Visage – The Face (Very Best of)

I was a child of the punk/new wave era, however my wife has leanings to the early 80’s electronic sound of the new romantics. Right at the forefront of this movement was one Mr Steve Strange who with Rusty Eagen ran the trailblazing Blitz club in London. Still, the roots for Visage came firmly from the punk movement with Strange having worked for Malcom Mclaren. Aside from this he had been involved with several leading figures  including Chrissy Hinde, Vince Ely and Topper Headon in the ill-named and ill-fated new wave band The Moors Murderers.

Stepping on from this he formed Visage with Rusty Egan and Midge Ure, both of whom at the time were in the new wave band Rich Kids. Other members included Billie Currie from Ultravox, and guitarist John McGeoch and keyboard player Dave Formula both from Magazine. After an initial deal with Radar Records in 1979, the band released the single ‘Tar’. Although the single failed to have a commercial impact, Polydor Records snapped them up in 1980.

December 1980 saw the release of their second single, ‘Fade to Grey’. The single became a huge hit in early 1981, making the top ten in the UK and several other countries, and reaching no.1 in Germany and Switzerland. It was quickly followed by the release of their self-titled debut album which was also a chart success.

After further Top 40 hits with ‘Mind of a Toy’ and the title track ‘Visage’, Strange struggled to reunite the band’s members again to record a second album because of their commitments with their respective bands (Ure and Currie with Ultravox, Formula with Magazine, and McGeoch with Siouxsie & the Banshees.) But in the autumn of 1981, all musicians (except McGeoch) went into the studio again and recorded The Anvil. The album was released in March 1982 and became Visage’s first (and only) UK top ten album, producing two top twenty singles with “The Damned Don’t Cry” and “Night Train”. The Anvilearned a Silver disc in the UK, as did the band’s first album.

Despite several attempts including the forming of Visage mk2, the band never reached the heights of former glories. However with the resurgence of electronic artists over the last few years, this best of album seems to hold greater relevance now. Having listened to it today it actually sounds fresh, especially the remixes of ‘Fade To Grey’. I kind of detached myself and approached it as I would a new artist hitting my radar. I came to the conclusion that I would of been raving about the band to Sean as ones to watch! This is a sea change of opinion for me as I was too set in my Punk roots back then to appreciate anything electronica. This drops March 8th on Polydor Records containing fifteen tracks including two new mixes of ‘Fade to Grey’. Maybe the wife has some musical taste after all!

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