Of all the 80's acts working the nostalgia circuit like a stripper does a pole, the one my jaw about scraped pavement over was Blancmange. Sure, your OMD's, your Kajagoogoo's (on the poppier side), your Gang of Fours, your Sounds (on the cool-kid side of the street) - or the bands that never really went away (Duran Duran, REM, U2, Depeche Mode) - return, as we expect our rock stars to live long and prosper (and always make music), and if we learned nothing else from (VH1) The Go-Go's and The Eagles, it's that time and money (and a whole lot of money) can make bandmates either get past certain intense dislike for one another and work together for the greater good - mainly their artistic legacy (and their bank accounts). Or not. (like that Klymaxx VH1 reunion - man, that was nasty!).
SO BLANCMANGE.
First impression of them was in 1982 on the syndicated Richard Blade-hosted "MV3", hybrid music-video showcase mixed in with a dash of Bandstand and Shindig - if it was deemed 'new wave' and it had a video, you were hitbound when you made it to MV3 - anyhoo, the first taste was this odd little ditty with Indian-flourishes called "Living On The Ceiling" - catchy, offbeat sounding dance tune that had a yelping lead vocal and a kicking drum track - it was a UK Top 10, garnered some College Radio and Dance Club play here, but it was the video that most of us stateside who recognize the song remember. (Love this copy of the clip complete with the old top-o-the-hour MTV moon man!)
"Living On The Ceiling"
Their biggest album was their second, 1984's "Mange Tout", and had several UK hits (including a deadpan ABBA cover way before it was fashionable) that also were substantial US club hits (in the more rock-oriented venues) - it got the whole "deluxe edition" treatment a few years back with bonus tracks (is there any other kind of "deluxe edition"? i mean really - studio chatter is gonna make me sink another $20 into a project I've already popped for on Vinyl and CD? as if...)Anyhow, due to the fact that I can't find a good copy of "Don't Tell Me" (NOT the Madonna song of the same name), and "Blind Vision" has the cheapest-looking production values of any of their clips (and the ABBA cover is not what I'd call their high-water mark), I am opting for one of my faves out of their canon, the brilliantly lyric'd "That's Love That It Is" - an anthem for all relationships dysfunctional, to a DOR beat, and like all obscure shit I champion, I think a smart pop star out there somewhere could have a big hit out of it.
"That's Love That It Is"
As 1984 drew to a close, their star was ascending, their potential was not yet reached, and their sound was maturing and expanding - their only major task at hand was to avoid what was happening to the rest of their peers from that Early-MTV class of 81-82-83 - the inability to continue to generate hits. That should be easy, right?
1985's "Believe You Me" was preceded by a poppy but slightly more sophisticated sounding UK single "What's Your Problem" - a big college radio hit here stateside (and another seeming feather in their cap) - its only problem was that it stalled at No. 40 in the UK two months before the album dropped. A second single was readied, the anthemic dance track "Lose Your Love" - which fared even worse (No. 77) at home, though an incredibly hyped (and payola'd) Sire Records were able to take a TEN MINUTE remix of it to #2 on the US dance charts (today it's the last vestige of a bought-and-paid-for-by-the-record-label chart, as Soundscan now reports actual data as opposed to merely 'reported' data, but that's another column). The album track "Why Don't They Leave Things Alone" actually found a home on some hipper US FM stations (WXRT), but it wasn't enough to save the project, and like so many of their other peers, Blancmange faded away from memory, save for the obligatory hits package(s) and subsequent nostalgia compilations.
"What's Your Problem"
So imagine my surprise when I see them pop up on a release schedule!
Apparently, the duo reformed, and aside one of the duos work on an lp from The West India Comapny ("Ave Maria" circa '86), this is the first new music we've heard from them since "Believe You Me" - here's the preview track,
"Drive Me"
Say what I will, but it does not indeed suck. Unlike say, the reunions of Kajagoogoo (or ABC, Motels, Berlin, Missing Persons, etc.) I'm willing to explore the album, and am sure I'll chime back at some point with my thoughts there. But for now, let's here it for forgotten artists who still have a little bit of life left in them!
