1. Lust For Love - Images In Vogue
2. Shake The Disease (Remixed Extended) - Depeche Mode
3. Heartbreak Beat (Extended Mix) - The Psychedelic Furs
4. Burn For You (12" Remix) - INXS
5. Bizarre Love Triangle - New Order
6. New Religion - Duran Duran
7. Memorabilia (12" Mix) - Soft Cell
8. We Came To Dance (12" Version) - Ultravox
9. Goodbye Seventies - Yaz
10. Run From Love (Razormaid! Mix) - Bronski Beat
11. The Love Parade (12" Mix) - The Dream Academy
12. Love Is A Shield (Extended Mix) - Camouflage
13. Million Headed Monster (Listen) - I Start Counting
14. Symmetry (Extended Mix) - The Spoons
15. Sex (I'm A ...) (Extended Version) - Berlin
Notes and other random things:
Happy New Year to everyone! My gift to you: a NEW PODCAST! Ring in 2020 and the new decade in glorious retro style, but please play responsibly. That goes for everything else tonight as well! I'll be back with some tidbits about the bands when I get a chance. In the meantime, Happy Listening!
Much the same as other "almosts" like B-Movie and The Danse Society, bands whose promising beginnings were marred by disappointing recording sessions at crucial developmental stages, Images In Vogue's trajectory seemed poised to deliver better overall results. After forming in 1981, moderate success found them early with the 1982 release of two EPs: the 3-song "Pre-Release" and 5-song "Educated Man", plus an opening gig for Depeche Mode. Supported by relentless touring and and opening slot for Duran Duran in 1984 the band signed with Warner Canada. Setting to work on their first full-length album, the label execs suggested "Dream Weaver" singer Gary Wright to oversee production. The resulting sessions produced dismal results for the band who decided to shelve the project. The album would eventually be released by the label on the strength of the single "Call It Love" which was getting regular rotation on college radio throughout North America. Touring demands in Toronto prompted a move across country from their home in Vancouver. Ironically, the rigors of travel caused friction among band members. Simultaneously, band member Kevin Crompton (later known professionally as cEvin Key) remained in Vancouver to focus on his bourgeoning side project, Skinny Puppy. Further fracturing caused the band to slowly lose their momentum and Images In Vogue went on official hiatus in 1991. Renewed interest in retro music and fan demand has reunited members for various tours and appearances including a 2012 appearance with the next band I'd like to mention: The Spoons.
The Spoons formed in Burlington, Ontario Canada in 1979. Taking their name from the famous utensil while eating Alphabet Soup at the home of band member Brett Wickens, the group originally followed a prog rock template, but found more success as pioneers of the Canadian electronic music scene. After recording an early single in 1981, Wickens left the group to focus on design. Originally working with Peter Saville, designer for the Factory Records catalog of bands, he has since carved out an exceptional career in brand identity, having directed work for major companies such as Adobe, Coca-Cola, Sony, Viacom and for all the major Hollywood Studios. He is responsible for designing the Sopranos logo. Without Wickens, the band came to prominence beginning in 1981 with the release of "Stick Figure Neighborhood", one of the earliest new wave albums to be engineered by the great Daniel Lanois. Their next album, "Arias & Symphonies" earned the collective a Most Promising Group Award and saw "Nova Heart", the first single from the album hit the Canadian charts. The b-side to that song was the one here, "Symmetry". A live favorite at early gigs, lead singer Gordon Deppe said of the song, "We went into the studio fully intending it to be our first single release. Little did we know that the lesser known B-side "Nova Heart" would take on a life of its own and become the A-side midway through recording. It took us all off guard." So, "Symmetry" was almost a hit. Strangely enough, the song didn't even appear on the "Arias & Symphonies" album. Members of the band reunited in 2010 to record their sixth album and appeared alongside Images In Vogue in 2013 to co-headline the "Rewind The Tape" tour. They are still active today.
The Dream Academy almost never happened. Singer/Guitarist Nick Laird-Clowes, formerly in a band called The Act, keyboardist Gilbert Gabriel and multi-instrumentalist Kate St. John combined forces with the notion of creating music with a diverse and rather unorthodox set of instruments and sounds. Moving counter to the power pop acts of the day, their demos were rejected by every record label over the course of a two-year period before before getting signed by Warner Brothers thanks to a fortuitous relationship with Geoff Travis of Rough Trade records and Pink Floyd's David Gilmour, who went on to produce Dream Academy's first two albums. As luck would have it David's brother Mark had played guitar in The Act with Nick. The track here, "The Love Parade", was the fourth single from the group's eponymous debut album. It eventually peaked at #36 in the US, but was viewed as disappointing by record execs who had hoped for more in the shadow of the runaway hit "Life In A Northern Town". Reflecting on production for "The Love Parade", the only song on their first album not produced by Gilmour, on the 35th Anniversary of the release of their first full-length, Nick revealed:
"What happened was, we had a pretty good demo for “Love Parade,” and we loved it, and when we made the record with David, somehow we never got 'round to it, and he always said, “Well, the demo's pretty good, and it's not really my kind of thing, and it's good what you've got.” And I said, “Well, okay.” But at the end of the album, when we listened to it, it wasn't good enough. But we still all adored the version, so Geoff Travis from Rough Trade, being a really canny music-loving thinker, said, “What about [Alan] Tarney? He did 'We Don't Talk Anymore,' by Cliff Richard.” And we all loved that record. There was a touch of irony about it, because we knew this was coming from right field instead of left field, and we thought, “Well, that's a really inspired idea, because nobody would think of us working with Tarney.” So it was really interesting, and we said, “Well, let's see what he thinks.” And he said, “No, I'd love to do it!” It wasn't like I could say, “I want this, I want that.” I did a lot of that, and he walked out a couple of times because of that. And it was right back to that old thing which had happened every time when I'd worked with anyone before David. It was just silly things like, “Can I just get on the faders and push the keyboards like this and put more echo on the voice?” But it was always happening to me. [Laughs.] So it was brilliant, and… Well, no, it wasn't brilliant, but he did it, and then we mixed it again, and it was great. But he taught us a lot. I mean, he didn't triple-track vocals. He tracked them up about 12 or 15 times! He had real special techniques, and he also had quite strong ideas. So he was wonderful, but he just came at things from a totally different place. He was pure pop, and he was very, very brilliant at it."
As a side note: Alan Tarney also produced "Take On Me" by A-ha.
