meg THE STARS ARE ALIGNED Ne | / ‘ “ . as EDSanaloguetrash INDEPENDENT RECORD LABEL / TODMORDEN, YORKSHIRE NEW MUSIC SANDI GLOWE DEBRIS DISCS FLANGE CIRCUS WHERETHE LIGHT GOES ‘THEWORST SIGHT THAT IVE SEEN SO FAR KATABASIS KAT BRYAN THE COWLS SPIRITS IN THE PILLAR MUSIC FORTHE END OFTHEWORLD BUYING DRUGS FROM GHOSTS SCALED-DOWN EXPECTATIONS VATSWAV. CIRCUIT3 SPRAY FRACTURED & UNSOUND TECHNOLOGY FORTHE YOUTH DIAMOND LIGHTS X GET NORMAL SAMPLER PLAYLIST @ tleletdilfelfetl INDIE / ALTERNATIVE / POST PUNK / ELECTRONICA / LEFTFIELD POP WWW.-ANALOGUETRASH.COMWELCOME pou ane PN raineaning,. his issue of Blitzed covers a ot of ground, fe praises orate starting with our feature interview wit former iusdepotgesn Kraftwerk legend Wolfgang Fliir (whose album ee arang desler Magazine 1 was one of our favourite releases vers wD te ol ede) Guba dedicated blog focussed on exploring of 2022). mes But this issue also dedicates many of its pages to the maverick recor label Some Bizzare. Throughout the erin omes, (and beyond), this eclectic mix of outsiders an Mri ames andar 1980s (and beyond), this eclectic mix of outsiders and Gjabranntigaen alternative ansts presented a strange collage of chat pom ao lenging music and chart hits. This included the likes of ‘uly ing te cohenl tees Soft Cell, The The, B-Movie, Cabaret Voltaire, Ein- wots dget di seh te prt beat Hedscowreisloveforcb ledang emery donefomalito stirzende Neubauten Test Dept and more. ll of which were overseen by the unpredictable genius of Stevo, We explore te stories behind Some Bizzare as new book Conform Te Deformis published and speak to its author Wesley Doyle. Meanwfile, Ani Hogan chats to Bltzed in part about her Some Bizzare days while we [Kraftwerk played rs srset section strecods sures minimal abetn then shed cassis gms a aso some ofthe more leftfield single releases that Some Bizare served Lay Rthen [now laymaximal sores Sore Sear srr ee Be torreflect on the tragic losses from the worlds of music, seletishig aque ontcs, art and culture thatthe previous year delivered. This ee cay ear ed onetcrel includes cultural icons such as Vivienne Westwood and Seren oid oy ln whet wai of ms mourned he sf ena pe Vangelis, Terry Hall, Cathal Coughlan, Andy Fletcher, te Keith Levene, Jet Black and Alan Rankine, It serves as a reminder, perhaps, thatthe decades that cultivated some of our most treasured memories are begining otros &. Than 0 pass into history. But atleast the legacies that these Thanks cur ear tam of rer and conus ‘to pass into history. But atleast the legacies that th sal o regen Be’ on Bacal Mork Buh people crafted will lays be with us. Simon Hearse ond Ke Set Thon co 2 Ney Dae a Hagar Hap fa edo acura Photog, Mase espossulan ‘Stockton Ben Peter ot ester Rand Mat ingtam Paul Browne / [email protected] ‘AtEtor ath Vee, ype eave patter Tom Somders tena@sierbocpublsng cts ‘s@blzedmagcam area sa Independence Blea s published by Siverback Publishing Ld iriaton {shoe ef Shae psec ees sor heoshteapunitingrcts cq SN deat rata d ah kona ny ere ton a mmc cro ‘zed again ing SN 225724 exe maga Dita SN 229728 ied10 5 6 24 30 35 36 45 &86 5 iD 88 BI8ss g 9 60 BSR @xN 80 82 84 88 90 96 98 I Wolfgang Fliir Interview Alan Rankine Obituary The Luxury Gap at 40 Conform To Deform: An Interview with Wesley Doyle Aladdin Sane at 40 The Art Of Falling Apart Blitzed Artefact: Manifesto Anni Hogan Interview ‘Songs Of The Classic Some Bizzare Era Blitzed Songbook: Games Without Frontiers Low-Life - New Order AFlock Of Seagulls Music, Musik, Musique Vol 3 Genesis Telex Pulse Lab Review Roundup The Art Of Darkness, The History Of Goth - John Robb Conform To Deform - The Weird & Wonderful World... Warriors - Gary Numan Tech Corner - Cubase, the DAW to bind them all? Electronic Café Electronic Café Live The Cure Live The Wingmen Live And Also The Trees Live AKiss in the Dreamhouse - Siouxsie and the Banshees Exploring Rio Maggie K De Monde Q&A Mik Scarlet Review 2023 - The Year Ahead In Albums Ghost Town Louder Than Words Dear Mr Pop Star Northern Ireland Blitz AnalogueTrash ed aie wunitelnagae statFo vs i rT a Nee elyil a Ett Maa y hava A cree sane Preeti Pet by three unique albums, which Peruana authoritative ‘Out 21 April 2023 via Wymer Pub- red LC Maggot) age publication offering Meera a THE ART OF DARKNESS eae] ENCE. turgistonvor ” ee G OTH rae: JOHN ROBB | eet cea aed built mainly around the post punk Fest Le ie Ds a porno che reach bauten, Laibach, Pam Hogg and a ee Te a ira 1d aie OHN FOXX ON A STROLL HROUGH THE ARCADES... sar The album's themes (and ttle) draw inspiration from the Benjamin, The glass-roofed Parisian arcades that are described in Benjamin's The Arcades Project offered its citizens a chance to “meander, dream, gather impressions through the rows of shops and elegant apartments. Foxx in turn - “with the piano and the help of some old electronics” - set out to create “immediate, often im- perfect, gestural fragments of music and atmosphere that might allude to some momentary experience - a chance meeting, a glimpse into a garden, a coinci- dence, a life behind a window revealed at twilight, someone indistinct. And it all ‘comes from w The Arcades Project is released on 31st March 2023 HSTPET SHOP BOYS GET LOST Pet Shop Boys will be releasing their first music for two years with new CD Peete eet ee Seas Besant Besos ear enn Tee and ‘Kaputnik’ which were written and recorded as demos in London and Berlin 2015 for potential inclusion on the album Super but weren't included “not, because we didn't like them,” according to Neil Tennant, “but because they Tee eae a Ea] o ere CLE gba eee eee eee ones of hae eee ere ee eee eee BS te because "some ofthem ae sor of relevant tothe word tthe moment” The rep ee ee eee eens Ba Lrg Seer eC eo Ca men cae aL J The Lost EP and the 2023 edition of Annually wil be released on 15 April This year, Scottish new wave outfit The Rezillos celebrate the 45th anniversary of their breakthrough hit Top of the Pops’. Originally released in 1978, the song's \wry commentary on the BBC's flagship music show gave the band their biggest hit, reaching No. 17 in the charts ‘The song's acerbic lyrics included lines such as “same song/Then they fade away” and "Stock mar- ket for your hi-fi". The tune is also notable as being penned by Jo Calls, then part of The Rezillos prior to him joining The Human League. To celebrate the anniversary, the band are em- barking on a UK tour which also includes special guests The Professionals with Paul Cook (Sex Pis tols), The band kick off the tour this October. etna2023 This year marks the 40th Anniversary for a variety of classic albums that in cludes some of the most iconic acts ofthe 1980s, While there's plenty of room for debate over which year of the decade served up the best music, it can't be denied that 1983 produced a variety of material that’s stood the test of time over four decades. ‘Among the albums celebrating their 40th Anniversary this year is Depeche Mode's Construction Time Again, their third studio album which featured songs such as'Love, in Itself and ‘Everything Counts’. New Order made a big leap forward from 1981's Movement album with the sharper, more electronic Power, Corruption & Lies. Meanwhile, Duran Duran followed up smash hit album Rio with Seven and the Ragged Tiger, notable for Nos chart hit The Reflex. ‘MD challenged (and confounded) press and audiences alike with the fractured genius of Dazzle Ships, while Tears For Fears had fully arrived on the back of their stunning debut The Hurting, Soft Cell delivered their second album The Art of. Falling Apart and Spandau Ballet served up True, which featured classic songs such as ‘Gold’ and ‘Lifeline’ David Bowie demonstrated that he could easily match the new breed of musical ‘acts with his impressive Let’s Dance album (which also marked his 1th studio al- bum release). Echo & The Bunnymen also had a good year on the back of singles “The Cutter’ and "The Back Of Love’, all taken from their third album Porcupine, Which reached No.2 in the UK charts. But 1983 was a prolific year for other artists too, including Eurythmics who re- leased their breakthrough album Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This) 1983 also saw the return of Heaven 17 with the chart-topping album The Luxury Gap (see feature this issue). There were also album releases by Yaz00, U2, The Police while 1983 also saw the formation of new bands such as The Art of Noise, Bronski Beat and 4AD ‘su per-group’ This Mortal Coil, Keep watching for special features on some of these albums in Blitzed later this year (ated aie Audrey Golden T Thought! Heard You Spesk rng Frctory Records pee ta TaN poehairaaiaCONFORM TO DEFORM THE WEUED A MoNDEATL WOULD OF ipgee, a; WesteY INL AT 40 Dazzle Ships, OMD's fourth studio _terial. The album will be issued on vinyl, album, celebrates its 40th Anniversary CD and clgital with two vinyl editions this year, (die-cut edition and coloured viny). To coincide with the anniversary, the band are reissuing the album along with Dazzle Ships will be released 31 March unheard demo versions and rough ma~ 2023. ee est aL a DA Cts ore OMA = = utor Imogen Bebb has painstakingly i ( ia Ce ae ARCHITECTURE cee keat ea EMBER YD eee a ocean ae OVALS ey ~— CO eC UGE cen Revere isienan eee erste RO OT AER 40th Anniversary that year), plus many DTU RCE ALL ag ees The book includes photographs, colour illustrations and a written ac count of each gig, as well as personal peer meetin teenager and returning to live music Peete ‘Available from the OMD Website at oar etnwas only the drummer boy. had really big complex about that, areal drummer complex. These aren't the words you would ‘expect from a legend of Kraftwerk’ rhythmatist, the man behind the metronomic machine beats who reportedly invented their trademark electronic drums that not only rewrote the story about what drummers do, but also inspired the entire electronic pop/rock landscape from that moment forward. "Iwas only the drummer in Kraftwerk, and I had no idea the talents that were sleeping in my heart and in my brain back then because nobody asked me and nobody had the thought to kick that out of my head, you know? Like his former band, Wolfgang Flr isr’tyour average music legend, Not for him the glare of public gaze or egocentric ambition. Unlike many of his peers he's not content to lve in the shadows of is ‘own history, instead his drive has been to find his own voice ~a drive that's keep his, ‘eyes set firmly on the future, with the odd cheeky nod to the past. "For ten years ater Kraftwerk | was so unsure of what | was going todo. | did not know what to do with my life But, since Heft made a contract with Mr Wolfgang and | said, ‘don't drum anymore. So eft them (Kraftwerk) and it was good that had a big distance to them, and I found myself more likea reader, a book writer, {an orator and anyway, I detected that my voice was newand that my instrument was my voice” Unless you've been incarcerated in the dingiest recesses of a darkened cave you can't help but to have noticed that Wolfgang Flr, or Wolfas he's known to fiends, released the fine fruits ofthis new voice on the Magazine 1 album last year. nine-song set that staddles the divide between techno and synthpop and features an array of uber cool guests including his partner in crime Peter Dugeal, Magazine 1 garnered praise from all quarters. Stepping out of the shadows of his past Wolfs voice as a songwriter, storyteller, orator and vocalist finally feels fully honed However that journey from Autobahn “drummer boy’ to the ‘voice’ of Magazine ‘Thas hardly been a straightforward ‘one, The Wolfgang Flr road is littered with collaborative diversions, literary edges ak excursions and solo adventures. The most infamous of these ventures came with is 2000 autobiography | Was ‘a Robot that opened the blinds on the previously secretive worid of Kraftwerk, Kling Klang Studios and perhaps more notably life asa robot working to the occasionally dubious structures enforced by Ralfaand Florian, who immediately tried to sue him, placing an injunction on the first edition in the process. Although ‘Wolfgang was exonerated in court |Was A Robot wasn't republished for many years ‘And when it was, the offending sections ‘were removed. The book also included ‘celebration of the more human side of the robot with extensive sections about lost love and masturbation, Many argued that this section might have made a better place to apply the editor's scalpel. But MM [fKraftwerk played minimal electro, then | now play maximal electro N the process of doing a reading tour of the book opened Wolfgang's ears to power of his own spoken words. “1 gave a reading atthe Sage Gallery in Liverpool and also made alot of readings inthe UKand the people would say ‘you have such a wonderful vice control will you make an audio book or anything? | started to love my voice, my vocals” This love of the potential for his own voice emerged in 2015's Eloquence album, The album included two tracks that he had recorded with Stefan Lindlabr in Connie Plank’s studio some fifteen years before being released on the album. Those tracks ‘were ‘I Was a Robot’, his autobiography in verse and ‘Cover Git’, Wolfgang's response to kraftwerk’s The Model” {as a robot coming from the autobahn, | was the radioactive many" he exclaims, So Stefan brought meto the microphone and said ‘ust sing it as you za ene wa FUN AN TE GEL think. You must not be a perfect opera singer. | was younger and my voice was ‘more stable than today” Talking of Eloquence atthe time Wolfgang said,“ Kraftwerk played ‘minimal electro, then | now play maximal electro” Intruth the album lacked a cohesion, perhaps due to the almost fifteen-year time span of music creation ‘thatthe album covers. More successful musically was Wolfgang's 1996 album Time Pie under the pseudonym Yamo that featured his more ‘tentative spoken word delivery in a series of cut ups or vocoders and including soundscapes that echoed the glitch tronica of Mouse on Mars. Indeed, album standout ‘Stereomatic (Stereomagic) is ‘a brand-new version of ‘Stereomission’ Which opened the laora Tahiti album by Mouse on Mars and which featured Wolfgang asa guest However his frst foray into the world of the spoken word vocal actually came with his song post-Kraftwerk in 1993, That track “Little Chil’, a benefit release for victims of the Bosnian war, opened his eyes to a ‘new musical path following a few years Working asa furniture maker and interior designer. “That's where irwented my frst melody and my frst lyries and recorded for the first time with a Commodore computer and Cubase," he recalls with a glint in his eye. From that first melody to Magazine 1 hhas taken thirty years, but the wait has been worth it. Not only for the listener Who gets to luxuriate in its deep synth pop ‘textures, but also for Wolfgang who has finally found, in Peter Duggal, the perfect creative foil. So how did this partnership come about? “We frst met about seven years ‘ago, 2015 right Wolf?" Peter asks his creative collaborator through Zoom, a tele-communication process that might hhave been beyond the technological dreams of Kraftwerk when they were busy building the future with soldering irons, rudimentary chips and basic circuit boards. “Yes, avery hot and steamy june day glitchy connection that occasionally sounds lke something German electronic experimenters Oval might have produced. “He engaged me for the Hebden Bridge ‘ts Festival. They needed a music show lee Mie 1‘or something like that | did not know him before, only by e-mail you know, sohe picked me up atthe airport at Leeds and drove me. After an hour we were friends “There was an instant, instant chemist Peter adds. "Within a couple of hours, we were having a laugh and a joke and playing ‘around and talking about things -it was good. | didn't reallyIthink he knew lwasa musician by that stage. it was the next day, when | dropped him back atthe airport | gave him some of my music on CD. He liked some oft and then we started talking more and more about music Peter’s music, including the exceptional Disconnected EP, which Wolfgang describes as “touching soundtracks on Soundloua! ignited something that left the Wolf “curious” to hear more. listened to his track which was already titled ‘Birmingham’ and | thought itwas brillant. So, |said why don't wedo a butt would not have been the perfect —_very, very good and complete idea - an op song from it? Ill write some lyrics and thing for such an amazing feeling. Sov international team you know? “Peter and ‘amelody, making a completely different thought about friends, and | asked Andy ve worked and worked and worked? arrangement. So, Birmingham’ wasthe McCluskey who was very unfriendly about continues Wolfgang “It really was work first track we did together” it. He refused ina not so nice way. He just that we love. Peter became my support One ofthe stand out tracks on Magazine said‘so why should Ising song about artist on all of my shows in England and 4, Birmingham’, a song about Peter's Birmingham? 'm from Liverpoot'So,then the being accompanied by him, a very hometown where he grew up livingon _—had the brillant idea to ask Claudia and good friend, being with him on tour is. the same road as UK reggae stalwarts she absolutely immediately agreed” ‘most fun... its lke we became brothers” Steel Pulse, features low slung bass action And Peter Hook? Asan infamous Manc Despite Peters crucial involvement in from Peter Hook along with the vocal did he have issues with the song’stitle? _the process of creating the Magazine 1 talents of xPropaganda chanteuse Claudia “No, Peter said immediately yes. There album ts gestation can actually be found Bricken. Not a bad collection oftalents to wasno discussion about money, about _on Transhumanism, the 2020 Wolfgang. boast, but asitturns out Claudia wasn't rights and copyrights until little bit later. Flr collaborative album with Hamburg Wolfgang's first choice. As private musicians and artists we spoke techno outfit U96. Both ‘Zukunftsmusik’ ifm not a good singer.|could singit straight together and it made ita very, __and ‘Best Buy’ can be found indifferent forms on each album. The U96 versions put techno to the fore, while Wolfgang's interpretations are far more pop. ‘like my style more because it's ‘more pop music,” Wolfgang says before explaining how he came to work with U96. “Hayo Lewerentz, who is one of U96 asked me if like to collaborate fon an album. He sent me three tracks and | was really touched by two of them and | started to tell him that fd make it completely different. | sai, 'soif you give ‘me something | will cut itinto pieces and glue them together completely different That was completely newto them” Wolfgang goes on to explain that those first two tracks weren't actually included fon Transhumanism but willbe included on the next U96 album. don't want to tell too much about it because it has some very, very interesting 2 Bet ane unitesspeech nobody will understand because it’s old German you know, from the gothic time: The experience of working on Transhumanism and the fortuitous ‘meeting with Peter Dugeal helped Wolfgang find the voice he wanted for his next solo album, But it was a meal with artist Markus Luigs that gave the album i's conceptual focus. I wasin a restaurant with friends including Markusy" says Wolfgang. “We are fiends since twenty-three years. My Wife introduced me to Markus who isa sgraphie designer and photographer since twenty years and makes my books and record sleeve designs. He also created this wonderful picture (points the original print of the Magazine 1 cover photo that is hung on the wall behind him). This is the original picture from the album. | saw itin an exhibition of his art and | thought | want this photo because it's a very interesting symbol. These two buildings are completely different characters and that meansto me its always possible that artists of completely different characters can collaborate together and make something new from it so that is romance and technique. i's modernity ‘and romance” In many ways that duality of old and new, romantic and modern the building ina state of aging collapse and the tower block as the relatively youthful ‘and dynamic counterpoint represent the edna I'ma big space fan and I told Peter the last track has to be in space! za ene wa FUN AN TE GEL relationship between Wolfgang and Peter. coming together of old and new but each bringing out the best in each other. “Originally lwas going to call it ‘collaborators’ because | have no band but meanwhile Peter and me, we became 1a duo together and we invited other collaborators you know. That was how everything pulled together” So how did it become known as Magazine 1? “in that restaurant Markus asked me about my tracks. He said"! have heard 75% of them and there are pretty different ‘themes to all ofthem, | said thisis like reading through an audio magazine. ‘Something to listen to but every page has something different. He said ‘then callit “Magazine’ Wolfgang. It was Marcus's idea to all it’Magazine’” When coronavirus hitthe duo spent the time sharing files and creating host of new tracks. The original nine songs soon swelled to thity, so Wolfgang's A&R man suggested they do three albums instead of one. “When this corona epidemic came, and wwe couldn't travel anymore we had no ‘more chance to meet personally o for ‘two years we talked over the Internet and telephone about parts of the music. We found that we were always in agreement. "Because we didn't see each other for a couple years itkind of made us find a different way to work. i actualy worked really well only exchanging files” adds Peter, “t's not so much about lie 8collaborating, you know we found our chemistry and it’s that idea that really that makes it. You know, you just hear something, and it moves you or changes You. We have loads of those moments with Wolfgang sending me ideas. The thought of another two albums in the Magazine seriesis enough to get any Wolfgang fan salivating, So, what can we expect? "Actually, I thought it would be good to make the first albums the best tracks ‘and to make Magazine 3 remixes and dance mixes to present for the dance scene,’ says Wolfgang, “We're justin the process now of finishing the last track on Magazine 2. "ma big space fan and |told Peter the last track has to be in space! ‘So we must do something about the new developments with rockets which go up ‘and come down and can be loaded again. That's so briliant you know, it’s wonderful that Peter sent me alittle soundtrack again, He heard me. it was perfect, | don't know fit was already prepared for such a feeling orifhe made it quickly. He is fierce Re i Sd at a aca 141 ea ane sometimes; he's really fast you know. But ‘we know each other well and he sai i's also my delight thinking about space and at the same time... that’s erazy! How about collaborators? "Well, there will be more tracks with Us6, And I had a Facebook message from a guy called Thomas Bangalter’ says ‘Wolfgang. “He said some very nice words about the Magazine 1 album which he heard on, Idon't know, iTunes or anywhere else, |asked Peter who is that guy he rites so nicely. He said ‘don't you know ‘Thomas Bangalter? He is from France, one of the boys of Daft Punk, oh not arymore because they have exploded their projects inthe desert you know. | asked him ifhe wants to join us, so we have engaged him fora collaboration” “And you're the fist person we've ‘mentioned that to” interjects Peter. I's almost ironic that a Parisian guy ho formed a band that selF-identified as The Robots would collaborate on a track with one of electronic pop music's original Robots at atime when he is gearing up to release his first human solo record. But Bangalter knows all about irony and Daft Punk endlessly ploughed electronic music's histories with an ironic Wink. The idea of Kraftwerk’s most human voice working alongside Daft Punk's most celebrated disco uberfan is quit brilliant. International file sharing collaborations With the great and good of Dusseldorf, Hamburg, Paris and, erm, Hebden Bridge (where Peter lives) over the Internet and music being created on laptops. I's alla long way from Kraftwerk’s future past visions of a robot world in wich Ralf extoled the virtues of people's dlisposability and a human world in which Wolfgang would eventually discover what itwas like to be made redundart by the computerised beats of a sequencer. At atime when future mass employment is staring down the barrel of A's rapid ‘machine learning, does Wolfgang ever, like his former bandmate Karl Bartos, fear a future Metaverse and share a condemnation of the day that computers entered the studio. “When Karl came to our group we hadn't even owned a computer. No one hada home computer that were too big too expensive. Only universities and those scientists, or big factories like IBM, or governments could afford them. | had already left the band in 1997 and we even hhad no MIDI then. The younger generation of musicians had already computers that are affordable, they were not more 8000 DM (Deutsche Marks) the same price asa Wear? But, argues Wolfgang, despite the somewhat romantic claims in Karl Bartos’ ‘own autobiography, computers don't mark the end of creativity For him the existence of artists lke Peter is the best argument against Kal's hypothesis. Peter is kind of a tricky guy, he'sthe Florianin our band you know, buthe's more ‘icky he exclaims. "As forme, fm nota visionary Ihave the lyrics and melodies ‘on my side and ifnecessary the vocals you know. lonly have a Novation synthesiser and that's it. | deliver only melodies and so ‘that can give my voice” @ Other images courtesy of Wolfgang Flir ‘and cherry Red unten statPee een es Pr ee ee Pree part ofthe Scottish music cand Reece ere Formed in Dundee in 1979, the band first Ro eae ear ened CO ee eee Sea Se ees ener ose ety teas Perea eerie Which also boasted the stunning single ee eT Reo ounced roots dated back to 1973 (and which they ce ey pee er nig Dee rte rend ona ea cae Sn Caen ig Pe COR cs ecg creas last-minute cancellation of a US tour. Consequently, he established himself asa solo artist via the Les Disques du Crépuscule label. That resulted ina series ete a eu) Begins to Look Her Age and 1987's The Big Picture Sucks. Pere rie teceey ete eee econ tee Tey Poe iee Rankine later worked as a lecturer in Sree ee nS eee etn to students set up their own inhouse record cree oe er launch the careers of bands such as Belle and Sebastian, Snow Patrol and Biffy Clyro, ee See Ese uen or) oem ee cae ns Pecan hec mt ini? ees everest Peete nets See ee expected as the magazine spoke to the ‘musician back in issue 2 for an exclusive ee eo eee ees art) in particular his love for Billy Mackenzie. Cee nt Set Pee en eet eee could just understand each other with a emer a Cree ect an ‘music industry a litle darker, but the De eco airs DeInt LU Ilana 61 et ane weenie set the beginning of 1982, it's quite likely that Glenn Gregory, Martyn Ware and lan Craig Marsh - collectively known as Heaven 17 were feeling alittle glum. ‘Their debut album Penthouse and Pavement had been released in September the previous year, and whilst ithad sold 100,000 copies and succeeded in cracking the UK top 20, the same could not be said ofits singles, all of which had failed to bother the charts despite a significant amount of press hype and coverage. ‘he trio's other enterprise the British Electric Foundation (or BEF), wasn't ‘exactly proving to be a roaring success either. Originally set up asa production ‘company by Ware and Marsh after their bitter departure from the Human League, BEF first project of 1982 (an album titled ‘Music of Quality and Distinction: Volume 1) ‘saw them arranging legendary pop songs ina’synthetic sout style for a variety of singers; Sandie Shaw did ‘Anyone Who Had A Heart, for instance, Tina Turner tackled ‘Bal of Confusion’, whilst Glenn Gregory himself took on ‘Wichita Lineman’ and ‘Perfect Day’. And though it's true that this concept might have sounded vaguely ‘engaging atthe time, potential was once: again overruled by reality when plans to release multiple double-A-sided singles, {rom Music of Quality and Distinction had to be canned dueto lack of sales. Asif this wasn't enough, whilst Gregory, Ware and Marsh were busy reaping litle ‘commercial reward from their Heaven 17 ened and BEF endeavours, Ware and Marsh's exbandmates The Human League were busy becoming the biggest band in the UK, helped along by their critically acclaimed, ‘worldwide smash album Dare and its singles, particularly the ubiquitous ‘Don't You Want Me’ which gave the group a UK Christmas chart topper in 1981 Soyes, Penthouse and Pavement had sold 100,000 copies. But that probably looked alittle meagre next to Dare's five million. Perhaps now its becoming a little clearer asto why the trio might have been feelinga litle glum at the beginning cof 1982. There were possibly traces of embarrassment too; despite, perhaps unwittingly, marketing themselves as a slick hit-making corporation under the guise of both Heaven 17 (Penthouse and Pavement’ sleeve depicts the band members as besuited businessmen who are “opening doors al over the world”) and BEF (which in essence was intended to function in a similarly corporate way to Tin Pan Alley or the Motown label), so far Gregory, Ware and Marsh hadn't actually seen much success on the ‘hit-making’ front. ‘As Simon Reynolds put it in his seminal document of the era Rip It Up and Start ‘Again: {they] found themselves in an embarrassing position - when you style yourself asa corporation, a hit factory churning out perfect consumer products, what do you do when hardly anyone's consuming your products?. For Heaven 7, the solution to this Tao aa a predicament came in the form of an album called The Luxury Gap, released on 25th April 1983, Bigger, slicker and more soulful than anything the band had done before, it was an album that propelled the group out ofthe suburbs of ‘Minor HEAVEN Te Daa lag Pattee a a Crue lie MeHEAVEN TZ serrIGo + THE LUXURY GAP PRODUCED & ARRANGED BY B.EE & GREG WALSH ‘WEW ALBUM & CHROME CASSETTE V2253 INCLUDES THE SINGLES: LET ME GO & TEMPTATION BEE 8 et aps ed ge unten statSuccess-ville and into the big, bright lights of Pop Star Cit Inhindsight some reviewers have branded ita sell-out (later in Rip t Up and Start Again Reynolds describes The Luxury Gap as the album that made Heaven 17 pop stars “at a terrible cost”) but the band seein happy to defend the sequence of events that surrounded its recording, ‘We were [..] highly motivated to compete With the stellar success of The Human League's huge international acclaim with Dare, and the white heat of vengeance still burned brightly" Ware admitted in his 2022 autobiography Electronically Yours. With this album, he said, "there were to be no half-measures, no pusillanimous attempts at second best, all efforts that could be ‘made would be made” -and it shows. This was in part because the band had the rare pleasure of being told by thelr record company that there was no budget for the album, and that essentially they could spend as much money on it as ‘they needed to, According to Ware, Virgin Records were sure that Heaven 17's next LP release was going to propel them to stardom, and so if they wanted to use a 60-piece orchestra (as they did on “Temptation! then they could, or ifthey wanted to have 118 multi-tracked voices singing in 14-part harmony (as can be heard on the intro to ‘Let Me Go’), then there was nothing to stop them. There was also the fact that much of the album was recorded at George Martin's AIR studios in London, which was not only fone of the most in-demand studios in the country atthe time, but which also had success ingrained in its walls, with artists such as Genesis, Queen, Roxy Music, ELO and Paul McCartney having previously recorded there. Aside from the fact it sounded as though a lot of money had been spent on it, another defining feature of The Luxury Gap was its notably ‘dry’ production (which essentially means that little use was made of effects such as reverb or {echo}. Inthe early ‘80s this production style was often associated with soul or funk music, so when combined with the richness of The Luxury Gap's recordings as well as Heaven 17's bank of synthesisers and drum machines (including the Jupiter 8, 78-308 and Roland MC Microcomposer) it resulted in the fresh, energetic synthetic sout style that the edges ak band had been pursuing since the days of their early BEF recordings. On this basis it could be argued that a significant chunk of the album's sound (and in turn success) could be attributed to Greg Walsh, who was employed asan engineer but ended up co-producing the majority ofthe album, Whilst Walsh wasn't Heaven 17's original choice for engineer (the band had wanted to work with his brother Pete, but he was otherwise ‘occupied producing the new Simple Minds album), he brought what could be termed a different perspective'to the recording of The Luxury Gap, having been trained by Geoff Emerick, the engineer for multiple Beatles albums, and also having previously worked with Heatwave member ‘and disco/funk pioneer Rod Temperton, Ware himselfis more than happy to acknowledge Walsh's significant contributions to the album, sayingin a The Luxury Gap spawned three Top 20 hits. NW his book that “Greg's knowledge and expertise helped us create the ‘Heaven ‘1 sound’, which featured complex vocal arrangements, seamlessly integrated electronic and live rock instrumentation, and orchestral colours. This would help lead usto mainstream success’, However, we must also take into account that alot of what really made The Luxury Gap so popular was the songwriting it wasn't that it was necessarily ‘better than anything on Penthouse and Pavement, but it had certainly taken a different direction. ‘The songs on The Luxury Gap were more human, and in turn more accessible for a wider audience. There's album opener ‘Crushed By The Wheels of Industry, a cynical but clever commentary about hierarchy in the workplace, and the satire of which was 0 on-the-nose that it brought the band legions of new fans in the form of the group of people the track directly sought to criticise - Thatcher-era ‘yuppies. Elsewhere there's lyrical richness and Tao aa a danceable basslines aplenty proffered by the likes of ‘Let Me Goa track so charismatic and effervescent that you can completely understand why it’s one of the band’s favourite songs they've recorded, and ‘Come Live With Me’, a track that perhaps hasn't aged as well ‘as some of the others on the album, but which still serves as a pretty ballad that’s ‘well-placed to balance out some of the frenetic energy that courses through The Luxury Gap's veins, Meanwhile the more soulful elements of the band's ‘synthetic soul’ sound can be found in tracks like “Who'll Stop The Rain’ and ‘We Live So Fast, with their distinctive call-and- response backing vocals, arching vocal melodies and spirited delivery. Of course, one can't talk about The Luxury Gap without giving more than a passing mention to the monster hit single inthe room, Temptation’ which is just waiting to creep out of your speakers and remind you why it's one of the greatest, songs of the 1980s. Maybe it's because of the 60-piece orchestra, maybe i's because of Carol Kenyon’s incredible chorus vocals, mmaybei’s the way the chords continue to escalate as the song progresses, or maybe irs down toall ofthe above and more, but Temptation’ is one of those few songs that canbe played over and over again and {guarantee that its listener will feel no side effects of boredom or tedium. its sheer depth of garden-fresh ingenuity means there is something new to be found and appreciated with every listen. It’s moreish, massive and totally magnificent, and in many ways the same can be said of The Luxury Gap. The album eventually reached number four on the UK charts and sold enough copies to be certified platinum. It spawned three top 20 hits and helped Heaven 17 to prove that when they put their minds to it, they could function successfully as pop stars. Having always refrained from touring in the ‘80s they are now a very successful live act who seem to delight and excite audiences wherever they go. Sadly, and perhaps unfairly, they never reached the dizzy heights of fame or record sales that The Human League did with Dare, but that’s okay. When it comes to the credibility stakes, ‘Temptation’ beats ‘Don't You Want Me’ everytime. @ lee 8awe cow would you describe the difference between the writing recording for The Luxury Gap compared to Penthouse & Pavement? Penthouse & Pavement was our fist experience with big recording studios Itwas part experimentation inthe new ‘environment and part we wanted to maintain the purity of what we've done, because we'd already had a bt ofan issue withthe early Human League with this kind of thing, so for Heaven 17 we got a certain amount of experience, but we wanted to keep it simple. So, the fist album wasnt the rocket to success but itwasa slow burner andit id very well Consequently, Virgin essentially gave us an open chequebook to make the next album (which isjust something that’s never going to happen nowadays). Our big thing was:"Welve not had a big single hit, although the fist album aid very well and we thought, "Well, we find ourselves inthis position that we've got a highly supportive record company, le’ go fort.” So,we ended up working in AIR Studios, Oxford Circus, which was the most expensive and highest rated studio in Britain atthe time, George Martin's 201 ape by Poul Browne ‘Studio. They had the best equipment, basically, the best desk and all these things that we love so much. Not only that, in terms of session players, me were siven carte blanche as well. So, to give you ‘an example, one day !had an idea. We'd written a demo for Temptation’, and | ‘woke up one morning and thought “id be fantastic if we could get an orchestra on this’ Because we'd already experimented with orchestras on the first BEF album and Ijust thought it would add to the epic nature of it- and that combined with the more edgy, dancey bit ofit and the kind of souly bit, thought would bea winning combination. It proved to be the case, So, ‘we went into Virgin Records one day and said, “we want an orchestra” and they said “sure, when?" | mean, that's basically the conversation we had, “and how mary playerso you want?” |rang up my colleague John Wesley Barker, who | had already worked with onthe frst BEF album, and said "What forces do we need for this? Ive got an idea what | want it to sound like, it's bit like the soundtrack to The Big Country = the film, not the band! Something epic and sweeping and optimistic and that kind of sound power and he said “alright, yeah, we can do that” So many strings, brass, harp and percussion etc. Next thing you know, in lke within ten days, we were in the studio recording that - and on some of the tracks. So, that’s a major difference between the ‘two albums isthat we were given free rein for our imagination, and this was really atthe start ofthe technology for programmed electronics as well. At ‘that time there was no screen-based sequencers, digital audio workstations or anything. We were stil in the land of the digital standalone sequencers, ike ‘the Roland MC4, MCB which would then send out impulses, control voltages and gates to trigger synthesisers and stuff - and also MIDI of course. | was fascinated at the time with how we could combine the classic elements of pop music - and Ive always been a big pop music fan, you can probably tell -you know, acoustic instruments as opposed to purely electronic and drum machines and stuff to create a new form essentially and that’s what we ended up doing, ‘We got in some fantastic session players to help us out for the fist time, really big, professional session players. We were experimenting with different timbres and wunitelnagae stattones like The Phenix Horns, for instance, from Earth, Wind & Fire and different bass players, guitar players, drummers. We felt that at this point all restrictions were off and we could be as free with our creativity to prove that these things that we were creating, the songs we're creating, the arrangements could work in a more classic format. Because we thought that - with the addition of electronics - was going to be much more popular to the general public. Obviously ‘Temptation’ proved to be ‘a massive success, Were you really surprised at how successful that single ‘actually was at the time? ‘Oh, no not really. Basically, we released “Let Me Go' as the first single off the album and the record company, us, pluggers ~ ‘everybody thought it was going to be a big hit. Because | still think it’s the best song, wee ever written - and itjust didnt. got toNo. 42 and didnt get any further. So, we did't go on Top OF The Pops ete. That was ablow. But then reall, in our heart-of-hearts, we were convinced that Temptation’ was the big hit on the album anyway. So, we Wert into Simon Draper, head of A&R to discuss what the next single would be and they said they didrrt want to put ‘out ‘Temptation’ And I'm going “youve got to be kidding’. I mean, it's clearly a big hit.1 mean Ithink fd be amazed if you didnt getin the Top 10, it just sounds like nothing els, it's got all the key ingredients. You can never guarantee anything, but it looked pretty certain, tobe honest. And he said "not really sure, We're {going to send it to David Kershenbaum’, Who, asa producer had just had a big hit with Joe Jackson. We're not sure about the mix and I'm going “what are you talking about? i's exactly how it should be Anyway, sent itto America, cut a long story, came back - it was appalling as we knew it would be. twas al blanded out and just missed the point of it completely. So, we went back into Simon Draper's office and literally got dowm on our knees and begged them to putt out and he reluctantly agreed. It transpired that the reason why they didn't want to put itout is because they didn't have Carol Kenyon under contract and they were \orried that they would hold them over a barrel. That wast. It sounds ridiculous edges ak Tao aa a TEMPTATION HEAVEN'S now because we'e in a world where getting guest singers in for collaborations. throughout the 80s and the 90s and the dance scene of the noughties, it's standard procedure now. But backin those days, it wasa different paradigm, shall we say. So, inthe end they put it out and it was an enormous hit, of course. | was very pleased when on the week ofthe release (you get mid-week chart positions and stuff) rang up the sales team headed by John Webster, who's a legend in the music industry, head of sales {or Virgin. | said, “now's it going, John?” He said, and these were his words, he said "it's pissing out”. Their pressing plants couldn't press enough to keep up with demand. it was selling something lke 20-25 thousand a day. Just to give people an idea, if you sold 20,000 of any single nowadays you'd Be No. 1for a year. So, it ‘was quite astonishing. They were alittle bit overwhelmed, o be honest. So, they said "I think weve got a shot at No.1. So, they had all the pressing plants working, they prioritised it and all that stuff. They said, "barring something highly Lunpredicted happening, it probably wll bbe No. 1 next week’. In those days it took a few weeks to get upto thetop. twasn't Ml Virgin essentially gave us an open chequebook to make the next album \ like you went straight in at No.1,unless ‘you were Michael Jackson or something. So, thiswas second or third week. But yeah, the momentum had been building ‘Then, next thing you know, to cut a long story short, it was pipped to the post by less than 1% for sales by Candy Git! by New Edition, which came out of nowhere. But anyway, it's an interesting story. How was working with Greg Walsh on the album? Because you had original- ‘y planned to work with his brother lee MauiAlbum sequencing is incredibly important interms of how an album works asa narrative following on from his involvement with Penthouse & Pavement? Yeah, Greg's an amazing producer. | mean, he's gta different background to Pete. We really like Pete. We wanted him to do Luxury Gap, but he was offered ‘Simple Minds’ album instead so we Couldn't knock him for that, because we realy like him. So, he recommended his brother Greg, who had quite alot of success with soul acts like Heatwave and he worked with Rod Temperton, who of, course wrote stuff for Michael Jackson, and at first we thought “oh, he's not as edgy as Pete, will it suit us?” But actually, the skills that he brought to it were perfect for what we didn't fully understand we 21 Be Mapa needed. I's the classic thing, we dont know what you don't know and he brought to thetablea brilliant kind of engineering background. He was rained by Geoff Emerick, who worked with The Beatles and George Martin, but also a great musical sensibility. He was a musician himself and justa great guy to work with alot of fun, But he also brought a kind of Olympic: level knowledge of vocal and background vocal techniques, which has been a kind of signature of Heaven 17 ever since that that time really: vocal stacking insane amounts of multiple tracks of everything ‘to make it sound like that. Now it’s dead easy to do because of DAW, but not back inthe day. tt was incredibly laborious Recording 24 tracks of vocals, for instance, and then having to bounce that into the master reel 24-track by hand and stuff ike that. For instance, the opening backing vocal note of ‘Temptation’ is 128 tracks, after pre-bouncing, You wouldn't know, of course. I's just lke this indefinable “What isthat sound?” It's ike 14-part harmony or something, We did similar complex stuff for ‘Let Me Go' for instance. So that kind of incredibly alluring backing vocal sound, ‘which was almost 50/50 combination cof me and Glenn, became our signature really, | suppose. That prompts the next question, were there any crucial lessons you learnt from the writing and recording ofthis album that served you well in the future? Oh, Ithinkit was the definitive kind of learning experience because we were in ‘the best studio with the best engineer with the best equipment - with the best high-end equipment - with the best ‘musicians and we were given creative free ein to explore that musical word. Although none of us are trained musicians, We had enough understanding of what We were doing. So, it wasnt like we were some kids in a candy shop, we were very focused on what we wanted to do, and we had a thorough understanding of digital programming and LinnDrum programming and all that stuff. We're smart and musical inelligent guys and we were determined and focused to make the best ofthis possibly singular opportunity. ‘also want to discuss the sequencing of the album, because on paper it looks quite unusual to open the album with {an almost 6-minute-long track, yet it works. What was the method to decide ‘on the tracklisting for the album and why you decided to open with a track like ‘Crushed By The Wheels Of Industry”? ur belief was album sequencing is incredibly important in terms of how an album worksas a narrative. Or not necessarily a narrative, it works holistically asa piece of work that you would want to play in that order. Because there's two schools of thought. One isi’sa piece of artin some way and that you have that antstic freedom to mess about witht, unten statddo what you want, blah blah blah. Pretty much a similar kind of theory that works With the best hip-hop artists. They often put interstitial tracks between stuff and they create a kind of vibe, so you want to listen tothe whole album. But then there's the traditional kind of theory about sequencing, which is very American by the \way, which is you write a bunch of songs, a certain number of them work as potential singles. Those songs you put asthe first tracks on the album and frankly the rest of the album is fille. We never believed that, ‘50 What we wanted to do isto be daring, | suppose, isthe way | putt So, on one level ‘Crushed By The Wheels Of Industry’ isthe most up-tempo track on the album. it makes sense to have it fist, Uikea kind of Clarion cal. That was our theory. But the length of t didn't worry Us, because we knew we could always edit down for a single anyway. Consequently, we wanted people to understand from the off that what you're dealing with here is people who were more interested in music than just selling product. So, we're giving them a fully-fledged vision of what We wanted to do. Notto be self-indulgent, but to be daring, to put it bluntly. At that time, we were still thinking in terms of Vinyl, s0 i's side A and side B, because we just had a big success with Penthouse side, Pavement side for an attitude. We didn't particularly want to go down that, path again, but alot ofthe imperative was people to listen to the whole side and then want to flip it as soon as possible and play the whole thing and maybe go backto the start and play it ll again, That's why the tracks were arranged in the manner they were, to create this kind of underlying sense, that there's some kind of intelligence behind it all as well, And i's not just some kind of conglomeration of hit singles with a few filles, ‘Asan opening track on the album, it sounds epic and a lot of the album does have this big, euphoric feel to it as wel. It’s music doing what you want music to do, which isto have an effect on the people who heart. Emotional engagement has always been our number one endeavour for the listener. | love the epic and | suppose because | was mainly the guy with hands- ‘on in terms of producing this stuf, very influenced by classic pop and... just kind edges ak of epic sounding pop | suppose. | remember we were all incredibly inlove with a lot of ‘American import music. There wasatrack by Brecker brothers called “East River, thatis the kind of template, in terms of epic-ness, and lhaveto say i's quite jazzy ina more emotional rather than technical sense. t's more musically daring, In fact, the original track, “East River, it was based on alive recording and then they went into the studio and overdubbed everything as well and added everything playing at the same time. So, you've got this amazing huge soundscape going on, But that particular track was a major influence and a lot of the big soul productions and stuf, We always loved the Philly sound for instance, Bands around that time, who we were heavily influenced by were people like The system, from America. Really liked that kind of rhythm and synth programming technique. I's this kind of hybrid of soul and electronics. This kind of humanism of the whole electronic power. twas all kind cof a major directive for us, ‘crusHeD| ey THE| WHEELS ‘OF| INpusTR¥| Have your feelings on the album evolved over the 40 years since its release? Welt first of all m incredibly proud of it. Secondly, as you go through the years, It doesnt feel lke 40 years ago. To me it feels more lke 20 years ago or something, But nevertheless, we aluays endeavoured ‘to make an album that had a timeless quality. Obviously, that sounds incredibly arrogant, but thats literally what we were ‘aiming for, we used to say to each other at the time, And Ithink we achieved it with Luxury Gap. Its kind of hard to nail down, The best albums that | love from the past still sound fresh today to me. Like alot ofthe Earth, Wind and Fire albums, for instance, just sound so beautifully incredibly recorded and epic that they could be made at any time. The post-Off The ‘Wall Michael Jackson albums, the more technological ones, they sound fresh. | Tao aa a HEAVEN can't think of another way of describing it. So, we were aiming at that. think With Luxury Gap, we've got the combination right of classic songwriting that had an ‘emotional punch, but also it didnt really sound like anyone else at the time. We Weren't aspiring tobe a rock band. We didn't perform live; we were a studio band. So, we didnt have that kind of magnetic pull of "Oh, we just played a big tour and ‘thisis what pleases the audience and We better have the traditional drums, bass, uitar thing”. We were using those as tools, but the centre of it was kind of, programming enhanced by other stuf and that really was the message with that album. think also, lyrically, it was very strong and we put alot of effort into the lyrics. It’s funny. The dance community if ‘you push them, would always say they prefer Penthouse & Pavement because it's more kind of beat-oriented | suppose and abit ofa signpost for the future. But Luxury Gap is a more fleshed-out vision of what we wanted to do. Some people like this and some people like the elegance and the simplicity ofthe approach on Penthouse & Pavement. "have to put a word in for How Men Are here, because | actually it's my favourite Heaven 17 album. Not that ! don't think it's better. think it's just a personal ‘pinion, but | think we reached the peak of everything we wanted to try to achieve ‘there and it’s only through fate that it wasnt a lot more successful. lieWESLEY DOYLE meetin tingCoreen lew book Conform To Deform offers up an rare glimpse into the inner workings of the Some Bizzare label and also offers insight into its maverick captain, Stevo. Some Bizzare’s narrative is embedded into the foundations of the music culture ‘of the 1980s; a story that touches on the careers of Soft Cell, Te The, Depeche Mode, Blancmange, Cabaret Voltaire, Einstirzende Neubauten, Foetus, Swans, Coil, and Psychic Tv Blitzed sat down with the book's author, Wesley Doyle, to discuss how he approached such an exhaustive task. A journalist for over twenty years who has \wrtten for The Quietus, Record Collector, Long Live Viryi, and Vive Le Rock, we delve into the not-inconsiderable task that Doyle had set for himself Conform To Deform offers an oral history ‘of Some Bizzare. Why did you opt for that particular approach? Initially, it was going to be a third person narrative and | did start writing iin that way, mainly because I thought that quite 2 few of the big hitters wouldn't want to talk about it. Quite a few of the big artists from Some Bizzare are been very vocal about their disappointment with the finances and the way their catalogue has been treated. So yeah, | was thinking that people didn't want to talk ~ and also Stevo Allthe main artists were all quite happy to contribute... W was alittle bt reluctant to get involved, to say the least. So, lwrate a first couple of chapters asa third person narrative and then my applications for interviews started coming through. Then suddenly itappeared that everyone was quite happy to talk, There's only two or three people who turned me down outright. sun wren weer on One was Blixa Bargeld from Einstirzende Neubauten and then a few peripheral people. lydia Lunch didn't want to talk, Stephen Thrower, who played in Coil, didn't want to talk But out of ll the main artists, they were all quite happy to contribute. So when | started compiling the interviews, I just got a real sense of these people's, character and their own sort of internal rhythms in the way they talked and ‘their sense of humour as well. I thought it would probably work lot better if just got out the way completely and just presented their wordsas they were. Ike oral histories ary way. think there's a lot of humour in having one person say ‘one thing - and then somebody will say the complete opposite! And then you can decide for yourself what the truth is. So, there's quite a lat ofthat - especially with Stevo in the book - and then the publisher ‘was happy with that decision as wel. ‘mean to be honest, they were kind of pushing for an oral history from the start. The cast of characters is quite large and ‘you interviewed a lot of people. The pro- edges ak li Matescess for editing it down must have been quite extensive. Yeah, the process was | do the interview, stickit into a transcription service and then | would edit that and then send it backto the contributor and say “Are you happy with this And then when they were happy with it, then I'd take it back and prune it and work out where it was going to go. So, it was a bit ike a jigsaw puzzle realy, because, say with Stevo himself, he obviously stretches the whole, sort of 2/23 years that we cover. On a scale, | had him from the beginning to the end and then there's people come inand out of the story Ive written books before, books {or other people. My background is inmagazines. But Ive ghostwritten books for afew people, so! knew I could handle the word count. But the ‘experience of it was quite strange, because | was so familiar with the work and the catalogue, it was almost like | knew where everything needed 0 g0.So | would interview, say, Dave Ball and | would think “OK, that goes there, that goes there, we'll drop that bit in there” How (ong did it take you to research ‘and write the book? Initially wrote a feature for Record Collector magazine, probably about two years ago. | did that so that | could have something to use asa pitch. lot of publishers don't tend to look at books unless theyve already been written. | wasn't in a position to sit at home, write a book and then hope that somebody would publish it.So I needed to go and get a deal where they would pay me as | wrote itand soit would be like ajob, rather thana than a hobby. So | did a feature for Record Collector and for that | spoke to Mal from the Cabs [Stephen Mallinder, Cabaret Voltaire], Mat Johnson, Tony ‘Mayo. So | probably spoke to half a dozen people for that feature, Stevo, Marc and Dave and a few other people just weren't interested, So that's kind of why Ithought they wouldn't be interested in the book. So wrote the feature for Record Collector and then used that asa pitch. | pitched to ‘two publishers. Both were interested, but I decided to go with Jawbone because | really lke the production values on their book and their very high-quality printing 261 Be Mapa and then just set about chasing people down. Realistically | gave myself six months to write it, but | would imagine it to benearer nine or ten. How many hours did you spend speaking to Stevo for the book? | first spoke to him in June 2021 and then I finaly met him about a year later. When I did meet with him, Ituened the tape recorder on and just let him go. But | mean had hours and then he continued to contact me afterwards. I mean | must have easily 25-30 hours’ worth of recordings from my conversations with Stevo. Because his mind works in such an erratic kind of way, he's just jumping around all the time. So, trying to keep him toa timeline... tell you about when did meet him. twas the hottest day of the year and | went out to Londen and ‘met him in a restaurant up near Angel, Islington. Then we jumped in the car. Because he paints, these kind of large Jackson Pollock type action paintings, we went to Snappy Snaps on the Edgeware Road and picked up some of his paintings vihich he had framed and then drove toa lockup in Archway because he wanted to drop the paintings off. For someone like me, it was like ‘Aladdin's Cave. He had 2-inch tapes in there, old DATS, old videos, props from videos, stacks of posters. But it was all just shoved in there. | said to him, "You should get somebody to sort through this and catalogue it” He had original master tapes. | mean | could only see stuf like Koot and Kai Motta and related stuff, but he did say he's got old Soft Cell demos and B-Movie original masters and stuff and they/re all ust basically disintegrating. Because with those old 2-inch tapes, if you dont look after them and they oxidise, then the metallic strip comes apart. You have to bake them to remove all the ‘moisture so that the tape stays together. He said on several occasions, “that’s my legacy and it's falling apart” and I'm like “Well just sign a deal with somebody! (laughs). | mean he's got several things going on trying to get the catalogue back out there but yeah... mean Daniel Miller said to me he'd like to put out the old Some Bizzare stuff, but i's just not worth it (laughs) Do you think a label like Some Biz- _zare could exist in the modern era? (Or do you think that this maverick ‘approach belonged purely to the 1980s? Alot of people disagree, but there was that slightly go-getter attitude that came from the 80s and everybody puts it down to Margaret Thatcher's government and their whole “Greed is good” mentality. But | do think there was something going on there. Itwasa kind of combination with the DIY aspect of punk and also this go- getter attitude that meant that people Who maybe wouldn't have thought that they could be movers and shakers in this industry, al ofa sudden, have the have the wherewithal to give ita go. And also ‘the means of distribution aswell as the sort of independent network of places like Pinnacle and Rough Trade. But | dor't think Stevo was ever really interested in being independent. Eventually Some Bizzare did become an Independent label and put out their ‘own releases. But right from the get-go, | think he wanted to be in bed with major labels. The Some Bizzare Album itselfis essentially a Phonogram record. | mean it's got the Some Bizzare imprint on it, butit came out on Phonogram and it was licenced to Phonogram and all the early singles, the Soft Cell and B-Movie singles, they're all Phongram releases. think the first independent release is'Cold Spell Ahead’ by The The because Stevo couldn't get anyone really interested in Matt's ‘demos, so they put Cold Spell head! ‘out and had it distributed by Pinnacle. As unten statthings progressed, with Rob Collins joining the label and wanting to put out more and more extreme music think they kind of realised that they werent really going to get a major deal for Swans or Foetus for ‘example, so, they put it out themselves, Ithinkit was a product ofits time, but Ithink some of the things he did had a longer lasting impact. Like D} Food, wo | spoke to for the book, he said someone like James Lavelle and Mo Wax is a good ‘example of the kind ofthing that Stevo was doing and also somebody like Wile. Because he created his own litle roster ‘of people, and when he wants to use a major label hell use a major label or he stil puts things out, selling them out of his car or something, And also, lke Stevo, he kind of trashed his reputation by being slightly unhinged! think the whole idea Cf owning the means of production and making the record and then shoppingit to the labels, which Stevo did, so Cabaret Voltaire and The The and Ithinka lot cof legacy artists now do that. People like Nick Cave and Dave Albarn, Paul Willer. They will make the record and then they take it to label and see what's the best deal they can get. So think there's lots of things that he's not siving credit for that Some Bizzare did establish, Were there any acts on the Some Bizarre abel who you feel personally should have been much, much bigger? I don't know if B-Movie should have been bigger but think they could have been managed a bit better, Like Stevo kind of lost interest in them when = because he was managing them and Soft Cell and Matt [Johnson] - and when ‘Matt and Soft Cell took off he kind of le B-Movie behind. | think the fact that the three singles that they're known for, those classic recordings, they're stil in avault in the bottom of Sony's building somewhere. And they've never been reissued after those initial releases in 1981/1982. think basically, if Stevo got them in to do an album instead of doing Try Before You Buy’ singles for Phonogram, | think they could have put together a really good coherent album and then they could have gone out and found their place commercially. Phonogram treated B-Movie asa kind of a rival to Duran Duran, as crazy as edges ak that seems now. But they really did think that something like ‘Nowhere Girt’ of “Remembrance Day was going to be as big as ‘Planet Earth or ‘Girls On Film’ and they actually toured with Duran Duran on Duran Duran's first tour, 1981. | think Stevo lost interest and they kind of stagnated and then when they did eventually put an album out, they'd lost members, they'd worked with different producers, they'd re-recorded the songs and they just ‘weren't the same band as they were in 1981, Actually, I think they/re better now than they were in that mid-80s period. 1 think they kind of lost their way and now I think they know what they should have done forty years ago. Hopefully someone will have the wherewithal to remaster those original tapes and get those like six or seven songs that were recorded for Phonogram and stick them out on a compilation, because that's really what their reputation rests on, I think, When you read through the book, there ‘are alot of hind of characters who had ‘along history with Stevo and were very loyal to him, but equally had a chequered history with him. Why do you think they ‘were so loyal for so many years? | don't know, its like having that best friend who isjust an absolute nightmare you can't get seem to get rd of (laughs). Having dealt with him and met him, i's ‘weird thing. I mean like my kids, after | come off the phone and had some kind of heated argument with Stevo about God knoves what, but they'd come in and like they/re like “Oh you've been on the phone to Stevo again?" (laughs) And then over aura wren eer Ml Phonogram treated B-Movie asa kind ofa rival to Duran Duran NW Christmas, we'd play that game where you stick Pos it not on your head and youve gotto guess.The tle shits wrote “Stevo” Con mine, so obviously fm siting there like isita man? she stl alive?" and theyd be like "Yeah (laughs) He's quite bullish he's quite aggressive But there's a vulnerability to him. Because | want to get him involved inthe inthe promotion, because it’s hislabel and I thinka lot of peop have Left him by the wayside and don't want anything todo with him. | think thats slightly unfair because a ot of people have careers that they wouldn't have fit hade’t have been for him. But | can also see why people would think that because he's an absolute nightmare. But he's just got this charisma, He makes you want to help him out. He is quite a vunerable person these days and so you do cut hima lot of slack Stevo did manage to relly wind peo- ple up backin the day. In the book, there's a story that | think Chris Wilke {from Dubstar told about celebrating the sales ofthe Disgraceful album. Stevo's idea was to go to Selfridges as Father Christmas while the EMI manage- ‘ment team would be dressed up as elves and jumping up and down clapping their hhands in excitement. t's no difficult to ‘see why they might have been offended! Yeah because that was like Clive Black and the CEOs and MDs of lke Warners and Sory(laughs).! mean there's quite a few occasions when that happened. But also, another thingto know about Stevo, ishe wasn afraid to sort of get in people's faces and use physical force when necessary. ‘Amongst all the people who you spoke to, were there any who surprised you in their recollections or their approach? liteMM {think what is lacking these days is intensity... NW Some of the stories surprised me, things | didnt know. But everyone was just so fantastically generous, ike Mal from Cabs, he lives in Brighton, so, interviewed him a few times for the Record Collector piece and then a couple of times for the book, He played in Worthing a couple of weeks ago, ust before Christmas, with Blancmange so | caught up with him there. Matt Johnson is a huge hero of mine. [ve been a bit obsessed with The The right from the start He's a busy bloke and he had his awn book out, but yeah, so generous with histime. I went to his place in East London and he's showing me all. his brother's sketch pads and stuff lke that. He's really really helpful and | think We're at a period now where sadly the past couple of months have shown that ‘our heroes are now passing away. Like Terry Hall passing ust before Christmas. So, Ithink there's a need for people to get these stories down because they will be forgotten. ‘Also, think these artists now have other revenue streams. | think the kind of direct. tothe consumer way of dealing with music 3 these days means maybe the financial difficulties that they were in due to Stevo ‘twenty years ago aren't so bad now. | mean obviously people like Neubauten and Swans are basically taking the master tapes and putting out their own versions of the records anyway, which winds Stevo up no end ‘One thing | will say is that | don't know if people have noticed but nobody from the UK record label, any ofthe major labels, contributed to the book. Stevo's quite paranoid and has all these theories that he's been shut out ofthe industry and that kind of thing, Itried to talkto all the people who he dealt with in the UK in the ‘80s and none of them would talk. He had ‘aseat at all those top tables. Especially in ‘the 90s, when you get to that that part of the book, he's dealing with the heads of, allthese record labels and he could just ‘walk up to EMI and go straight up to live Black’s office. He was in there. He was one ofthe guys After this, do you have plans revisit the world of Some Bizzare in future books? Te been talking to a few people about doing something in that timeline, so something from that mid-80s petiod. Ive .got nothing lined up at the moment. had pitched a book on Goth and my publisher ‘were really keen to do that, but then all of a sudden it seems like 2023 going to be the year ofthe Goth books, there's about ‘two or three of them coming out! So yeah, lve gota few ideas. Ineed to sit down and have a have a proper think about it. About something could put as much energy into, | mean the book looks at London, Berlin ILLUSTRATION + THE THE « DEPECHE MODE - B MOVIE JELL - BLAH BLAH BLAH - BLANCMANGE « SOFT CELL. NEU ELECTRIKK « NAKED LUNCH « THE FAST SET « THE LOVED ONE. 201 Be Mapa some, a ZS a) 77 ALBUM and New York, at a time when people could afford to live there and artists can afford to work because of the squat culture or the sort ofthe housing systems ‘they had in Berlin or the rent cap they hhad in New York. What was going on in Berlin at that time was really fascinating “That whole New York scene that revolved around the Pyramid and the Mud Club and all those kinds of things. I mean, there's definitely scope to drill down into those things as well. Even London, the kind of squat culture in the 70s, bands like Hawkwind and the Pink Faiies and then the punk thing sort of came out of ‘those West London squats. That was still happening in in the early 80s. jim Thirwell talks about it quite abit and that enabled these people to do what they did and to have the time to find their great voice and not have to worry about paying rent and that that doesn't exist anymore. That freedom to create without fear of ending up destitute, that's gone. fm not one of those guys who thinks things were better back in the 80s (even ‘though it was!) but | don't approach things with that mindset. 'm always looking for new stuf. | think what is lacking these dlaysis intensity the need to create. You take certain risks to be those kinds of artists. | don't think that exists anymore, People make out oftheir music and people are being very experimental and they've got the tools to do it now. But ‘there's not that intensity or drive that's in ‘the music that | hear these days. Infact, everyone on Some Bizzare, you got the sense that they couldnt realy do anything else, None of them were going to become accountants. You wouldn't see Jim Thirwell working in in a greengrocers. @ Conform To Deform: The Weird & Won- derful World of Some Bizzare is out now ‘on Jawbone Press unten statSOME. bizare “ALBUM VARIOUS ARTISTS - Some Bizzare Album Some Bizzare’ fist album release boast: ed a who's-who of the grassroots electron ic music scene ofthe time. I's perhaps strange to assess the album in the modern cera and realise it showcased the likes of Depeche Mode, Soft Cell, Blancmange, The The and B-Movie, Unsurprisingly it became one of the most highly regarded compilation albums of the 1980s, not only established Some Bizzare’s manifesto but also helped launch ‘some impressive careers. [MARC AND MAMBAS - Torment And Toreros Dismissed at one time by Marc Almond as "A nervous breakdown committed to vinyl, this 1983 album marked the sec cond release from the music collective. ‘Among the line-up were Anni Hogan, Gini Ball, Anne Stephenson, Steve Sher: lock and Jim Thirwell Torment And Toreros boasts a Spanish flavour assisted by some stylish string arrangements. This includes the stirring “Torment’, the passionate ‘Black Heart’ and the baroque ‘My Little Book Of Sorrows’ edna ‘SOFT CELL - Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret Soft Cells debut album and home to some of the duo's best-known songs, including Tainted Love’, ‘Bedsitter and ‘Say Hello, Wave Goodbye’. Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret was also proof that Soft Cell were not purely a one-off novelty act. Marc Almond and Dave Ball could craft some gritty, sleazy synth an- thems that also retained a pop appeal The end result was one of the classic albums of the synth-pop era THE THE Soul Mining Oct 1963 Matt Johnson caught a particular mood cn this classic 1983 album that isim- bued with angst, cultural commentary and personal reflection, ‘There's a tight musical grip at work here which delivers a stunning collection of songs from start to finish. t includes some of Johnson's best work, such as the athemic This is the Day, the hook-laden ‘Uncertain Smile’ and the op appeal of ‘Perfect’. Meanwhile, Andy Johnson's striking artwork completes the package. ‘CABARET VOLTAIRE - The Crackdown Cabaret Voltaire’ first album for Some Bizzare marked their th album release and was produced by the band working alongside Flood. twas also the first album since the departure of founding member Chris Watson, “The Cabs were evolving their sound at this juncture, putting asde the more experimen- tal efforts and opting fora dark dance-funk direction. Tracks such as'Just Fascination’ paved the way for this sound, VARIOUS ARTISTS - if You Can't Please Yourself, You Can't Please Your Soul The second Some Bizzare compilation embraced Stevo's lave of challenging ‘music mixed with more accessible pop fare. Originally conceived in 1983, the al bum didn't arrive until 1985 and featured tracks by Foetus, Cabaret Voltaire, Test Dept, Marc Almond, The The, Coil and Einstirzende Neubauten. The album also included contributions from non-Some Bizzare artists such as Vir ginia Astley and Yello. Val Denham strange surrealist cover gave it a striking look eM1's probably a testimony to David Bowie's prodigious musical output during his imperial era that barely a year goes by without a new anni- versary arriving. For instance, this year marks the 50th anniversary of the release of his sixth studio album Aladdin Sane, {an album notable for singles such as The Jean Genie’ and ‘Drive-In Saturday’ and ‘one that still wins alot of love fifty years later. Atthe same time, it was.a challenging prospect for an album, coming in the wake of Bowie's master work The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars. Yet overall, Aladdin Sane re- ceived critical approval on release and it had little trouble scoring a No position inthe UK album charts. Bowie himself summed up the album as "Ziggy Goes To Washington: Ziggy un- der the influence of America’, The album was to be Zigay Stardust’ last stand, and the persona was laid to rest three months after the album's release in July 1972 at London's Hammersmith Odeon, ‘Tentative plans for Phil Spector to pro- duce the album were unfruitful. Instead, the album was once again produced by Bowie and Ken Scott continuing an arrangement that had started with 1977's. Hunky Dory). Aladdin Sane also features continuing contributions from Bowie's backing band the Spiders from Mars (Mick Ronson, Trevor Bolder and Mick Woodmansey). The album also brought ‘onboard the talents of pianist Mike Gar- son, who would later become a fxture in Bowie's musical landscape going forward. Garson's jazz and blues background lent more colour to Bowie's musical palette and his use of keyboards and arrange- ments gave many ofthe tracks more of ‘an experimental flourish. Perhaps one of Aladdin Sane’s most distinctive elements is the striking sleeve artwork. Brian Duffy's photo of Bowie 301 Mapa A ALAND SANE ot by Poul Browne AT \ with the ‘lightning bot’ face makeup has since become of the most defining visual images of Bowie's career t's difficult to separate the iconic design from Bowie himself and explains why the simplicity of that bolt design has become shorthand for Bowie in his Zgay guise in the 21st Century. Brian Duff's distinctive pho- tography talents would also be utilised by Bowie for 1979s Lodger and 1980's Scary Monsters and Super Creeps) albums. But ultimately the album stands and falls on the quality ofthe songs it contains. On that front, Aladdin Sane certainly delivers. The sublime ‘Drive-In Saturday’ had previously been offered to Mott The Hoople (as a potential fl- low-up to the successful All The Young ALADDIN S: \NE ff Dudes’, another song that Bowie had given the band), but the band reject- ed the offer. The song's composition is heavily influenced by 50s doo-wop, \hile also embracing Bowie's love of cryptic post-apocalyptic tales (along with shoutouts to Mick Jagger and Twiggy). ‘That combo resulted in ‘Drive-In Satur- day’ making a respectable No. 3 in the UK charts. t's also, as Bowie had previously described, atrack that clearly came under the “influence of America”. As with ‘many other songs on the album, they of- fored reflections of Bowie's impression of ‘the USA, lending the album a travelogue theme of sorts. Aladdin Sane also included a song that had rapidly became a Bowie classic in the unten statform of The Jean Genie, composition originally penned during Bowie's 1972 US tour. The song's harmonica riffs choppy suitar rhythms and Bowie's quitky iyrical narative (So simple minded he cant dive his module/He bites onthe neon and sleepsin the capsule”) guaranteeing abit (On release, the single version of The Jean Genie’ reached No. 2in the UK (it was unfortunately kept off the No.1 spot by Little jimmy Osmond’ ‘Long Halted @ Victor edges ak Lover From Liverpoot). The song's popu- larity also led to alive appearance on Top Of The Pops in 1973, which led to an- other later misfortune when the master tape was wiped by the BBC (Luckily the recording resurfaced nearly forty years later thanks to the cameraman at the time having a copy in his own archive). The album also features a boister- us cover of The Rolling Stones’ classic ‘Let’s Spend The Night Together’ and the theatrical moods of Time’ both of hich would also be released as US/ international-only singles. Meanwhile, the album's lounge pop title track (which features some freeform piano playing from Mike Garson) was a song that Bowie felt had “feelings of imminent catastro- pphe which, at the point in America when | ‘was writing, | felt” Despite being overshadowed, per- haps, by its predecessor, Aladdin Sane remains an essential Bowie album. I's perhaps not surprising therefore that the album, lke Ziggy Stardust and Hunky Dory before it, snow getting the reissue treatment. While nat quite receiving the in-depth ‘multi-disc treatment that Hunky Dory enjoyed in 2022, Aladdin Sane will be is- sued asa limited edition 50th anniversa- ry half-speed mastered LP and a picture disc LP pressed from the same master. ‘This new pressing was cut on a custom ised late Neumann VMS80 lathe with fully recapped electronics from 192kHz restored masters of the original master tapes, with no additional processing on transfer. The half-speed was cut by John Webber at AIR Studios. ‘Aladdin Sane's legacy has endured across five decades, often with some illu- ‘minating commentary from its progenitor in subsequent years. "t was almost like atreading-water album’ Bowie recalled inthe 1990s, “but funnily enough, in ret- rospect, for me it’s the more successful album, because it’s more informed about rock'n'roll than Ziggy was". @ Aladdin Sane is released by Parlophone (on 14 April 2023. lee Mie421 Mapa unten stattL THE ART OF FALLING A you know how it feels to go out on a limb? if not, then The {rt of Falling Apart makes for an illuminating case study of two people sticking to their guns with all the ‘commercial risk and psychic damage that can involve. Mind you, Sof Cell would go even further out next time, turning round and sawing the branch away as they went. But that's a story for another anniversary. Suffice to say, by then the likelihood of another Tainted Love’ exist- ced only in the fever dreams of the most deluded A & R person, Asa teen | welcomed The Art of Falling Apart with open arms, somehow finding solace for my growing pains and adoles- cent angst amidst its extremes of frus- tration, and pain. Clearly my mundane small town England life was a million miles away from the world in which Soft Cell were now operating, but scratch the surface of these songs and really they are all about the eternal struggles: coming to terms with the ‘challenge’ of living and dealing with the circumstances in which you find yourself. Heck, one song, Kitch fen Sink Drama’ even managed to nail the numb suffocation of life in suburbia and where it can take you, so maybe it wasn't 0 far from my hometown world. But that’s the thing with Soft Cel, and Marc's career as a whole, the lyrical perspective isnever just about them/ him. Ths isn’t modern indie navel gazing ‘oF solipsistic indulgence, but rather an exploration of what it means to be alive through a range of characters who are always treated with empathy and com- passion, Alt the time Sounds described the duo as, ‘two very troubled souls’ and you edges ak by Simon Heavisides know | suspect Mare and Dave wouldn't have disagreed The Art of Falling Apart was conceived against the grim backdrop of Britain in the grip of Thatcherism, the lengthening shadow of AIDS (first reported by the me- dia in early si) and the fallout from Soft Cells massive success over the previous eighteen months, Just imagine: they were coming off a run of five top five singles including a huge number one. Significant money was being made for Phonogram and you know what happens when the aM Conflict was guaranteed. . W (Oh, and there was alot of acid around, ‘not just any old acid, but VERY strong stuff Let's not dwell on the drugs though, they were really just one element in a swirl of chaos surrounding Marc and Dave, the creativity was already there. Of course Phonogram surely already knew what they were dealing with after episodes like the ‘Sex Dwar? tabloid hys- teria and they must have realised these ‘were not the kind of artists to compro: rmise and make the kind of commercial choices less determined or possibly stubborn people might make. Exhibit one:a big hit single and one of Soft Call's indelible classics, Torch’ was left offthe album, a move that undoubt- edly cost significant sales. But, as great a songasit remains, its addition would hhave upset the balance on an album as finely structured as The Art of Falling Apart. ‘Working again with Mike Thorne, in ‘that hotbed of temptation, Manhattan, it seems from Thorne's comments that the relationship between producer and art- ists was, perhaps understandably, under a degree of strain t's likely Thorne was seen as the voice of the record company and worse, maybe a barrier to Dave and Marc achieving all they wanted To add to the pressure, the perfor: mance of the two singles released by Phonogram was disappointing, at least by previous standards, although it's fair ‘to say their sales would dwarf what today would equate to ‘success’. In any event both ‘Where the Heart Is’ and ‘Numbers’ missed the top twenty. But nevertheless they were great Soft Cell singles, as ever best sampled in their luxurious twelve inch versions, a format always crucial to the band, Maybe the epic qualities of Where the Heart is were seen by Phonogram as an echo of ‘Say Hello Wave Goodbye’ but it’s tale of eternal cross generational conflict was a far more desperate story and didn't possess the humour or sweetness that no doubt made that song appealing beyond the Soft Cell hardcore. ‘And Numbers’? Well,a song epito- rmising Marc and Dave's mission to look lie Mate 8behind the facade of polite society in such an unsparing way must have been a tough ‘sell for the radio pluggers. i's \wo0zy, lurching minimalism is the perfect setting for Marc’s desperate account of the deadening emptiness that can come with anonymous sex. Of course, what could a despairing record company do? Bundle copies of the single with a free copy of Tainted Love’, Ouch. ‘Red ragto a bull doesn't really capture the crass insensitivity. ‘The well-rehearsed tale of Marc and then manager Stevo's retaliatory raid on a it still an unsparing and painful gaze into a dark mirror. W Phonogram's offices is no myth, handcuffs and all, but its something profoundly regretted by an older, wiser Marc Almond. Ultimately ifyouve ever done anything that could be remotely considered ‘rock’nioll, prepare for a red-faced come dou of shame the following morning. Stil it was probably worth it when you take into account the unintended collat- eral damage committed to Status Quo's gold disc finery However the tabloid style nonsense risks obscuring the fact that, as ever, i's all about the songs. The atitude, drama and surrounding distractions mean little without them and truly, what songs Dave and Marc had in their pocket ths time round. Nota false move among them, in act so fecund with inspiration were they that the creativity spilled out over a bonus twelve inch that wasn't just a nice ‘extra but a crucial addition containing asit did the white-knuckle horror-ride ‘of Martin’ originally demoed way back before Non Stop Erotic Cabaret, ‘Asthe years pass the genius of Dave Ball becomes clearer and clearer and it'sin evidence all over The Art of Falling ‘40a Apart. His creation isa gritty mechan- ical synthscape involving early use of sampling reaching a musical peak in the abject, tawdry tragedy of ‘Baby Doll. From TOTP to this? As they used to say, it’s some trp. Together they forged a genuinely terrifying piece of musique concrete horror, utilising the sounds of girl going through the motions the most down at heel establishment you could imagine. An extraordinary piece of music that stil chills after al these years. (ifyou dare, switch to headphones for the full onslaught, n fact much ofthe album gains an extra layer when allowed to surround you full) In this context the transition to ‘Loving You, Hating Me feels lke being thrown a briet respite. Understandably considered as another possible single, it's till an unsparing and painful gaze into a dark mirror. Which sets us up forthe brutal self-deprecation ofthe ttl track, careening journey into the psychology of auto-destruction. That it was chosen to lend its name to the album as a whole is no surprise Although, apocryphal ast may be, Marc's alternative ttle was, The Artof falling at Parties. The fact we haven't discussed two equally strong, ‘could have been singles, speaks volumes. ‘Forever the Same’ and it’s relentless look ata life pushed to the edge by monotony or the majestic eat’ Apparently Marc's favourite and a highlight of the ‘One Night Only’ show, it’s surely one of Soft Cell’ finest achieve- ments. There’ little doubt: Non Stop Erotic Cabaret wasa classic debut. But whisper it, The Art of Falling Apart isthe better record. know, | know, maybe it doesn't have the ridiculously high, crossover ‘iendly, peaks of Cabaret, but it has greater consistency and goes deeper and way darker, making tthe definitive Sof Cell anistc statement Whatt couldn't do was stave off their ultimate implosion in 1964, but regard- less, forty years later The Art of Falling Apart remains a potent howl of desper- ation and defiance that will always be there forthose who need it. @ unten statI Itt MAIFESTORDKY MUSIC by Imogen Bebb ri June 2022, Roxy Music frontman Bryan Ferry was inter- viewed by Corey Seymour for Vogue magazine's website, Seymour began the interview with a statement that was perhaps intended to contextualise Ferry and his band within the minds of the magazine's regular readers ~ "You and Roxy Music were pioneers in something that's now almost ‘commonplace, the notion of a band or an artist fusing music and art and fashion and style”. ‘And yet by saying this Seymour has done more than simply contextualise, he has in fact encapsulated Roxy Music’s entire manifesto across their decade-long recording career. For Roxy weren't just any old band. They were a band with a tunique style and that all-im- portant sense of ‘panache’ that since the dawn of the music industry has so often separated the good from the bad and the ugly. You can see it in photographs of the ‘group from any point in their career - whether that’s their garishly glamorous early days or suave, lounge lizard later years ~ but you can also see itin their sleeve art, which vas such an intrinsic part of the Roxy Music package that ithas since been discussed in almost as much depth as the ‘music itself, Take the cover of Manifesto (1979), the band’s sixth studio album. Though arguably less racy than other artwork Roxy had formerly endorsed (the cover of the band's previous studio album Siren (1975) featured a scantily-clad Jerry Hall crawling provocatively across some Anglesey rocks, whilst the image of two nearly-nude German models clutching them- selves on the cover of Roxy's fifth album Country Life (1974) was deemed so controversial in certain countries that the models were removed from the cover completely), Manifesto's sleeve is still a work of art that duly complements the music fn the record inside. To truly appreciate this one has to remember that Manifesto is an album of transition; previous albums like the two men tioned above tended to feel like bold, showy, at rock state- edna ments with the risqué covers to match, whereas subsequent releases like Flesh and Blood (1980) and Avalon (1982) saw the band gravitating towards a slicker, smoother sound which was accompanied by appropriately elegant, at-times surreal sleeve designs ‘Manifesto then, in both the sense of its music and its artwork, is somewhere in the middle of these two extremes. Its sleeve, which appears to show a party attended solely by mannequins, still retains some of the flashiness of the band’s previous covers, and was co-designed by fashion designer and long-term Roxy collaborator Antony Price. And yet the idea of ‘a group of people being the focus of the image rather than a single model means that the brashness found on previ- us covers is softened - you have to look harder to find the cheeky details. There's the two human models in amongst the mannequins, for instance (twins who were fans of the band), or the fact the mannequins’ make-up is based on the look sported by Kari-Ann Muller on the band's eponymous debut album. Something similar can be said for the music on Man- ifesto -there are showier, gaudier moments & la Eno-era Roxy (such as the title track and "Trash’) but also more delicate, sophisticated mo- ‘ments that might as well have evolved from a totally differ- ent set of influences (notably ‘Cry, Cry, Cry’ ‘Ain't That So’ and ‘Dance Away’) This explicit progression from Roxy's original sound and style rendered Manifesto an album that split the band's fanbase in two. There were those who pined for the band’s, ‘original art school tendencies and those who recognised Ferry and Co, were building a new sound for a new era Whichever era of Roxy Music you prefer, one thing's for sure - they never lost their unique propensity for fusing musi, at, fashion and style. As Ferry himself once declared, “other bands wanted to wreck hotel rooms - Roxy Music wanted to redecorate them”. @ iMate 5he hectic music scene of the 1980s saw an exponential growth in communities, collaborations, {iendships and opportunities. One of the names that comes up on a regular basis is that of Anni Hogan, a musician, DJ and composer who carved ‘out her own path in the alternative music world marked out by some impressive collaborative work. This included her extensive collaborations with Marc ‘Almond, which included the Marc and the Mambas collective through ta his ‘successful 1989 album The Stars We Are, But there were also collaborations With the likes of Yello, Wolfgang Flr, ‘canner, Lydia Lunch and Jarboe (Swans) Plus performing with established artists such as Hugh Masekela and Paul Weller. Anni has also moved into scoring films, including 2012s Mountain with Rob Strachan. In more recent times, Anni has released the Lost In Blue album (wich features Lydia Lunch, Kid Congo Powers, Gavin Friday and Wolfgang Fir) Funeral Cargo (a series of refective piano pieces inspired by the landscape of The Wirral) ‘and Without The Moon (a compilation of favourite collaborative works featuring Nick Cave, Marc Almond, 6 Thirwell and Jarboe) With the release of the new book Conform To Deform, which explores the ‘Some Bizzare story of which Anni was part, it seemed an opportune moment to chat to the musician about that creative period of her lf. Torment and Toreros celebrates its 40th Anniversary this year: What are your recollections of the album? ‘Anincredibly inspired outpouring of beautiful artistic endeavour, created in {an intense fierce, chaotic and sometimes ‘even alittle corrosive environment due toa bunch oftired and talented mostly drug-infused musicians with varying degrees of egos and vulnerability some known wellto each other, some not, al being pushed to produce their best in {quick time, cheaper studio night time sessions and so forth Sait was in some ways quite tough but ultimately you are there for the craf, forthe amazing experience of making a truly sensational album, and although | remember feeling angst-tidden throughout, | also loved edges ak and lived forthe actual creative process ‘and | still fel that way, tis always the music that 'm there for. I look back and think what an immense achievement for Marc, juggling Mambas and Soft Cell, both visionary conceptually and 40 years later still undulating current cultural forms. I remember recording my musical composition ‘Black Heart’ during the Torment and Toreros sessions, | feel we created a stunning electro-acoustic fusion fantasy, shimmering dark strings, Farisa organ (purchased from Cockney Rebel no less}, classical piano, experimental looped ‘guitar and the simplest Dr Rhythm beat I could program all enhanced by Steve Sherlock's drifting 60s flute and late-night saxophone. Marc's fantastic devouring \yric and iconic performance delivery reflected throughout the LP. Somehow inall that unified mental breakdown ‘we all conspired or participated in and Feflected, ultimately the music grew above everything else. The drama of Black Heart, reflected inthe lyric, also fitted well tothe whole album recording circumstances, A potent combo of genius and jealousies, colliding vibrantly, together conjuringan extraordinary alchemy in the studio with Mare centred eye in the pyramid or myriad ‘of mayhem and magic. In other words, an emotional rollercoaster but finally rewarding us with an enduring and iconic signature Mambas song (well | think so) and an equally enduring and iconic superb album. Flood engineered and produced with Mare and or other Mambas present, was often with Flood as we got on really welland he was amazing to work with previously on Untitled in Trident studios. On Torment we recorded some stuff at ‘Trident and we all also moved into Jacobs residential studios in Sussex, countryside location with an outdoor swimming pool and home cooked food! which was of course hugely important and wonderful after endless takeaways in Soho. twas a ‘more relaxing atmosphere, but we soon sorted that out! Ha-ha. We were totally spoiled really but worked every ast nerve and every last piece of music wrung and rang out of us and | should think so too. recently played the LP from beginning to end and tis timeless blazing beauty of a beast no doubt in my mind Itisno secret Marc and I have not spoken since our last work together in eo mee usa ‘89 and I was obviously missing from the Mettdown revisit and at that time | got upset, deflated. Now I think that it's good ‘that Marc and my work together in away can't be changed, touched even. It was 1a genuine magical combination that sits high and strong back therein its own time and our creations were all kind of timeless musically. On Torment as with all work with Marc it was challenging and he was always pretty hard on me in the studio, expecting it in one take..'t being something written improvised almost then and there which was fucking difficult and sometimes gut-wrenching intrying to find it, but he must have ‘thought | could take itor that wasthe Way to get what he wanted, He was under ‘massive time ~ money constraints and record company pressures and just being ‘Marc Almond pop star pressures, so my lack of understanding of that back then did not help me. Marc pushed alot of that music out of usall and Flood was always the gently guiding kind spirit and worked above and beyond in all hours. ‘The record sounds incredible stil. Other recollections, we had fabulous ‘flamenco’ influenced shots taken by Peter Ashworth ‘op drum and timpani player but much better known for hisiconic photographs, ‘an Ashworth snap’ as Mari Wilson penned. There were a few spectacular gigs, my first abroad in Tel Aviv playing most of Torment with Marc and the Mambas and the now infamous Three Nights of Little Black Bites at the Duke of York's Allin all great ‘memories of a tumultuous time when as always culturally art and music reacted to the times, rising and breaking out of a land savaged politically. With a new book on Some Bizzare out now (which you contributed to) what are lie Mate«Ashworth Photo by et your thoughts on that hectic period? ‘Atruly phenomenal time musically, artistically forever changed from hearing the Some Bizzare elemental world, Visiting the first office in Trident building, crazy mental case Stevo and his equally crazy mental case but lovely girlfriend and secretary Maureen. Rusty Egan at the top, historical studios used by heroes, fans squeezed in black creations hanging outside the office being cool and cute and attentive but always polit. Everything was wild and unreal and | was young and impressionable and Soho beckoned, lights and bells and whistles and music and making music and making music on drugs. What not to like. It was the 80s. | wrote and recorded with Marc Almond in various manifestations with 301 Be Mapa Some Bizzare and also guested on a few other projects and Djs for other Some Bizarre artists parties or gigs, a Soft Cell, Aart of Falling Apart tour or Einstirzende Neubauten gig at Heaven or The The private party. Despite Stevo's obvious discomfort around me (and me him) he still gave me the work, cuz | was good. | would stay, practically ive at the Columbia Hotel known as.a record company haunt, bands booked in for Vand gigs and so on and also lesser know for being an American CIA agents meeting place. Stevo held many parties, lock-in, bar til all hours, other substances supplied, popstars everywhere, the crazy 80s. | hung out there with everyone, in my ‘own quiet out oft way, and it was fun and inspiring. | even had my poodle Pervert stay with me there regularly. Some Bizarre was a ‘happening’ all-encompassing ‘madness but at its heart totally pioneering ‘music just the best music: Soft Cell, ‘Mambas, Dave's solo, Coil, Foetus, Cabs, Neubauten, The The, Swans etc just a phenomenal lst of wonder, seriously ‘Stevo's futurist 0} list and the first Some Biz LP influenced me and so many others. ‘So much to say about this but... Wesley Doyle's book Conform To Deform The Weird and Wonderful of Some Bizarre will reveal al and in my opinion is an important book in the great music labels and times are. Your 2021 album Without The Moon was a celebration of sorts of your various collaborations. Are there particular col- laborations that you look back on with a particular fondness? All collaborations bring with them different aspects of creativity and ‘openness of emotions that need careful consideration and focus to bring out the best possibilities ofthe artistic combination that can spark the flame needed to make something special. That's always the aim. | have learned something from every collaboration, even ifjust to never do that again, but in the main when Im firing high then | gleam high results, Ihave an illustrious back catalogue of fantasy collabs and a few also-rans but sometimes you just need something to do ‘when you're bit drowned in silence. lam lucky now to be with Downwards and it’s a new dawn every day. Moon celebrated my 60 years on the planet and my rebirth at 60 and I felt and feel it and am super energised and ignited from it Karl O'Connor aka Regis Who owns and runs Downwards and is a successful and unique artist, believes inme on a level that isso exhilarating that | can't stop writing and playing in the studio's his fault | keep making albums ha-ha. tis such a wonderful experience when just that one right person says yes and then you are freed to reign. |am fortunate, but | put ‘the 10,000 hours in over and over, so you know, do the work and you never know. So, the collaborations on that LP are all very special to me. Recent and ‘ongoing collaborations with old friend and the kindest king of kool Kid Congo and also with my friend and constant unten statinspiration Jarboe are still burning the candles presently. Obviously Nick, Marc Budgie, JG, Barty, PK, Gini | mean... what ‘a phenomenal line up of old friends and genes. Loved that Veronika from Minimal Wave mastered everything fresh in New York, sounds even huge, wider, more sonic possibilities BIG. | loved working with Dave Ball and everyone on Lost in Blue and Gavin Friday was a special moment amongst special moments. My Downwards journey started with a fun electric cowboy collaboration with Derek Forbes released on CD on Downwards in 2018. | had fun working with Conor at Reel Torque] Boomkat as Ihave recently made 2 few DJ cassette mixes for his label He asked for a Batcave mix as | Did there in ‘83 and | enjoyed revisiting, the cassette sold out in 2 hours as did the double follow up | mixed, Leeds Amnesia’, Good times and great truly experimental music. Very inspiring, got all my wires whirring But | do keep nostalgia at bay at best as | Live in now, the present, tis moment. Recent collaborations with Regis with Karl and also EROS and with Syiph aka Thomas Cohen (on Mute) have pleased me tono end and these collaborations altel continue as with Kid and Jarboe. 'm always looking forward. Funeral Cargo was an album that blend- €ed piano compositions and field record- ings Is this a direction you're keen to ‘heep returning to in the future? tim there already, my studio even has a constant mic in the garden for generat daily audio reflections, garden birds, the garage over the road (SO loud) and so on. Hove an aural perception into my sunrise and sunset and all between and after. 'm cout on walks with my wife and mini jack (Russell now 13 yrs old and a snowface and still crazy afterall these years) and a min jackin my Tascam too. Off we go Into the horizon, me recording away, them always waiting, Field recordings inspire all my music, listening to them, experiencing the day inmy memory..all oft. t's my daily meditations and rituals that create the ‘music | ring my bells and light my incense, chant and open the studio doors... here we go, another exciting day of music is always the aim. ‘One of the album's tracks was inspired by Wolfgang Flir. How would you sum up your friendship? eo mee usa It’s really nie relationship in my tie. We have been friends for 16 years now. what? Omg we really have, wow Dublin in 2007 -eeek Wolf! We met ata gigin Dublin, I was Dfing along with Dave Ball and Wolfgang, Dave and | ofcourse were inawe. | wasthe only one who could actualy ), but the crowd cared not, they wanted their icons, bumped vinyl and all, and it was a grand event and huge fun. remember being intrigued how Dave could have got the boat over which took hours, it was like minutes on the plane. | popped a note under Wotfgang’s door and suggested it would be lovely to ‘meet up or do something musically and I received a lovely email from Wolfgang Flr of KRAFTWERK (| mean this does enter your head) and we proceeded to make ‘Golden Light’ and then later sent him a solo piano piece and he read hs ‘Silk Paper prose overt. Worked, We toured a fev D| dates in Europe together and then | started on a new musical projet and Wolf went on his own adventures We aren contac afew times a year and Love him dearly and his wife Zuhal, who films alls gigs and isa great support to him. Wolfswalzer’is my little tribute to our friendship and was written ater returning hhome from a Wolfgang gig in Leeds Can you tall a little about what you're currently working on? Last year saw the release of a new Regis led project EROS on Downwards and | contributed piano on a couple of tracks and am super excited to be on board for the next EROS projects. So excited to work with Karl and My Disco's Liam Andrews, and Boris Wilsden - Berlin Neubauten sound and so on. isa huge sounding and thrilling project to be involved in. Im \writing for Syiph with Thomas Cohen again (super exciting) we did a track, ‘Ancient Hole’, also with Regis 2021/2 and it's brilliant! Mute kind of wasted it and that’s a shame. m thrilled Jarboe and | are just about to summon up a very special project we have been thinking on for some time. Kid Congo and | have plans too. So much tedoin Studio Blue +...@ ‘Anni Hogan's recent releases are available via www.lexermusic.com/an- ni-hogan annihogan.co.uk li Mae 801 Be ape wuntitelnge cueby Poul Browne SOE BUARE he history of Some Bizzare presents an intriguing cross-section of the UK's alternative musie scene during the 1980s. If ever there was a professional and informed approach to licencing and releasing music, Some Bizzare would typically usually do the opposite. That contrarian philosophy was also reflected at times in the choice of acts signed to the label. Here, Blitzed presents a small window into the Some Bizzare world, offering up established classics, lost gems and also some of the more leftfield single releases that the maverick outfit served up. ‘B-MOMIE- REMEMBRANCE DAY Halling from Mansfeld, B-Movie consisted of singer and basset Steve Hovington, guitarist Paul Statham, keyboardist Rick Holiday and «drummer Graham Boffey. 8-Movie's dynamic combo of guitars and synths ‘excels on this 1981 single This marked B-Mov- ie's first release ater signing with Some Bizzare (and also marked the ist single to feature the label tog). Released via Phonogram subsidiary Deram, the single reached Nos inthe UK edna THE THE - COLD SPELL AHEAD Mat Johnson's inital 1961 release for Some Bizarce demonstrated both his musical and lyrical talents, There's a fragility and simplicity ‘this composition which also includes some effective melodies. although nat all the parts are in place on this track which sounds tke ‘wo separate songs merged together, its clear ‘that there's something interesting going on here ‘This track was later retooled and released as “Uncertain Smile which became of The The's best-known tunes. ‘SOFT CELL - MEMORABILIA Soft Cll’ first single release came in two Na- ‘vouts, with Memorabilia’ being the lead track ‘on the 12 version and also featured produc- ton duties by Daniel Miler. The songis.a deeply layered, almost dreamtike fugue. Acase of song before its time, ‘Mem ‘orabilia’ failed to chart on its inital release, although it enjoyed success onthe lub circuit The song's subsequent legendary status as one of Soft ells top ter tracks speaks for itsel. Ble Mui