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| Blancmange ( Neil Arthur, Stephen Luscombe) 1979-1986 |
 "Neil Arthur (Vocals/Guitar)
formerly with a band called 'The Viewfinders' and Stephen Luscombe (Keyboards)
formerly with 'Miru' met at a London Art College in 1978. Brought together by a
mutual love of electronic music they formed a band "L360", changing
their name to Blancmange in early 1979. Their break came when they sent a copy
of one of their tracks "Sad Day" to DJ, and popular music magazine
"Sounds" futuristic chart compiler, Stevo.(...) In October 1982, they started to taste success, releasing their debut album 'Happy Families' and follow up single Living on the Ceiling, the later was to become their greatest hit, at number 7. A further release from 'Happy Families', Waves reached number 10 and consolidated on their earlier success. (...) It was mid 1984 when the second album "Mange Tout" reached the stores and was a great success. It was still electronic but relied heavily on the eastern rhythms to hold it together. "
-- electropop.co.uk
 1982: Happy FamiliesTracklisting: 1. I Can't Explain 2. Feel Me 3. I've Seen the Word 4. Wasted 5. Living on the Ceiling 6. Waves 7. Kind 8. Sad Days 9. Cruel 10. God's Kitchen "Though Happy Families can accurately be described as techno-pop, it's techno-pop with a modicum of taste and sophistication, putting it more in the ballpark of genre pioneers like OMD and Yazoo than of annoying '80s anachronisms like Kajagoogoo or EBN-OZN. Neil Arthur's lyrics are interesting enough to reward close listening, and his Bowie-esque voice, while somewhat limited, serves the material well. The sound of Happy Families is built largely around synthesizers, played by Arthur and partner Stephen Luscombe. The duo have a knack for catchy bass lines and drum programming, on top of which they strategically deploy guitars, Eastern instrumentation, and female backing vocals."
-- Bill Cassel, AMG
 1984:
Mange ToutTracklisting: 1. Don't Tell Me 2. Game Above My Head 3. Blind Vision 4. Time Became the Tide 5. That's Love, That It Is 6. Murder 7. See the Train 8. All Things Are Nice 9. My Baby 10. The Day Before You Came "They racked up four further hit singles during 1983 / early 84, firstly the heavily orchestrated 'Waves' (#19), followed by 'Blind Vision' (#10), 'That's Love That It Is/Vishnu' (#33) in 1983 and 'Don't Tell Me / Get Out Of That' (#8), their last top tenner in the spring of '84. Their second album 'Mangetout' was released in may '84 to only slightly less positive reviews "
-- briansworld.fcac.org/wherenow/blancmange.html
1985: Believe You Me Tracklisting: 1. Lose Your Love 2. What's Your Problem? 3. Paradise Is 4. Why Don't They Leave Things Alone? 5. 22339 6. Don't You Love It All 7. Believe 8. Lorraine's My Nurse 9. Other Animals 10. No Wonder They Never Made It Back! 11. John "[Believe You Me] moved away from the tablas and sitars and became more mainstream than 'Mange Tout' and was a commercial flop. Whether the fan base had moved on or whether the change in style was responsible for the lack of interest we will never know. The final singles from the band Lose Your Love and I Can See It (known on the album as Why Don't They Leave Things Alone?) faired equally badly. Lose Your Love did not even chart whereas I Can See It reached 71. "
-- electropop.co.uk
 ¾ 1990:
Second Helpings: Best of Blancmange A collection of Blancmange's greatest hits, spanning all of their career. A must for synthpop music fans. |
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