Beat Boy

Beat Boy
Studio album by Visage
Released	22 October 1984
Recorded	1982–1983, Trident Studios, London
Genre	Synthpop, new wave
Length	40:33
Label	Polydor
Producer	Visage
Visage studio album chronology
The Anvil (1982) Beat Boy (1984) Hearts and Knives (2013)

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	link

Beat Boy is the third studio album by the British new wave band Visage. It was recorded at Trident Studios between 1982 and 1983 and released on Polydor Records in October 1984 (delayed by contractual problems the band were having at that time). It reached #79 on the UK album chart^[1] and would be the band's last studio album for almost thirty years.

History

The album was recorded and released after Steve Strange decided to make Visage a live band instead of being solely a studio-based project, a decision that left him working only with drummer Rusty Egan and a trio of newer musicians. Whilst the first two Visage albums had a typical synthpop/post-punk feel, Beat Boy attempted to mix the synthetic sound with American styled rock. However, neither the singles or the album itself had the impact hoped for, and effectively marked the end of Visage as a recording act.

The cassette version of the album featured remixes of the album's original tracks, with a total running time of over 50 minutes. This included an extra track, the instrumental "Reprise" (a reprise of the track "Questions").

Originally only released on vinyl and cassette, Beat Boy was finally released on Compact Disc for the first time in February 2009 by Cherry Red Records, and featured the same tracklisting as the original vinyl album with four extra tracks (see below).

Track listing

All songs composed by S. Barnacle/Egan/Strange unless otherwise noted.

1. "Beat Boy" (Barnacle/Barnett/Egan/Formula/Strange) – 6:46
2. "Casualty" (Barnacle/Barnett/Egan/Strange) – 5:28
3. "Questions" – 6:11
4. "Only the Good (Die Young)" (Barnacle/Barnett/Currie/Egan/Formula/Strange) – 5:58
5. "Can You Hear Me" – 6:29
6. "The Promise" (Barnacle/Barnett/Egan/Strange) – 3:59
7. "Love Glove" – 4:45
8. "Yesterday's Shadow" – 6:29

Bonus tracks on 2009 CD re-release

9. "Beat Boy (Dance Mix)" – 7:19
10. "Love Glove (Long Version)" – 6:38
11. "She's a Machine" (G. Barnacle/Barnacle/Barnett/Egan/Strange) – 4:54
12. "Der Amboss" (Currie/Egan/Formula/Strange/Ure) – 5:39

Remixed cassette version

1. "Beat Boy" - 7:15
2. "Casualty (Dance Mix)" - 5:58
3. "Questions (Dance Mix)" - 7:06
4. "Only The Good (Die Young)" - 5:30
5. "Can You Hear Me" - 6:26
6. "The Promise (Dance Mix)" - 4:08
7. "Love Glove" - 5:40
8. "Yesterday's Shadow" - 6:30
9. "Reprise" - 2:35†

† an instrumental reprise of the intro section to the Dance Mix of "Questions".

Singles: UK chart positions

1. Love Glove – 4:00 (Aug. 1984), #54^[1]
2. Beat Boy – 3:30 (Oct. 1984), did not chart

Personnel

Visage members at the time of the album's recording were:

• Steve Strange - lead vocals
• Andy Barnett - guitar
• Steve Barnacle - bass
• Gary Barnacle - saxophone
• Rusty Egan - drums, electronic drum

Additional personnel

• Billy Currie - keyboards
• Dave Formula - keyboards
• Marsha Raven - backing vocals
• Karen Ramsey - backing vocals
• Rose Patterson - backing vocals

References