The debut long player by FFS could easily be titled ‘Art School Musical’. A union of FRANZ FERDINAND and SPARKS, unlike many collaborations which are often distant and detached, this visceral project has centred around working as a six piece band together in a room. The partnership appears to have invigorated both acts too. SPARKS’ career has generally been very up and down commercially, but Russell and Ron Mael have never been deterred by public or media ambivalence and the siblings have always returned like a phoenix from the flames when people least expected it.
Following their initial success between 1974-75 with brilliant singles such as ‘This Town Ain’t Big Enough For Both Of Us’, ‘Amateur Hour’ ‘Something For The Girl With Everything’ and ‘Never Turn Your Back On Mother Earth’, they fell out of public favour for a time until Giorgio Moroder attached their eccentric sound to disco friendly electronics for the 1979 hits ‘The Number One Song In Heaven’ and ‘Beat The Clock’. The Mael brothers would not trouble the UK and European charts again until 1994 with ‘When Do I Get To Sing My Way’, but it fittingly led to acknowledgment from the Britpop scene with members of SUEDE, PULP and BLUR all publically displaying signs of approval.
Meanwhile within the Glasgow art school scene in 2002, FRANZ FERDINAND formed and the song they attempted at their first ever band rehearsal was ‘Achoo’ by SPARKS. The quartet would go on to make an impact with their tempo changing guitar driven dance rock on singles like the catchy ‘Take Me Out’ and a send-up of their art school roots ‘Do You Want To’. It was around this time that a collaboration with SPARKS was first mooted, but it wasn’t until 2014 that the idea began to have realistic momentum.
So with the singer of THE KAISER CHIEFS now acting as a talent show judge and THE KILLERS more or less turning into the next U2, it is down to FRANZ FERDINAND to snatch back the intellectual artistic high ground in association with their spiritual godfathers.
FFS could well also put the Mael Brothers back in the mainstream for the fourth time in a very long career of over 45 years. A great example of how this relationship has gelled is reflected on the ironically titled ‘Collaborations Don’t Work’.
A seven minute journey that is a glorious cut ’n’ paste of both bands, there’s a terrific moment when it sounds like QUEEN with Russell Mael and Alex Kapranos exchanging operatic rants of “I don’t need your patronising! – I don’t need your agonising!”. But then, it turns into Jimmy Webb’s ‘The Highwayman’, as well as mutating into buzzy synthpop, spacey jazz, a showtune and a classical mini-symphony along the way! It is bonkers and brilliant!
The album starts however with ‘Johnny Delusional’, a stomping indie rocker with Russell Mael’s trademark falsetto and Ron Mael’s piano interludes augmented by stabs of octave bass synth. The lyrical couplet of “I want you, I know I haven’t a chance – Johnny Delusional here” accurately conveys the resigned inadequacy and awkwardness of the narrative.
‘Call Girl’ is very synth laden with a Minimoog Voyager making its presence felt. While it revisits SPARKS past adventures in Europop, the FRANZ FERDINAND element provides the Mael brothers with a thumping powertrain from Bob Hardy and Paul Thomson that probably wouldn’t have manifested itself had Russell and Ron been working alone in LA.
Beginning a little like the Midge Ure B-side ‘Piano’, ‘Dictator’s Son’ takes a choppy art rock backbone and fills it with drama. It’s an amusingly ironic title considering the controversy over Ron Mael’s look when SPARKS first famously appeared on ‘Top Of The Pops’ in 1974. Meanwhile, the sparse ballad ‘Little Guy From The Suburbs’ has hints of Ennio Morrricone. With the line “There are no heroes in this life”, it is perhaps the most serious piece on the FFS collection.
Alongside some outre synth movements on ‘Police Encounters’, Russell’s breakneck speed wordplay is electronically treated as he keeps up with this bouncy slice of phased percussive madness. ‘Save Me From Myself’ features those classic SPARKS staccato ivories and with a soaring chorus and a wonderful multi-tracked vocal passage for the middle eight, it is the closest to their Mack produced tracks like ‘Angst In My Pants’.
The most electronic track on ‘FFS’ comes with ‘So Desu Ne’, a marvellously squelchy number that conceptually harks back to SPARKS’ breakthrough album ‘Kimono My House’. With drum machine, vibrato synth stabs and surreal references to Japanese culture like “a Hello Kitty Uzi” and “a Kenzo kimono”, it is rhythmically angular with a great use of samples sourced from Alex and Russell’s voices towards the close.
After all the quirky art school banter, ‘FFS’ becomes more straightforward with ‘The Man Without A Tan’ and ‘Things I Won’t Get’. Scratchy guitars and driving electric bass with bizarre orchestral sections dominate the former which comes over more as archetypical FRANZ FERDINAND, while the latter sees Franz’s Nick McCarthy take on lead vocals to deadpan an unattainable shopping list that includes Hugo Boss and Air Jordan. However, it’s a number that doesn’t become that interesting until Russell harmonises with his trademark falsetto.
It all gets quirky again on ‘The Power Couple’ where a tumbling rhythm provides a domino effect, like a circus clown march. Russell takes on an unusually low register as Alex adopts a midtone snarl in a neo-gothic piece that comes over like a Brechtian set piece adapted by MUSE. “We must make a good impression” they chant.
‘P*ss Off’ is possibly the album’s most outstanding number and one of the songs of the year. As Ron Mael’s first offering to FFS when it was first mooted in 2004, it makes a highly fitting closer. With the vibrancy of ‘Kimono My House’ and ‘Propaganda’ era SPARKS, there are jaunty ivories and camp vocal theatrics in the vein of classics like ‘Something For The Girl With Everything’ and ‘BC’. “It’s inexplicable” they all growl as the multi-track phrase of “HARMONIES” kicks in! A total joy, ‘P*ss Off’ is the ultimate two fingered anthem and is sure to become a future live favourite for SPARKS and FRANZ FERDINAND when they inevitably go their separate ways.
Like the sorcerer working with the apprentice to double the magical power, over period of just over two weeks, FFS have recorded an entertaining compendium of anecdotes that will appeal to armchair enthusiasts of SPARKS and FRANZ FERDINAND. ‘FFS’ is the most accessible work that either act has produced for several years. Full of wit and repartee, this is the sound of six individuals having a lot of fun but additionally, making something artistically spiky and satisfying.
‘FFS’ is released by Domino Records in CD, deluxe CD with bonus tracks, red vinyl double LP and download variants
FFS play the following UK dates: Glasgow Art School (16th June), London Troxy (26th June), Manchester Albert Hall (29th August)
Artist collaborations can be seen in several ways.
They are either a chance to take the best elements of great bands to form an even greater supergroup, or as has happened in many cases, there is a watering down of prime concepts which results in a fragmented mess of little interest to anyone.
So here are 25 artist collaborations that actually worked; the list is restricted to one song per main act, defined as being the one who released the parent album.
That means PET SHOP BOYS, who have been among the most ubiquitous and willing of conspirators, get to appear as themselves and as guests of ELECTRONIC and David Bowie while NEW ORDER’s Bernard Sumner appears as part ELECTRONIC as well as also moonlighting for THE CHEMICAL BROTHERS and Philip Oakey of THE HUMAN LEAGUE gets in there twice as a guest.
Over more recent years, there appears to have much more freedom for artists to collaborate, notably with SPARKS recently unveiled collaboration with Glasgow based art rockers FRANZ FERDINAND, named rather straightforwardly FFS. And this is reflected by this list here which has a bias towards new millennium recordings, although ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK is pleased to say, this is a Calvin Harris free zone 😉
SYLVIAN SAKAMOTO Bamboo Houses (1982)
David Sylvian and Ryuichi Sakamoto were making their artistic presence felt outside of JAPAN and YELLOW MAGIC ORCHESTRA, and having collaborated on ‘Taking Islands in Africa’, another project was always on the cards. ‘Bamboo Houses’ expanded on the electro-acoustic textures of ‘Tin Drum’ over a catchy percussive framework courtesy of Steve Jansen. Sylvian delivered his usual mournful vocal but Sakamoto’s monologue and marimba gave the track ethnic authenticity.
‘After A Fashion’ was a blistering sonic salvo that crossed the best of JAPAN’s rhythmical art muzak with ULTRAVOX’s ‘The Thin Wall’. However, it stalled at No39 in the UK singles charts and sadly, there was to be no album. But Karn later played on Ure’s ‘Remembrance Day’ in 1988 and Ure briefly joined JBK, the band formally known as JAPAN sans David Sylvian for an aborted project in 1992 that resulted in two songs ‘Cry’ and ‘Get A Life’. Sadly Karn passed away in 2011.
Available on the MIDGE URE album ‘No Regrets’ via Music Club Deluxe
Very much seen as the odd couple, the duo’s promotional photos captured the curly haired jazz funk aficionado with The Iceman! Bill Sharpe was pianist with jazz fusion group SHAKATAK. Together with their drummer Roger Odell, they had written a piece of computerised electrofunk that needed a vocal. Engineered by Nick Smith who had also been working with Gary Numan, he suggested that the former Mr Webb would be ideally suited to the futuristic backing.
Available on the SHARPE & NUMAN album ‘Automatic’ via Cherry Pop
LES RITA MITSOUKO & SPARKS Singing In The Shower (1990)
In France, LES RITA MITSOUKO became unlikely pop stars thanks to danceable hit singles such as ‘Marcia Baïla’ and ‘C’est Comme Ça’. Vivacious singer Catherine Ringer and oddball instrumentalist Fred Chichin were influenced by the eccentric overtures of SPARKS and with a moniker in a similar vein to their ‘Kimono My House’, an artistic union was inevitable. With the two duos “feeling dirty and feeling clean”, the catchy ‘Singing In The Shower’ was a hit in Europe.
Available on the LES RITA MITSOUKO album ‘Marc & Robert’ via Virgin France
ELECTRONIC featuring PET SHOP BOYS The Patience Of A Saint (1991)
‘The Patience Of A Saint’ from ELECTRONIC’s debut was undoubtedly the highlight of that album. Featuring the involvement of both PET SHOP BOYS, the witty exchange between Bernard Sumner and Neil Tennant was accompanied by a gorgeous backing track of drum machine, swimmy string synth and minimal guitar. The song was premiered in front of 60,000 people when ELECTRONIC supported DEPECHE MODE at Dodger Stadium in August 1990.
Available on the ELECTRONIC album ‘Electronic’ via Warner Music
Following the departure of founder member Martin Price, ‘Gorgeous’ was 808 STATE’s first album as a three piece. Featuring early mash-up experiments based around UB40, THE JAM and JOY DIVISION, one of the wholly original compositions though was ‘Moses’, a rare electronically backed outing by ECHO & THE BUNNYMEN’s Ian McCulloch. Sounding like NEW ORDER with a Scouse snarl, the unusual but enjoyable partnership was the highlight of the album.
Available on the 808 STATE album ‘Gorgeous’ via ZTT Records
ELEKTRIC MUSIC featuring ANDY McCLUSKEY Kissing The Machine (1993)
Recorded for his ELEKTRIC MUSIC project after leaving KRAFTWERK, Karl Bartos’ collaboration with OMD’s Andy McCluskey featured one of his best melodies synth melodies. Bartos said “He suggested we do something together and I was up for it… We picked some cassettes and finally I found the opening notes of ‘Kissing The Machine’”. With fabulously surreal lyrics about a love affair with a sexy robot, it became a cult favourite. OMD resurrected the song in 2013.
Available on the ELEKTRIC MUSIC album ‘Esperanto’ via SPV Records
John Lydon had shown himself to be open to collaboration following 1984’s ‘World Destruction’ as TIME ZONE with electro rap pioneer Afrika Bambaataa. But ‘Open Up’ with the then relatively unknown dance duo LEFTFIELD came as something of a surprise. Lydon was suitably angry as he reflected on the tensions of his adopted home with a screaming “Burn Hollywood, burn!” over an intense electronic soundtrack.
Available on the LEFTFIELD album ‘A Final Hit’ via Sony Music
DAVID BOWIE featuring PET SHOP BOYS Hallo Spaceboy (1996)
BLUR’s Alex James once remarked that having a PET SHOP BOYS remix was like having your dog being taken for a walk, but then, when it came back, it was a different dog! PET SHOP BOYS certainly re-produced this Bowie/Eno composition from ‘1.Outside’ into a much more commercial proposition, even utilising the cut-up technique to decide which words Neil Tennant would sing. Reaching No12, ‘Hallo Spaceboy’ became Da Dame’s biggest UK hit since ‘Jump They Say’ in 1990!
THE CHEMICAL BROTHERS featuring BERNARD SUMNER Out Of Control (1999)
‘Out Of Control’ was THE CHEMICAL BROTHERS’ sonic template actually fulfilling its potential within a song based format with Bernard Sumner as the willing conspirator. ‘Out Of Control’ had everything from a bombastic backbeat and cerebral sequences to bizarre lyrics, especially when Sumner resigned that “maybe my moustache is too much…”. The association with Sumner continued when they produced NEW ORDER’s terrific ‘Here To Stay’.
Available on THE CHEMICAL BROTHERS album ‘Singles 93-03’ via Virgin Records
SYSTEM F featuring MARC ALMOND Soul On Soul (2001)
Ferry Corsten had a huge international hit in 1999 with ‘Out Of The Blue’ under his SYSTEM F moniker. It highlighted the spiritual connection between synthpop and trance so to substantiate the link further, the Rotterdam based producer recruited Marc Almond to guest on the blinding ‘Soul On Soul’ for a spirited, club friendly workout. This all tied in nicely with SOFT CELL’s comeback album ‘Cruelty Without Beauty’ in 2002.
The Dumbarton born TALKING HEADS frontman was back in the mainstream limelight for the first time since the band disbanded in 1991 with this superb online collaboration with British DJ duo X-PRESS2. David Byrne gave his best afflicted ‘Psycho Killer’ meets ‘Once In A Lifetime’ warble for what became a No2 UK chart hit. He later reworked ‘Lazy’ with orchestral embellishments for his 2004 solo long player ‘Grown Backwards’.
Available on the X-PRESS2 album ‘Muzikizum’ via Skint Records
‘Reload’ was a welcome relief after DEPECHE MODE’s paradoxically titled ‘Exciter’. The brief sojourn with Dutch producer Tom Holkenborg aka JUNKIE XL proved once and for all how well Dave Gahan’s voice worked on uptempo electronic dance tracks. He may be more interested in MUMFORD & SONS these days, but frankly, over a lively synth laden backbone is where he sounds best. The ‘Radio JXL: A Broadcast from the Computer Hell Cabin’ album also featured Gary Numan!
Ms Lauper was heading towards a career renaissance with her excellent ‘Bring Ya To The Brink’ album in 2008 so her collaboration with ERASURE in 2007 was quite timely. A soulful slice of Trans-Atlantic synthpop, ‘Early Bird’ was an enjoyable duet between her and Andy Bell that turned out to be the one of the more memorable tracks that emerged from ERASURE’s rather lukewarm ‘Light At The End Of The World’ sessions.
Available on the ERASURE EP ‘Storm Chaser’ via Mute Records
LITTLE BOOTS featuring PHILIP OAKEY Symmetry (2009)
At the time ‘Symmetry’ was unveiled, THE HUMAN LEAGUE had not released any new material since 2001. With a fabulous chorus, this was the nearest thing to a new HUMAN LEAGUE track with Victoria Hesketh doing her best Susanne Sulley impression. So when it was Phil talking, it was magic. “Tell me your dreams and I’ll tell you all my fears” he announced, as they complimented each other in a way that had not really even been heard on a League record before.
Available on the LITTLE BOOTS album ‘Hands’ via 679 Recordings
MY ROBOT FRIEND featuring ALISON MOYET Waiting (2009)
MY ROBOT FRIEND aka Howard Rigberg created the song ‘We’re The Pet Shop Boys’ in honour of Messrs Tennant and Lowe, who subsequently covered it by way of a reverse compliment. Rigberg went recruited Alison Moyet for her first purely electronic adventure since the YAZOO days on ‘Waiting’. This welcome union with its off-kilter synth sounds alongside her voice no doubt helped ignite her interest in working within the genre again, the result of which was 2013’s ‘the minutes’.
Available on the MY ROBOT FRIEND album ‘Soft-Core’ via Double Feature/Worried Rainbow
PET SHOP BOYS featuring PHILIP OAKEY This Used To Be The Future (2009)
‘This Used To Be The Future’ was a dream trioet that featured Neil Tennant, Philip Oakey and Chris Lowe. With Lowe singing as opposed to just speaking, this triumphant celebration of yesterday’s tomorrow saw Oakey deadpan disappointedly that things didn’t quite turn out how Raymond Baxter predicted on ‘Tomorrow’s World’! He finally resigns himself and at grunts“AMEN!”.
RÖYKSOPP featuring ROBYN The Girl & The Robot (2009)
The centrepiece of RÖYKSOPP’s third album ‘The Girl & The Robot’ was perhaps the culmination of Robyn’s steady rise as a truly independent female artist. Despite having gained success in 1997 with the R’n’B tinged ‘Show Me Love’, her superiors at BMG reacted negatively to her new electropop aspirations inspired by THE KNIFE. Frustrated, she bought herself out of her contract and set up her own Konichiwa Records, giving her the freedom to work with whoever she wanted.
Available on the RÖYKSOPP album ‘Junior’ via Wall Of Sound / PIAS
BLANK & JONES featuring CLAUDIA BRÜCKEN Don’t Stop (2010)
The German dance duo had previously worked with Miss Brücken on ‘Unknown Treasure’, a most gorgeous electrobeat ballad from 2003. ‘Don’t Stop’ was a progression on that but with a wider texture pallet and more abstract electronic overtones. Despite being less song based and having been collaborated on seperately from Blank and Jones, vocally it is classic Claudia with its spoken verse and sexy ice maiden delivery in chorus.
CRYSTAL CASTLES featuring ROBERT SMITH Not In Love (2010)
Re-recorded for single release, Alice Beer took a breather to allow guest Robert Smith from THE CURE to take lead vocals on ‘Not In Love’, a dark but accessible number from CRYSTAL CASTLES’ second album. Smith more than fitted in with the Canadian duo’s aggressive and occasionally chaotic electronic template on this frantic uncovering of a song originally recorded by obscure Toronto new wave combo PLATINUM BLONDE.
Available on the CRYSTAL CASTLES featuring ROBERT SMITH single ‘Not In Love’ via Last Gang/Fiction Records
MOTOR featuring MARTIN L GORE Man Made Machine (2012)
MOTOR’s electro stomper ‘Man Made Machine’ featured vocals by DEPECHE MODE’s Martin Gore in a collaboration which came over a bit like a camp IGGY POP. Gore certainly sounded a touch nervous and uneasy, luring over the duo’s brand of harder edged schaffel techno which only enhanced its appeal. Incidentally, the same titled parent album also featured guests such as GARY NUMAN, BILLIE RAY MARTIN and NITZER EBB’s Douglas J McCarthy.
Not content with producing MARSHEAUX and collaborating with OMD on ‘Helen Of Troy’, Greek duo FOTONOVELA released a more song based second album featuring a number of prominent international vocalists entitled ‘A Ton Of Love’. One of the numbers ‘Our Sorrow’ featured James New from the much missed MIRRORS. In the vein of classic OMD, New’s majestic vocal touching the heartstrings, the wonderful melancholy was perfect, soulful electronic pop.
Available on the FOTONOVELA album ‘A Ton of Love’ via Undo Records
Foxx and Hulkkonen had worked together previously on various one-off songs like ‘Dislocated’ and ‘Never Been Here Before’ but had never before attempted a body of work with a conceptual theme. When the two found some collaborative time together, the result was ‘European Splendour’, an EP with a grainier downtempo template than before. The lead track ‘Evangeline’ was full of depth, coupled with an anthemic chorus.
Available on the JOHN FOXX & JORI HULKKONEN EP ‘European Splendour’ via Sugarcane Records
SIN COS TAN featuring CASEY SPOONER Avant Garde (2013)
SIN COS TAN’s Jori Hulkkonen first found fame as part of TIGA & ZYNTHERIUS back in 2001 at the height of the Electroclash movement. ‘Avant Garde’ saw Casey Spooner from the scene’s flag bearers FISCHERSPOONER make a guest appearance on the duo’s second long player ‘Afterlife’. The track itself though was more like THE CURE produced by PET SHOP BOYS with Spooner providing a suitably cynical snarl to contrast Juho Paalosmaa’s impassioned lost boy cry.
Available on the SIN COS TAN album ‘Afterlife’ via Solina Records
iEUROPEAN featuring WOLFGANG FLÜR Activity Of Sound (2014)
Although Wolfgang Flür’s last full album project was as YAMO with ‘Time Pie’ back in 1997, there was this marvellous electronic number entitled ‘Activity Of Sound’, recorded in collaboration with iEUROPEAN. The project of Dublin based artist Sean Barron, the additional female monologue was provided by Barron’s wife, Izabella. The track sees Herr Flür quoting an archive interview with the late avant garde composer John Cage to a soundtrack of hypnotic synthetic bliss.
Available on the iEUROPEAN featuring WOLFGANG FLÜR download single ‘Activity Of Sound’ via Subculture Records
Some persist on their inflated self-assessment and demand recognition, despite their actual league standing. And these characters are the subject of ‘Johnny Delusional’, the lead single from the self-titled album by FFS, a new project comprising of Glasgow based art school quartet FRANZ FERDINAND and everyone’s favourite quirky pop siblings SPARKS.
While ‘Johnny Delusional’ starts like the intro of FRANZ FERDINAND’s ‘Walk Away’, it then launches into a stomping indie rocker with Russell Mael’s trademark falsetto and Ron Mael’s piano interplay augmented by stabs of octave bass synth. With the lyrical couplet of “I want you, I know I haven’t a chance”, ‘Johnny Delusional’ could be about a girl, fame or acknowledgement…
As a possible reply to ‘Johnny Delusional’, the ‘FFS’ album closer ‘P*ss Off’ has also been publically aired. With the vibrancy of ‘Kimono My House’ and ‘Propaganda’ era SPARKS, it is riddled with jaunty ivories and camp vocal theatrics in the vein of classics such as ‘Something For The Girl With Everything’ and ‘BC’.
Each combo’s own eccentric pop sensibilities have been successfully merged and mutated, with no one act dominating the other. “I think each band unconsciously relinquished a little of who they were in order to enter new territory” said Ron Mael.
“Most collaborations stink!” said FRANZ FERDINAND’s Alex Kapranos and observers would have every reason to be cynical following SPARKS’ less than successful adventures with FAITH NO MORE, ERASURE and JIMMY SOMMERVILLE on the 1997 project ‘Plagiarism’.
But FFS is different… whereas ‘Plagiarism’ was a well-intentioned, if ultimately flawed, revisiting of the Mael brothers’ past glories, the union between SPARKS and FRANZ FERDINAND is centred around working as a six piece band on fresh new material. And this is reflected on ‘Collaborations Don’t Work’, a seven minute journey that takes in acoustic balladry, synthesized orchestrations, layered operatics and classical piano!
Like the sorcerer working with the apprentice to double the magical power, over a period of just over two weeks in late 2014, ‘FFS’ was recorded “all together, in a room” according to Kapranos, “So no hanging around or fannying about”. Based on the evidence of the three songs premiered in full so far, FFS are presenting some fine idiosyncratic but accessible pop.
‘FFS’ is released by Domino Records on 8th June 2015
FFS play the following UK dates: Glasgow Art School (16th June), London Troxy (26th June), Manchester Albert Hall (29th August)
If there was ever a musical statement of intent, it has been made by GIORGIO MORODER’s most recent offering ‘74 Is The New 24’, the calling card for his brand new album out in 2015.
It shows once again how electronic dance music should be done, and that there is no need to stoop down to guetta level or the retarded formulaic drops of harris and garrix… and no, their names do not merit the use of capital letters! Distinctly Giorgio, with hints of his own ‘Chase’ from ‘Midnight Express’ as well as his defining productions for Donna Summer and SPARKS, ‘74 Is The New 24’ could almost be a medley of all his pioneering work.
But he has given plenty to music so it is now time for him to grab it all back. The record will be Giorgio Moroder’s first solo album in 30 years and is set to feature Sia, Britney Spears, Kylie Minogue, Charli XCX and Foxes. Will ‘74 Is The New 24’ reach the heights of ‘From Here To Eternity’ or ‘E=MC2’? It really doesn’t matter because based on this single and its predecessor ‘Racer’, Moroder has shown those chancers on their laptops how it’s actually done!
As Da Maestro put it himself: “Dance music doesn’t care where you live. It doesn’t care who your friends are. It doesn’t care how much money you make. It doesn’t care if you’re 74 or if you are 24 because… 74 is the new 24!”
So if ‘74 Is The New 24’, then ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK must be the new teenagers!
’74 Is The New 24′ is available as a download single via Giorgio Moroder Music LCC under exclusive license to Sony
Although the label is now owned by the Universal Music Group, its colourful history is forever associated with the championing of new and unconventional music forms during its fledgling years. Virgin founder Richard Branson started his empire in 1970 with nothing more than a mail order outlet, selling discounted records.
The name Virgin came from the fact that Branson and his team of directors were all new to business. There then came a small record shop in London’s Oxford Street a year later. Not not long after, a residential recording complex in an Oxfordshire mansion which became the now-famous Manor Studios was established. Further shops opened so with the success of the retail arm and studio, a record label was launched in 1973.
Recognising he had no real working knowledge of music, Branson appointed his second cousin Simon Draper (who had been Virgin’s buyer) as Managing Director to seek out new talent for the new A&R led company. Beginning with Mike Oldfield’s ‘Tubular Bells’ and the catalogue number V2001, progressive acts such as GONG along with cosmic Germans FAUST and TANGERINE DREAM soon followed, all with varying degrees of success.
But with the advent of punk and keen to shake off its hippy image, Virgin gained notoriety by signing THE SEX PISTOLS in 1977 and releasing ‘God Save The Queen’ in the process. The label courted further controversy when they issued the album ‘Never Mind The Bollocks, Here’s The Sex Pistols’ to great fanfare. Virgin ended up in the dock under the 1899 Indecent Advertising Act over a poster in their Nottingham record shop.
But Branson and defending QC John Mortimer had an ace up their sleeve; Reverend James Kingsley, a professor of English Studies at Nottingham University was called as a witness. Under questioning, Kingsley was asked for the derivation of the word “bollocks”. Apparently, it was used in the 19th century as a nickname for clergymen who were known to talk rubbish and the word later developed into meaning “of nonsense”.
Wearing his clerical collar in court, Kingsley confirmed: “They became known for talking a great deal of bollocks, just as old balls or baloney also come to mean testicles, so it has twin uses in the dictionary”. The case was thrown out by the judge… after that, the label reinvented itself as a centre of post-punk and new wave creativity, signing bands such as THE RUTS, XTC, PUBLIC IMAGE LIMITED, MAGAZINE, THE SKIDS, DEVO and PENETRATION.
When David Bowie declared THE HUMAN LEAGUE as “the future of pop music” after seeing them at the Nashville in 1978, Virgin Records were quick to snap them up. Meanwhile, OMD were initially signed to Virgin’s Factory styled subsidiary Dindisc Records under the directorship of Carol Wilson; but their success had been an embarrassment to Richard Branson, particularly in 1980 when following the international success of ‘Enola Gay’, OMD had outsold every act in the parent group!
Despite massive sales of ‘Architecture & Morality’ in 1981, Dindisc ran into difficulties and was closed by Branson with OMD gleefully absorbed into the Virgin fold. The label threw in its lot with the synthesizer revolution and gave homes to SPARKS, JAPAN, SIMPLE MINDS, HEAVEN 17 and CHINA CRISIS as well as more conventional acts of the period such as Phil Collins and Bryan Ferry.
In 1982, on the back of ‘Don’t You Want Me?’ having been a No 1 in the UK and USA, Virgin had made a profit of £2 million but by 1983, this had leaped to £11 million, largely attributed by the worldwide success of CULTURE CLUB. Virgin Records was sold by Branson to Thorn EMI in 1992 reportedly for around £560 million to fund Virgin Atlantic Airways.
Under new management, the label became less visionary and more corporate with SPICE GIRLS and THE ROLLING STONES, along with Lenny Kravitz, Meat Loaf and Janet Jackson being examples of the brand’s continued global success, while many of the innovative acts who had helped build the label were surplus to requirements. Despite this, Virgin Records still maintains a tremendous back catalogue.
Over the years, Virgin Records have been in the fortunate position of having a critically acclaimed act on its roster at each key stage of electronic music’s development and its electronic legacy continues today with the recent signing of Glaswegian synth trio CHVRCHES.
So here are twenty albums from the iconic label which ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK considers significant in the development of electronic music. Restricted to one album per artist moniker and featuring only UK releases initially issued on or licensed to the Virgin label, they are presented in chronological order…
TANGERINE DREAM Rubycon (1975)
‘Phaedra’ may have been the breakthrough but ‘Rubycon’ consolidated TANGERINE DREAM’s position as leaders in the field of meditative electronic music. Featuring the classic line-up of Edgar Froese, Peter Baumann and Chris Franke, the hypnotic noodles of VCS3 and Moogs dominated proceedings while Mellotrons and organic lines added to the trancey impressionism with the trio sounding like they were trapped inside a transistor radio.
Guitarist Manuel Göttsching had been a member of ASH RA TEMPEL but looking to explore more progressive voxless territory on ‘New Age Of Earth’, he armed himself with an Eko Rhythm Computer, ARP Odyssey and his signature Farfisa Synthorchestra. An exponent of a more transient soloing style, he used the guitar for texture as much as for melody in this beautiful treasure trove of an album, as on the wonderful 20 minute ‘Nightdust’.
Already an established member of the Virgin family as a member of GONG, solo artist and in-house producer, Hillage had a love of German experimental music and ventured into ambient with long standing partner Miquette Giraudy. Recorded for the Rainbow Dome at the ‘Festival for Mind-Body-Spirit’ at Olympia, these two lengthy Moog and ARP assisted tracks each had a beautifully spacey vibe to induce total relaxation.
Following the success of ‘I Feel Love’, its producer Giorgio Moroder teamed with SPARKS. The resultant album saw Russell Mael’s flamboyant falsetto fitting well with the electronic disco template. ‘The No1 Song In Heaven’ hit the UK charts before TUBEWAY ARMY’s ‘Are Friends Electric?’ while ‘Beat The Clock’ actually got into the Top 10 but the album itself was overshadowed by the success of Gary Numan.
“I want to be a machine” snarled John Foxx on the eponymous ULTRAVOX! debut and after he left the band in 1979, he virtually went the full electronic hog with the JG Ballard inspired ‘Metamatic’. ‘Underpass’ and ‘No-One Driving’ were surprising hit singles that underlined the dystopian nature of Foxx’s mindset while the fabulous ‘A New Kind Of Man’, the deviant ‘He’s A Liquid’ and stark opener ‘Plaza’ were pure unadulterated Sci-Fi.
Dropped by Ariola Hansa despite their third album ‘Quiet Life’ being palatable with the emerging New Romantic scene, JAPAN found a refuge at Virgin. ‘Swing’ succeeded in out Roxy-ing ROXY MUSIC while the haunting ‘Nightporter’ was the ultimate Erik Satie tribute. An interest in Japanese technopop saw Sylvian collaborate with YMO’s Ryuichi Sakamoto on the splendid closer ‘Taking Islands In Africa’.
BRITISH ELECTRIC FOUNDATION Music For Stowaways (1981)
When they left THE HUMAN LEAGUE in Autumn 1980, Martyn Ware and Ian Craig Marsh formed BEF, releasing ‘Music For Stowaways’, an instrumental album only available on cassette to accessorise Sony’s brand new Stowaway portable tape player. However, the name of the new device was changed to Walkman! With economic recession decimating the industrial heartland of Sheffield and the spectre of imminent nuclear holocaust, the chilling ambience on ‘The Decline Of The West’, the futurist horror of ’Music To Kill Your Parents By’ and the doomy fallout of ‘Uptown Apocalypse’ certainly connected with the album’s concept of a walking soundtrack.
After ‘Reproduction’ and ‘Travelogue’ failed to set the world alight, manager Bob Last played a game of divide and rule on the original line-up. Vocalist Philip Oakey and Director of Visuals Adrian Wright would recruit Ian Burden, Jo Callis, Susanne Sulley and Joanne Catherall to record the now classic ‘Dare’ album under the auspices of producer Martin Rushent sounding ike KRAFTWERK meeting ABBA, especially on ‘Darkness’ and ‘Don’t You Want Me’.
HEAVEN 17’s debut ‘Penthouse & Pavement’ combined electronic pop and disco while adding witty sociopolitical commentary about yuppie aspiration and mutually assured destruction. The ‘Pavement’ side was a showcase of hybrid funk driven by the Linn Drum and embellished by the guitar and bass of John Wilson while the ‘Penthouse’ side was more like an extension of THE HUMAN LEAGUE’s ‘Travelogue’.
“You want to be with Virgin so bad that you’ll sign anyway” said Richard Branson to SIMPLE MINDS; signing after the promise of US tour support, the band lost their intensity and recorded a great album filled with pretty synthesized melodies, textural guitar and driving lead bass runs. Big titles like ‘Someone Somewhere In Summertime’, ‘Colours Fly & Catherine Wheel’ and ‘Hunter & The Hunted’ made investigation essential.
By 1982, DEVO had become much more of a synth based act with programmed percussion to boot. Their sound moved away from the guitar dominated art rock of their Eno produced debut ‘Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo!’ As quirky as ever, the album’s concept was a response to criticism from the press about their imagery… thus they asked temselves “what would an album by fascist clowns sound like?”
OMD’s first album for Virgin after the demise of Dindisc, ‘Dazzle Ships’ was a brave sonic exploration of Cold War tensions and economic corruption. Although it featured some of the band’s best work like ‘The Romance Of The Telescope’, ‘International’ and ‘Radio Waves’, ‘Dazzle Ships’ sold poorly on its inital release. The band were never the same again, but this fractured nautical journey has since been vindicated as an experimental landmark.
RYUICHI SAKAMOTO Merry Christmas Mr Lawrence (1983)
Being the best looking member of YELLOW MAGIC ORCHESTRA, it was almost inevitable that Sakamoto San would turn to acting. His first role was alongside David Bowie in ‘Merry Christmas Mr Lawrence’ and with it came his soundtrack. The main title theme resonated with emotion and traditional melody while the drama of ‘The Seed & the Sower’ was also a highlight. A chilling synthesized rendition of the hymn ‘23rd Psalm’ sung by the cast brought a tear to the eye!
CHINA CRISIS Working With Fire & Steel – Possible Pop Songs Volume 2 (1983)
Produced by Mike Howlett, ‘Working With Fire & Steel’ allowed CHINA CRISIS to deliver a more cohesive album following the four producers who steered their debut. Best known for the brilliant Emulator laced hit single ‘Wishful Thinking’, the album is much more than that with melancholic synth melodies and woodwind counterpoints over a combination of real and programmed rhythm sections.
By 1984, Sylvian had a lucrative solo deal that gave him total artistic control. Side one of his debut solo offering opened with echoes of JAPAN in the funky ‘Pulling Punches’ but then adopted more of a laid back jazz feel. Meanwhile the second side had synthetic Fourth World overtones with avant garde trumpetist Jon Hassell and sound painter Holger Czukay as willing conspirators, and the emotive ‘Weathered Wall’.
With new music technology come new compositional concepts so when CD was launched, Brian Eno asked: “what can be done now that could not be done before?”. ‘Thursday Afternoon’ was a 61 minute ambient journey and the lack of surface noise meant it could be very quiet. Using a Yamaha DX7 and minimal sustained piano, it soundtracked video paintings of the model Christine Alicino in vertical portrait format, so the TV had to be turned on its side to view it!
PHILIP OAKEY & GIORGIO MORODER Philip Oakey & Giorgio Moroder (1985)
‘Together in Electric Dreams’ did better than any singles from THE HUMAN LEAGUE’s lukewarm ‘Hysteria’ album. So Virgin swiftly dispatched Oakey to record an album with Moroder. The segued first side was a total delight from the off, featuring the rousing ‘Why Must The Show Go On?’ while the Donna Summer aping ‘Brand New Love (Take A Chance)’ was another highlight, as was the stupendous ‘Now’ on side two.
Whenever THE BLUE NILE are mentioned, it’s their 1983 album ‘A Walk Across The Rooftops’ that is always discussed in breathless awe. But the follow-up ‘Hats’ is the trio’s crowning glory. Both licensed to Virgin through a deal with Linn, the high quality Hi-Fi manufacturer. With hopeless romanticism and rainy drama, the glorious centrepieces were ‘Headlights On The Parade’ and ‘The Downtown Lights’.
THE FUTURE SOUND OF LONDON became flag bearers of avant garde electronic music and seen as successors to TANGERINE DREAM and Eno. Signing to Virgin in 1992, the duo invested in some Akai S9000 samplers and given free rein to experiment in their sonic playground, resulting in the complex sweeps and downtempo collages of ‘Lifeforms’ with the influence of the BBC Radiophonic Workshop looming heavy in the sonic playground.
Despite relations being at an all-time low, MASSIVE ATTACK produced some of their finest work on ‘Mezzanine’. With dark undercurrents and eerie atmospherics, the sample heavy album’s highpoints featured the vocals of Elizabeth Fraser on the hit single ‘Teardrop’ and the spy drama magnificence of ‘Black Milk’, although the band were sued for the unauthorised use of MANFRED MANN’S EARTH BAND’s ‘Tribute’ on the latter
via Virgin Records
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via ZTT Records
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via Sony Music
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via Tsunami Records
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? It really doesn’t matter because based on this single and its predecessor ‘Racer’, Moroder has shown those chancers on their laptops how it’s actually done!
in the process. The label courted further controversy when they issued the album ‘Never Mind The Bollocks, Here’s The Sex Pistols’ to great fanfare. Virgin ended up in the dock under the 1899 Indecent Advertising Act over a poster in their Nottingham record shop.
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