Hard Corps (English band)

Hard Corps is a 1980s band from London (Brixton) playing Electronic Body Music or Synth Pop.[1]

History

Hugh Ashton, Robert Doran and Clive Pierce, were introduced to chanteuse Regine Fetet, who, having never sung before had an enigmatic, fragile, human voice which, quite by fluke of nature, mated perfectly with the sound the three British sound engineers were creating. Working in unison with a heavily accentuated French vocal, the result was magnificent and unique. " Hard Corps were an electronic band that pioneered electronic music in the 1980s and released their fist EP in 1984 Dirty/Respirer on Survival Records, with Respirer also being released that year on The Art of Survival compilation EP[2] along with bands such as Tik and Tok, Eddie and Sunshine and Richard Bone. Respirer was produced by Mute Records founder and electronic music production supremo Daniel Miller .

In 1985 the band supported The Cure in the UK and Europe and in 1988 Depeche Mode in the UK.[3] They were on the cusp of making a real impact and hoped to support Depeche Mode when they returned to the USA, but according to an interview by Rob Doran for The Electricity Club [4] "However, we were not invited possibly due to British and American Musician Union politics on support bands and reciprocal agreements, but I don’t think there was any chance with Regine’s onstage controversies anyway!"

By the time that the band released their first album in 1990, Produced by Martin Rushent they had in reality split up. Doran went on to write music for TV, radio, commercials and video with the singer from Perfect Strangers, Rod Syers. Ashton carried on with Regine for a while doing PAs and using the Hard Corps's name before becoming The Sun Kings with former Naked Lunch member Paul ‘Driver’ Davis. As of 2014 Clive Pierce was still writing and producing Electronic Music.

The band is noteworthy for Regine's provocative performances, which often involved her removing her top on stage; an apocryphal story suggests that this may have been the reason for the band not supporting Depeche Mode in the USA. Regine Fetet died of cancer in 2003, so there is no chance of any new material from the band, but a number of previously unreleased tracks were made available on Minimal Wave Records. The band was one of those that founded the EBM (Electronic Body Music) movement.

Members

Discography

Albums[5][6]

Singles

Compilations

Equipment List

The equipment of Hard Corps used on their recordings:[7]

References

  1. ↑ B2 Collective / b2collective.com (2012-01-24). "Minimal Wave Records | Artists | Hard Corps". Minimalwave.com. Retrieved 2014-03-23.
  2. ↑ "Various - The Art Of Survival at Discogs". Discogs.com. Retrieved 2014-03-23.
  3. ↑ http://minimalwave.com/artists/artist/hard-corps/. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  4. ↑ "An Interview with Rob Doran of Hard Corps". The Electricity Club. Retrieved 2014-03-23.
  5. ↑ http://minimalwave.com/artists/artist/hard-corps/
  6. ↑ "Hard Corps Discography at Discogs". Discogs.com. Retrieved 2014-03-23.
  7. ↑ Graham Needham (BH). "Article | Hard Corps - The Definitive Exposé". CyberNoise. Retrieved 2014-03-23.

External links