GENIUS album ‘Pro Tools’ via Babygrande

https://www.facebook.com/theGZA/

RECOIL Allelujah (2008)

Former DEPECHE MODE member Alan Wilder occasionally relied on esoteric samples for his RECOIL project and on ‘Allelujah’, he paid homage to TANGERINE DREAM by using the hypnotic Moog sequencer pattern and electric piano part from ‘Rubycon’ for the second half of the nine minute track. Originally appearing on the ‘subHuman’ album, ‘Allelujah’ also featured as the B-side to the CD single release of ‘Prey’.

Available on the RECOIL album ‘subHuman’ via Mute Records

http://www.recoil.co.uk/

RED BLOODED WOMEN Colour Me Dirty (2008)

With the live reunion of Alison Moyet and Vince Clarke, there was a brief period in the late-noughties when the template for a modern girl group was to utilise a YAZOO inspired backing track. RED BLOODED WOMEN took that literally with a little help from cult electronic trio TRADEMARK on this interpolation of ‘Don’t Go’.  The feisty trio lterally sounded literally like GIRLS ALOUD produced by Daniel Miller!

Available on the RED BLOODED WOMEN promo CD EP ‘4 Track Sampler’, never officially released

https://www.discogs.com/artist/1202070-Red-Blooded-Women

REX THE DOG Bubblicious (2008)

Jake Williams was REX THE DOG and made his name with some superb remixes for artists such as Robyn, THE KNIFE, CLIENT, SOULWAX, RÖYKSOPP, DEPECHE MODE and THE PRODIGY. Released during the year of the YAZOO reunion, ‘Bubblicious’ saw him recycling a whole chunk of ‘Midnight’ from their debut album ‘Upstairs At Eric’s’ and taking what was originally a sensitive synthetic torch song and turning it an uptempo banger.

Available on the album ‘The Rex The Dog Show’ via Hundehaus Records

http://www.rexthedog.net/

THE SATURDAYS If This Is Love (2008)

At a time when the YAZOO songbook was being ripped left, right and centre, one pop act that became particularly joined at the hip with Vince Clarke were THE SATURDAYS. As well as lifting the synth riff off ‘Situation’ for their first single ‘If This Is Love’, Clarke remixed their third single ‘Issues’. And to cap it all, ‘Just Can’t Get Enough’ was covered for Comic Relief as their fourth single release in 2009!

Available on the album ‘Chasing Lights’ via Polydor Records

http://www.thesaturdays.co.uk/

Text by Chi Ming Lai and Paul Boddy
12th July 2017

TITÁN Featuring GARY NUMAN Dark Rain

1 June 2017 /

While Gary Numan has a much publicised new album ‘Savage’ in the works funded via Pledge Music, a number of collaborations with key figures like John Foxx and Jean-Michel Jarre were unleashed in 2016. 

But one of the best was with Mexican electro rockers TITÁN. The resultant track ‘Dark Rain’ was a brilliant slice of electronically assisted Gothic disco.

Propelled by a superb syncopated bassline and thunderous drums while layered with classic vox humana lines, interestingly the guitars on appear about two thirds of the way through before a magnificent burst of foreboding synth into the final chorus!

Numan himself is in good form, with calls that he’s “waking like wings upon your shoulder”. A new video directed by Gabriel Govela featuring all parties has been made and suitably rings the doom laden nature of the title, with Numan and friends bearing witness to the unsettling exorcism of a possessed woman.

‘Dark Rain’ comes from TITÁN’s well-received fourth album ‘Dama’, their first in a decade. As well as Numan, the album also features Siobhan Fahey of SHAKESPEAR’S SISTER and BANANARAMA fame on a number entitled ‘Hell.A’ which comes over a bit like a vampire themed variation of GINA X PERFORMANCE’s ‘Nice Mover’.

Meanwhile, songs with working titles of ‘If I Said’, ‘Mercy’, ‘I Heard A Voice’, ‘Bed Of Thorns’ and ‘My Name Is Ruin’ have been taking shape on Gary Numan’s new album, which is due out in Autumn 2017 on BMG and supported by a tour. He also recently received the Ivor Novello Inspiration Award for songwriting.

‘Dark Rain’ is from TITÁN’s album ‘Dama’ released by ATP Recordings

Gary Numan 2017 ‘Savage’ tour includes:

Cardiff Tramshed (30th September), Bournemouth O2 Academy (2nd October), Leeds O2 Academy (3rd October), Bristol Colston Hall (5th October), Oxford O2 Academy (6th October), Nottingham Rock City (7th October), Newcastle O2 Academy (9th October), Glasgow O2 ABC (10th October), Birmingham O2 Institute (11th October), Manchester Academy (13th October), Brixton O2 Academy (14th October), Brighton Dome (16th October), Norwich Nick Rayns LCR (17th October), Southend Cliffs Pavilion (18th October), Leuven Het Depot (19th October), Paris Le Trabendo (20th October), Amsterdam Paradiso (21st October), Bratislava Majestic (24th October), Cologne Essigfabrik (25th October), Berlin Columbia Theater (26th October), Lodz Klub Wytwornia (27th October)

http://www.titantitan.mx/

http://www.garynuman.co.uk/

https://www.facebook.com/titantitanmx/

https://www.facebook.com/GaryNumanOfficial/

Text by Chi Ming Lai
1st June 2017

ELECTRONIC CIRCUS Direct Lines EP

23 April 2017 /

Welcome Bienvenue Willkommen Benvenuto and Valkommen to ELECTRONIC CIRCUS…

Described as “A human cannonball of electronic sounds”, the project was co-founded by Chris Payne, the keyboard and viola virtuoso who was a member of Gary Numan’s band between 1979 to 1990. He notably co-wrote ‘Fade To Grey’ which became a huge international hit for VISAGE and more recently, he was involved in five songs for Rusty Egan and his ‘Welcome To The Dancefloor’ album which were sung by Midge Ure and Tony Hadley amongst others.

ELECTRONIC CIRCUS actually began life in 1981 with a single entitled ‘Direct Lines’, a release which found its way into bargain bins not long afterwards. But it has since gained cult status via a million views on a fan made YouTube video using an obscure Swedish art movie. Gathering together some of the original band including Paul Johnson Rogers, Tim Vince and Mike Stewart, Payne has put together a new four song EP inspired by ‘Direct Lines’ from his base near Rouen in France.

Reworked with vocals by Chris Payne’s wife Dominique and daughter Marikay, ‘Direct Lines 2017’ retains the frantic magic of the original and the fact that it sounds like it could have been written today is evidence of its longevity. The French Family Payne add a child-like pourquoi plea to proceedings on lyrics about the threat of nuclear war, a horrifying spectre that is looming today as the powers that be square off along the 38th Parallel… a superb synth solo accentuates the tension.

With a sombre air of remembrance, ‘In Red Fields of Flanders’ hauntingly remembers those lost in World War One; of course, the worrying thing is if World War Three happens, there won’t be any fields of any colour and no-one around to do any kind of remembering…

’The Trapeze’ is a brilliant neo-instrumental with electronic bass triplets and a symphonic theme that bursts with melody and musicality like ULTRAVOX galloping across the plains of Normandy. And when The French Family Payne join in for the final minute, it adds a wondrous tone of humanistic unity.

With his adopted home surroundings very much the backbone of the EP, the considerably lighter ‘Roundabout’ offers more authentic Gallic charm, courtesy of Dominique Payne.

The exquisite, almost naïve vocals over the most incessant synth riff will delight or irritate to the point of submission. But note that the seemingly banal words referencing driving are actually a very clever metaphor for midlife.

It is great that at this particular roundabout, Chris Payne has chosen electronic music again. The ‘Direct Lines’ EP is just the start. With an album on the way and a new electro-folk version of ‘Graceland’ too, ELECTRONIC CIRCUS are finally delivering on the promise that they first showed thirty six years ago.

The ‘Direct Lines’ EP is available as a download direct from http://www.electroniccircus.co.uk/store/

A free download of ‘Direct Lines 2017’ is available as a try before you buy incentive from http://www.electroniccircus.co.uk/history/

http://www.chrispaynemusic.com/

https://www.facebook.com/chrispaynecomposer/

https://twitter.com/clanvis

https://www.instagram.com/chris.payne.music/

http://www.electroniccircus.co.uk

https://twitter.com/electrocircus

Text by Chi Ming Lai
23rd April 2017

A Beginner’s Guide To ZEUS B HELD

8 April 2017 /

Zeus B Held may be not as well-known as Giorgio Moroder, Conny Plank, Martin Rushent, Mike Howlett and Colin Thurston, but the German producer has been a key presence in the development of electronic pop music.

Making his name as a keyboard player in the German rock band BIRTH CONTROL, the experience allowed Zeus B Held to progress as a session musician and producer. The NME later described Held as being able to combine “electronic Teutonic sounds with a soulful sensibility for melodic expression”. Often considered an artier counterpart to Giorgio Moroder, Held too embarked on a solo career before settling into using the studio as his main creative outlet.

His production breakthrough came from working with GINA X PERFORMANCE in 1979 when the single ‘No GDM’ became a club favourite within the New Romantic movement. This led to a move to London to further his career. At the height of the synth assisted pop boom in Europe, Held was producing the likes of FASHION, DEAD OR ALIVE, DIE KRUPPS and John Foxxwhile also remixing ALPHAVILLE, SIMPLE MINDS and Gary Numan.

In 1995, Held wrote and recorded the music for a worldwide advertising campaign for Swatch while in more recent times, he has tended to work in more jazz inclined fields involving big band orchestras and a World Music collective who released an album entitled ‘Digital Dreaming’.

But then in 2014, he teamed up with former TANGERINE DREAM member Steve Schroyder in a new electronic project appropriately named DREAM CONTROL.

Without doubt deserving greater recognition for his adventures in modern recording, here is a look back at 18 of his works in chronological order, with a restriction of one track per artist moniker…

ZEUS Fool On The Hill (1978)

Having spent six years as a keyboard player BIRTH CONTROL, Zeus B Held ventured solo and delivered this spacey vocodered cover of THE BEATLES favourite for his debut solo album ‘Zeus’ Amusement’ on Brain Records, home to kosmische acts like CLUSTER, NEU! and KLAUS SCHULZE. Released as a single, ‘Fool On The Hill’ showcased his interest in new technologies while maintaining a traditional and widely recognisable musical aesthetic.

Available on the album ‘Voice Versa’ via LTM Recordings

http://zeusbheld.com/

GINA X PERFORMANCE No GDM (1979)

Teaming up with the androgynous art history student Gina Kikoine, ‘No GDM’ was written in honour of the “great dark man” Quentin Crisp and featured an array of ARP and Moog synths to signal the birth of a new European Underground. Unsurprisingly, the song became a regular staple of Rusty Egan’s DJ sets at The Blitz Club. The nonchalant, detached vocal influence of GINA X PERFORMANCE went on to be heard in the music of LADYTRON, CLIENT and MISS KITTIN.

Available on the album ‘Nice Mover’ via LTM Recordings

http://www.ltmrecordings.com/gina_x.html

JOHN FOXX My Wild Love (1983)

When Lord Foxx of Chorley briefly went pop, he teamed up with Zeus B Held for one of the most accessible albums of his career in ‘The Golden Section’. With its emphasis on a band feel and Foxx playing more electric guitar, some critics accused him of starting to sound like ULTRAVOX again. ‘My Wild Love’ was the powerful, in-yer-face opening to the long player. Foxx himself later remarked the album was a mistake as he tried to “fit too many favourite things together”.

Available on the album ‘The Golden Section’ via Edsel Records

http://www.metamatic.com/

DEAD OR ALIVE That’s The Way (1984)

At the height of his fame, Pete Burns came over looking like a later period Gina Kikoine, so it was not entirely surprising that when DEAD OR ALIVE decided to pursue a more electronic dance direction, Zeus B Held would come on board as a willing conspirator. This cover version of KC & THE SUNSHINE BAND’s classic disco tune was the breakthrough, combining precise programming and a brass section with live bass and percussion, plus the vocal colossus that was Burns.

Available on the album ‘Sophisticated Boom Boom’ via Cherry Pop

http://www.deadoralive.net/

FASHION Twilight Of Idols (1984)

A beautiful long instrumental reminiscent of VANGELIS, there were some Spanish and progressive guitar inflections thrown into Held’s electronic mix. FASHION were at one time in their home city of Birmingham considered more likely to break than DURAN DURAN. But despite early promise with moody funk laden songs such as ‘Love Shadow’, the departure of ‘Frabrique’ era frontman Dee Harris and line-up changes ensured momentum would be lost trying to regain the dynamic chemistry of the group.

Available on the album ‘Twilight Of Idols’ via Cherry Red

https://www.discogs.com/artist/47966-Fashion

GINA X Harley Davidson (1984)

A HI-NRG disco take on the provocative tune penned by Serge Gainsbourg and made famous by Brigitte Bardot, Gina Kikoine returned in 1984 with a less ambiguous image for her solo album debut ‘Yinglish’, although Held was still holding the production reins. While Held and Kikoine wrote most of the album together, it was also noted for featuring another cover in THE BEATLES ‘Drive My Car’.

Available on the album ‘Yinglish’ via LTM Recordings

https://www.discogs.com/artist/52866-Gina-X

THIS ISLAND EARTH See That Glow (1984)

Named after a 1952 sci-fi novel by Raymond Jones, THIS ISLAND EARTH were led by songwriter John Hawkins and secured a deal with Magnet Records. They were teamed with Zeus B Held to record two singles, the first of which ‘See That Glow’ was catchy enough to secure BBC radio airplay. Alas the single stalled in the UK chart at No47 in late 1984 and after another Held produced song ‘Take Me To The Fire’ failed to chart, that was it from the band…

Originally released by Magnet Records, currently unavailable

https://www.discogs.com/artist/81415-This-Island-Earth

ALPHAVILLE Big In Japan – Extended remix (1984)

Zeus B Held was becoming a master of the extended remix and his treatment of ALPHAVILLE’s breakthrough tune put the mighty Linn Drum programming centre stage while working round the song’s catchy verse and chorus. Reversed tape elements, random blips and what was to become Held’s trademark breakdown were added to the seven minute extension, along with a fretless bass not heard on the original, no doubt in a cheeky reference to the band JAPAN. Although uncredited, he did the single mix as well.

Available on the deluxe album ‘Forever Young’ via WEA

http://www.alphaville.info/

DIE KRUPPS Risk (1985)

Despite the dramatic intro, ‘Risk’ was a comparatively pop-oriented offering from the Düsseldorf industrialists with brassy synth tones and orchestral samples coming over like DAF fronting DEAD OR ALIVE. In a bizarre twist, it even featured Mel Gaynor from SIMPLE MINDS on drums! The parent album ‘Entering The Arena’, also produced by Held, offered much of the same with ‘Gladiators’ another of the album’s highlights.

Available on the album ‘Entering The Arena’ via Energy Rekords

http://www.diekrupps.de/

SIMPLE MINDS Ghostdancing – Special Extended 12″ Remix (1986)

As was usual with Zeus B Held’s remixes, he often cleaned up the sound and made the percussive elements sharper. On the extended version of ‘Ghostdancing’, the thumping song’s roots in the more Eurocentric ‘I Travel’ were highlighted as sequencers and reverb were added, along with a building middle eight breakdown. This release was in support of Amnesty International and also happened to be the first ever CD single ever issued on Virgin Records.

Available on the boxed set ‘Once Upon A Time’ via Universal Music

https://www.simpleminds.com/

PETE WYLIE & THE OEDIPUS WRECKS Sinful! (1986)

In his WAH! days, Wylie proved he could spring an anthemic chorus as on songs like ‘The Story Of The Blues’ and ‘Come Back’. His debut solo single ‘Sinful!’ was an epic widescreen cacophony of grand throbbing electronics, massed synthetic chorals and Wylie’s own urgent vocal delivery. While it was produced by Ian Ritchie, Zeus B Held gave the track a vital remix and ended up producing three further songs on the eventual ‘Sinful!’ album.

Available on the album ‘Sinful!’ via Siren Records

http://www.petewylie.co.uk/

CLARE GROGAN Love Bomb (1987)

The synth propelled new wave of ‘Love Bomb’ was the former ALTERED IMAGES singer’s debut single. Unfortunately, as the title suggested, it indeed did bomb and the album ‘Trash Mad’ recorded with Held was never released. While Miss Grogan did not have the feisty aggression to pull off a tune that was aimed squarely at the American market, Zeus B Held’s production on ‘Love Bomb’ now sounds like a blueprint for TRANSVISION VAMP.

Originally released by London Records, currently unavailable

https://www.facebook.com/ClareGrogansAlteredImages/

MEN WITHOUT HATS Pop Goes The World (1987)

A commentary from the Doroschuk brothers on the ups and downs of fame, while more organic than ‘The Safety Dance’, ‘Pop Goes the World’ produced by Zeus B Held featured a fair smattering of synths and reached No1 in Austria. The parent album of the same name went platinum in the band’s homeland of Canada. The song itself achieved an enhancement to its longevity when it later appeared in a TV advert for Tide laundry detergent pods in 2012.

Available on the MEN WITHOUT HATS album ‘Pop Goes The World’ via Mercury Records

http://www.menwithouthats.com/

GARY NUMAN Cars – Extended E Reg Model (1987)

Coinciding with the new E registration car number plates of that year, Zeus B Held added some digital clangs, pitched swirls and guitars to Numan’s signature synth classic which undoubtedly boosted its longevity. Meanwhile the extended version maximised Ced Sharpley’s drums by isolating them at the start of an impressively arranged mid-song breakdown. Amazingly, the radio edit of Held’s remix has actually been a UK Top 20 hit single twice in its own right, although it was retitled ‘The Premier Mix’ in 1996.

Radio edit available on the GARY NUMAN album ‘Premier Hits’ via Beggars Banquet

https://garynuman.com/

SPEAR OF DESTINY Never Take Me Alive (1987)

Kirk Brandon was never the happiest fellow in the world and ‘Never Take Me Alive’ produced by Held was possibly SPEAR OF DESTINY’s angry zenith. A mix of acoustic guitar, fretless bass, programmed percussion, synthetic goth choir and modern production values gave SPEAR OF DESTINY their biggest hit in a period when THE CURE, SIOUXSIE & THE BANSHEES, THE SISTERS OF MERCY, THE CULT and THE MISSION ensured that sombre spectre of goth shone brightly in the UK singles chart for a time.

Available on the SPEAR OF DESTINY album ‘Outland’ via 10 Records

https://www.kirkbrandon.com/

TRANSVISION VAMP I Want Your Love (1988)

Just as Mutt Lange had been very clever in using state-of-the-art technology to make DEF LEPPARD’s ‘Hysteria’ sound heavy metal, Zeus B Held achieved the same in making his heavily synthesized productions for TRANSVISION VAMP sound punk. A catchy tune arranged by Duncan Bridgeman who had worked with JoHn Foxx on ‘The Garden’ and been a member of jazz funkers I-LEVEL, ‘I Want Your Love’ thrust singer Wendy James into the limelight for her 15 minutes of fame.

Available on the album ‘Pop Art’ via Universal Music

http://www.thewendyjames.com/

NINA HAGEN Hold Me (1989)

The East Berlin born singer and actress started her musical life in the band AUTOMOBIL, but released her first album with the NINA HAGEN BAND in 1978. Maintaining her cult popularity as a punk icon, ‘Hold Me’ was from her solo 1989 album debut proper, produced by Held. An outlandish cover of a traditional gospel song, the arrangement will no doubt have upset purists with its synthetic backing, rock guitars and Hagen’s own theatrical vocal histrionics.

Available on the NINA HAGEN album ‘Nina Hagen’ via Mercury Records

http://ninahagendas.beepworld.de/

ZEUS B HELD Kant Can Dance – Dream Control Mix (2015)

‘Logic Of Coincidence’ was Held’s most recent solo record and largely a cinematic, almost ambient imaginary film soundtrack. While the album was perhaps not wholly representative of Held’s past pop exploits, his artier Moroder template notably appeared on ‘Kant Can’t Dance’. While seeming a bit out of place on the album, its electronic disco friendly template delighted fans of his remix work during his production heyday, especially in its bonus DREAM CONTROL incarnation.

Available on the album ‘Logic Of Coincidence’ via Les Disques du Crépuscule

http://dream-control.com/

Text by Chi Ming Lai
8th April 2017, updated 3rd May 2020

A Not So Short Conversation with CHRIS PAYNE

11 February 2017 /


Chris Payne is best known as being a long standing member of Gary Numan’s band between 1979 to 1990.

First appearing with Numan as part of TUBEWAY ARMY when they appeared on ‘Old Grey Whistle Test’ to perform ‘Are Friends Electric?’, he played a vital role on the synth pioneer’s solo debut ‘The Pleasure Principle’ sharing keyboard duties and contributing the beautiful viola part on ‘Complex’.

It was while on ‘The Touring Principle’ that during soundchecks, Payne and fellow keyboardist Billy Currie (on hiatus from ULTRAVOX) began jamming with a number they’d written entitled ‘Toot City’. The pair eventually recorded the track at Genetic Studios with band mate Ced Sharpley on drums; a few months later it was reworked by Midge Ure and morphed into ‘Fade To Grey’, a 1981 No1 in West Germany for VISAGE.

Although always remembered for an iconic video featuring Steve Strange and Princess Julia, musically ‘Fade To Grey’ was shaped by the hypnotic synth bassline and haunting string tones played by Payne on a Polymoog.

While Numan was on a much publicised touring hiatus after three spectacular farewell shows at Wembley Arena in 1981, Payne joined Cedric Sharpley and guitarist RRussell Bell in DRAMATIS, releasing an album ‘For Future Reference’ on Elton John’s Rocket Records.

After leaving the Numan band, Payne moved to France where he began a successful career in Celtic music as the mastermind behind CELTIC LEGEND. More recently, he has returned to the synthpop fold, co-writing five songs with Rusty Egan for his new album ‘Welcome To The Dancefloor’.

With the simultaneous revival of his old side project ELECTRONIC CIRCUS as well, Chris Payne chatted to ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK


Are you pleased overall with how your co-compositions have turned out on Rusty Egan’s ‘Welcome To The Dancefloor’ long player?

Yes, very pleased. Having spent many years composing orchestral music plus the CELTIC LEGEND project, it was great to get back to synth basics again. Basically my role was to create backing tracks of synth pads, bass lines and rough arrangements with various synth lines, piano etc and hand the tracks over to Rusty, who then worked on melodies and lyrics with new drum patterns etc.

It is an amazing feeling when you hear the melodies for the first time. On a couple of the tracks, it completely transformed the song into something I could never have imagined. It’s a very good way of working providing you’re not too precious about your original ideas.

I have to hand it to Rusty, he had gone through some horrendous moments to get this album done, but credit to him. He never gave up, whereas a lot of musicians would have. I admired his determination and I guess that’s what kept me in touch with him during the entire period. Plus I wanted these songs to be finished as much as he did.


How did you feel when Midge Ure reworked ‘Glorious’?

It was like completing a cycle and I remember punching the air with joy when I first heard Midge’s version. I should explain the background to ‘Glorious’ and it will make more sense. For a while, I had had this idea of writing a track called ‘Glorious’ with reference to the English National Anthem in the chorus of the song but slightly transformed. “I’m feeling glorious, you make me feel so victorious” type of thing, which mad though I am, I thought could be quite interesting.

I tried to get the point over to Rusty and he came back with some tunes he’d written with another very talented songwriter called Gerard O’Connell. They were good, but it was all a bit chilled and not what I’d envisioned.

Well, time passed and one day I had a call from Rusty saying that Midge had recorded some of his ideas on ‘Glorious’. When I heard it for the first time I was delighted. Midge had transformed the chorus into this huge anthem sound and stripped back the verses and added his guitar and voice. It’s curious that 35 years earlier ‘Fade to Grey’ was also constructed this way with Billy Currie and I doing the backing track and Midge adding lyrics and melody. He really made the song into what you now hear, and I have to say it is probably my favourite track on the album.

And what about ‘Lonely Highway’ featuring Tony Hadley?

That song has a weird history; I had come up with this simple synth riff and very basic simple chord structure using very old analogue synth sounds through a Roland JV 1080 and Alesis Quadrasynth. The odd thing was that Rusty tried loads of very good singers on the song and surprisingly, they just didn’t work. It didn’t make a great deal of sense to me as both Gerard and Rusty had come up with a great vocal melody and the key was fine for most singers.

Anyway, ‘Lonely Highway’ was lying around for about two years and suddenly I get an email from Rusty telling me that his friend Tony Hadley from SPANDAU BALLET had agreed to record it. That was another revelation for my ‘ageing’ ears. What a vocal he produced, simply stunning and the way he sings it, you’re hooked in from the start.

One thing that is apparent is Rusty’s choice of singers. It’s true that he has used famous names like Tony Hadley, Midge Ure, Arno Carstens and Peter Hook, but equally he has had some outstanding vocalists that have given such colour to the songs. So acknowledgement has to go to these amazing singers including Kira Porter, Erik Stein (who performed with us in Düsseldorf), Andy Huntley and Emily Kavanaugh.


You had the chance to put your vox humana Polymoog touches on songs like ‘Hero’ and ‘Ballet Dancer’, was that intentional?

Yes, very much so. When Rusty first approached me with a view to writing songs for what was then going to be another VISAGE project, I intentionally worked with old analogue sounds admittedly by using plug-ins rather than the original instruments (have you seen the prices of Minimoogs and Polymoogs these days???)

The Polymoog vox humana was the obvious one for me as it is synonymous with the early Numan sounds of ‘The Pleasure Principle’ and ‘Telekon’, plus ‘Fade To Grey’. This was my attempt to place sounds on Rusty’s album directly relating to my past life as Numan’s keyboard player from 1979 until 1990, and with DRAMATIS and VISAGE’s ‘Fade to Grey’. I thought it might work and having heard what Rusty did to ‘Hero’, it worked very well.

‘Evermore’ has turned into a frisky little number now with the vocals of Emily Kavanaugh from LA synthpop duo NIGHT CLUB, did that surprise you?

A big surprise; this was the very first track I presented to Rusty back in 2011 and he quickly added the guitar of ex-ULTRAVOX guitarist Robin Simon who played with that very distinctive sound that he used on ‘Systems of Romance’. Gerard had sung on it and although it was only supposed to be a guide vocal, it sounded very good and then it was kind of shelved for ages.

Then as always with Rusty, this MP3 arrives one morning with a female voice recorded on ‘Evermore’. Of course, I hadn’t a clue what was going on and when I questioned Rusty, he told me about Emily Kavanaugh’s role in the song.

Her vocals fit ‘Evermore’ perfectly and in my opinion have given it a slight change in direction. She is a very talented young singer and performer, and I like her non-conformist rebellious attitude. She’s definitely going far if you ask me.


You played a short selection of material as part of the ELECTRI_CITY_CONFERENCE 2016 in Düsseldorf, how was it for you to be back on stage again after so long?

I had done some Gary Numan shows in 2012 as a guest performer so it wasn’t as if I hadn’t been on stage for ever. But you’re right, I’m not a regular performer and I’d like this to change.

The Düsseldorf Festival was a great weekend and I got to meet some great people over there including event organiser Rudi Esch who is an amazing person. Also putting together this event in what is after all a historic city for electronic music was something very special.

The show went very well considering Rusty and I with another keyboard player Nick Bitzenis from the band MARSHEAUX had never rehearsed together. I remember meeting Nick at the hotel for the first time and having a coffee with him and Rusty comes up to me and says: “Guys, we’re 10 minutes short so Chris, can you improvise something?”. I just looked at Nick and buried my head into my cup of coffee in despair!

Because of the lack of preparation, the show was a bit scary in that respect but it worked well in the end for a first show and certainly it came across well on the TV channel ARTE who filmed the event. My only regret was not being able to stay for John Foxx’s performance, but I had to get back to work in France.

Your short set featured material recorded for your first solo album ‘Between Betjeman, Bach and Numan’ in 2012, how do you look back on it today?

Yes it was a short set. I think it lasted about 10 minutes or so and I just improvised sections of it, punctuated by references to ‘Cars’ and ‘Are Friends Electric?’ and playing ‘Down in the Park’ and ‘Fade to Grey’ on piano. It went well apart from the occasional harmonic howler! But my philosophy is if a mistake is made, smile and move on… life’s too short


So ELECTRONIC CIRCUS is being formally rebooted again, what’s happening there?

Well, this all came about in the strangest of circumstances. I’ve been trying to bury this bloody project for years and it keeps coming back to me as if to say “record it and they will come”.

I know it sounds a bit melodramatic, but it really feels like this to me.

It all started up (again) when my old music college buddy Michael J Stewart contacted me one day and said that our original song called ‘Direct Lines’, which had been recorded back in 1980, had received nearly one million YouTube views. Of course I was astounded, but it seems that a song released back in the day and having sold about six copies has gone a bit viral as a synthpop classic. How bizarre is that?

Now to cut a long story short, I have never really wanted to go out and perform under my name. To me ‘An Evening with Chris Payne’ sounds like you’re going to go to a tedious event in a village hall and listen to some old git banging on about crop rotation in the 19th Century!

So I added the name Chris Payne’s ELECTRONIC CIRCUS, which will be dropped the moment I’m associated with EC… for a more detailed history check out our site www.electroniccircus.co.uk

There’s going to be a reworking of the brilliant ‘Roundabout’ coming; now some may think the lyrics are a bit banal but they’re metaphoric…

Well spotted. Yes, I have to admit that my lyrics are entirely based on satire and metaphors disguised as banality. The notion of the roundabout is a quirky and fun ‘mid-life crisis song’, but at the same time quite frightening. We have choices in life and life is very challenging. I liked this idea of using the roundabout as a ‘map of life’ where you can either turn around, take a different direction or carry straight on. A simple idea, but effective with the music.


You’ve turned a previously released piano ballad into an electronic track?

Yes indeed, another track that I’ve re-worked is called ‘Graceland’. Most people hear this as a simple love song but oh no!! It’s actually about the tragic destruction of the Planet Earth’s environment believe it or not, and not a love song.

It started as a piano ballad to test my daughter Marikay’s vocals under studio conditions. I’m not saying this because she’s my daughter, but she has a good voice and a lot of potential. She will sing a bit with ELECTRONIC CIRCUS, but she’s more into folk acts like OMNIA and that style, and I think this is where she will head towards eventually.

How is the other ELECTRONIC CIRCUS material turning out?

It’s all going well and a lot of fun. It is an eclectic mix so far. I have songs, instrumentals in the style of Jean-Michel Jarre, classical styles, pop and minimalist, also what I call naive synth. With Mike’s contributions, that will add another dimension as he was trained under the great British composer Sir John Tavener and as you know, I’m capable of throwing in a medieval crumhorn for good measure. So as it says on the label, it is an Electronic Musical Circus where virtually anything goes, providing it’s predominantly electronic of course.

Now this is going to sound contrived, but I swear it isn’t. The new ELECTRONIC CIRCUS album is tentatively called ‘Trumpety Trump’ to add to the slightly quirky nature of the project, and the obvious references to ‘Nelly The Elephant’ (and something else that escapes me for the time being?)


What’s happened to the DRAMATIS comeback?

To be honest and this might sound bad, but as far as I’m concerned, DRAMATIS died with Cedric. RRuss and I met up with him the weekend before he had his fatal heart attack and for me, the project’s never been the same since.

Yes it’s true that RRussell and myself had written and recorded a few songs before we met back up with Ced, but it’s been so long now, I can’t see it coming together. Also RRuss is so busy with other projects as am I. Also bear in mind we live in different countries, so it’s very difficult to get the momentum back.

I will never rule out another album, but unless circumstances change, I’ve got to be realistic and say it’s doubtful.

How do you feel how modern electronic pop is heading, where would you take it? Is there enough musicality these days?

I think there are interesting times ahead. Of course, history has proved on so many occasions that you can’t predict music fashion. But I have a strong feeling something big is around the corner and possibly involving synthpop. I don’t see my ELECTRONIC CIRCUS project being hugely influential as it’s very diverse and will no doubt end up a bit mad.

As for musicality, I honestly don’t know. It would be nice to see a few bands playing some great synth solos like Billy Currie did with Gary Numan and ULTRAVOX, as there doesn’t seem to be much in the way of that as far as I have heard. Personally I’d like to hear a band as good as ABBA songwriting wise, but all in the electronic domain. In spite of my academic but rather stultifying classical music training, I’m a shameless fan of ABBA’s. Actually that’s given me an idea. ‘Waterloo’ and ‘Dancing Queen’ with Polymoogs…


What’s next for you?

Well I would really love Rusty’s album to break through and do more shows with him. Finish ELECTRONIC CIRCUS album and see where that takes me, but that’s all I have time for. I run a music resource business with producer Nigel Bates called the ‘Electronic Music Library’ which is great fun but time consuming, and not a lot of people know this, but I am a licensed acupuncturist practising Chinese medicine in the Dordogne, South West France.

So as you can imagine I don’t really have time for anything else at the moment. But knowing me, that will all change!

ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK gives its warmest thanks to CHRIS PAYNE

Rusty Egan’s ‘Welcome To The Dancefloor’ is released by Black Mosaic

ELECTRONIC CIRCUS ‘Direct Lines’ EP will be available from https://www.electroniccircus.co.uk/store/

http://www.chrispaynemusic.com/

https://www.facebook.com/chrispaynecomposer/

https://twitter.com/clanvis

https://www.instagram.com/chris.payne.music/

https://twitter.com/electrocircus

Text and Interview by Chi Ming Lai
11th February 2017

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