‘Deep’ was very much Peter Murphy’s breakthrough solo album and perhaps it was in no small part due to the promotional push of the record company machinery of the era, still some years away from the MP3 meltdown and subsequent diminished times. This cassette is one of those curious promo-only releases of the era picked up along the way, a reminder of those times.
Rarely has an album sleeve so poorly represented the mood and the message of the music inside than ‘The Fury’, I dare say. Musically, this was a hard-edged, tough, largely electronic sound filled that mined the technology of the day to keep up with the in your face sound of acts on ZTT, et al. To the extent that it left behind the earlier, more unique Numan sound, much to the alienation of a good chunk of existing Numan fans – even more so than ‘Berserker’ (which we looked at before) already had, as it had ushered in the move to digital synths, leaving behind the analogue warmth. Partly, that fan exodus may well have been because they never made it to the music, such was the antipathy to the image. Fair to say that both ‘Warriors’ and ‘Berserker’ had already been a tough sell, image wise – but this time round, beyond the pale for many a fan, I would wager. While the music may have been edgy and electronic, the image was – as Numan himself would later describe in his autobiographies – less the intended James Bond and more “the man who lost it all at Monte Carlo” casino wheel/cards table.
The album itself as released on the Numa label though comes in two distinct versions – the ‘regular’ standard issue and the ‘extended mixes’ version – much like ‘Berserker’ had ushered in, but this time every track was longer on the extended mixes version. Continue reading “Gary Numan ‘The Fury’ – Numa variations”
Sad news for Christmas Day this year, learning of the death of Janice Long. I grew up listening and finding out about so many great acts from BBC Radio 1’s evening and weekend shows and Janice Long was one of the key DJs that made a big difference. She had great taste and brought a genuine enthusiasm and warm-hearted humour to proceedings that was a welcome relief from many others. It comes as no surprise to learn of so many wonderful tributes from many of the well-known acts she met along the way. If you are unfamiliar with her, I recommend a 33 minute primer courtesy of the Radio 1 Vintage series that was produced in 2018 and featured a Janice Long compilation.
1984 was the year that Cocteau Twins popularity would rise enough to make the top 30 of the UK singles chart and to skirt the edges of the mainstream, first with the release of the ‘Pearly-Dewdrops’ Drops’ single and amplified by year’s end with ‘Treasure’, a third album from the band that contains many a fan favourite to this day and arguably the emerging dreampop sound. They were also filling concert venues the size and likes of The Royal Festival Hall in London and The Usher Hall in Edinburgh – a mere two years on from their debut album. Along the way, the independent spirit was retained with exclusive tracks on some more obscure cassette compilations. Starting with…
A various artists compilation from a period where sturm und drang was very much in fashion and is reflected in many of the tracks found here, the Cocteau Twins connection here is an exclusive remix of ‘In Our Angelhood’ that has never been reissued anywhere else. It appears that there were plans to issue this track as a single from the ‘Head Over Heels’ album, but it never came to pass. The intended single release is mentioned on the text in the booklet that accompanies this cassette, but I don’t know for sure if this remix was the planned single mix or not. Its a good bit different from the album mix for sure, though the sound quality here is not the best, it must be said. The arrangement on the version recorded for the October 1983 BBC Radio 1 David ‘Kid’ Jensen session is quite similar.
‘Speak No Evil’ was intended to be one of the tracks on a planned debut 7″ single for 4AD by the band. That ended up being dropped when the recording of ‘Garlands’ was judged to be a stronger opening release on its own, so ‘Speak No Evil’ was instead given away as a flexidisc with the Dutch music magazine ‘Vinyl’. Obviously somewhat crackly in this flexidisc form, it was a welcome addition as a bonus track on the 1986 CD release of ‘Garlands’, but was removed on subsequent re-releases which opted to feature only the original eight track album running order. It has however recently been included on the four disc various artists compilation, ‘Make More Noise! Women In Independent UK Music 1977 – 1987’ released on Cherry Red in 2020. It has a downbeat, proto-‘Garlands’ type sound – the nearest comparison on ‘Garlands’ would likely be ‘Shallow Then Halo’, I feel. The flip side features the wonderful Thomas Leer with ‘Who’s Foolin’ Who’ – stylistically a good way away from the Cocteau Twins sound, originally also exclusive to this flexidisc, in recent years it found a home on his ‘1982’ compilation.
