Forming in 1977, NEW MUSIK are quite possibly the most underrated band from that first wave of synth-flavoured acts who followed TUBEWAY ARMY into the UK singles charts after ‘Are Friends Electric?’ went to No1 in Summer 1979.
However frontman, main songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Tony Mansfield felt more at home in the studio and maintained a parallel career as a producer. Featuring Clive Gates on keyboards, Phil Towner on drums and bassist Tony Hibbert, NEW MUSIK appeared on ‘Top Of The Pops’ with their first four singles between 1979-1980.
NEW MUSIK were often dismissed by the music press as a novelty act due to the comedic voices often used in their songs. But despite their apparent frivolity, there were often serious existential lyrical gists amongst the lush melodies and crisp production.
Giving its name to a new almost definitive 4CD NEW MUSIK compendium, the debut album ‘From A To B’ was recorded as a collection of songs over a period of more than a year. There was a fluid band line-up that earlier on also included Nick Straker who was to have a 1979 international disco hit ‘A Walk In The Park’ which Mansfield, Towner and Hibbert played on.
Opening ‘From A To B’ with NEW MUSIK’s first single ‘Straight Lines’, the backdrop of acoustic guitars, synths, string machines, piano, deep drones and electronic claps demonstrated Mansfield’s desire to create a sonic balance between pop and oddness, laying the template for a unusual hybrid sound.
Released in 1980 on GTO Records who had THE NEW SEEKERS, FOX, HEATWAVE, THE WALKER BROTHERS and THE DOOLEYS in their roster, ‘From A To B’ contained their biggest hit in the quirky ‘Living by Numbers’. Although it embraced a perky radio-friendly sound, Mansfield’s lyrics projected more dystopian concerns with life reduced to numerical identity, be it for age, statistics, registration, credit or wealth. NEW MUSIK were to have another hit with ‘This World Of Water’, a musical metaphor for drowning in the pressures of society.
While both hits featured varispeeded and treated voices, they acted as memorable hooks in a manner that pre-dated THE ART OF NOISE. With a cascading synth riff reminiscent of John Foxx’s ‘Underpass’, the stomping ‘Sanctuary’ proved that NEW MUSIK’s chart successes were not flukes, but it would prove to be their last.
With three Top 40 singles on their debut long player, most bands would have been content but ‘From A To B’ possessed some other magnificent riches.
The fabulously dreamy ballad ‘A Map of You’ was one of the non-single highlights with its beauty counterpointed by discordant metallic arpeggios. Meanwhile displaying an affinity to Thomas Dolby, ‘Science’ fully presented the widescreen scope of the Mansfield production palette.
‘Dead Fish (Don’t Swim Home)’ reflected the nuclear paranoia of the times while issued as a single in Europe, ‘On Islands’ was covered by German trio CAMOUFLAGE in 1989 on their ‘Methods Of Silence’ album. There was also the chirpy ‘Adventures’ which lyrically dealt with the curse of demotivation before the magical synth-layered folk of ‘The Safe Side’ completed what was a brilliant debut album.
Despite NEW MUSIK’s success, Mansfield sought to record a proper album with ‘Anywhere’ released in 1981. Aiming to be less pop and more experimental, the scene was set with the opening track ‘They All Run After the Carving Knife’ which following an obscure minute long avant-garde intro, burst into what in hindsight sounds like an anguished blueprint for A-HA with a marvellous closing passage of synths in the final 90 seconds!
‘Anywhere’ also saw drum machines brought more into the mix as on the spacey ‘Areas’ while ‘Churches’ brought in vocoder. Playing with eerie chorals and reverse voices, one of the singles ‘Luxury’ utilised a mechanised swing as Mansfield questioned the Thatcherite politics of the time, a theme also touched on in ‘Division’.
With technology leaping forward at a phenomenal rate, another single ‘While You Wait’ added PPG-derived bells and a dominant synthbass but although it was more accessible than the other tracks, it was not quite hit material. Despite a long instrumental intro and Mansfield’s lead vocal not coming until around the 2 minute mark, ‘Changing Minds’ provided a snappy highlight laced in rigid beats, strums and sumptuous synth heaven.
Although ‘Anywhere’ was a more serious album, a sign of Mansfield’s sense of humour came with the inclusion of a ballad called ‘This World Of Water’ which was totally unconnected with the 1980 hit. Meanwhile ‘Peace’ made use of a subtle bossa nova and ‘Back To Room One’ provided another classic NEW MUSIK number to finish as Mansfield expressed his desire to make a fresh start. Less immediate than its predecessor and perhaps overlong at 12 tracks, there were no hits from ‘Anywhere’ and the album itself, although very good, only reached No. 68 in the UK charts as a result.
By 1982, the signs were not good as NEW MUSIK’s label GTO Records folded while Towner and Hibbert departed the band. Signing to GTO parent company Epic Records, the final album ‘Warp’ was recorded by Mansfield and Gates with Cliff Venner on live percussion. But having been influenced by his collaborations outside of the band with Yukihiro Takahashi of YELLOW MAGIC ORCHESTRA, with the advent of digital samplers and sequencing technology, the end result was almost entirely electronic.
More experimental than ‘Anywhere’, ‘Warp’ confusingly had two songs called ‘All You Need Is Love’ including a propulsive electronic take on THE BEATLES song with ‘Greensleeves’ tagged onto the end as well as Mansfield’s own pretty composition based around the original’s chord progression!
With a Simmons barrage that would later be a trademark of Mansfield’s NAKED EYES productions, ‘Here Come the People’ was a neo-instrumental that went straight into the cleverly produced ‘Going Round Again’ which connected Mansfield with Trevor Horn in their adventures in modern recording.
‘I Repeat’ recaptured some of the classic NEW MUSIK magic in its bright hooks but was ultimately not radio-friendly material, but the oddball instrumental ‘Green & Red (Respectively)’ was fun and banged a can in its use of sampling. ‘Kingdoms For Horses’ provided some new funk in an attempt to move forward with the times but was tucked away towards the end of the album, ‘The Planet Doesn’t Mind’ was proof that NEW MUSIK could still produce excellent singles although this too failed to chart.
Closing proceedings with the playful ‘Warp’ title song, its tape chewed ending was symbolic. Seeing a brighter future in record production, Mansfield disbanded NEW MUSIK before the start of 1983. The sound seeded on ‘From A To B’, ‘Anywhere’ and ‘Warp’ would later appear in varying degrees on records by CAPTAIN SENSIBLE, NAKED EYES, AZTEC CAMERA, VICIOUS PINK and many more.
As well as the three NEW MUSIK albums, this boxed set includes a bonus CD of selected B-Sides, single edits and extended versions. B-Side to the ‘All You Need Is Love’ cover, the delightful ‘Twelfth House’ acts as a reminder of the ‘From A To B’ period, albeit with more updated instrumentation like Simmons drums. Meanwhile ‘She’s A Magazine’ and ‘From The Village’ were also worthy flipsides while ‘Chik Musik’ did as the title suggested and aped CHIC. NEW MUSIK also had a knack for brilliant synth instrumentals with ‘The Office’ particularly shining while ‘24 Hours from Culture (Part 2)’ now comes over as an inspiration for OMD’s ‘Junk Culture’.
Time has shown that NEW MUSIK were underappreciated in their day and deserve critical re-evaluation. The legacy of Tony Mansfield and his crafted sparkle combining pretty synth melodies alongside gentle strums and punchy electronic rhythms has can be heard today in THE WEEKND, particularly on ‘Less Than Zero’ and ‘Blinding Lights’. As if to confirm that link, after NEW MUSIK, Mansfield did the original production for A-HA’s first album ‘Hunting High & Low’.
In common with THE BUGGLES, LANDSCAPE and TELEX, NEW MUSIK featured musicians who subsequently excelled outside of their bands as producers. To be a good producer, it helps to be musical as well as technical and Tony Mansfield certainly proved that. This excellent boxed set provides an opportunity established music fans who may have missed them first time round and new listeners to discover the wonderful world of NEW MUSIK.
‘From A To B: The Sony Years’ is released as a 4CD boxed set by Cherry Red imprint Lemon on 24th March 2023, pre-order from https://www.cherryred.co.uk/product/new-musik-from-a-to-b-the-sony-years-4cd-box-set/
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Text by Chi Ming Lai
7th March 2023
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