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Biography
Infobox musical artist | | name = Blancmange| image =| caption =| background = group_or_band| alias =| origin = Harrow, Middlesex , England| genre = New Wave music|New Wave Synthpop Alternative dance | years_active = 1979–1987 2006–present| label = London Records|London , Sire Records|Sire | associated_acts = The West India Company| website = url|blancmange.co.uk| current_members = Neil Arthur Stephen Luscombe| past_members = Laurence StevensBlancmange are a United Kingdom|British synthpop band (music)|band who came to prominence with a string of chart-topper|hits in the early to mid 1980s.
Biography
Blancmange was formed in Harrow, Middlesex in 1979 by singer Neil Arthur (born 15 June 1958, Darwen , Lancashire ) and instrumentalist s Stephen Luscombe (born 29 October 1954, Hillingdon , Middlesex ) and Laurence Stevens. Stevens left shortly after the band were formed and Arthur and Luscombe continued as a duo. The duet (music)|duo released their first Extended play|EP "Irene and Mavis" the following year, but had their first real exposure via a track on the seminal Some Bizzare Album , alongside fellow musician|acts Soft Cell and Depeche Mode . This led to them signing a recording contract with London Records .
Blancmange supported Nash the Slash on a London nightclub|club tour in October and November 1980. Nash introduced the band to the Virgin Records|Virgin subsidiary record label DinDisc , but they were ultimately signed by London Records, in 1982.
The duo found minor success with their 1982 A-side and B-side#Double_A-side|double A-sided single (music)|single , "God's Kitchen"/"I've Seen The Word" which peaked at no.65 in the UK. This was followed by "Feel Me" which peaked at no.46. Later that year, they broke through with " Living on the Ceiling ", which reached no.7 in the UK Singles Chart . Their debut album, Happy Families (album)|Happy Families (which featured a album cover|sleeve painting in the style of Louis Wain ) also reached the top 30.
Further hits followed with "Waves" (no.19), "Blind Vision" (no.10), "That's Love That It Is" (no.33) and "Don't Tell Me" (no.8), while their second album Mange Tout also reached no.8 in the UK album chart. In 1984, Blancmange covered ABBA 's single " The Day Before You Came#Cover versions|The Day Before You Came ", which reached no.22 in the UK (slightly higher than Abba's original less than two years earlier). But after this, the band's fortunes declined. Their 1985 single "What's Your Problem" only reached no.40, and the subsequent album Believe You Me spent only two weeks in the UK Albums Chart , peaking at no.54. Blancmange formally split up in 1987.
Luscombe released an album of India n influenced music New Demons with Pandit Dinesh, Peter Culshaw, Priya Khajuria and Asha Bhosle under the name West India Company, in 1989. Meanwhile, Arthur released a solo album, Suitcase (Neil Arthur album)|Suitcase , in 1994.
Following a gap of a quarter of a century, Blancmange released their fourth studio album Blanc Burn in March 2011.
Discography
Studio albums
Happy Families (album)|Happy Families (1982) UK Albums Chart|UK #30
"God's Kitchen"/"I've Seen the Word" (1982) UK Singles Chart|UK #65
"Feel Me" (1982) UK #46
" Living on the Ceiling " (1982) UK #7 Hot Dance Club Songs|US Hot Dance Club Songs #52
"Waves" (1983) UK #19
" Blind Vision " (1983) UK #10 Hot Dance Club Songs|US Hot Dance Club Songs #3
"That's Love That It Is" (1983) UK #33 Hot Dance Club Songs|US Hot Dance Club Songs #16
"Don't Tell Me" (1984) UK #8 US Hot Dance Club Songs #44
"The Day Before You Came" (1984) UK #22
"What's Your Problem? " (1985) UK #40
"Lose Your Love" (1985) UK #77 Hot Dance Club Songs #2
"I Can See It" (1986) UK #71
"Drive Me" (2011) UK Download onlycite book
| first= David | last= Roberts | year= 2006 | title= British Hit Singles & Albums | edition= 19th | publisher= Guinness World Records Limited | location= London | pages= 62 | isbn= 1-904994-10-5
Radio Session tracks
"I Would"
"Living on the Ceiling"
"Waves"
"Running Thin"
Recorded for a February 1982 Peel Session show. http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio1/johnpeel/sessions/1980s/1982/Feb13blancmange/ BBC John Peel Sessions – Blancmange. Retrieved 29 August 2006.
In media
In the 1986 in film|1986 Science fiction|Sci-Fi film Flight Of The NavigatorBlancmange appear on David's Television|TV with the music video for "Lose Your Love" when he is introduced to music videos by Carolyn, played by a young Sarah Jessica Parker .
In 2000 "Living On The Ceiling" was sampled by the Germany|German techno group Scooter (band)|Scooter on the song "Kashmir", from the album Back to the Heavyweight Jam|Back To The Heavyweight Jam .
During the 1980s and through the late 1990s the main theme of "Living On The Ceiling" was used as the intro for the Arabic news program on Israel|Israel's channel 1 (Israel)|Channel One television.
An instrumental version of the song "Blind Vision" by Blancmange is used for the closing credits of the 1985 B-movie Avenging Angel .
"Don't Tell Me" plays during the club scene in the 1987 thriller No Man's Land (1987 film)|No Man's Land , starring Charlie Sheen and written by Law & Order|Law & Order's Dick Wolf .
Faithless remixed "Feel Me" for their 2010 release The Dance (Faithless album)|The Dance .
References
Reflist Blancmange DEFAULTSORT:Blancmange (Band) Category:British New Wave musical groups Category:Musical groups established in 1979 Category:1979 establishments in the United Kingdom Category:Musical groups disestablished in 1987 Category:Musical groups reestablished in 2006 Category:Sire Records artists
