Vicious Pink
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| Vicious Pink | |
|---|---|
| Origin | UK |
| Genre(s) | Synthpop/Technopop/New Wave |
| Years active | 1981 — 1986 |
| Label(s) | Parlophone |
| Website | Vicious Pink website |
| Former members | |
| Josephine Warden Brian Moss |
|
Vicious Pink were a synthpop band, formed in Leeds, UK in 1981 and active until 1986. With a catchy sound and a penchant for highly provocative and sexualized lyrics, the band aimed for success amongst clubs rather than commercially successful hits. Vicious Pink consisted of two members, singer Josephine Warden, who was half-English-half-French, and keyboardist Brian Moss. The duo started out as backing vocalists for Soft Cell.
Vicious Pink is chiefly remembered for three dance tracks: CCCan't You See, Fetish, and Take Me Now, produced by Tony Mansfield of New Musik fame. Vicious Pink is one of a few bands in the early 1980s that could be described as having a techno sound, and can be credited for coining the term for describing music on March 27, 1982, long before it was used by Detroit DJs in 1986.
Vicious Pink played live at The Warehouse in Leeds as backing to Soft Cell (the American owner of the Warehouse - Mike Wiand was their manager, Wiand was also a key factor in the success of the 80s dance track Let the Music Play (song) by Shannon which was on his own Warehouse records label), and played a gig in the US-The Ritz, (formerly Studio 54) in New York City in December 1984, at which the duo allegedly turned up three hours late![1].
Due to its limited success, Vicious Pink remains almost entirely unknown outside of the '80s underground dance scene, because their music was far more explicitly aimed at clubs than concerned with commercial success. As a result, their compositions were more spastic, more mature in content, and longer in length than would suit radio airplay.
Vicious Pink were able to briefly attain a cult-level of success without ever breaking into the mainstream. Although they had started releasing music professionally as early as 1982, Vicious Pink failed to attract much attention until the release of the single “Cccan’t You See” and its instrumental b-side “8:15 To Nowhere” in 1984. Over the next two years, both sides of this single accrued some substantial play in clubs on both sides of the Atlantic. A later single “Fetish” was similarly successful.
The only full album the band recorded was their self-titled Vicious Pink which was released in 1986, after the duo had already ceased recording. This album was a collection of their previously released singles.
Josephine Warden went on to marry a top London music lawyer, and Brian Moss carried on in the music industry, now keyboard player for artist Mirazma.
