Visage
|
|
Visage was a New Romantic band that began life in 1978 in the London, England nightclub Billy's. Initially, the band comprised Steve Strange, (a former member of the punk band Moors Murderers) and DJ Rusty Egan (formerly the drummer with The Rich Kids).
Midge Ure (who had also been involved with The Rich Kids) was interested in working with Strange and Egan, and the trio recorded a demo which included their version of the Zager and Evans hit "In The Year 2525".
With the addition of Ultravox's Billy Currie, and three members of Magazine—bassist Barry Adamson, guitarist John McGeoch, and keyboard player Dave Formula—Visage signed to Radar Records and released "Tar" in September 1979.
The following year saw the release of their self-titled debut album. The album contained the song "Fade to Grey" which quickly became a huge club hit, and went to number one in 21 countries. When the song hit the UK Singles Chart it was the beginning of an imminent commercial breakthrough for electronic music and the whole New Romantic movement.
A Top-40 hit, "Mind of a Toy" followed (complete with a video produced by 10cc's Godley & Creme), but the 1982 release of The Anvil saw disappointing sales and Visage began to disintegrate. Their final album Beat Boy was released after Ure, Formula and Currie left the band.
A remix of "Fade to Grey" was a UK Top-40 hit during the early 1990s, and Visage performed on the "Here and Now Xmas Tour"—a revival of 1980s musicians—in 2002.