Blancmange (band)

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Blancmange
Promotional photograph from the Mange Tout era. (Left) Neil Arthur, (Right) Stephen Luscombe.
Background information
Origin	Harrow, England
Genre(s)	Synthpop Alternative dance New Romantic New Wave
Years active	1979–1987 2006-Present
Label(s)	London Records, Sire
Associated acts	The West India Company Neil Arthur
Website	http://www.blancmange.biz
Members
Neil Arthur Stephen Luscombe
Former members
Lawrence Stevens (1979)

Blancmange are a British synthpop band who came to prominence with a string of hits in the early to mid 1980s.

Contents 1 Biography 2 Discography 2.1 EP 2.2 Singles (with chart position) 2.3 Studio albums (with chart position) 2.4 Compilation albums 2.5 Session tracks 3 Interesting trivia 4 References 5 External links

[edit] Biography

Blancmange was formed in Harrow, London in 1979 by vocalist Neil Arthur (born 15 June 1958, Darwen, Lancashire) and instrumentalist Stephen Luscombe (born 29 October 1954, Hillingdon, Middlesex). The duo released their first EP "Irene and Mavis" the following year, but had their first real exposure via a track on the seminal Some Bizzare Album, alongside fellow acts Soft Cell and Depeche Mode. This led to them signing a recording contract with London Records.

Blancmange supported Nash the Slash on a London club tour in October and November 1980. Nash introduced the band to the Virgin subsidiary record label DinDisc, but they were ultimately signed by London Records, in 1982.

Their first success was the 1982 minor hit single, "Feel Me". Later that year they broke through with "Living on the Ceiling" (below), which reached no.7 in the UK Singles Chart. Their debut album, "Happy Families" (which featured a sleeve painting in the style of Louis Wain) also reached the top 30.

Further hits followed with "Waves", "Blind Vision", "That's Love That It Is" and "Don't Tell Me", all of which reached the top 40, with "Don't Tell Me" even making No. 8 in the UK, whilst their second album "Mange Tout" reached the top 10. In 1984, Blancmange covered ABBA's single "The Day Before You Came," which reached No 22 in the UK (higher than Abba's original less than two years earlier).

Eventually, as synthpop became less fashionable, the band's fortunes declined. The 1985 single "What's Your Problem" only reached No. 40, and the subsequent album Believe You Me spent only two weeks in the UK Albums Chart, peaking at no.54. Blancmange formally split up in 1987.

Luscombe released an album of Indian influenced music, New Demons, with Pandit Dinesh, Peter Culshaw, Priya Khajuria and Asha Bhosle under the name 'The West India Company', in 1989. Meanwhile, Arthur released a solo album, Suitcase, in 1994.

As stated on the band's official MySpace page, Blancmange have recently reformed and are writing material for a new album.

[edit] Discography

[edit] EP

• "Irene & Mavis" (1980)

33rpm 7" vinyl released on Blaah Records

[edit] Singles (with chart position)

• "God's Kitchen / I've Seen The Word" (1982) UK #65
• "Feel Me" (1982) UK #46
• "Living On The Ceiling" (1982) UK #7
• "Waves" (1983) UK #19
• "Blind Vision" (1983) UK #10
• "That's Love That It Is" (1983) UK #33
• "Don't Tell Me" (1984) UK #8
• "The Day Before You Came" (1984) UK #22
• "What's Your Problem?" (1985) UK #40
• "Lose Your Love" (1985) UK #77
• "I Can See It" (1986) UK #71

^[1]

[edit] Studio albums (with chart position)

• Happy Families (1982) - UK #30
• Mange Tout (1984) - UK #8
• Believe You Me (1985) - UK #54

^[1]

[edit] Compilation albums

• Second Helpings (1990)
• Heaven Knows (1992)
• The Third Course (1994)
• Best of Blancmange (1996)
• The Platinum Collection (2006)

[edit] Session tracks

• "I Would"
• "Living on the Ceiling"
• "Waves"
• "Running Thin"

Recorded for the BBC Radio 1 John Peel show and transmitted in February 1982.^[2]

[edit] Interesting trivia

• Some of the vocal samples in the song "All Things Are Nice" from the album Mange Tout appear to have been borrowed from an episode of the television series Little House on the Prairie (episode No. 55, Season Three, "Little Girl Lost," first aired 1/10/77) in which Carrie, one of the daughters, becomes trapped in an abandoned mine shaft.
• In the 1986 Sci-Fi film "Flight Of The Navigator" Blancmange appear on David's TV with the music video for "Lose Your Love" when he is introduced to music videos by Carolyn, played by a young Sarah Jessica Parker.
• In 2000 "Living On The Ceiling" was sampled by the German techno group Scooter on the song "Kashmir", from the album Back To The Heavyweight Jam.
• In the videogame Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories, Living on the Ceiling was used in the FLASH FM radio station.
• In 2008 "Living On The Ceiling" was used in a television advertisement for Berocca vitamin tablets.[1]

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• All Music Guide Band Biography - Blancmange
• Trouser Press Guide Band And Album Review - Blancmange

v • d • e Blancmange Neil Arthur | Stephen Luscombe Former members Lawrence Stevens Studio albums: Happy Families (1982) | Mange Tout (1984) | Believe You Me (1985) Compilation albums: Second Helpings (1990) | Heaven Knows (1992) | The Third Course (1994) | Best of Blancmange (1996) | The Platinum Collection (2006) EP & Singles: Irene & Mavis (1980) | God's Kitchen / I've Seen The Word (1982) | Feel Me (1982) | Living On The Ceiling (1982) | Waves (1983) | Blind Vision (1983) | That's Love That It Is (1983) | Don't Tell Me (1984) | The Day Before You Came (1984) | What's Your Problem? (1985) | Lose Your Love (1985) | I Can See It (1986) Videos The Video Singles (1986) | Live at the Haçienda (2005) | Hello Good Evening (2006)