For anyone not sure who the hell I'm on about, I'll repeat what I said back then:-
The original line-up consisted of Indian born lead singer and principal songwriter Bid (real name Ganesh Seshadri), Canadian guitarist Lester Square (real name Thomas W.B. Hardy), drummer John D. Haney, and bassist Charlie Harper. The band went through several bassists in the next few years, including Jeremy Harrington, and Andy Warren of the Ants, a childhood friend of Bid.
Experimental filmmaker Tony Potts began collaborating with the band in 1979, designing lighting and stage sets with film projections for their live appearances. The band's early persona was defined by the shadowy, uncertain stage images created by the films to such an extent he is often described as being the band's "fifth member."
They released several singles for the Rough Trade label before recording their debut album, "Strange Boutique", produced by Bob Sargeant, for Virgin Records' imprint DinDisc in 1980, as well as their follow-up effort, Love Zombies, produced by Alvin Clark and the band later that same year. John Haney left the band in 1981 and was replaced by Lexington Crane.
In 1982, the band switched labels to Cherry Red to release their third full-length album, Eligible Bachelors, produced by Tim Hart. Lester Square and Lexington Crane left soon afterwards, and were replaced by keyboardist Carrie Booth and drummer Nicholas Weslowski. This line-up recorded 1982 single Cast a Long Shadow, for Cherry Red before Booth was in turn replaced by new lead guitarist James 'Foz' Foster.
In 1983, Cherry Red released Volume, Contrast, Brilliance... sessions & singles vol. 1, a retrospective of the band's early Rough Trade singles, BBC and Capital Radio sessions, and other unreleased early sessions.
In 1985, with the same line-up as on Cast a Long Shadow, The Monochrome Set recorded the relatively mainstream album The Lost Weekend for major label Warner Bros. Records. The Lost Weekend failed commercially, and after a few singles, the band officially broke up, though they served as Jessica Griffin's backing band on the first album by the Would-Be-Goods, The Camera Loves Me.
In early 1990, Bid, Lester Square and Andy Warren reformed the band, with the addition of keyboardist Orson Presence and drummer Mike Slocombe (who was quickly replaced by Trevor Ready). The new band toured extensively—especially in Japan, where Bid had become a major star.
The band released several low-key albums for Cherry Red Records during the 1990s, and has been on hiatus since 1998, though Bid has since recorded a number of albums with his new band, Scarlet's Well. The song "He's Frank" appears on the popular tv series "Heroes" in the second season.
The band reunited on 8 October 2008 for a one-off performance at Cherry Red's 30th Anniversary party at Dingwalls, London. It also marked the 30th year of The Monochrome Set. Bid, Andy Warren and Lester Square were joined by Jennifer Denitto (drums) and Sian Dada (keyboards) of Scarlet's Well, and performed 13 songs.
Do you want to know something else about this largely-forgotten band? They were big favourites of both Johnny Marr and Morrissey....and musically and lyrically they were an influence on the Manchester magicians. All sound quite interesting doesn't it???
I've a couple of their old singles in the cupboard full of vinyl thought I'd give you the chance to have a listen. Today's is the band's first single for Cherry Red, released in 1982:-
mp3 : The Monochrome Set - The Mating Game
How can you just not want to dance around the room while singing along???
There's also a cracking but not entirely serious little b-side written about and dedicated to the band's original drummer John Haney who had taken his leave of the band just before they moved across to Cherry Red:-
mp3 : The Monochrome Set - J.D. H.A.N.E.Y.
OK.....it might not be 'cracking' in the sense of a brilliant and memorable song, but as a kiss-off to a mate and former colleague, it takes some beating.
The thing is.....the band played in Glasgow a few months back and I missed them as I only heard about it afterwards. And I'm kicking myself for it.
For all sorts of reasons, I've been struggling to keep up with what's happening musically in 2011. I haven't bought all that much and whereas I used to be an avid reader of blogs and sites that kept me up to date with what was happening, I just haven't done it at all this year. I reckon this time in 2010 I had been to maybe 30-40 gigs of all shapes and sizes. In 2011, I'm still waiting to get along to my first one.
Must get my act in gear..........
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