‘Eddie The Eagle’ is a biopic by ‘X-Men: First Class’ director Matthew Vaughn about Eddie Edwards, who represented Team GB in ski-jumping at the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary. It was the same Olympics which inspired the Disney film ‘Cool Runnings’ about Jamaica’s first bobsleigh team entry!
Based on true events, the film stars Taron Egerton as Eddie Edwards and Hugh Jackman as Edwards’ fictional trainer. Whereas ‘Cool Runnings’ had artists performing cover versions for the soundtrack, ‘Fly – Songs Inspired by the film Eddie The Eagle’ differs in having a collection of original songs curated by Gary Barlow, each recorded by British artists who are now usually seen frequenting retrospective events such as Rewind, Here & Now and Let’s Rock.
So, a concept album based around the legend of a bespectacled plasterer, featuring contributions from members of FRANKIE GOES TO HOLLYWOOD, SOFT CELL, SPANDAU BALLET, ULTRAVOX, ERASURE and OMD, in collaboration with a member of TAKE THAT? On paper, this is a terrible idea!
But Gary Barlow has long been an admirer of ULTRAVOX in particular; his 2010 interpolation of ‘Vienna’ for the track ‘Eight Letters’ on TAKE THAT’s Stuart Price produced album ‘Progress’ resulted in the rather unusual writing credit of Barlow / Donald / Orange / Owen / Williams / Ure / Cross / Cann / Currie. The TAKE THAT track ‘Love Love’ for the film ‘X-Men: First Class’ also indicated Barlow’s interest in electro forms.
The era in which ‘Eddie The Eagle’ reigned has been symbolised by both aspiration and fighting against the odds, and that comes across in the song titles. As a side note, it is interesting how with the political climate that existed during this time, this project has gathered musicians whose politics cover the whole colour spectrum, from the Jeremy Corbyn supporting Martyn Ware to the self-confessed Tory boy Tony Hadley. While some say politics should be kept separate from music, many would argue music is an artistic reflection of the incumbent environment. So what of the music?
Holly Johnson’s ‘Ascension’ is typically epic, recalling a steadily building uptempo reboot of ‘The Power Of Love’, while ‘Out Of The Sky’ sees Marc Almond tackling his most overtly electro number for many years. Having previously shared a stage with Gary Barlow and earned some extra royalties too, Midge Ure’s ‘Touching Hearts & Skies’ stands quite ably within the concept as a tune reminiscent of ULTRAVOX’s classic synth rock.
Having found success outside of OMD with the first incarnation of ATOMIC KITTEN including a No1 in ‘Whole Again’, Andy McCluskey has a proven pedigree in mainstream pop spheres. He does a good job in co-writing with Barlow on ‘Thrill Me’, which is sung by the film’s two stars. Taron Egerton won ‘The Stephen Sondheim Society Student Performer of the Year’ while at RADA and Hugh Jackman of course appeared in the musical epic ‘Les Misérables’; so their combined capabilities in the vocal department stop the song from becoming an ironic novelty. According to McCluskey, Egerton and Jackman’s vocals were recorded without his knowledge! Unsurprisingly ‘Thrill Me’ does sound like ‘Sugar Tax’ era OMD, crossed with imperial ‘Everything Changes’ phase TAKE THAT. Who’d have thunk it eh?
Nik Kershaw is another with a songwriting career outside of his own, penning ‘The One & Only’ for Chesney Hawkes back in 1991; ‘The Sky’s The Limit’ is an archetypical MTV friendly ballad that could have been made back then, with hints of A-HA and SAVAGE GARDEN. One of the songs not part of the original ‘Fly’ concept is HEAVEN 17’s ‘Pray’; previously released by Messrs Ware and Gregory in 2014, it’s a terrific hybrid of the early avant phase of THE HUMAN LEAGUE and ‘Young Americans’ era Bowie. This slice of prime electronic soul is a stand-out on the collection and proof that the Sheffield masters still have it.
But members of the HEAVEN 17 crew do contribute to the energetically synthy engine room of Kim Wilde’s ‘Without Your Love’. It’s an enjoyable homage to her earlier sound, co-written by Glenn Gregory and live H17 keyboardist Berenice Scott in collaboration with Barlow. Tony Hadley does his overblown Foghorn party piece on ‘Moment’ and Spandau fans will be more than happy with the end result, others perhaps not so.
The often under rated Howard Jones delivers the enjoyable modern schaffel stomp of ‘Eagle Will Fly Again’, while the blue-eyed soul offerings from ABC and GO WEST will satisfy their existing fans. However, Paul Young appears to have lost his voice on the vintage widescreen AOR of ‘People Like You’. Meanwhile on the autotuned ‘Fly’, Andy Bell actually starts to sound more like Tony Hadley than Alison Moyet!
Like with the music from back in the day, some of it is brilliant, some of it is likeable and some of it you’d rather not hear again. But that in an essence, is why music derived from this period still resonates today… it was about songs and melodies, not tuneless dance excursions or ultra-fast talking supposedly passing for vocals.
‘Fly – Songs Inspired By The Film Eddie The Eagle’ is an interesting curio as a “Where Are They Now?” snapshot. Whatever your tastes, there is a good reason why all of the artists featured on this album still have a career performing.
With the beautiful, dramatically expressive voice, which has dominated the UK electronic scene for some 30 years, mainly under the umbrella of ERASURE, as well as his solo releases dating back to 2005, ANDY BELL likes to take on new enterprises.
While the wait for 2014’s ‘The Violet Flame’ was gearing up fans of the powerful duo for something spectacular, Bell was well underway being Torsten, an age-defying polysexual, in the first stage of the Torsten productions. Barney Ashton, the poet and writer responsible for Torsten, first approached Bell six years ago, having the idea of the show in mind; the show with a character perfect for the voice of ERASURE.
Being a lover of challenge, Bell keenly accepted the invitation, having previously played a part of ‘Montesor’ in ‘The Fall Of The House Of Usher’ opera by Peter Hammill. Loving the leftfield, off-off Broadway types of productions, which are less commercial, but often more like 1960s British black and white movies, the artist embraced the über controversial role of the tortured individual, trapped in his semi-immortality and bad luck in relationships.
Indeed, for Andy it had been “the biggest challenge of (his) career so far”, and being Torsten does not mean he would “necessarily get on with him, if I met him”. The first production, ‘Torsten The Bareback Saint’, was “sporadic, psychotic, quite confusing to people” according to the man himself, with stories from Torsten’s childhood, school years, his job in the local bingo, his lovers of both sexes, his alcoholic father and submissive, abused mother and, above all, his fragile mental state.
‘Torsten The Beautiful Libertine’ paints a clearer picture of the character, with more insight into his background and how he was shaped while growing up. To Bell himself, it’s “much more song oriented”, where “Barney definitely has found a rhythm”, where he loves being Torsten, “even more now that he’s becoming slightly unhinged, unravelling before our very eyes… he is putting everything into perspective and copying… just”.
‘Statement Of Intent’ pretty much describes the entire story of the semi-immortal, in an honest, crude and straight forward manner, before ‘Beautiful Libertine’ comes in with a gentle piano canvassing further excerpts from Torsten’s experiences since he was 15, ‘Loitering With Intent’.The gleeful revenge on a lover, who “stole respect from young man just like me” is the prevailing theme of the track, where Torsten is keen to “trash (his) f***ing face”.
The conclusion is that ‘This Town Needs Jesus’, where sexual perversions prevail everywhere one looks, with almost medieval approach to sexuality and where drugs and money can buy anything, where ‘The Slums We Loved’ project the basic needs of anyone: from the poorest, through the working class (with individuals like ‘Lady Domina Bizarre’), to the rich (‘Bond Street Catalogues’).
The song cycle continues to flow further, expanding into the flowery descriptions of vulgarity and obscenity, which is ultimately laced with the basic need to be loved and approved in the Bowie-esque ‘I’m Your Lover’ or ‘I Am The Boy Who Smiled At You’. Torsten’s mother did accept his sexuality, understanding that one cannot help “where love falls” in the super synthy ‘We Were Singing Along To Liza’, something that gave him the ultimate content and comfort.
Just like ‘I Don’t Like’ from the first production, ‘My Precious One’ stands alone, as an endearing love story, Torsten manages to “retain a certain naïveté in spite of these experiences. (He) bears witness to these scars”
The endless talent of ANDY BELL continues to shine; part two of Torsten’s story is as thought-provoking, as it is shocking. The tale of a man, who “finds himself in extraordinary circumstances”, having outlived many friends and lovers and plunging further into the state of melancholy and bittersweetness, is sung with poise, nativity and hope; a hope that there is something left for the tragic character after all.
Where ERASURE takes precedence above all, this may just be the role of Bell’s life-time, perhaps?
The ‘Torsten The Beautiful Libertine’ show plays at the Above The Stag Theatre, Arch 17, Miles Street, London SW8 1RZ until 27th March 2016; please visit www.abovethestag.com for more information
The user manual for the Roland System 100 semi-modular synthesizer profoundly stated “there are no illegal connections…”
And in modern electronic music, that is still the case with the accomplished artists of today very much connected to the synth pioneers of yesteryear like KRAFTWERK, OMD, ULTRAVOX, JAPAN, DEPECHE MODE and THE HUMAN LEAGUE.
Belgian duo METROLAND would not exist without the tradition established at Klingklang, while EAST INDIA YOUTH’s interest in BRIAN ENO and Motorik beats curated a sound that has enabled parallels to be drawn with the artful template of the similarly influenced Paul Humphreys and Andy McCluskey.
And although Susanne Sundfør was already an established singer / songwriter in her homeland of Norway, attention was not fully drawn on her new synth based direction until she performed a sympathetic cover of ‘Ice Machine’ with RÖYKSOPP in late 2012.
Even the exquisite lo-fi Welsh language electronica of Gwenno can be traced to Sheffield, thanks to the songstress’ previous pop excursions which involved working on an album with the late Martin Rushent. As Jean-Michel Jarre said: “Electronic music has a family, a legacy and a future…” so to deny the glorious heritage of electronic music when assessing new acts would be futile. Indeed, acknowledging history is very much part of ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK’s style and it appears to have been appreciated, especially in regard to the feature ‘30 Favourite Albums 2010 – 2014’, one of a quintet of special articles to celebrate the site’s fifth birthday in March…
“Huge thanks to ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK” said avid reader Hugh David, “A victory for well-written, artfully conveyed content curation once again… you knew exactly what to say to sell me on one artist or another. That rare ability of a reviewer to pinpoint the precise comparisons that enable me to decide to seek something out based on my own tastes is something lacking in so many other outlets; love that you’ve got that in spades”
Another reader David Sims added: “ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK is a great way of discovering artists you might not otherwise be aware of. A bit like when a friend used to come round your house clutching an LP or C90 saying ‘I really love this, have a listen’, introducing you to new music that makes your neck hairs stand up in ovation”
2014 was a comparatively lean 12 months, but this year found many veterans returning to the fold. NEW ORDER released ‘Music Complete’, a much discussed comeback that was not only the Mancunians’ first album for Mute, but also without estranged bassist Peter Hook.
Marc Almond released ‘The Velvet Trail’, his first pop album for many years while ANDY BELL embarked on further solo adventures in support of ‘Torsten The Bareback Saint’.
SPARKS joined forces with FRANZ FERDINAND as FFS while telling everyone to ‘P*ss Off’ and proved that collaborations do work. Electronic music legend Jean-Michel Jarre also went the collaborative root. His first album for several years ‘Electronica 1 – The Time Machine’ featured the likes of LITTLE BOOTS, TANGERINE DREAM, AIR, GESAFFELSTEIN and MASSIVE ATTACK along with ArminVan Buuren, John Carpenter and Vince Clarke.
Another legend Giorgio Moroder made his statement of intent with ‘74 Is The New 24’ and released ‘Déjà Vu’, a disco pop record featuring the likes of Sia, Britney Spears, Foxes and Kylie Minogue.
Meanwhile, his artier counterpart Zeus B Held gave us some ‘Logic of Coincidence’ and Wolfgang Flur made his solo debut with ‘Eloquence’, his first length album project since 1997.
Liverpool duo CHINA CRISIS delivered ‘Autumn In The Neighbourhood’, their first original material since 1994’s ‘Warped By Success’ while Howard Jones showed he could still innovate at 60 years of age when he launched ‘Engage’, “a highly interactive live experience designed to immerse audiences in an audio / visual feast”. A-HA came back after disbanding in 2010 with ‘Cast In Steel’ and DURAN DURAN recruited an all-star cast that included Nile Rodgers, John Frusciante, Kiesza and Lindsay Lohan for the rather disappointing EDM blow-out ‘Paper Gods’.
BLANCMANGE’s ‘Semi Detached’ was Neil Arthur’s first without long-time partner Stephen Luscombe and he even found time to release a wonderful instrumental collection entitled ‘Nil By Mouth’. Indeed, there were quite a few instrumental opuses in 2015, with GHOST HARMONIC’s wonderful ‘Codex’ featuring John Foxx and the electronic pioneer’s own glorious ‘London Overgrown’.
DEPECHE MODE’s Martin Gore released the tutorial for his new Eurorack modular system as the simply titled ‘MG’. 2015 saw the 25th anniversary of DEPECHE MODE’s ‘Violator’ and to ignore its significance, as some DM fan related platforms did, would have been incredibly short sighted. However, there was none of that from premier DM tribute band SPEAK & SPELL who played their biggest UK gig yet with a splendid boutique showcase of that landmark album at London’s Islington Academy.
CAMOUFLAGE, a band who started off very much under the influence of the Basildon boys, issued the mature statement of ‘Greyscale’ while continuing the DEPECHE MODE album theme, Athens based synth maidens MARSHEAUX gave a worthy of re-assessment of ‘A Broken Frame’ and procured a number of interesting arrangements for some under rated songs. DIE KRUPPS got more metal than machine on their fifth opus ‘V – Metal Machine Music’.
Fellow Germans BEBORN BETON made up for a ten year absence with ‘A Worthy Compensation’ while SOLAR FAKE and SYNTHDECADE also got in on the action too.
CHVRCHES continued their quest for world domination with something that LITTLE BOOTS, LA ROUX, LADYHAWKE and HURTS never managed… a decent second album. But PURITY RING, the Canadian act whose template CHVRCHES borrowed, must have looked over with a touch of envy at the Glaswegian’s success so responded with ‘Another Eternity’.
HANNAH PEEL released an interim mini-album ‘Rebox 2’ which blended centuries of music technology while VILE ELECTRODES came up with the gorgeous ‘Captive In Symmetry’, possibly one of the songs of 2015. EURASIANEYES heeded all the guidance available to them to produce their most accomplished song yet in ‘Call Your God’ and ANALOG ANGEL went on a well-received tour supporting Swedish veterans COVENANT with a message to listeners of ‘Don’t Forget To Love’.
Elsewhere in the British Isles, CIRCUIT3, RODNEY CROMWELL and SUDDEN CREATION made their first excursions into the long player format just as KID KASIO and KOVAK each delivered album number two while Berlin based Brit EMIKA helpfully titled her third opus ‘Drei’.
“So, what’s so special about Sweden then?” someone once rather cluelessly asked TEC. Well, it is the modern hub of inventive, electronic pop. KARIN PARK offered her profanity laden fifth album ‘Apocalypse Pop’.
Still in Sweden, DAYBEHAVIOR went all female PET SHOP BOYS with the Italo flavoured ‘Cambiare’ and MACHINISTA followed up their debut ‘Xenoglossy’ with ‘Garmonbozia’. while there was also the unexpected return of alternative synthpopsters ASHBURY HEIGHTS.
But best of all were the mighty KITE; their ‘VI’ EP was a masterclass in epic, majestic electronic pop. In the rest of Europe, there was an influx of darker female fronted acts such as Hungary’s BLACK NAIL CABARET, Italy’s ELECTROGENIC, Greece’s SARAH P. and Germany’s NINA; the latter’s ‘My Mistake’ even ended up on a Mercedes TV advert. The male contingent did their bit too with Slovenia’s TORUL unleashing their second offering ‘The Measure’ while the prolific Finnish duo SIN COS TAN took things a little bit easier in their fourth year with just an EP ‘Smile, Tomorrow Will Be Worse’, having already released three albums since 2012.
Oslo based studio legend John Fryer returned with two new projects, SILVER GHOST SHIMMER and MURICIDAE featuring vocalists Pinky Turzo and Louise Fraser respectively. Both reminded listeners of his work with COCTEAU TWINS and THIS MORTAL COIL, but with an Americanised twist. The Icelandic domiciled Denver singer / songwriter JOHN GRANT added some funkier vibes to his continuing electronic direction while IAMX moved from Berlin to Los Angeles, and did no harm to his art with the brooding ‘Metanoia’ album.
On the brighter side of North America, PRIEST’s self-titled debut long player became reality following their dreamy ‘Samurai’ EP, while HYPERBUBBLE made available their wacky award winning soundtrack to the short film ‘Dee Dee Rocks The Galaxy’ and joyous 2014 London show. And GRIMES caught the music biz on the hop when she released a new album ‘Art Angels’, having scrapped an album’s worth of material in 2014.
But despite North America itself being one of the territories flying the flag for the synth with acts like NIGHT CLUB, BATTLE TAPES, AESTHETIC PERFECTION and RARE FACTURE all figuring, the worst single of 2015 actually came from the USA! Literally decades of synth heritage were eminently obliterated in five soul destroying minutes… was this really what the Electronic Revolution was fought for? This is cultural history and it needs to be protected.
Although the year had flashes of brilliance, it was generally less impressive overall for fledgling electronic artists, with a number forgetting that all important factor of a good tune! Eddie Bengtsson of SISTA MANNEN PÅ JORDEN remarked last year that synthpop was becoming a dying art.
And in 2015, synthpop’s credibility was further tarnished with lazy use of the term by the mainstream press for acts like YEARS & YEARS; one could argue that Taylor Swift and her ‘1989’ opus is possibly more synthpop than YEARS & YEARS have ever been! In a market where EDM appears to be king and clubbers are happy to witness DJs miming their two hour sets, there is clearly something wrong. Things were not helped by certain media outlets insisting that dance music was the only way; it was as if electronic music had somehow managed to jump from KRAFTWERK to Detroit techno with nothing happening in between.
And then, there were those who had never particularly enjoyed music from that key Synth Britannia period, who were trying to dictate how modern electronic music was being presented and pretending it had popped out of thin air!
Some bands were not doing themselves any favours either, showing little empathetic connection to the history of electronic music in their deluded optimism that they were crafting something completely new! As Jean-Michel Jarre amusingly quipped to Sound-On-Sound magazine: “Lots of people in America think that electronic music started with AVICII and it’s not exactly the truth…”
The lack of accuracy in a number of publications over the last 18 months was also shocking, particularly within magazines and online media that continued to employ writers with a history of not knowing their tape recorders from their drum machines. This simply proved the old adage that just because someone is employed as a professional writer, it doesn’t actually mean they are a good writer!
The domestic live scene had its challenges too with slow ticket sales and a number of events cancelled. But even when some true legends in electronic music were booked, ticket sales could not be guaranteed and efficient promotion was needed to maximise potential.
Some observers were bemoaning a lack of support for the scene, but if line-ups are not particularly appealing, then audiences cannot be expected to invest time and money to attend. A number of organisational infrastructures also lacked credibility; if a promoter doesn’t have at least some idea if they’re going to sell fifty tickets or five thousand, then they really shouldn’t be in the business!
The question that has to be asked then is, has anybody actually learnt from the Alt-Fest debacle of 2014? It really would appear not! While ‘A Secret Wish’ and SOS#2 were a couple of the year’s better UK events, Europe showed once again how things should be done. Electronic Summer in Gothenburg and the Electri_City_Conference in Düsseldorf were two of the most notable electronic music events of 2015.
The inherent knowledge and sense of understanding in both differed immensely to some British promoters. This perhaps could explain why electronic pop has generally flourished more in territories across the North Sea. Electronic pop needs to continue to develop, but quality control must be maintained to ensure the genre is not publically misrepresented. SOFT CELL once sang about ‘Monoculture’ while KID MOXIE declared how everyone was just content with ‘Medium Pleasure’.
If all that’s heard is the best of a bad bunch, then younger listeners (and therefore potential future synth oriented musicians) will not be inspired. That is why it is important that CHVRCHES and EAST INDIA YOUTH consolidate their positions as modern electronic pop’s representatives in the mainstream.
It is not good practice to support mediocre music just because it happens to be electronic. The finest examples need to be set so as to show what can be achieved; now if that means possibly referencing back to the golden age of synthpop, then so be it. Only then will the synth baton be able to taken up by a new generation who can then truly reinvigorate it.
ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK Contributor Listings 2015
PAUL BODDY
Best Album: EAST INDIA YOUTH Culture Of Volume
Best Song: NEW ORDER Restless
Best Gig: EAST INDIA YOUTH + HANNAH PEEL at London Village Underground
Best Video: BATTLE TAPES Valkyrie
Most Promising New Act: BATTLE TAPES
DEB DANAHAY
Best Album: IAMX Metanoia
Best Song: KITE Up For Life
Best Gig: NODE at The Royal College of Music
Best Video: IAMX Oh Cruel Darkness Embrace Me
Most Promising New Act: KITE
IAN FERGUSON
Best Album: EAST INDIA YOUTH Culture Of Volume
Best Song: KITE Count The Days
Best Gig: ASSEMBLAGE 23 at SOS#2 Festival
Best Video: VILE ELECTRODES Captive In Symmetry
Most Promising New Act: RODNEY CROMWELL
MONIKA IZABELA GOSS
Best Album: SILVER GHOST SHIMMER Soft Landing
Best Song: IAMX Happiness
Best Gig: IAMX at London Koko
Best Video: TORUL The Balance
Most Promising New Act: SYNTHDECADE
SIMON HELM
Best Album: LAU NAU Hem Någonstans
Best Song: ME THE TIGER As We Really Are
Best Gig: SISTA MANNEN PÅ JORDEN at A Secret Wish
Best Video: JUNO Same To Me
Most Promising New Act: REIN
CHI MING LAI
Best Album: SUSANNE SUNDFØR Ten Love Songs
Best Song: KITE Up For Life
Best Gig: FFS at The Troxy
Best Video: VILE ELECTRODES Captive In Symmetry
Most Promising New Act: RODNEY CROMWELL
RICHARD PRICE
Best Album: EAST INDIA YOUTH Culture Of Volume
Best Song: NEW ORDER Plastic
Best Gig: EAST INDIA YOUTH + HANNAH PEEL at London Village Underground
Best Video: VILE ELECTRODES Captive In Symmetry
Most Promising New Act: KITE
It’s been 30 years since ERASURE emerged onto the UK synthpop scene. DEPECHE MODE co-founder Vince Clarke joined forces with Andy Bell and as the saying goes, the rest is history.
Numerous albums later, the 1989 Brit Award winning duo have gone from strength to strength. Both have always been busy outside of ERASURE with their side projects.
There’s been Andy’s opera appearances, collaborations with IN VOX, BRITISH ELECTRIC FOUNDATION, SHELTER, various DJ and solo work. Meanwhile Vince has produced for other artists, co-written with old DM band mate Martin Gore as VCMG and much more; they continue to dedicate their time to ERASURE at clockwork intervals, turning out marvellous albums which are not just popular with the electronica fanatics.
The boy with heavenly voice, Andy Bell remains very demure, unassuming and laid back, ignoring the fact that he remains one of the best voices of any genre and that, to many, he is simply a god. Most recently, he has played an immortal polysexual in ‘Torsten The Bareback Saint’, a role Andy himself has described as one of the biggest challenges of his career which has also since spawned ‘Variance – The Torsten The Bareback Saint Remixes’.
Having very successfully introduced audiences into the crazy, sad and wonderful life of Torsten, ANDY BELL chatted to ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK about life, Torsten, ERASURE and what is in store for the über talented man that he is…
Who came up with the concept for ‘Torsten The Bareback Saint’?
I think it was Barney Ashton, he’s a poet and a bit of a playwright really, and I think he is just coming up with those ideas all the time, you know… I’m not really sure how long he had the character in mind for Torsten. He first came up to me about five years ago. I went to the Kerrang Awards in London, it was to give Daniel Miller a prize for Mute Records. Barney was at the same table and we did briefly meet each other before, but we started talking.
He said “oh, I have this idea for this character called Torsten and you would be ideal to play the character… is it something you’d be interested in?”, and I said “sure”. A couple of years later, he sent me a couple of songs for the first episode, ‘Torsten The Bareback Saint’ and I was really blown away with the songs. I think Barney is really a genius, he’s yet to be discovered, I think…
The song-cycle was first performed during two closed shows in July 2014, first for family and friends, and the second to ERASURE fans. Which one went down better?
To be honest, I can only remember the second one: lots of my mates were there, I was so nervous at the first one, I probably erased it out of my mind!
The second night went very well, I was more settled in, but it is quite nerve wrecking with your friends in the audience, people that you know. The venue was small and they were really close, and ERASURE fans expect ANDY BELL, but Torsten isn’t ANDY BELL… you can’t talk in between the songs or give them your cheeky grin or anything like that as you have to stay in character, so that was quite strange. It was like working in a library! I made more mistakes on the first night.
The full show ran for two weeks in Edinburgh during August 2014, how did that go? Was there a different feel for each performance?
Audiences weren’t that big, there were so many shows during the festival: four thousand shows, I think. So, it was quite hard, the acts were being rotated. Before us, there was a South African dance choir, and a play after us, so we had to get the stuff off very quickly. I think we made a mistake in the promotion material, as we chose to show the back of my head.
I think if we had shown my face, maybe more people would have come, even ERASURE fans didn’t know I was up there, many people didn’t know I was up there. It felt like a secret gig almost.
The most we had was about 25-30 people on one night, the best night. Otherwise we would have 5 people, so it was quite strange to be doing it to not that many people. It was really testing because it does take guts doing the show and even if it was empty, you’d still have to do it. You’d have to do it to an empty room, as that was the part of us being up there.
The context and content of the album, and the show are very brave, was the reception what you had expected?
I think some of the ERASURE fans were quite scared, because it’s very personal, and although it’s not me, it seems very personal. One guy came to see us from Manchester, as he was thinking of putting the show on in a theatre in Manchester; a gay guy, and he didn’t like it at all… I think it was because some of the references are so close to the bone, so truthful, that I think some people can’t cope with them. It’s not all happy clappy and saying the gay life is fabulous at all.
Is cabaret a style you had been previously well familiar with?
Cabaret is not a style I was familiar with, but I am a really big fan of Kurt Weill’s ‘The Threepenny Opera’, and that version of the cabaret I saw with Alan Cumming in New York. Cyndi Lauper was in there as well. I really like that leftfield, off-off Broadway kind of stuff, nothing that’s too commercial. I think ‘Torsten The Bareback Saint’ fits into that really well. To me, it reminds me of those British black and white movies that came out in the early 60s; very cutting edge, I think it was called ‘A Taste Of Honey’ with a girl getting pregnant… it was more like the original ‘Coronation Street’ before it all went glam.
The idea of polysexuality can be difficult for some to understand and / or accept. Do you think the show’s audience fully accepted the concept?
I don’t know, it is really a strange thing, I’m playing a character and because I’m gay myself, people think that maybe Torsten is only gay, and it is strange when I’m referring to having had female lovers. I have only had one girlfriend in my life, so there’s not really an awful lot that I can relate to. I have got transsexual friends, and they have a really tough life. I couldn’t really imagine what it must be like having a relationship with someone like that, as it must be really, really tough, and there are lots of psychological things going on. I think Torsten is quite complex, I don’t necessarily think we would get on, if I met him. As a gay man, I don’t think he would fancy me as he’s too complicated.
The idea of a song-cycle is certainly more suited for a soundtrack to a production, do you feel it helps the story more, rather than individual, unconnected songs would achieve?
I think the song-cycle was just the order in which the songs were recorded, that was the running order of the album really… it was changed for the show, but it’s something that came out organically, something that was in Barney’s mind. It’s the same with Part 2, ‘The Beautiful Libertine’, which for me is much more song oriented, and gives you much more of an insight into Torsten’s background, how his character was shaped, when he was growing up. The introduction to Torsten was quite sporadic, psychotic, quite confusing to people, as it was a little bit all over the place. With the second one, Barney has definitely found a rhythm.
Would you like to be Torsten?
He’s really brave, I really hope for the best for him. But he’s made some really terrible life choices with the people he’s met, and they put him through hell, which now is reflecting on him. I don’t think he really likes the fact that he is living forever, he’s 108 and not growing old, I don’t think he really likes that eternal youth idea. I think that’s quite torturous for him, and in the end he may be celibate or decide he doesn’t want to have any more partners, as it’s too painful for him to see them coming and going all the time.
Having songs written for you outside of ERASURE, how did it feel?
It was really lovely, very flattering… at first I was a bit weary, Barney said he’d heard this opera that I did with Peter Hammill called ‘The Fall Of The House Of Usher’, which was in about 1990… I just played a small part in that, he was called ‘Montresor’, and he was a very naive character, so it suited my personality. Barney had said that he had had me in mind while writing the ‘Torsten The Bareback Saint’ and sometimes you think “people may just be saying that”, but then when I heard the songs, read the material, I could see lots of parallels.
Probably things that happened to Barney in his life, I can really relate to, by being a gay man, and being on the gay scene early on in the mid-80s and that kind of feeling of when you get rejected quite a lot and you’re not very confident… you just hang around the periphery of the club, but you don’t really feel part of it.
The timing of the album and stage production nearly coincided with the release of ‘The Violet Flame’, weren’t you afraid your solo project may tread on ERASURE’s toes?
It’s quite tough to juggle these things, usually ERASURE takes precedence. We book out a period of a year and a half when we are planning for ERASURE, but I thought “I can’t keep doing that, I’d like to do things in tandem”. Just to be a creative person, you need to add different strings to your bow. It is really exhausting, but I really love the challenge. I do writing with other people like DJ Dave Aude, so it’s always tricky, but I’m not one of those people who plans things years in advance, I just do things as they come, whenever I can fit them in really….
Would the idea of immortality appeal to you, as you could fit in all those things?
Well, I suppose so. With finding out about being HIV positive, and when my long term partner died, even though we weren’t together anymore, it definitely makes you feel like you wanna cram all this stuff in, as…
Time is running out…
YES! Yes, yeah…
You described the project as the most challenging ever in your career? Having completed it, was it so?
It’s given me so much, and I’m so looking forward to doing part two, and we are doing a workshop on the last week of September and first week in October. I’m really, really looking forward to that, as I was kind of a half-baked actor when I was younger, in youth theatre and stuff like that, only like an outside school hobby… but it’s something that has always been on the periphery. It’s giving me so much. With the frustration in something like making music, and maybe not getting such a wide audience as you used to have, my satisfaction comes from doing things like ‘Torsten’.
On the subject of ERASURE, you have been band mates with Vince for a very long time, how do you keep things fresh?
By doing other things, working with other people… I’ve just finished 10 dates in South America on my own, trying to get a show going on my own, we have these two amazing drag queen dancers, live drummer and a keyboardist, and we do use some of Vince’s ERASURE backing tracks, because that is what people want to hear as well. We beef them up and I also have my solo stuff in there. But I think Vince really likes it as well, he’s always said he thinks I’m fearless. I don’t think he realises how much nerves I get, I just like doing these things and go and stand on the edge of precipice and see what happens.
Any plans with ERASURE in the near future, apart from the 30th anniversary releases?
I think we are going to write, there’s nothing yet, but we talked about it and had a meeting. I said to Vince that I’d love for him to do almost like a concert piece on his own, just do music on his own, like a symphony or something, and I can just listen to the music and see if it inspires me in any way. Just to add choirs and things like that.
Aren’t you missing your über cool costumes you used to wear during ERASURE’s live shows? Like for ‘The Tank, The Swan and The Balloon…’
Yeah, I loved wearing the Victorian lady’s outfit, top hat and stuff, but it’s one of those things you can’t do all the time… I find it a bit weary when you get those artists and they get a new look every week. It just depends on my mood, the tour and the vibe you want to give off. How surreal you want it to be, it’s not that I’ve stopped, it’s just… sometimes it’s just easy to wear jeans and T-shirt.
Did you achieve what you set out for ‘The Violet Flame’, say in comparison with ‘Tomorrow’s World’?
Vince and I think it could have been a bit more deeper, more housey, club style… it was still quite three minute pop songs, but we think it could have been a bit more experimental I suppose…
Vince reworked a lot of older classics for ‘The Violet Flame’ tour, which song did you enjoy performing the most?
I think maybe ‘Star’, it had this real tribal beats intro and we managed to get the flavour of being in a club. That was the vibe we were going for. In the beginning, we wanted to have a DJ booth above the stage, with me dancing underneath, but it would have been very expensive, so we stayed on the same surface.
Have you ever fancied bursting into ‘A Little Respect’ on the tube yourself?
No, I like being incognito, when nobody knows who I am. I prefer being not so well known… before, I used to yearn it, but I think you grow out of it. In 1992, after the ABBA thing, it went massive, I was walking in Hampstead, where we lived, and everybody was looking at me and I found it really embarrassing and thought “can you make it stop?”! Vince gets very embarrassed, he’s very not bothered, his ego is way beyond that.
Having conquered the Torsten challenge, what’s in store now for Andy Bell?
I think it’s just developing the character more and getting to know him, I don’t think I really know him that well yet. With the second part ‘The Beautiful Libertine’, I can get to know him a bit more and maybe like him a bit more. After that there’s part three, I hope it won’t end for Torsten. I’m looking forward to doing the shows, it’s going to be next March in London.
ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK gives its warmest thanks to Andy Bell
Special thanks to Matt Ingham at Cherry Red Records
Andy Bell would sound divine performing a telephone directory or reading out the train schedule. The voice, second to none, has dominated UK synth and pop scene for years, thanks to his 30 year involvement with Vince Clarke under the ERASURE umbrella.
Having released solo projects before, starting with the exquisite 2005 ‘Electric Blue’, followed by ‘Non Stop’ and ‘iPop’, Bell came back in 2014 with über controversial ‘Torsten The Bareback Saint’. The release of Bell’s solo project nearly coincided with ERASURE’s own release of their most recent, highly critically acclaimed ‘The Violet Flame’ in September 2014.
For Bell, ‘Torsten The Bareback Saint’ has been “the biggest challenge of (his) career so far”. After all, it is not just a straightforward album with catchy, poppy songs a-la his previous endeavours. All the songs were written for Bell by Barney Ashton (lyrics) and Christopher Frost / Simon Bayliss (music).
The whole concept was a soundtrack to a theatre show of the same name, where Bell was playing an age-defying polysexual. The show headlined at The Assembly during the 2014 Edinburgh International Fringe Festival for two weeks and proved extremely popular with the audiences. The production and its soundtrack is a highly dramaturgic song-cycle of memories from a life of hedonistic individual, whose semi-immortal being is filled with experiences of passing time.
The opening verse on the album can easily cause moral concern, of the so-called religious conmen. For the rest of us, it rings the tone of the production as being honest, open and not scared to shock. The album flows with amazing ERASURE-esque rhythms and cinematic productions, seeing Bell sing through Torsten’s history from his school years, through wanting to be a star while working at the local bingo, seeking his sexuality, trying out new things and being robbed, with his bike stolen by his female lover in ‘Fountain Of Youth’.
Next, he’s having his heart broken by a random gay partner “from a sauna” in ‘The Boy From The Sauna’ and experiencing romantic love on a weekend away in ‘Weston-Super-Mare’. There’s also witnessing the perverse behaviour of his alcoholic father and withdrawn, abused mother, being lovers with a boy from Brazil, contemplating the “gay thing” in ‘This Gay Thing Isn’t Working’, to considering suicide in ‘As I Prepare To Take My Life’, upon realisation that dreams cannot be achieved.
The songs flow beautifully and singularly would make no sense, with the exception of the opulent, magnificent ‘I Don’t Like’, which is showing off Bell’s massive vocal talent and stands out as a single material by itself. Twenty two sequential tracks fill the production which paints a beautiful, yet sad story of an individual desperate to be loved, one way or another, by whoever, no matter of what sex or background.
The ‘Variance’ remix album contains five versions of ‘Weston-Super-Mare’, re-fashioned purely for fun. Some vocals have been re-recorded with lyrics changed and the whole production has more of an ERASURE feel to it, which will appeal to the die-hard synth-pop fans of the duo. The last remix of the song, ‘Industrial Soundscape Mix’, appears to have elements of CABARET VOLTAIRE and EINSTURZENDE NEUBATEN built into it.
There’s also a poppy take on ‘Bingo Hall Baby’, a stunning Radio Remix of ‘I Don’t Like’ and ‘Fountain Of Youth’, as well as a promotional medley of ‘Torsten The Bareback Saint’, giving the listener a taster of what the production is all about.
Love or hate ANDY BELL, it has to be admitted that the brave artist has an endless talent and has been, for years, the shining icon of the gay brotherhood for a reason. Outspoken, in your face and daring, Bell has taken on a challenge, which he has clearly excelled in. Haters will hate, but it has to be admitted that the artist has outdone himself once again.
‘Variance – The Torsten The Bareback Saint Remixes’ is released by Cherry Red on 4th September 2015 as a CD and download.
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