Steve Strange

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Steve Strange (born Steven John Harrington on May 28, 1959) is a British singer and pop icon, best remembered as an influential party promoter and as the frontman and lead singer for Visage. Strange is often referred to as the "ultimate New Romantic," as his influence on the British club scene of the early 1980s and on synthesized music can still be seen today.

Image:Steve strange.jpg

Steve Strange dressed in typical New Romantic fashion.

Born in Porthcawl, South Wales he left home at the age of fifteen for London where he worked for Malcolm McLaren and befriended Glen Matlock of the Sex Pistols. He designed posters, choreographed videos and ran several nightclubs, including Blitz.

In 1978, after briefly joining 'The Photons' at the bequest of David Littler (exThe Spitfire Boys) he formed the Visage project with musicians Midge Ure and Rusty Egan. Early success and several hit singles (including "Fade To Grey", which topped the charts in twenty one countries) propelled Strange and the members of Visage to stardom in Britain and Europe, although later commercial disappointments led to their breakup in 1984. Strange later formed Strange Cruise with Wendy Wu after Visage's dissolution, although this too, proved to be short-lived.

In 1985 he went to Ibiza, Spain and quickly becoming an integral part of the budding Trance movement, hosting exotic parties for celebrities such as Sylvester Stallone. In the early 1990s he was the host at the Double Bass club.

He was a close friend of INXS's Michael Hutchence and suffered some personal problems following Hutchence's death, leading to an eventual breakdown and several well-publicized shoplifting incidents.

Strange's autobiography, Blitzed!, was published in 2002. Strange has recently reformed Visage with musicians from some modern electronic bands. Steve Strange recorded the first Visage's "mark II" original composition, named "In the Dark" as part of electronic music duo Punx Soundcheck's debut double album "When Machines Ruled the World". The album was released in Europe in fall 2006. In November 2006, he took part in the BBC reality series Celebrity Scissorhands for Children in Need.