Comsat Angels

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Comsat Angels were a highly influential but commercially overlooked post-punk band from Sheffield, UK. Active (in various incarnations) from 1978 to 1995, the band were responsible for some of the most atmospheric music of the first half of the 80's. Their work earns its place alongside Joy Division and The Cure and their influence can be felt (directly and indirectly) in later neo-punks like Bloc Party, Interpol, and in earlier acts like Curve and Catherine Wheel.

Named after a short-story by J. G. Ballard, the foursome (lead guitar and vocalist Stephen Fellows, bassist Kevin Bacon, drummer Mik Glaisher and keyboardist Andy Peake) debuted with an EP, released in 1979, named "Red Planet". This release attracted Polydor A&R man Frank Neilson and the band signed a three-album deal. These three LPs, Waiting for a Miracle (1980), which included the highly regarded 'Independence Day', probably their best known song, Sleep No More (1981) and Fiction (1982), are regarded as their best, but failed commercially and to achieve press coverage.

In 1982 the USA-based Communications Satellite Corporation, threatened to take legal measures against them for plagiarizing their name in the eve of an American tour. Because of this the band was renamed C.S. Angels in that country.

Having failed to live up to Polydor expectations with the three first albums, the record label let the band go. After this they went on to sign with Jive Records and recorded Land (1983), making it a bit more commercial. 7 Day Weekend (1985) followed the more commercial-oriented trend but also failed in the charts leaving the band with no label again.

The band found a fan and supporter in Robert Palmer, who was enjoying the height of his popularity at this point in the '80s. Palmer saw to it that the Comsat Angels were signed to Island Records and he co-produced their next album Chasing Shadows (1986). This album saw the band going back to their roots and creating music for themselves, not concerned with making hits. For the follow up, the band talked Island into letting them build their own studio and sadly, the band decided to try for AOR radio with their next recording, Fire on the Moon (1990), the group changed its name to Dream Command for this record, succumbing to the pressure from the Communications Satellite Corporation and their record label. Neither the band nor their label were happy with the album which was released in small quantities in the US only.

Very few people in the UK even knew about the Dream Command album, until The Comsats were mentioned in Q magazine's "Where Are They Now?" section. This was another turning point for the band, as they set about writing and recording new material on their own terms - aiming to please only themselves once again - and they finally hooked up with RPM records, who released The Comsat's Radio 1 sessions on a CD compilation Time Considered...

Shortly afterwards, RPM released a new Comsat's single, "Driving", and album My Mind's Eye in 1992. Just for a change, the music press heaped praise on the album - citing several current bands (Curve & The Catherine Wheel) who were influenced by The Comsat's sound (if there is such a thing).

Melody Maker reviewed: "My Mind's Eye could easily have been recorded by ghosts, such is the dexterity of the Comsat's approach and the haunted nature of their anguished restraint... Every snapping bassline and icebound guitar fragment has a place, a purity and a passion that chills... At the heart of their hurtling hailstorm lies Steve Fellow's punishing baritone. The man sounds like he's singing from a carriage on the soul train to hell, all sweat and worry as the songs rage around him like they've come for a debt..."

RPM also issued the Dutch radio sessions collection Unravelled before the final studio album The Glamour in 1995 - the first studio album to feature new members Simon Anderson & Terry Todd (who appeared on Unravelled) - after the departure of Kevin Bacon, who was now concentrating on production work at the bands Axis studios in Sheffield. No singles were released from The Glamour, although there are unreleased songs from these sessions that have yet to see the light of day (i.e. "Hyperprism" and "Evanescent"). The new members added fresh energy and enthusiasm to the band, who seemed to be at home with RPM - a label who seemed to be in love with the band and the stirring music they created, instead of falling into the trap of trying to mould the band into a "unit-shifter".

The Comsat Angels disbanded in late 1995 following UK dates to promote The Glamour. Steve Fellows released an instrumental album, Mood X, his first solo release, on RPM in late 1997. Currently he is working on a more "traditional" song-based solo album, as well as helping the band Little Glitches. The rest of the band regrouped, with a new vocalist, Peter Hope, under the new moniker of Soup - but have now disbanded.

The band's classic early albums have all languished out of press for years, this is supposed to change as the British label Renascent has finally obtained the licenses to re-release the band's first three landmark albums. Their single "I'm Falling" was featured in the movie "Real Genius" with Val Kilmer. The movie never released an official soundtrack.