45 & 12: 1980

Showing posts with label 1980. Show all posts

Saturday, November 1, 2008

The Comsat Angels were the forgotten band of the early post-punk phase of British independent music. That can be best ascribed to the fact that their label, Jive, wanted them to be more like Duran Duran and less like the Chameleons when in truth their affinity as they saw it was closer to the latter.

As a result, the band put out a slew of singles which often abrely reflected what their music was about and frequently clashed with record company executives. Most of their singles are among their more forgettable tracks as a result, but the exception is “Independence Day”. Ironically it was also one of their earliest. It has much more of the brooding, moody young man about it and is one of the best tracks from their early years.

I have heard only some other songs by the Korgis, haven't liked them that much, so I am only praising their most famous single.

"Everybody's Gotta Learn Sometime" is probably one of the best pop songs that have ever existed. Everything is in great balance, and while the recording date is 1980, you may find some "dated" effect but surprisingly, for more modern ears, the synth sound seems a bit like ambient.

The classic song itself lies somewhere (interesting) between 1970s soft-rock and 1980s synth-pop, offering a melody and chord changes worth calling them "genius". Check this.

Visage was a British New Romantic band that formed in 1978. Founder members Steve Strange and Rusty Egan were hosting club nights at Blitz nightclub in Great Queen Street, London at the time and were eager to find new music to play, ultimately opting to create music themselves. Strange commented about the meaning of the band's name: "The meaning of Visage, apart from being French for face, is that the Vis is for the visual side of the band... and the Age is the new age in dance music. That's how I see it."

1980 saw the release of their second single, "Fade to Grey". The single became a huge hit (making the top ten in the UK and topping the chart in several other countries) and was quickly followed by the release of their self-titled debut album which was also a chart success.

Fronted by club kid Steve Strange,the band was made up of various members of Ultravox,and also featured guitarist John McGeoch and bassist Barry Adamson.They broke onto the scene with "Fade To Grey",and continued to have a few more hits over the next few years. They were a big part of the Futurist/New Romantic scene.