“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
New York-based duo R. MISSING finally issued their first full-length album ‘Knife Shook The Hand’ at the end of 2024 having debuted in 2017 with the mini-album ‘Unsummering’.
Comprising of the enigmatic Sharon Shy and the even more elusive Toppy Frost, the pair originally bonded over their shared dislikes. With a shadowy brand of understated electronic pop noir characterised by Sharon Shy’s sad forlorn vocals and Toppy Frost’s ethereal synthesized backdrops, R. MISSING have focussed on standalone songs with ‘Crimeless’, ‘New Present City’, ‘All Alone With Seas’ and ‘Verónica Pass’ among the fine examples of their portfolio.
However, while releasing singles to streaming platforms has been very much the norm these last few years, the low profile presence of R. MISSING has meant they have passed many listeners by despite the quality of their work. However, ‘Knife Shook The Hand’ has now provided the long playing focal point that their music deserves; among the collection’s highlights were Party Fade Into Air’, Make It Starry Most’, ‘The Down That Creeps’ and ‘Sleep Will Darken It’.
Never sitting still for long, R. MISSING’s start to 2025 has been heralded by a wonderful new song ‘Fakesnow’ in collaboration with Johan Agebjörn; and it was via an introduction by the Swedish producer that ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK was able have a virtual chat across the Atlantic with Sharon Shy…
R. MISSING have finally released a full length long player ‘Knife Shook The Hand’, this might sound a silly question but does it now feel “proper”, like things have got “real” as a band? How has the audience response been?
The aim was just to create a fast way to locate all of our most recent releases. We feel no more or less “real” than before. The audience response has been nice.
‘Knife Shook The Hand’ is a striking title but I can’t help but notice that its cover artwork looking at you from behind staring at greenery is like the photos which THE KNIFE used around the time of ‘Shaking The Habitual’, was this a homage to the sibling duo?
No – but that sounds very interesting. I should have a look…
‘All Alone With Seas’ was a fine track but ultimately didn’t end up on the album, so how did you go about selecting which songs would form ‘Knife Shook Your Hand’?
‘Knife Shook Your Hand’ is a collection of songs released in 2024. ‘All Alone With Seas’ came out the year prior.
How would you describe your creative dynamic with Toppy Frost in R. MISSING, is it working in a room together or much more remote? Do you have specific roles?
We typically work remotely, although there are exceptions. I usually start with concepts and Henry then makes things come to fruition.
CHROMATICS are often cited in reviews of R. MISSING, but which artists have been key in influencing the sonic palette of R. MISSING?
It changes day after day, week after week. One day it might be French yé-yé, the next, Eurodance or Virna Lindt, then THE FUTURE SOUND OF LONDON or something else entirely. I’m generally more inspired by books than by other music, too.
Since the debut mini-album ‘Unsummering’ in 2017, R.MISSING had been following a “singles only” strategy, what was the thinking behind this? Was this to maximise the streaming algorithms or was it more down to practicality?
We change very quickly and often feel almost disconnected to a song soon after its completion. Releasing quickly sends out the message when it’s still very new and pertinent. I wait every evening for a world that’s fast, quiet and calm.
Would you say that ‘Crimeless’ released in 2021 helped R.MISSING achieve a wider profile breakthrough? What was it about the song do you think that made it so appealing?
That I don’t know. I can’t say for certain that it appeals to anyone. All I can say is that it’s a moment in time.
With ‘New Present City’, you went as far as commissioning a video to accompany it, did you work with the video director on the storyline or did you allow them total artistic freedom to interpret the music as they saw fit?
The director had a vision for the concept of the video that he made come to life all by himself. We cannot take any credit for that.
For ‘Sleep Will Darken It’ with its brilliant synth solo, you self-produced a very effective DIY video for it; with R. MISSING having projected an enigmatic image, how was it to perform in front of the camera?
Fast and unstudied. Just another starless night in the underpass parking somewhere.
So what is ‘The Down That Creeps’?
It’s the disquiet you might feel at Club Altair when the music stopping times up with the windows jamming.
With songs like ‘Jane Four’, ‘Get Careful Darker’, ‘Maryhead’, ‘Cry Quicker’ and ‘Imagination To Be Sad’, R. MISSING don’t mess about and all clock in under three minutes? Was it intentional to keep these songs short?
Not intentional. Concision is just my automatic feeling.
Do you have any favourite songs on the album and if so, why those particular ones?
No. The truth is I never really think about anything once it’s alive.
Since the album ‘Knife Shook The Hand’ came out, there has been a new single ‘Fakesnow’ with Johan Agebjörn, how did this come about and what was the writing process between you like?
Johan created an elegant dark Italo disco instrumental that luckily worked extremely well with a concept and lyrics we had floating in our brains for a while.
There was the 2023 collaboration ‘ Wear The Night Out’ with CAUSEWAY which was very fitting and they also made a ‘My Time As A Ghostly Someone Else’ remix. Are there anymore collaborations planned for the future with other producers and artists?
Quite possibly. Although I’m not the best at guessing the future, I’ve always wanted to be a sci-fi side character.
R. MISSING like to do the occasional cover version and these have ranged from new wave numbers like ‘I Could Be Happy’ and ‘Spellbound’ to soul classics such as ‘Superstition’, so how do you choose a song that will suit the R. MISSING aesthetic? Are there any more particular songs you would like to do?
A record label asked us to do several covers that suited several themes they had in mind. I’m not sure we’ll be doing any other covers.
What is next for R. MISSING? You don’t play live very often, is that something that might change in the future?
More releases. And yes, more live shows.
ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK gives its warmest thanks to Sharon Shy
A Berlin union between LOCAL SUICIDE, the Greco-German technodisco couple Dina Pascal and Max Brudi with Nu-disco exponent Jakob Häglsperger, better known by his stage moniker KALIPO, DINA SUMMER follow up 2024’s ‘Hide & Seek’ EP with a new album ‘Girls Gang’ to welcome in 2025.
‘Hide & Seek’ was a fine blend of new wave, synthpop, dark disco, techno and Italo with a cutting Mittel Europa edge and ‘Girls Gang’ is a natural progression, playing on its darker but still club friendly aesthetics compared with the Italo flavoured debut album ‘Rimini’ from 2022.
Setting the scene, the ‘Girls Gang’ title song adopts the hypnotic pulse of BOY HARSHER in a seductive celebration of “girls in black”, of dancing to BAUHAUS and DEAD CAN DANCE in a dedication to female icons such as Morticia, Wednesday, Vampira, Elvira and Siouxsie. A German phrase meaning “sound and smoke”, the equally uptempo ‘Schall & Rauch’ plays with female and male vocals in the second half for some haunted post-punk disco.
Much more intense, the sonic cathedral of ‘Nothing To Hide’ paces down with textural guitar interventions sitting alongside synthetic choirs and a rattling percussive backdrop. Upping the momentum and embracing the outsider, ‘Alien’ throbs gloriously in a manner calling Miss Kittin & The Hacker as DINA SUMMER make demands to “take me to your leader” as “we are aliens!”
Named after the popular holidaying destination in Northern Greece known for its sandy beaches, the comparatively lighter ‘Halkidiki’ is an infectious electronic club tune made for sultry summery nights and shines with bliss before the darker climes that come with ‘Promise Me’; this sees Berlin-based New Yorker Luca Venezia of CURSES guest with his anguished lead accompanied by Joshua Murphy’s six string for a burst of melodic goth rock embroiled in longing.
The gothic theme continues on ‘Hypnotized’ which musically borrows from BAUHAUS and THE CURE as stabbing synths offset the doom-laden bass guitar while ‘Zombie’ continues on a not too dissimilar footing fully in keeping the song’s theme.
‘Disco Goth’ gets back to clubland as frantic throbbing electronics with commentary on how to get that look while the tense ‘FOMO’ continues the action under strobe lights and plays on that “fear of missing out”. The closer ‘No More Tears’ falls under the spell of THE SISTERS OF MERCY and goes for the full Doktor Avalanche blow out although the bursts of synth are the dead giveaway that this is not actually Andrew Eldritch and Co.
Despite its title, ‘Girls Gang’ does actually feature more male vocals than its predecessors while there also are more of the guitar-driven elements associated with goth creeping in which is quite timely given the recorded return of THE CURE. In much as the same was as NEW ORDER have done in the past, the album manages to straddle the worlds of electronic disco and alternative rock. As with acts like DIE SEXUAL, despite the apparent darkness, there’s an energetic thrill that comes from the decadent dance and the willingness to be one of the gang.
While people get the willies over the Jaguar cars rebrand, the other cat is back…
CAT TEMPER is the alter-ego of Mike Langlie, the most prolific meowsician in synthwave. At last count, he has issued 15 full length albums since 2019, mixing synthpop, electro, punk, hair metal with the sounds of 8-bit videogames. The ‘Furio’ album got an unexpected boosted when DURAN DURAN shared its ‘Rio’ homage artwork on their socials.
“I started making music in the 1980s and my style hasn’t changed much through the years.” Mike Langlie told ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK, “Thankfully retro synthpop is back in fashion! I still use gear I’ve had since then and a lot of soft synths recreating classic hardware I sold or could never afford. Roland Juno basses and pads, Yamaha DX7 bells and leads, Jupiter-4 arpeggios, LinnDrum and Simmons drums among others. Also plenty of weird sounds from my first and favorite synth, the Casio CZ-101 which appears on almost all of my songs.”
Following-up the most recent CAT TEMPER album ‘Still Just A Cat In A Rage’ released just a few months ago, ‘From A Whisker To A Scream’ promises a more cosmic journey that ranges from “a gentle purr to a growling crescendo”.
Opening with the swooping synths and rich melodies of ‘Across The Stratosfur’, TANGERINE DREAM are paid tribute to, with spacey array of sequencer patterns and icy string machine interventions of the Berlin School also shaping ‘Force Meowjeure’ while ‘Alpha Catauri’ adopts more ominous downbeat tones. But the best track comes with ‘Dark Kitty’ which takes a diversion as swathed in melodrama, synthetic orchestrations do battle against a barrage of pizzicato.
On the more synthwave side of things and playing with the same Roland Jupiter arpeggiator used on DURAN DURAN’s ‘Save A Prayer’ for the intro, ‘Turn Of The Tail’ mutates into a neon-lit set piece. ‘Purrallel Worlds’ explores windier melodics over a vintage drum machine backbeat while a sinister rhythmic swing dominates ‘Remote Mewing’. Away from the cosmic, ‘Birdwatcher’ goes all metal but has cinematic diversions in between while ‘Escape Claws’ pays homage to Jean-Michel Jarre’s more dramatic mid-period.
Full of lush synths, whirling arpeggios and soaring solos, some may tire of the pawsome feline puns. But ‘From a Whisker To A Scream’ has cattitude and knowing references, so doesn’t take itself too seriously to ensure it never comes over pompous. You are either a CAT TEMPER person or you are not.
Following up her 2020 long playing debut ‘acts of rebellion’, Colombian artist and producer Ela Minus presents ‘DIA’.
Having been weaned on FUGAZI and played in hardcore punk bands, she gradually drifted towards synthesizers as they allowed her to work alone and more swiftly. Recorded all around the world in various hotels and rented rooms, ‘DIA’ is an album about becoming and self-discovery that collectively asks where we go from here?
While the politically charged ‘acts of rebellion’ was exemplified by the minimal avant technopop and IDM of songs such as ‘they told us it was hard, but they were wrong’, ‘el cielo no es de nadie’ and ‘megapunk’, Ela Minus has sonically expanded her sound into something more rugged.
Originating from a rented cabin in the mountains of Mexico and titled after a phrase commonly used in Colombia referring to the act of opening paths through dense foliage, ’ABRIR MONTE’ provides an esoteric drone instrumental that segues into the precise uplifting electronic pop statement of ‘BROKEN’; building towards being rhythmic and trance-like, this is an anthem about enduring suffering that belies its euphoric qualities as our heroine questions “how did we end up here?”
Loving her drones and strident keys, ‘IDOLS’ shuffles along as Ela Minus offers her afflicted expressions in the manner of Karins Dreijer and Park. Meanwhile the noisier ‘IDK’ throws forward a distorted wall of kerrang and although it will not be for everyone, the end result is nothing short of spirited.
Photo by Alvaro Ariso
Playing with creative distortion further, this time also on the vocals, ‘QQQQ’ percolates along in a jagged cacophony but ‘I WANT TO BE BETTER’ eases off the distortion slightly and builds to an arty rhythmic intensity that recalls FEVER RAY before the thumping thrill of ‘ONWARDS’ does battle with drops galore and tuning signals acting as hooks.
‘UPWARDS’ springs a surprise among its unsettling swoops and frantic beats as rather incongruously but enjoyably, the main vocal topline recalls ‘Brand New Key’ by Melanie from 1971; it all brings an unusual counterpoint to the fierce cut ‘n’ thrust of the punk-influenced techno backdrop.
A song of resilience, ‘COMBAT’ presents another surprise in a beautiful cinematic ballad in the vein of IONNALEE that makes a fitting closer and eschews the beats and distortion, replacing them with a wonderfully layered dose of angelic magic.
With ‘DIA’, Ela Minus has revealed even more of herself. But while there is broader palette of sonic experimentation and dynamic variation to make a generally more forthright record than its predecessor, there are also catchy choruses that provide a pop immediacy amongst the deeper lyrical expression. This indeed captures her life so far.
‘DIA’ is released on 17 January 2025 by Domino Recordings on red vinyl, black vinyl, CD and digitally.
Ela Minus plays the following 2025 EU + UK live dates opening for CARIBOU:
Paris Zenith (3 February), Luxembourg Rockhal (4 February), Utrecht Tivoli (5 February), London Roundhouse (6-8 February), Leeds O2 Academy (9 February), Bristol Beacon (10 February), Brussels Ancienne Belgique (11-12 February), Berlin Velodrom (14 February)
Electronic pop music laid slightly wounded in 1985.
It was a year of transition as DEPECHE MODE did not release a new album, but consolidated with a handy compilation ‘The Singles 81-85’ although its very weak new track ‘It’s Called A Heart’ was thankfully not a sign of things to come.
Meanwhile after the critical acclaim with their debut single, the Bobby Orlando produced version of ‘West End Girls’ in 1984, PET SHOP BOYS were struggling to gain traction despite signing a deal with EMI with their first single for the label ‘Opportunities (Let’s Make Lots Of Money)’ which stalled on its first release at No116; but a re-recorded version of ‘West End Girls’ produced by Stephen Hague issued towards the end of 1985 would change fortunes in time for the start of 1986.
One of the key singles of 1985 was ‘Slave To The Rhythm’ by Grace Jones; wonderful, sun-kissed funky pop in its radio version, producer Trevor Horn took the multiple remix approach he had piloted with FRANKIE GOES TO HOLLYWOOD to its zenith with the parent album. Having worked endlessy to come up with the perfect version and therefore different approaches, rather than actually do a collection of songs, why not do an album that was effectively multiple remixes and interpretations of one song?
The rise of FM synthesis, sampling and computer controlled systems during 1984, sidechained to the success of more guitar driven acts such as U2 and THE PSYCHEDELIC FURS in America, meant that traditional instruments and realistic presets were now the new badge of honour as music made with the inventive electronic sounds prevalent during Synth Britannia faced a backlash. EURYTHMICS moved away from synths to a more conventional band sound while THE SMITHS would continue to be held up by the music press as purer flagbearers of “real music” with Morrissey having already declared “there was nothing more repellent than the synthesizer…”
An early indicator of where things were heading came when ‘Don’t You (Forget About Me)’ was released by SIMPLE MINDS in February 1985 in the US as the theme to a new teen angst movie ‘The Breakfast Club’. Written by Steve Schiff with Keith Forsey who already had co-writes for ‘Flashdance’ and ‘Never Ending Story’ to his name, Radio1’s Richard Skinner called the song “bland” but highly FM radio friendly, it was an American No1 before the start of the Summer and was one of centrepieces of the US leg of Live Aid at JFK Stadium in Philadelphia. The event coincided with an explosion in corporate rock and “DDD” music made for the up-and-coming CD format by the likes of DIRE STRAITS.
This more rock-infused but technically polished new wave sound would be key to TEARS FOR FEARS’ huge success across the Atlantic with their second album ‘Songs From The Big Chair’. It saw bands like VITAMIN Z adopting that style and they even went as far as hiring Ross Cullum who co-produced TEARS FOR FEARS debut to helm their first album ‘Rites Of Passage’; despite a UK tour opening for Midge Ure, although sales were not forthcoming, singer Geoff Barradale would later use his experience to great effect when he managed ARCTIC MONEYS and took them to stardom.
The most disappointing record of 1985 was ‘Crush’ by OMD; while producer Stephen Hague made their sound more palatable for Trans-Atlantic consumption with more guitars, piano and acoustic drums as exemplified by the uninspiring single ‘So In Love’, the inner sleeve credit of “electronic keyboards” instead of individual synths as on ‘Dazzle Ships’ and ‘Junk Culture or “synthesizers” as on previous albums was a pointer to the blanding out of this once great band for a wider audience in the US.
Despite synths being less desirable in terms of Trans-Atlantic marketability in the move away from cooler European artistry, ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK has been able to assemble a list of 20 albums seen as being part of the admittedly weaker electronic legacy of 1985. Listed in alphabetical order, there is a restriction of one album per artist moniker.
ABC How To Be A Zillionaire!
After the rockisms of ‘Beauty Stab’, the third ABC album sprung a major surprise in its New York electro flavoured lead single ‘How To Be A Millionaire’. “We saw it happening in Times Square, there were B-Boys doing that whole thing to KRAFTWERK which was just amazing. The minute the Emulator II came out, we bought one. No need to pay a Fairlight programmer £750 a day!” said Mark White; ‘Fear Of The World’ would later be sampled for the ELECTRONIC B-side ‘Lean To The Inside’.
Despite being labelled a teenybop group, from the beginning A-HA were always so much more than just the catchy pop of ‘Take On Me’. Containing another three hit singles, there was the wistful ‘Hunting High & Low’ title song while ‘The Sun Always Shines On TV’ revealed a lyrical darkness as the combination of synths and edgy guitar put them in the same league as ULTRAVOX and ASSOCIATES. But ‘Living A Boy’s Adventure Tale’ was the track that outlined A-HA had longevity.
In response to THE POWER STATION, ARCADIA was Simon Le Bon, Nick Rhodes and Roger Taylor’s attempt to be JAPAN, smothered in an esoteric pond of lush arty indulgence. ‘Election Day’ featuring Grace Jones could have been a DURAN DURAN song, as could ‘The Flame’ which bore a resemblance to ‘A View To A Kill’. But ‘Goodbye Is Forever’ was art funk that pointed to where DURAN DURAN would head with ‘Notorious’.
With the departure of Alan Rankine after ‘Sulk’, Billy Mackenzie recruited Martyn Ware and Martin Rushent on its follow-up ‘Perhaps’. Although more glossy in sound, the Rushent produced ‘Waiting For The Love Boat’ could have easily come off ‘Sulk’ while ‘Those First Impressions’ produced by Ware narrowly failed to crack the UK Top40. But the epic string laden drama of ‘Breakfast’ helmed by Rushent was possibly Mackenzie’s greatest single moment.
Despite good crossover songs such as ‘Why Don’t They Leave Things Alone?’ and ‘Lorraine’s My Nurse’, with synthpop now no longer in-vogue, there was a lukewarm reception for the third BLANCMANGE album ‘Believe You Me’. With a proclamation from Neil Arthur that “I feel like I’m losin’ my mind” in the electro-funk of ‘22339’, it led to him and Luscombe calling it a day in order to protect their friendship after a show at the Royal Albert Hall.
Produced by Walter Becker of STEELY DAN, the influence of his band on ‘Flaunt The Imperfection’ resulted in much more of a live soulful feel with the contribution of accomplished session musicians while Gary Daly and Eddie Lundon focussed on the songwriting. Classic CHINA CRISIS songs like ‘Black Man Ray’ and ‘King In A Catholic Style’ secured two UK Top20 hits from a single album for the first time.
DEAD OR ALIVE looked like they’d missed the boat when their rivals FRANKIE GOES TO HOLLYWOOD reached No1 with ‘Relax’. Having heard ‘You Think You’re A Man’ by Divine, Burns recruited the song’s production team of Stock, Aitken & Waterman to work on ‘You Spin Me Round (Like A Record)’ which hit the top of the UK singles chart. The eventual ‘Youthquake’ album was a mixed bag, but included another hit ‘In Too Deep’ and the gothic funk epic ‘It’s Been A Long Time’.
Andy Bell and Vince Clarke’s debut album ‘Wonderland’ was not an instant hit. The lead single ‘Who Needs Love (Like That)?’ was mistaken by some to be an unreleased YAZOO recording. Among the album’s highlights were the joyous ‘Reunion’ and the funky ‘Push Me… Shove Me’ . The record’s HI-NRG centrepiece ‘Oh L’Amour’ flopped as a single but undeterred, ERASURE toured the college circuit to build up a new fanbase from scratch.
After JAPAN, drummer Steve Jansen and keyboardist Richard Barbieri formed a new creative partnership. ‘Worlds In A Small Room’ was an instrumental suite commissioned by JVC to accompany a documentary about the Space Shuttle Challenger. ‘Breaking The Silence’ was a beautiful opening piece with elements recalling Ryuichi Sakamoto while the more structured ‘Moving Circles’ had a Jansen vocal added for the Japanese release’s bonus song ‘Move In Circles’.
Thanks to the success of his debut album ‘Human’s Lib’, the follow-up ‘Dream Into Action’ was written by Howard Jones on the road by necessity; “I was writing in dressing rooms on an Akai 12 track recorder…” he said, “we were experimenting a lot so it’s a much more complex record”. There were hopeful anthems in ‘Things Can Only Get Better’ and ‘Life In One Day’ while the plaintive ‘No One Is To Blame’ would become a huge Trans-Atlantic hit in a new version produced by Phil Collins.
‘Low-life’ saw for the first time, a single ‘The Perfect Kiss’ taken from a NEW ORDER album as a compromise following a new US deal with Qwest Records. ‘Low-life’ featured several other highlights and opened with the Country ‘n’ North Western ghost story ‘Love Vigilantes’. The mighty ‘Sunrise’ was another number in the tit-for-that exchange with THE CURE which was clearly influenced by ‘A Forest’ while the brilliant ‘This Time Of Night’ exuded a throbbing post-punk growl.
Co-produced with PPG operators The Wave Team, ‘The Fury’ was the best Gary Numan album since ‘Telekon’. Although very much with the times and in line with acts like FRANKIE GOES TO HOLLYWOOD and DEAD OR ALIVE, the hard but bright digital sound complimented Numan’s downbeat lyrical outlook. Among the highlights were ‘Call Out The Dogs’, ‘Tricks’ and ‘Miracles’ while the haunting closing track ‘I Still Remember’ was a vocal reimagining of the 1979 instrumental ‘Random’.
PHILIP OAKEY & GIORGIO MORODER Philip Oakey & Giorgio Moroder
After the worldwide success of ‘Together In Electric Dreams’ and the lukewarm response to THE HUMAN LEAGUE’s ‘Hysteria’ in 1984, Virgin Records swiftly despatched Philip Oakey to record an album with Giorgio Moroder. ‘Now’ was Oakey’s heartfelt commentary on economic corruption while the thumping side one segue of ‘Why Must The Show Go On?’, ‘Good-Bye Bad Times’ and ‘Take A Chance’ was a thrilling train ride.
Düsseldorf’s PROPAGANDA were dubbed “ABBA in Hell”! The magnificent film noir of ‘Dr Mabuse’ was their opening salvo produced by Trevor Horn. The producer’s helm was handed over to engineer Stephen J Lipson for the album ‘A Secret Wish’. ‘Duel’ exuded an accessible ice maiden cool while the Teutonic ‘P.Machinery’ was full of state of the art technical tricks. With the lengthy and poetic ‘Dream Within A Dream’, the listener was taken on a massive sonic adventure.
The first major label SCRITTI POLITTI LP ‘Cupid & Psyche 85’ contained the 1984 Arif Mardin produced hits ‘Wood Beez (Pray Like Aretha Franklin)’ and ‘Absolute’, the latter also seeing input from Gary Langan and JJ Jeczalik of THE ART OF NOISE. Green Gartside embraced of mainstream dance pop and state-of-the-art studio production with new song writing partner David Gamson. Meanwhile self-produced reggae inflected ‘The Word Girl returned to sound of earlier Scritti.
After the harder new rock sound of ‘Sparkle In The Rain’ produced by Steve Lillywhite, SIMPLE MINDS brought the synths back in, albeit with a Trans-Atlantic sheen helmed by American production heavyweights Jimmy Iovine and Bob Clearmountain. Despite the modern FM rock bombast which even included a rhythm n blues flavour on ‘Sanctify Yourself’, ‘Alive & Kicking’ saw Mick McNeil’s Gaelic accordion virtuosity applied to electronic keyboards for a huge hit in the US and Europe.
DespiteTEARS FOR FEARS adopting more guitar compared to its predecessor ‘The Hurting’, the more band oriented ‘Songs From The Big Chair’ were still characterised by electronics and rhythm programming in its backbone. Cold War angst provided the tension to ‘Shout’ and the big American driving hit ‘Everybody Wants To Rule The World’ while ‘Head Over Heels’ with its blistering synth solo was another Stateside hit, later in the 2001 psychological thriller ‘Donnie Darko’.
Produced by Alan Rankine, ‘Theoretically Chinese’ was as much of an electronic pop departure for Winston Tong from TUXEDMOON as Robert Görl’s ‘Night Full Of Tension’ was from DAF. The era’s inherent Cold War tensions also loomed large on the fine pulsing opener ‘Big Brother’ as well as an excellent uptempo cover of Marianne Faithfull’s ‘Broken English’ while ‘Reports From The Heart’ provided an elegant sweeping ballad.
Midge Ure finally took the solo album plunge with ‘The Gift’. Songs like ‘When The Wind Blows’, ‘That Certain Smile’ and the title track sounded like ULTRAVOX enough to potentially worry his bandmates. But ULTRAVOX would never have covered JETHRO TULL’s ‘Living In The Past’ or recorded the lovey-dovey UK No1 single ‘If I Was’ which was rescued from the unreleased vaults of MESSENGERS whose instrumentalist Danny Mitchell was Ure’s main collaborator on this great adventure.
‘The Gift’ is still available via Chrysalis Records
‘Stella’ was the first album YELLO made without founder member Carlos Perón; Boris Blank and Dieter Meier headed towards a more cinematic style of experimental pop, making greater use of the Fairlight and digital synths. It included the delightful ‘Vicious Games’ featuring vocals by Rush Winters but the album’s biggest track was ‘Oh Yeah’ which ended up in ‘Ferris Bueller’s Day Off’, ‘The Secret of My Success’ and ‘The Simpsons’.
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