Author: electricityclub (Page 236 of 419)

“I don’t like country & western, I don’t like rock music… I don’t like rockabilly! I don’t like much really do I? But what I do like, I love passionately!!”: CHRIS LOWE

“Good taste is exclusive”: NICK RHODES

MIDGE URE, THE CHRISTIANS + ALTERED IMAGES Live at Alban Arena

22 November 2017 /

The Roman town of Verulamium, now the city of St Albans, was the location for the final night of a very successful 30 date UK tour featuring MIDGE URE, THE CHRISTIANS and ALTERED IMAGES.

Between them, THE CHRISTIANS and ALTERED IMAGES had 7 Top 20 hit singles, while MIDGE URE’s various career exploits with VISAGE, ULTRAVOX and BAND AID have been well documented.

ALTERED IMAGES singer Clare Grogan additionally has her place in pop history as the inspiration behind SPANDAU BALLET’s ‘True’, courtesy of her brief unrequited relationship with the band’s songwriter Gary Kemp.

In 2017, ALTERED IMAGES consists only of Clare Grogan from the original line-up and with a tight professional backing band, the pixie of pop was all set to see out the end of her first tour for over 30 years with a bang… this almost literally happened when she stumbled while walking off the drum rising in her heels during the marvellous opening number ‘I Could Be Happy’.

Modern technology allowed for the bubbling sequences of ‘Don’t Talk To Me About Love’ to be reproduced faithfully as Grogan set out, in her own words, to play “the embarrassing mum”, swearing with aplomb in a manner that would make Alison Moyet proud!

Indeed, when she introduced the song ‘Don’t Give Up Girl’ which was recorded for the TV show ‘Skins’, she gleefully announced it was written because “Being an adult is sometimes sh*t!”

A touching dedication was made to the late Martin Rushent on ‘See Those Eyes’ which Grogan said was his favourite production, while there were surprises too with the Siouxsie-lite but now very poignant ‘Dead Pop Stars’.

But the highlight was ‘Change Of Heart’, the great lost ALTERED IMAGES single with its great candy floss organ riff, while naturally to finish what was a very fun performance, Grogan got the audience up on their feet for ‘Happy Birthday’. Her daughter Elle joined backing singer Poppy Lironi on stage to keep a watchful eye on her mother who was enthusiastically jumping around the stage like she had never been away.

Using the essentially the same backing band, THE CHRISTIANS offered 40 minutes of thoughtful Merseyside soul with a couple of their noted covers thrown in. Originally comprising of the Christian brothers Garry, Russell and the sadly departed Roger with musician Henry Christian Priestman, only Garry Christian remains in today’s line-up of THE CHRISTIANS, but he was ably supported by guitarists Joey Ankrah and Neil Griffiths on the distinctive harmonies that characterised their earnest politically-tinged songs.

Beginning with ‘Forgotten Town’, a song that 30 years on still sadly reflects the social climate of the UK, Christian exuded some dry Scouse humour on the leafy St Albans audience.

He dedicated ‘Greenbank Drive’ to the city after seeing a road sign with the same name during the day, although he pointed out it was about the Liverpool one; the crowd didn’t seem to mind as they joined in an extended singalong.

Meanwhile ‘Ideal World’ looked back at a time when Apartheid and The Berlin Wall were still in place, showing that the world has actually made SOME progress since 1987 and there is cause for optimism, before a cover of Gil Scott-Heron’s ‘The Bottle’ added a classic soulful groove to proceedings while passing social commentary on the issue of alcoholism.

‘Hooverville’ and ‘Born Again’ were reminders of the gritty pop that secured a UK No2 for THE CHRISTIANS’ debut eponymous album.

But to conclude the set, there came a spirited cover of The Isley Brothers’ ‘Harvest For The World’ which was the band’s biggest UK hit single back in 1988 in aid of a number of charities including British Red Cross, Christian Aid and Save The Children.

After his acoustic solo jaunts of the last few years, it was a joy to witness MIDGE URE present his ‘Band Electronica’ to journey through the key milestones of his glorious musical career. Aided by Cole Stacey on bass + synths, Joseph O’Keefe on synths, piano + violin and Russell Field on electronic drums, Ure sprung a surprise at the start with an instrumental rendition of ‘Yellow Pearl’, the track to composed with Phil Lynott which was the theme tune to Top Of The Pops’ between 1981-1985.

Seguing straight into ‘Passing Strangers’, it signalled Ure’s intention to fill the gap that has opened up since ULTRAVOX last played live opening for SIMPLE MINDS in late 2013.

Indeed, other than his No1 single  ‘If I Was’ and a cover of Tom Rush’s ‘No Regrets’, it was stomping ULTRAVOX numbers like ‘I Remember (Death In The Afternoon)’ and ‘Sleepwalk’ that dominated the set; “I know what you want…” he quipped.

However, an unexpected full-blown synthesized rendition of ‘Fade To Grey’, which Ure co-wrote and recorded as part of VISAGE, got the cautious crowd up standing with the first really big roar of the evening.

ULTRAVOX fans can be a rather understated lot, as proven by entire front rows remaining firmly seated during their comeback concerts between 2009 to 2012, but Ure’s gentle persuasion and jokes about “the dance police” finally broke the dry ice.

As well as the hits like ‘All Stood Still’, ‘The Voice’ and the inevitable ‘Vienna’ which had an unusual middle set placing, Ure also dusted off the blistering ‘A Friend I Call Desire’ from the ‘Lament’ album, much to the delight of the ULTRAVOX diehards.

But while Ure’s voice and guitar, Stacey’s backing vocals and O’Keefe’s keys came over loud and clear, Field’s rhythmic backbone lacked power and was far too low in the mix… yes, you read that right, ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK is complaining that the live drums weren’t loud enough!!!

Despite this, the band played masterfully; a heart-rendering ‘Dancing With Tears In My Eyes’ was a sad reminder that the Doomsday Clock has reared its head again as it moves closer to midnight, thanks to the powers that be squaring up in their playground of the 38th Parallel.

A spirited version of ‘Hymn’ stole the show with O’Keefe’s recreation of its ARP Odyssey solo particularly enjoyable. O’Keefe’s synthtastic approximation of the OSCar on ‘Love’s Great Adventure’ controlled by his Roland A-88 was another worthy moment to end a fabulously entertaining evening.

Ure’s ‘Band Electronica’ format was a worthy substitute for the absence of ULTRAVOX, although it did recall the solo Andy McCluskey version of OMD that toured between 1991 to 1993 when key band members were noticeable by their absence.

But that could be said about the other two acts on tonight’s bill and their performances were not made any less valid by their absent friends. At the end of the day, it is the songs that count and as Ure gleefully sang on ‘Love’s Great Adventure’, “I stood the test of time”.

So if these brilliant songs that shaped a generation can STILL be performed by their original vocalists, then why not roll on and keep it coming. Indeed, everyone could be happy 😉

MIDGE URE will be the special guest of THE HUMAN LEAGUE on the following 2018 UK dates:

Southend Cliffs Pavilion (21st November), Brighton Centre (23rd November), Manchester Arena (24th November), Glasgow SEC Armadillo (25th November), New Castle City Hall (27th November), Cambridge Corn Exchange (28th November), Bournemouth BIC Winter Hall (30th November), Birmingham Arena (1st December), Cardiff Motorpoint Arena (2nd December), Leicester De Montfort Hall ( 4th December), Nottingham Royal Concert Hall (5th December), Sheffield Fly DSA Arena (7th December), London Hammersmith Apollo (8th December)

http://www.midgeure.co.uk

https://twitter.com/midgeure1

http://www.thechristianslive.co.uk

https://twitter.com/thechristians

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

https://twitter.com/claregrogan2

Text by Chi Ming Lai
Photos by Richard Price
22nd November 2017

Listen: The Legacy of TEARS FOR FEARS

20 November 2017 /

Photo by Tim O’Sullivan

When Roland Orzabal and Curt Smith went into the studio to record ‘Suffer The Children’ as their debut single as TEARS FOR FEARS, it was producer David Lord who introduced them to synthesizers plus crucially, keyboard player and later, collaborator Ian Stanley.

The Bath pair had been members of NEON which featured future TEARS FOR FEARS drummer Manny Elias as well as Pete Byrne and Rob Fisher who later found success in America as NAKED EYES. Orzabal and Smith then achieved moderate success in Spain with the smartly suited Mod band GRADUATE via a hit single ‘Elvis Should Play Ska’, co-produced by Tony Hatch.

But like many at the time, they were tiring of the band format and recording as a duo, a demo featuring ‘Suffer The Children’ and ‘Pale Shelter’ secured an initial two single deal with Mercury Records who also had THE TEARDROP EXPLODES on their roster.

Arty and angsty, Orzabal and Smith had become fascinated by Arthur Janov’s Primal Therapy and had named themselves after his theories which resolved to overcome childhood traumas through re-experiencing specific incidents and fully expressing the resulting pain during therapy.

While not a commercial success, ‘Suffer The Children’ with its OMD-like chorus and closing child vocal refrain was well received, so hopes were pinned on ‘Pale Shelter’, produced by Mike Howlett whose studio touch had brought OMD into the charts.

However, the duo were unhappy with the New Zealander’s more technological approach, preferring a looser feel and found an ally in Chris Hughes, producer of ADAM & THE ANTS who also doubled as one of the former Stuart Goddard’s drummers under the stage name of Merrick.

A&R man David Bates believed in his signings and TEARS FOR FEARS were given one more chance with the resultant ‘Mad World’ hitting paydirt. Lyrically fraught with a wonderful percussive tension, ‘Mad World’ magnificently combined synthesizers, preset rhythms and conventional instruments.

It set the scene for the debut album ‘The Hurting’ but when it was released in Spring 1983, it disappointed some who had followed the band from the beginning. Not only were all four singles to date included but so were two of the B-sides.

Meanwhile, two of the album’s key songs ‘Memories Fade’ and ‘Start Of The Breakdown’ sounded weak compared to the more powerful Linn Drum driven assisted arrangements previewed on an excellent BBC Radio 1 session for Kid Jensen in late 1982 which exuded far more tension; these finally secured a release in the deluxe boxed set edition of ‘The Hurting’ in 2013.

This wasn’t to be the first time that the Achilles heel of too much studio pondering would hit TEARS FOR FEARS, but one interesting consequence was that the treated ethnic percussion added to the extended end section of ‘Memories Fade’ was sampled by Midge Ure and used on ‘Do They Know It’s Christmas?’ by BAND AID.

With the help of hits like ‘Change’ and a re-recorded ‘Pale Shelter’, ‘The Hurting’ was a big success and put them next to the exciting talent that was emerging from the UK like DEPECHE MODE, TALK TALK, A FLOCK OF SEAGULLS, BLANCMANGE and CHINA CRISIS. But they stole defeat from the jaws of victory with a ponderous interim single ‘The Way You Are’ towards the end of 1983. By their own admission, they had been listening to too much JAPAN and were stuck on Planet Sylvian… it was time for a rethink.

At this point, Smith was the accepted face and lead singer of TEARS FOR FEARS but that would steadily alter on their second album ‘Songs From The Big Chair’. ‘Mothers Talk’ was a reasonable comeback featuring Orzabal’s lead vocal but the duo were still not happy. Their perceived failing made them more determined; With East / West tensions at a high following the Soviet Union’s invasion of Afghanistan plus the tit-for-tat boycotts of The Olympics Games, The Cold War and the Reagan / Thatcher love-in was to inspire two of TEARS FOR FEARS biggest hits.

‘Shout’ was a battlecry against the proliferation of nuclear weapons. Using sequencers and drum machines as the backbone, the process was aided by more prominent and rockier guitar towards the climax, along with a gutsy lead vocal from Orzabal and thundering drums from Chris Hughes. The song took an age to record and mix but produced a single of epic proportions at over six minutes.

On the other hand, ‘Everybody Wants To Rule The World (originally titled ‘Everybody Wants To Go To War’) was more straightforward as a conscious attempt at an American drive-time hit with its fabulous topline, chorus and middle eight. Both songs became US No1s.

Another US Top 10 came with ‘Head Over Heels’, part of an album segue with ‘Broken’, a track that had been a more mechanically recorded B-side but now given a blistering treatment on the conceptual second side of ‘Songs From The Big Chair’, which was closed with the lengthy but brilliant art piece ‘Listen’. The combination of synthpop, FM rock and prog ensured 5 million sales in the US and a further 2 million in the rest of the world.

They indeed ruled the world but as with many successful acts of the period, TEARS FOR FEARS got lost in the own bubble. Orzabal began to question the band’s authenticity and this was heightened when he saw Oleta Adams singing in a bar while on a break during the American leg of the ‘Big Chair’ tour.

During the recording of the anticipated follow-up The Seeds Of Love, Smith found himself isolated during the recording sessions as Orzabal strived for perfection. Orzabal had co-written a number of songs with live keyboardist Nicky Holland, but the use of a Fairlight and endless session musicians being brought in like Pino Palladino, Manu Katché and even Phil Collins became a distraction in the search for a more organic touch; Ian Stanley left the recording and returned a year later only to find Orzabal still working on the same song!

Incorporating Adam’s soulful tones into the TEARS FOR FEARS line-up, ‘Woman In Chains’ was a fine musical statement on patriarchy, but was ironically used during a glamourous beach sequence on ‘Baywatch’. However, the lead single ‘Sowing The Seeds Of Love’ was more polarising, an anthemic rewriting of ‘I Am The Walrus’ which provoked either love or disdain.

Smith did the lead vocal on ‘Advice For The Young At Heart, a good tune that perhaps got lost in its understated backing that made it come over more like CHINA CRISIS, but following another world tour to pay off the alleged debt of over $1 million incurred in recording costs, Smith bowed out as their management went bankrupt .

Resilient and some might say, bloody minded, Orzabal (like Andy McCluskey did with OMD) continued the TEARS FOR FEARS brand as a solo venture, and while the venture yielded further UK hits like ‘Laid So Low’ and ‘Break It Down Again’ co-written by the late Alan Griffiths, fans generally did not regard it as TEARS FOR FEARS.

It was around this period that Orzabal recorded covers of ‘Ashes To Ashes’ and ‘Creep’, perhaps indicating he was going through some kind of musical existential crisis. And a 2000 solo album ‘Tomcats Screaming Outside’ all but confirmed even to Orzabal that it was not TEARS FOR FEARS without Smith. While Smith himself also ventured out solo and as MAYFIELD, time eventually healed the fall out as Orzabal lightened up and the two old friends began speaking to each other again.

The eventual 2004 comeback record ‘Everybody Loves A Happy Ending’ was a disappointment and not a success with the original release on Arista pulled by the band before its release after promos were sent out; an eventual sanctuary was found at Gut Records in the UK, but the experience ensured that in 2017, there has still yet to be a follow-up.

Despite this, TEARS FOR FEARS continued touring but the band’s legacy and reputation was unexpectedly elevated by the cult film ‘Donnie Darko’ released in 2001. A dark psychological drama starring a then-unknown Jake Gyllenhaal, the original cut began with ‘Head Over Heels’ in the opening sequences. Meanwhile a stripped down piano based cover of ‘Mad World’ arranged by Michael Andrews and sung by Gary Jules became the film’s focal point on the soundtrack. It affirmed Orzabal’s qualities as a great songwriter and since then, the work of TEARS FOR FEARS been deservedly re-evaluated and as a result, demand for them has a live act has escalated.

In the last few years, Orzabal and Smith toured with SPANDAU BALLET down under while they have also opened for THE KILLERS and HALL & OATES to steadily rebuild the profile of TEARS FOR FEARS; this long wait has been vindicated with a sell-out UK tour for 2018 and the promise of new material.

A new single ‘I Love You But I’m Lost’ shows the classic anthemic TEARS FOR FEARS sound is still present, loud and clear to make amends for the ‘Everybody Loves A Happy Ending’ disaster, while absorbing more recent influences like ARCADE FIRE. Meanwhile, the more sedate ‘Stay’ signals more organic intent despite an autotuned vocal from Smith.

The new compilation ‘Rule The World’ gathers most of the hits, but is missing some singles like ‘Suffer The Children’, ‘The Way You Are’ and ‘Laid So Low’ which however unrealised, were crucial in shaping TEARS FOR FEARS’ creative development.

With ‘The Hurting’ having been many listeners entry in synthpop and modern acts like MARSHEAUX covering ‘Suffer The Children’, while other bands such as SMASHING PUMPKINS and MGMT have cited the band as an influence, is it now the time for TEAR FOR FEARS to reclaim their position and rule the world again?

‘Rule The World: The Greatest Hits’ is released by Universal Records

TEARS FOR FEARS rescheduled 2019 UK and Ireland tour with special guest Alison Moyet includes:

Dublin 3Arena (31st January), Liverpool Echo Arena (2nd February), Cardiff Motorpoint Arena (3rd February), Brighton Centre (4th February), London O2 Arena (6th February), Bournemouth International Centre (7th February), Leeds First Direct Arena (9th February), Glasgow SSE Hydro (11th February), Birmingham Genting Arena (12th February), Nottingham Motorpoint Arena (13th February)

http://tearsforfears.com

https://facebook.com/TearsForFears

https://twitter.com/tearsforfears

https://www.instagram.com/tearsforfearsmusic/

Text by Chi Ming Lai
20th November 2017, updated 18th April 2018

Missing in Action: FASHIØN

16 November 2017 /

Photo by David Bailey

Of all the acts from the Synth Britannia-era that were deemed as “most likely to make it” FASHIØN were surely a safe bet to succeed.

With an image that could rival JAPAN, they certainly looked the part and latterly with album/single covers featuring the work of iconic photographer David Bailey, they had the design aesthetic nailed too.

With their second incarnation featuring vocalist / guitarist Dave “Dee” Harris, synth player Mulligan, Martin Rechi on bass and Dik Davis on drums, the band evolved from an indie / post-punk sound into a far more electronic and potentially commercial proposition.

Zeus B Held handled production duties on their second album ‘Fabrique’ and helped cultivate a more electronic sheen with the band. Although the album cracked the 1982 UK Top 10, singles from ‘Fabrique’ didn’t fare so well, with the tracks ‘Love Shadow’, ‘Streetplayer (Mechanik)’ and ‘Move On’ all failing to dent the Top 40.

Shortly after the release of the album, Harris left the band and was replaced by Troy Tate, formerly of THE TEARDROPS EXPLODES.

So why didn’t FASHIØN achieve their full potential? With the UK music-buying public now fully embracing more pop-oriented and teen friendly marketed bands such as TALK TALK and fellow Birmingham residents DURAN DURAN, it could be argued that with their sophisticated blend of funk and electronics that the band was just too ahead of their time.

Regardless of the circumstances surrounding their lack of commercial success, FASHIØN left behind some real quality Simmons drums-driven funk electronica and with some of their vocoder usage, even gave KRAFTWERK a run for their money.

Also notable was the band’s embracement of the 12” remix format; FASHIØN were certainly one of the pioneers of the extended single format and their alternative versions are definitely worthy of investigation. Anyone searching for a recommendation to check out the band’s back catalogue should look no further than a comment on the Discogs website which says: “Decadent techno-funk just made for cruising the slick, night streets of Berlin at 4:00am in your DeLorean”.

Dave Harris kindly spoke about his experiences playing in the band, working with Zeus B Held and also subsequent projects including a link-up as ZEE with the late Richard Wright from PINK FLOYD.

What was your musical background prior to joining FASHIØN and who were your formative influences?

Prior to joining FASHIØN, I had various bands, starting with an acoustic band in the early 70s called INDIAN RUNNER; we won the folk side of the ‘Melody Maker’ Rock / Folk contest in 1974, from there I formed various funk and R&B bands like BUMPERS & FERRARI featuring Jaki Graham on vocals.

After that I joined THE ITALIANS and this happened to be where I met Dik and Mulligan at a Birmingham gig. Musical influences right from the start have always been mainly R&B artists, apart from THE BEATLES (of course), JIMI HENDRIX, STEVIE WONDER, RUFUS & CHAKA KHAN, MARVIN GAYE, BB KING, JONI MITCHELL and many more…

FASHIØN existed in an earlier incarnation before you joined, how did you go about hooking up the band?

As mentioned, Dik and Mulligan, turned up at an ITALIANS gig and after playing we were chatting and they explained that they were starting a punk band, I was the dinosaur at that point!

I said good luck and within 6 months they were supporting THE POLICE on an American tour… a few months later there was an ad in the Melody Maker looking for a front man guitarist, I recognised by the wording that it was FASHIØN, so I thought, I would go along.

We got on great! We both had something the other party wanted, I needed something more electronic and out of the norm, and they wanted a singer, writer and player. So it worked, kind of strange at first but we knew we could make something out of it.

Being Birmingham based, how much of a rivalry (if any) was there at the time between you and DURAN DURAN?

None really, the other guys knew them pretty well because DURAN DURAN used to rehearse at The Rum Runner too. I came from across town and until then didn’t hang with those guys. I met them a few times afterwards and it was always cool.


The band’s striking imagery / design played a huge part in how they were perceived, how did working with David Bailey occur and what was it like being photographed by such an icon?

Mulligan was a really good artist so we had control of our marketing in that side of the field, and it was very distinctive. Bailey came about when the Arista marketing department came up with a competition which hooked us up with Olympus cameras (who Bailey was promoting); so a camera shoot arose from that.

I was a major fan and it was a fantastic opportunity to work with him, and there was an amazing amount of work that day. He seemed to think I resembled an American Indian and referred to me as “Oi! F***ing Geronimo”… how could you dislike him…

THE HUMAN LEAGUE Mark II and their producer Martin Rushent tend to get all the kudos for the alternative / remix versions of their songs eg the ‘Love & Dancing’ album, yet FASHIØN were at the spearhead of this too. Whose idea was it to embrace the 12” format to such a degree?

I would have to put the initial idea down to Zeus, but it was something that evolved.

From recording the original track, to eventually mixing a single and an album version and then whilst the mix was still up on the desk (full recall was not available then, by any means), we would run through a few times to get a rough idea of what we were going to do and then we would go for an all hands on mix.

Panning, muting, delay and reverb FX etc, all straight to ¼” tape and finally edit the ¼” tape or not if it worked out ok. It sounds like mayhem and it is hard to recollect exactly. Zeus and I have had many a conversation recently about how good some of them turned out, considering the equipment available at the time! It’s hard to pick a favourite, possibly ‘Do You Wanna Make Love (at 4am)’?

You were an early advocate of the Roland guitar synthesizer, how did you integrate this into your sound?

It came about, because of its being. There is only so much you can do with guitar FX so when it was offered to me, it made complete sense. It was pretty limited in what it did, but when combined with the Sennheiser Vocoder (which Zeus introduced me to), the possibilities were opened up, though that was something that had to be on tape when playing live.

ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK recently interviewed Zeus B Held, how important was he in the overall sound of ‘Fabrique’?

For me, he became a major part of the sound of the band. It was great to have a strong, experienced keyboard player / producer. I found a soul mate as soon as we started work in the studio, which meant that I could expand the compositions and Zeus could cover it.


The band’s production and use of electronics (including vocoder and extensive Simmons drums usage) was hugely technical sounding, how did this translate into your live performances and did it cause any problems?

There were 2 hugely different stages, gigs before the album and after… before we realised the album, the sound was pretty raw, a couple of sequencers and the rest live (no MIDI), but we still managed to create the crossover of funk and the music style of the time.

This was quite fitting, coming out of the punk era.

After the album everything changed (still no MIDI), so we did have to rely on a 4 track tape machine, that had the sequences, vocoder etc and in the end some backing vocals, which I had hit heavily on the album. The Simmons was no problem, Dik played to a click track. Hard work but I think worthwhile, so the audience got a good reproduction of the album.

‘Love Shadow’ is a superb lost single of its era, why do you think it underperformed in the charts?

Thank you very much for that. I loved the track and felt it was perfect for the time, especially with Gina X doing the spoken vocal in the Mid 8. There are a lot of factors that might have caused this. I can’t go too deeply into what was going on. We had a small advance but a large recording budget from Arista which is what we requested, because we knew the album was going to take more than the normal time and expense of a band’s first album. Therefore we didn’t have the finance available to do what record companies did at that time, and I think they had lost faith in our management…

Zeus B Held gave his opinion on why FASHIØN never quite hit the heights that they were feted to reach, what is your personal viewpoint on this?

Very hard to answer. I do think that FASHIØN had more of a cult, rather than teenage girl fan base. Also I didn’t and still don’t compose in a pop style à la DURAN DURAN. I think that comes from growing up when bands could survive on selling albums, and so you used to look to the second or third album before you started recouping. That time had gone. Plus you needed confident management to back you.

ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK remembers hearing a FASHIØN Radio 1 ‘In Concert’ and being really surprised / shocked to hear a new vocalist (Troy Tate), was this the general reaction by the band’s fans?

I had no idea at the time, it’s only in the last few years that I have seen a couple of videos of that line-up, but now having met people on social media, they seemed to be quite surprised at the new members and sound of the band.

What are your best memories of being in FASHIØN?

Well I think signing a worldwide recording deal with Arista was pretty amazing and my publishing deal with EMI, something I had worked for, for many years. The first major gig we did was in the Botanical Gardens in Birmingham, we had set it up so the staff of Arista London could all come and see their latest signing. It was very pleasing. And of course when we played the Birmingham Odeon, a gig I used to go to as a youngster growing up.

Photo by Peter Ashworth

The one-off project you did with the late Rick Wright from PINK FLOYD as ZEE and the album ‘Identity’ is an intriguing one. How did you link up with him?

FASHIØN was doing a small tour of East Coast America. I met up with Raff Ravenscroft (sax player of ‘Baker Street’) in New York and he mentioned that Rick was looking to start a band and record an album. I knew I was ready to split from FASHIØN. So when I got back to London, Rick and I got together and after a few meetings with other players, we decided to do the album together as a duo.

Being a primarily a synth-based album, this must have been a risk to undertake for Wright?

For both of us! I was amazed to be working with a musical icon, and we both were excited at the prospects of what we might come out with. We started by demoing with piano and acoustic guitar and we were going along ok, when the elephant in the room (that of using synthesizers) was brought up.

In retrospect, although it didn’t achieve commercial success, do you think in places ‘Identity’ sounds ahead of its time with its extensive Fairlight usage?

Yes, the Fairlight was still fairly new to the industry and not used to its full capacity except for Orchestra stabs, pan pipes and some vocal samples. We managed to form a connection with Syco systems, who were the agents in Britain. It was at this time we were given a Beta version of Page R, Fairlight’s sequencing software, which gave us a complete new way of composing.

Yes we did use it extensively, I would have to say a little too much, but I would agree, that the album sounded ahead of its time apart from the Floyd fans who weren’t going to like it, however it turned out!

It seems now though thanks to social media and the world being so much smaller, there are a lot of Floydians who did like it at the time and still do. Which brought me to thinking about digitising and tweaking the masters of ‘Identity’,to be called ‘Identity 2017’ when it is released in the near future.

What other musical projects did you pursue post-FASHIØN and ZEE?

After ZEE, I started record production along with my good friend Tim Palmer. We had met during the ‘Fabrique’ recordings and had got along great to the point that we would go into studio one in Utopia studios and record sections and even complete tracks to get the album finished. ‘Let’s Play Dirty’ being one.

We next produced LIMAHL’s first solo album after him leaving KAJAGOOGOO and various other bits and pieces, before I met up with Paul Fishman who was in RE-FLEX); we formed a working partnership writing recording and producing other artists, which goes on to this day.

Are there any acts that you rate at present?

I rarely listen to the charts right now, but a couple of bands that spring to mind are KING GIZZARD & THE LIZARD WIZARD and KNOWERS.

You are currently working with Zeus B Held again and a ‘Fabrique’ re-release has been mooted, what does this entail?

Yes, very excited to be back together and planning a new album and hopefully live work. The FASHIØN album is going to be all the tracks we released and the dub versions, again digitised, so we could get a little more control over the masters.

Zeus and I may do a couple of remixes on that as well; it depends on the legalities, now that Sony owns the catalogue. That aside we have started to work on a project that will be called FABRIQUE, it’s a move way from FASHIØN and we wouldn’t use that name because of the other FASHIØNs that have gone before, but it might be a nod to how FASHIØN 1981 may have sounded in the present. We shall see in 2018!

ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK gives its warmest thanks to Dave Harris

The compilation ‘The Height Of FASHIØN’ which includes tracks from the ‘Fabrique’ album and various remixes from the Dave Harris era is released by Cherry Red and available on CD via the usual retailers

The ‘Fabrique’ 4CD deluxe boxed set including the original album, extended mixes, dub versions and a 2019 live performance by Dave Harris and Zeus B Held at Birmingham Global plus photos plus signed certificate of authenticity and 60 page booklet is released on 31st Janaury 2021, pre-order from https://www.musicglue.com/fashion-fabrique-deluxe/products/fabrique-deluxe-box-set

https://www.facebook.com/fabrique1981/

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

Text and Interview by Paul Boddy
16th November 2017

EBERHARD KRANEMANN Interview

14 November 2017 /

Eberhard Kranemann is a one-time member of KRAFTWERK who later recorded an album ‘Fritz Müller Rock’ with the legendary Conny Plank.

A graduate of the Dortmund Conservatory, the multi-instrumentalist also worked with NEU! but it was in 1967 while as a member of the band PISSOFF that he met Florian Schneider. More recently, Kranemann has formed KRAUTWERK with Harald Grosskopf who played drums on Klaus Schulze’s ‘Moondawn’ and recorded a number of albums with Manuel Göttsching as a member of ASHRA.

In a merger of the Schools of Düsseldorf and Berlin, Kranemann and Grosskopf transmit their cosmic sonic visions of today, tomorrow and beyond in an updated take on art school kosmische with a lively and rhythmic self-titled debut album. Following an enthusiastic talk at the 2017 ELECTRI_CITY_CONFERENCE in Düsseldorf, Eberhard Kranemann kindly chatted about the genesis of KRAUTWERK and his observations on the vibrant post-war German music scene that ultimately impacted the world’s musical landscape.

So what is the concept of KRAUTWERK?

There is no concept, we are just two guys who are making music for fun. We did know not each other until one year ago. I heard Harald for the first time at a festival in Sulingen where he was doing a solo performance and I had a performance in another room.

I liked his kind of drumming, he doesn’t play natural drums and doesn’t use those crazy boom-boom-boom drums from a computer, he plays a special electronic kit with sticks on plates. He doesn’t use the pure electronic sounds, he changes them via Ableton with his special effects… they had so much power, I had never heard this before. I thought “I must work with him”

Then, he came into my room… I’m a more experimental musician using wired sounds and he didn’t like it! For him, it was too dissonant! So when I telephoned him to suggest working together, he did not want to… but 4 weeks later, he said “OK, we try something”

What was the process?

He came into my studio, but I did not tell him before that I’d prepared it to record our whole session professionally. I recorded 40 minutes of what we had played. We had never played together before but this 40 minutes was so great, it was wonderful music. We made another date 4 weeks later and did 20 more minutes.

So we had 60 minutes in total and this is our first LP, CD and digital download. It was two old guys making music for fun, but then a label heard it and other people liked it very much. We did a British tour which was a big success, we will be going to Stockholm and next year, we play in China. People in America want us to go there too.

Both you and Harald Grosskopf have a lot of history in German electronic music, Harald was in ASHRA and released a great solo debut in ‘Synthesist’, had you been aware of his previous work?

No, I wasn’t interested in the Berlin School of Music, for me it was boring, it was just synthesizers going on and on and it was not enough. For myself, I need more power or action.

You were in KRAFTWERK?

Me and Florian Schneider were the originators of KRAFTWERK, one year later Herr Hütter came into the band and now he is the only man who makes it exist, he gets a lot of money out of it because he is a businessman.

A band who spends 30 years not making any new music and only the old sh*t comes out every year in new clothing, this is not for me. I must make new music going into the future and when I began this project with Harald, I had the idea of starting at a point 30 years ago when KRAFTWERK stopped making music because when they now play concerts, they don’t make music… they stand there like roboters and the music comes programmed from the computer, I do not like this.

When I played in KRAFTWERK in 1971 and the years before, we used techniques between man and machine but there was a lot of freestyle, everyone could play. But they stopped it and did this very cool, reduced music… you can do this if you want, they are very famous for it and they do it very well, but I think my friend Florian left the band he didn’t like it anymore. He is a real musician and he wanted to make music, he doesn’t want to stand on a stage with the sounds coming from the computer

So how do you make technology work for you in KRAUTWERK?

There is a difference between Harald and me; Harald works very much with technology and computers. But I don’t do it as much as he does, because I’m more of a traditional musician. When we play live, I play cello, Hawaiian guitar and sing. But I don’t tell stories, I use the voice like another instrument and make rhythm with it like “boom-tschak-boom-bah-tschak”… so I sing like a drummer and then Harald comes in with drums.

As Fritz Müller, you worked with the legendary Conny Plank, what was he like?

He was a very important man, for me in the last century, Conny Plank was the most important producer, engineer and mixer in the whole world, THE BEST! He was so great that he even turned down David Bowie and U2. He was very honest, he didn’t want to work with them.

He was very clear and only wanted to make music with people he liked… not only liked but loved! There was a lot of love between him and the musicians, it was so wonderful to work with him, he had a good gut feeling about people. I was the person in the background that put him in contact with KRAFTWERK and NEU!

ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK gives its sincerest thanks to Eberhard Kranemann

‘Krautwerk’ is released by Bureau B in CD, vinyl and digital formats

Eberhard Kranemann and Harald Grosskopf play Kraken Sthlm in Stockholm with FAUST on Friday 17th November 2017

https://www.facebook.com/realsynthesist/

http://www.bureau-b.com/grosskopf_kranemann.php

Text and Interview by Chi Ming Lai
14th November 2017

MICHAEL OAKLEY California

13 November 2017 /


Michael Oakley is a talented Glaswegian who describes his music as “Melancholic postcards from my heart wrapped up in synthesizers and drum machines”.

His debut EP ‘California’ rides on the current craze for Synthwave, which emerged following the cult acclaim for the neon-noir thriller ‘Drive’ in 2011 and its soundtrack featuring CHROMATICS, ELECTRIC YOUTH and KAVINSKY. Since then, TV series like ‘Stranger Things’ and their stark backdrop of vintage electronics have maintained the synthwave propagation.

Now virtually every new electronic pop act using widescreen synths from SOL FLARE and NINA to KNIGHT$ and PERTURBATOR is being labelled Synthwave. But what is Synthwave? To ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK, it appears to be synthpop but dressed with sunglasses or Italo disco with neon signs and American accents.

But didn’t Giorgio Moroder do all this in 1980 on the soundtrack to ‘American Gigolo’? And it could be argued that John Hughes’ adoption of British new wave acts like SIMPLE MINDS, THE PSYCHEDLIC FURS, NEW ORDER and OMD for his soundtracks is another stray gene in synthwave? Indeed, the excellent ‘Without You’ by ELECTRIC YOUTH wouldn’t have sounded out of place on ‘The Breakfast Club’ soundtrack?

Speaking of which, Oakley says of his debut EP: “Imagine for a second this is 1985, you’ve just came out of the cinema from watching ‘The Breakfast Club’ and you’re driving home in your DeLorean and flicking through the radio stations looking for some more John Hughes movie soundtrack music…. Well here it is.”

Much in the same way his fellow Scots like WET WET WET, HIPSWAY, LOVE & MONEY, DEACON BLUE, TEXAS and GUN looked Stateside to realise their aspirations, Oakley is doing something similar in the 21st Century.

But that’s not to detract from the fact that ‘California’, where some of the recording also took place, features some very good songs.

‘Rabbit In The Headlights’ begins with the nostalgic sound of a cassette going into the in-car player while the straightforward rhythmic pulse leads into a glorious tune recalling ‘Get Closer’ by Valerie Dore, complete with Italo “woah-oh” chants. Arranged more conventionally, one could imagine this being sung by Taylor Swift.

Meanwhile, ‘Turn Back Time’ is catchy rock elettronico,  bursting with hooks and melodies while complimented by a classic synthetic percussion framework and a guitar solo. Call it Synthwave, synthpop, electropop, Italo or whatever, this first pair of songs on ‘California’ reveals Oakley’s songwriting chops, regardless of genre.

The title track is more of a rock ballad, but continuing at this more moderate pace, ‘Devotion’ is reminiscent of CHVRCHES on their most recent album ‘Every Open Eye’ and pleasingly, Oakley has a far superior singing voice to Martin Doherty.

‘Here Comes The Night’ doesn’t quite hit the heights of ‘Rabbit In The Headlights’ or ‘Turn Back Time’, but ‘End Of Summer’ is musically what a collaboration between TANGERINE DREAM and NEW ORDER might have sounded like.

This is an impressive first salvo from Oakley which shows great promise and potential. His love of ‘Miami Vice’, ‘Blade Runner’, ‘Back To The Future’ and ‘Drive’ quite obviously glows from his work.

But what he needs to do now is stand up from his influences and perhaps be cautious of throwing in too much towards the current fashion for Synthwave… after all, we know what happened with Romo, Synthcore and Electroclash.

‘California’ is available as a download EP from https://michaeloakleysynthwave.bandcamp.com

A limited edition purple vinyl and cassette edition is released by Timeslave Recordings, available at https://timeslaves.bandcamp.com/album/california

https://www.michael-oakley.com/

https://www.facebook.com/MichaelOakleyOfficial

https://www.instagram.com/michaeloakleyofficial/

https://twitter.com/MichaelOakleySW

Text by Chi Ming Lai
13th November 2017, 20th January 2018

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