blancmange = best "forgotten" eighties band?

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very recently i got one of blancmange's best-ofs, and i've been very impressed by the VERY high quality. except for ILM freaks and maybe some UK folks, they seem to have been forgotten (or, over here in the USA, never really known in the first place except for maybe "living on the ceiling"). i'll develop more fully my reasons later, but they deserve better than oblivion!

― Eisbär (llamasfur), Friday, 13 February 2004 17:27 (twenty-two years ago)

everything's nice, yes?

http://image.allmusic.com/00/amg/pic200_web/drp000/p046/p04617r7g35.jpg

― Eisbär (llamasfur), Friday, 13 February 2004 17:28 (twenty-two years ago)

The band that legendarily caused Julian Cope to freak out more/break up the Teardrops/quit music/all of the above.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Friday, 13 February 2004 17:29 (twenty-two years ago)

i'm ignorant of this story, ned? please tell!

― Eisbär (llamasfur), Friday, 13 February 2004 17:30 (twenty-two years ago)

That is the story! I'll have to reread the Head-On biography some -- I vaguely recall him waking up in Tamworth, seeing them on the TV, getting annoyed realizing they were on his label and deciding to hide for a while.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Friday, 13 February 2004 17:32 (twenty-two years ago)

From the final page of Head On:

Dave Balfe played me the Blancmange album and told me it was like Scott Walker. Fuck off, no way. Blancmange were this terrible middle-class duo. The singer sung heavy fake depression songs, but smiled on TV like it was a joke.

At home in Tamworth, I burned the album sleeve on the cooker, then skated around the kitchen on the record before taking a knife to it. Then I pinned the whole mess on the wall, where it stayed forever as a symbol of my guilt.

― fortunate hazel (f. hazel), Friday, 13 February 2004 17:48 (twenty-two years ago)

Ah, there we go.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Friday, 13 February 2004 17:50 (twenty-two years ago)

thay were good for something then.

― jed_ (jed), Friday, 13 February 2004 17:55 (twenty-two years ago)

"Dave Balfe played me the Blur album and told it was like The Teardrop Explodes. Fuck off, no way."

― fortunate hazel (f. hazel), Friday, 13 February 2004 18:07 (twenty-two years ago)

I adore "Living on the Ceiling".

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Friday, 13 February 2004 22:27 (twenty-two years ago)

"2-2-3-3-9"

― Donna Brown (Donna Brown), Saturday, 14 February 2004 00:05 (twenty-two years ago)

Maybe Blancmange inspired Bill Drummond to form a duo then, seeing their effect on poor Droolian.

― donut bitch (donut), Saturday, 14 February 2004 00:18 (twenty-two years ago)

(seeing that Drummond wrote a song called "Julian Cope Is Dead" and all)

― donut bitch (donut), Saturday, 14 February 2004 00:18 (twenty-two years ago)

Blancmange were great. But the best "forgotten" 80s band remains Thompson Twins.

Also, I just got to listen to the debut album by Visage for the first time. Great stuff.

― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Saturday, 14 February 2004 02:53 (twenty-two years ago)

Blancmange are way more of a forgotten band than the Thompson Twins. The `Mange never had a hit as massive as "Hold Me Now," nor did their songs ever grace a John Hughes film.

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Saturday, 14 February 2004 03:07 (twenty-two years ago)

But Blancmange were featured in the movie D.A.R.Y.L.L. as the strange video music band that our protagnist was analyzing.

― donut bitch (donut), Saturday, 14 February 2004 03:18 (twenty-two years ago)

five months pass...

Reviving to state that I've recently gotten VERY addicted to several Blancmange songs (like this would be a surprise! *wink*), namely "That's Love, That It Is", "Blind Vision", "Feel Me", "Wasted", "Don't Tell Me" (which was the first Blancmange song I ever heard, a few years back), "I Can See It", "Living on the Ceiling", and "Game Above My Head". Because this almost adds up to an entire album, I decided several days ago to go ahead and order (from Amazon) Mange Tout. Now, being that there should be at least a couple of people who could help me further my Blancmange love, would you recommend I go ahead and order Happy Families next month like I was thinking I might want to do? Or do you think I should just settle with the aforementioned second album? Or do you think I was horribly wrong in ordering this album and that I should've gone with the best-of? And which best-of would you have recommended? I know they had two of them -- one of them was a simple one-disc affair and the other was a two-disc extravaganza. Thanks!

― Many Coloured Halo (Dee the Lurker), Monday, 9 August 2004 06:23 (twenty-one years ago)

the correct answer is The Associates!

― Dan Selzer (Dan Selzer), Monday, 9 August 2004 06:35 (twenty-one years ago)

who cares. this revival is worth it just savour "The `Mange" (oo-er).
cheers Alex!

― Krankenhaus, Monday, 9 August 2004 07:05 (twenty-one years ago)

the correct answer is Tuxedomoon!

― Baaderoni (Fabfunk), Monday, 9 August 2004 07:22 (twenty-one years ago)

the one song Happy Families has that you didn't mention is 'I Can't Explain', which might just be enough. and it has an amazing cover.

― (Jon L), Monday, 9 August 2004 07:29 (twenty-one years ago)

I must adnit that I can't recall any Blancmange songs except Living on the Ceiling. Incidentally, where did they nick the instrumental part of the song from? It sounds kinda Middle Eastern to me.

― MarkH (MarkH), Monday, 9 August 2004 07:30 (twenty-one years ago)

and .. Living on the Ceiling is now featured in a fine UK advert for Clarkes i think .. and yes their first lp was ace . i recall liking the second album for a while .. and somewhere buried deep is my cd copy of the third album 'believe you me' that i have no recollection of .. (time to dig in the archive ) - despite Copes hatred i actually thought happy familes was ace album ..

― mark e (mark e), Monday, 9 August 2004 07:37 (twenty-one years ago)

i still think franz' "take me out" sounds like "living on the ceiling"

― purple patch (electricsound), Monday, 9 August 2004 07:39 (twenty-one years ago)

the first issue of happy families is ace. has the no orchestra version of 'waves'blancmange were ace upto the don't tell me / day before you came era. and if you look at the back cover of 'living on the ceiling' you'll notice our protagonists with a tr 606 and a tb 303. 'feel me' is quite simply fantastic.

― frenchbloke (frenchbloke), Monday, 9 August 2004 07:43 (twenty-one years ago)

ok. i was wrong .. checked on the third album .. 'whats your problem' with its simple early Depeche Mode style synth pop, the majestic 'why dont they leave us alone', the weird and wonderful '22339', and several others that really work well - yes a fine electro-pop album .. is mange tout available on cd as proper album or its it all cheesy compilations - BTW .. no idea re the diff versions of Happy Family as i had a tape version .. and no longer can listen to it as the tape died .. but the cover was superb ..whcih cannot be said for 'believe you me' ..

― mark e (mark e), Monday, 9 August 2004 07:56 (twenty-one years ago)

my favorite louis wain image ever: http://www.lilitu.com/catland/gallery/wallpaper.shtml

― (Jon L), Monday, 9 August 2004 08:00 (twenty-one years ago)

I Know What It Means To Work Hard On Machines

― tintin, Monday, 9 August 2004 09:43 (twenty-one years ago)

the thompson twins never bettered 'love on your side' or 'in the name of love' and if anyone can point me in the direction of where i can hear the irene and mavis ep by blancmange i'd be a very happy man indeed

― frenchbloke (frenchbloke), Monday, 9 August 2004 10:03 (twenty-one years ago)

I loved "Don't Tell Me" so much. One of the many singles I ran out and bought after hearing it on my local Danbury,CT college radio station. Along with Tin Tin, Ebn Ozn, Maurice & The Cliches, Burning Sensations, Suburban Lawns, Wide Boy Awake, Passion Puppets, and a million other bands.

― scott seward (scott seward), Monday, 9 August 2004 11:43 (twenty-one years ago)

> Incidentally, where did they nick the instrumental part of
> the song from? It sounds kinda Middle Eastern to me.

What makes you think they nicked it? There's no reason why they couldn't have composed it themselves.

― Palomino (Palomino), Monday, 9 August 2004 19:20 (twenty-one years ago)

Sez AMG, of Mange Tout, "The album's closer — a synth-heavy, nearly eight-minute take on Abba's The Day Before You Came — isn't terrible, just inexplicable."

In fact, it is perfectly explicable: it's a masterstroke, a work of genius. Neil Arthur's lugubrious but deadpan baritone, so quintessentially English, is the perfect medium for this, one of the most gorgeously melancholy songs in the pop canon.

― Palomino (Palomino), Monday, 9 August 2004 19:37 (twenty-one years ago)

Neil Arthur lived on my road in Peckham.

― Alba (Alba), Monday, 9 August 2004 20:52 (twenty-one years ago)

"I've seen the word" is good!

― Queen Electric Butt Prober BZZT!! BZZZZZT!! (Queen Electric Butt Prober BZZ), Tuesday, 10 August 2004 12:47 (twenty-one years ago)

FREUR

― Velveteen Bingo (Chris V), Tuesday, 10 August 2004 12:48 (twenty-one years ago)

I'm anticipating the arrival of Mange Tout even MORE now. Thank you, Palomino and co.! (BTW, Palomino, LOVE your username, for fannish reasons we won't get into now.)

the one song Happy Families has that you didn't mention is 'I Can't Explain', which might just be enough. and it has an amazing cover.

Okay, consider Happy Families already in my "shopping cart" and on its way to being purchased! Thanks for the assistance!

(I'm stuck between wanting to live in a country that would use a Blancmange song in an ad campaign and being grateful I'm not exposed to such a thing, since I cursed out a cell phone provider for using "Talk Talk" in a commercial.)

(Also -- I love the Thompson Twins, too! But they're more poppier than Blancmange, aren't they? Not quite as [deliciously] dark? I would tend to think so.)

(Cool tidbit of info, Alba!)

― Many Coloured Halo (Dee the Lurker), Wednesday, 11 August 2004 08:33 (twenty-one years ago)

seven months pass...

right so why can i not find any blancmange songs on slsk?
like, none at all.

and yep i'm even spelling it right.

― piscesboy, Sunday, 20 March 2005 22:33 (twenty-one years ago)

Someone do a YSI

― The Brainwasher (Twilight), Sunday, 20 March 2005 22:47 (twenty-one years ago)

I like Blancmange, but they were more of a singles band than an albums band. There are other "forgotten" 80s albums that hold up better, such as Visage's excellent debut album from 1980, for instance.

― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Sunday, 20 March 2005 22:52 (twenty-one years ago)

Best "forgotten" eighties band = BELFEGORE

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Sunday, 20 March 2005 22:54 (twenty-one years ago)

...as much as i want to chime in on the Belfegore suggestion,i have to throw TV21 & modern eon as other eighties bands sadly unissued on cd ,hence forgotten. also,the first lucy show album is a keeper too.

― william (william), Sunday, 20 March 2005 23:59 (twenty-one years ago)

One thing that is certainly and undoubtedly classic is this album cover art:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v400/SkiLauf/happy.jpg

― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Monday, 21 March 2005 00:19 (twenty-one years ago)

that IS great cover art -- thanks, geir!

― Eisbär (llamasfur), Tuesday, 29 March 2005 05:44 (twenty-one years ago)

there is a picture disk of it too. i had the promo poster as well. 5 foot by 3 foot of cat fun

― frenchbloke (frenchbloke), Tuesday, 29 March 2005 06:02 (twenty-one years ago)

Speaking of great Blancmange cover art, I had this on a T-shirt:
http://affleckonline.co.uk/blancmange/covers/covers_singles/1983_blindvision/07inch/blind%20vision%20-%207inch%20-%20eng%20-%20blanc5%20-%20front.jpg

― mike t-diva (mike t-diva), Tuesday, 29 March 2005 07:28 (twenty-one years ago)

ooh, did you have the blank vinyl version - limited edition clear vinyl (even the label was cler) 7" ? still not heard that version yet

― frenchbloke (frenchbloke), Tuesday, 29 March 2005 13:15 (twenty-one years ago)

six years pass...

I love Blancmange's first three albums... they had some fantastic songs IMHO: 'God's Kitchen', 'Feel Me', 'I've Seen The Word', 'Waves'... and those are just some of their more well-known tracks from their debut! Some lesser known favourites of mine include the lovely 'Time Became The Tide' and my favourite Blancmange song of all: 'Why Don't They Leave Things Alone?'. Their second album 'Mange Tout' has a couple of real WTF moments on it that I really love... 'Murder' and 'All Things Are Nice'.

― Turrican, Friday, 4 November 2011 13:08 (fourteen years ago)

I haven't heard their latest one, though.

― Turrican, Friday, 4 November 2011 13:09 (fourteen years ago)

Oh shit, and who could forget some great B-sides they did... 'Running Thin' being a particular favourite. 'On Our Way To?' as well never fails to raise a smile as well... just getting lost in the groove (for want of a better word) and this loud 'POINNGGGG!' noise just comes out of nowhere.

― Turrican, Friday, 4 November 2011 13:11 (fourteen years ago)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gWz1rel7udk

― Turrican, Friday, 4 November 2011 13:13 (fourteen years ago)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WEn_oClYrxo

― Turrican, Friday, 4 November 2011 13:18 (fourteen years ago)

my favourite Blancmange song of all: 'Why Don't They Leave Things Alone?'

Mine, too. "I saw a friend drift by my window..."

Waiting for the U.S. release date for "Blanc Burn", so it can join the other albums in my stacks.

― the body of a spider... (scampering alpaca), Friday, 4 November 2011 13:26 (fourteen years ago)

I don't do this that often but...

I interviewed Blancmange earlier this year. Lovely chaps.

― Conan The Asshander (Doran), Friday, 4 November 2011 13:55 (fourteen years ago)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I7mffiFmPiI

― Michael B Higgins (Michael B), Friday, 4 November 2011 14:37 (fourteen years ago)

I don't do this that often but...
I interviewed Blancmange earlier this year. Lovely chaps.
― Conan The Asshander (Doran), Friday, November 4, 2011 1:55 PM (7 hours ago) Bookmark

Cheers for this, Doran - haven't seen this before. Going to give it a good read now!

― Turrican, Friday, 4 November 2011 21:35 (fourteen years ago)

one year passes...

THAT'S LOVE! LOVE! LOVE! LOVE! LOVE! THAT IT IS!

― I wanna live like C'MOWN! people (Turrican), Friday, 23 August 2013 18:09 (twelve years ago)

Just read most of this thread thinking OP was right. Then I realized the song I thought they did, Nowhere Girl, was by B-Movie. Nowhere Girl is better than any Blancmange song.

― brotherlovesdub, Friday, 23 August 2013 19:07 (twelve years ago)

80s

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51sRI4n0kEL.jpg

― The Bridges of Witchy Woman (Eazy), Friday, 23 August 2013 19:20 (twelve years ago)

one year passes...

Neil Arthur lived on my road in Peckham.

nope, he lives in stroud, i.e. my neck of the woods.

and fuck it, happy families sounds better now than ever.

love it.

― mark e, Thursday, 2 October 2014 22:49 (eleven years ago)

oops .. meant to say : not now , he lives in ..

hey ho.

― mark e, Thursday, 2 October 2014 22:50 (eleven years ago)

not heard WAVES in over 10 years ..

bloody hell, how good is this ?

quick answer : very.

― mark e, Thursday, 2 October 2014 22:58 (eleven years ago)

Yeah, 'Waves' rules, love the strings on that.

― Welcome To (Turrican), Thursday, 2 October 2014 23:14 (eleven years ago)

waves : it's too epic for a basic 80s pop tune ..

quite shocked.

also, edsel needed to print up more of the cd reissues, given that they are now stupid £££, meaning i had to resort to a digital only version.

which is probably a first for me.

― mark e, Thursday, 2 October 2014 23:17 (eleven years ago)

question : did anyone get the recent remake of happy families that the band issued ?

― mark e, Thursday, 9 October 2014 17:43 (eleven years ago)

ten years pass...

I'm oop the bluddy tree

― Please play Lou Reed's irritating guitar sounds (Tom D.), Saturday, 21 December 2024 17:24 (one year ago)

Blind Vision is their best track. It’s taken me the best part of four decades to work it out.

― Doran, Sunday, 22 December 2024 00:02 (one year ago)

Game Above My Head would like a word

― groovypanda, Sunday, 22 December 2024 13:52 (one year ago)

one month passes...

https://media.brooklynvegan.com/xxrzsfjkyw/uploads/2025/02/11/blancmange-tour.jpg

― Bee OK, Wednesday, 12 February 2025 03:33 (one year ago)

seven months pass...

RIP Stephen Luscombe. Glad they came back and did some pretty good new work and not just end up on the 80s nostalgia tip. First album is an all timer for me.

― Dan Worsley, Sunday, 14 September 2025 13:43 (six months ago)

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