528 Goodbye Blancmange - I Can See It

Chart  entered : 10  May  1986

Chart  peak :  71

This  is  a  sad  one  as  I  think  Blancmange  were  discarded  before  their  time, part  of  a  post-Live  Aid  reaction  against  ( New )  pop  acts  which  undoubtedly  cleared  away  a  lot  of  rubbish but  had  some  undeserving  victims  too.

It  began  immediately. Their  new  single  in  September  1985  "What's  Your  Problem? "  a  decent  enough  synth-pop  ditty  could  only  get  to  number  40. Then  their  third  album  "Believe  You  Me" , which  was  actually  their  strongest  set  of  songs,  peaked  at  54  in  a  two  week  stay  on  the  charts. The  chances  of  the  next  single  "Lose  Your  Love"  were  stymied  by  the  video  getting  banned  as  too  violent   and  it  failed  to  chart.

"I  Can  See  It"  is  a  re-working  of  another  track  from  the  album  originally  entitled  "Why  Don't  They  Leave  Things  Alone ? "  The  title  is  unfortunately  appropriate  as  the  re-mixing  tramples  on  the  delicate  string  synth  arrangement  in  favour  of  extra  keyboard  splurges, a  trumpet  solo  and  an  insensitive  backbeat. It's  still  a  decent  song  but  over-egging  the  pudding  does  it  no  favours.

The  single  barely  scraped  into  the  charts  for  a  couple  of  weeks  then  disappeared. Almost  immediately  Blancmange  announced  they  were  calling  it  a  day.

Keyboard  player  Stephen  Luscombe  continued  with  his  side  project  West  India  Company  begun  in  1984  with  Indian  musicians  percussionist   Pandit  Dinesh  and  singer  Asha  Bhoshie  ( of  A  Brimful of  ....  ).  In  1989  they  released  an  album  Music  from  New  Demons   of    Anglo-Indian  fusion  music  commissioned  by  the  dance  troupe  La  La  La  Human  Steps.  It's  quite  an  interesting  exercise , perhaps  a  little  ahead  of  its  time   although  not  too  far  from  the  sort  of  crossover  music  Enigma  would  clean  up  with  a  couple  of  years  later. After  an  EP  in  1990  they  disbanded  and  Stephen  spent  the  next  two  decades  doing  bits  of  soundtrack  and  production  work  and,  I  suspect,  a  day  job.

After  a  number  of  false  starts,  singer  Neil  Arthur  re-emerged   in  1992  with  the  single  "One  Day  One  Time" , an  Erasure-like  synth  pop  number  with  a  lightly  Indian  feel  but  no  real  hooks. It  got  a  play  on  The  Chart  Show  but  didn't  chart. At  the  beginning  of  1994  he  tried  again  with  the  single  "I  Love  I  Hate"  which  is  more  like  The  Pet  Shop  Boys  and  got  to number  50. That  wasn't   good  enough  to  launch   his  solo  album  "Suitcase",  an  overlooked  gem  of  thoughtful  electronic  pop  with  tracks  that  are  better  than  either  single.

Also  that  year  Neil  began  a  long  career  in  TV  soundtrack  work  , usually  for  BBC  documentaries. He  made  a  comeback  as  an  artist  in  2006   as a  member  of  The  Bhutan  Philharmonic  . Neil  wrote  most  of  their  eponymous  album  with  producer  C  O  Reilly. I've  only  heard  the  one  track  "Last  Flower  of  New  York " , a  slice  of  sombre  electronica  with  Neil  doing  a  spoken  word  passage  about  halfway  into  the  track.

By  2010 , Blancmange  were  getting  mentioned  by  acts  like  Hot  Chip  and  La  Roux  and  Neil  and  Stephen,  who'd  remained  on  friendly  terms, decided  the  time  was  right  to  reform  the  band.

Their  new  single  "Drive  Me"  was  released  in  February  2011  and  was  indicative  of  the  album  "Blanc  Burn"  that  followed  shortly  afterwards. The  band  were  clearly  up  with  the  changes  in  music  technology  since  they  went  away  and  Neil's  vocals  are  Autotuned  on  some  tracks   but  familiar  trademarks  are  still  there, the  use  of  Northern  phrases, Indian  influences  and  an  absurdist  sense  of  humour. It's  a  collection  of  low-key  electronic  tunes  with  a  sinister  edge  most  notable  on  "Starfucker", a  scathing  attack  on  celebrity  worship  and  "Ultraviolent"  a  grim  analysis  of  street  behaviour. My  favourite  track  is  the  opener  "The  Bus  Stop@Woolies "  where  Neil  in  a  deadpan  Lancashire  accent  namechecks  a  number  of  familiar  places  in  his  ( and  my  wife's )  hometown  of  Darwen.  It's  an  excellent  comeback  album  but  alas  ignited  little  interest, stalling  at  number  163  in  the  charts.

Despite  this  setback  the  band  continued  to  tour  . In  2013  they  re-worked  their  debut  LP  "Happy  Families"  and  released  the  results  as  "Happy  Families  Too". After  that  Stephen  decided  to  drop  out  but  allowed  Neil  to  record  a  new  album  under  the  group  name.  Cherry  Red  released  it  as  "Semi  Detached  in  March  last  year.

"Semi  Detached "  is  a  largely  dark  sparse  record  that  probably  needs  a  few  plays  to  sink  in.  . Without  Luscombe,  "Blancmange"  sound  pretty  similar  to  Depeche  Mode  but   the  album  is  better  than  anything  they've  put  out  in   recent  years . "Deep  In  The  Mine"  and  "Bloody  Hell  Fire "  approach  Joy  Division  levels  of  existential  despair. There  were  three  singles  released, the  glum  analysis  of  a  depersonalised  London  "Paddington ", the  lightest  track  "Useless"  which  might  be  a  tuneful  pop  at  Beiber  and  a  slightly  redundant  cover  of  Can's  "I Want  More". None  have  troubled  the  charts  and  I  expect  that's  the  way  it's  going  to  stay  for  Blancmange. More's  the  pity.