Monochrome set love zombies2/10/2024 ![]() The tracks were produced by then Vibrators guitarist John Ellis (The Vibrators’ first live show was at Hornsey College of Art), another former member of Bazooka Joe. ![]() Also released that year was an EP of their first demos, recorded in April 1978. This pedigree took them to Rough Trade, who issued their first three singles in 1979. In short, it's a lineage directly tracking back into the earliest, artiest roots of British punk rock. The first version of Monochrome Set began playing live in February 1978. Up to late 1979 Warren had been in The Ants, who he left to join The Monochrome Set. Earlier, Bid and long-term Monochrome Set bassist Andy Warren had been recording together from 1975. ![]() Bid and Monochrome Set guitarist Lester Square were in The B-Sides alongside Adam (Bid and Adam were at Hornsey College of Art – members of The Raincoats, Slits and Wire also went there). The band evolved from The B-Sides, Adam Ant’s pre-Ants band, which he formed after seeing Sex Pistols in 1975 – he instantly left Bazooka Joe, the band he was then in, when the Pistols supported them and formed the new band in 1976. However they were promoted, The Monochrome Set were unlikely to be a good fit with the mainstream. Presumably, Virgin had found The Monochrome Set’s commercial worth wanting.Ĭonsidering their history, this was unsurprising. Unlike OMD, they did not transfer over to Virgin when Dindisc shut-up shop. Ultimately, they ended up with Cherry Red Records. There were radio sessions, an Old Grey Whistle Test appearance on TV, two UK tours (one in May, the second in October/November), continental European dates in September and a US tour the following month (they’d already played the US in September 1979).Īfter Dindisc folded, The Monochrome Set recorded demos for EMI in March 1981, issued one single for the Charisma sub-label Pre in July 1981 and in December 1981 made further trial recordings for the independent label Do It. ![]() Once signed, The Monochrome Set worked hard in 1980 to promote themselves. Despite its new wave inclinations, Dindisc also had the metal band Dedringer on its books. The label was extant from Autumn 1979 to early 1981 and its main successes were Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark and Martha and the Muffins’ “Echo Beach” single. However they were promoted, The Monochrome Set were never going to be a mainstream bandīoth albums were originally issued by Dindisc, a subsidiary of Virgin Records run by the head of the parent imprint’s music publishing arm. Unfortunately, the prurient subject matter of “Ici Les Enfants” has not worn well. Song titles like “The Puerto Rican Fence Climber” and “The Etcetera Stroll” ram home the idiosyncrasy. Lyrics reference arty European cinema, Beatnik preoccupations, Fifties coffee bars, the impeding nuclear apocalypse, psychedelic drugs, religion and sex. There is the odd misstep, like the inferior re-recording of their 1979 single “The Monochrome Set (I Presume)” but both albums are stuffed with arch lyrics, dynamic performances and memorably strong songs. Love Zombies was produced by Alvin Clark, who had engineered Strange Boutique. Strange Boutique was produced by Bob Sergeant, who had done the same job when the band recorded for the John Peel Show. Although both were thin sounding, the melange of influences and eccentric approach has ensured that time has not eroded their vitality. The distinctiveness of the two albums ensures they remain fresh. Singer Bid’s voice was lounge-singer lugubrious and still is. There’s also a surreal mind-set akin to that which had surfaced on odder Beatles’ White Album songs like "The Continuing Story of Bungalow Bill" and "Rocky Raccoon". Bossa Nova, jazzy instrumentals, Hank Marvin-style guitar and nods to Ennio Morricone were in there too. The April 1980 B-side “Surfing S.W.12” was an “I’m Waiting For the Man” rewrite. They were indeed indebted to the Velvets and, in 1979, their single “He’s Frank” repurposed the VU’s “Foggy Notion” (then only available on a bootleg EP). Their reappearance helps emphasise The Monochrome Set’s offbeat character. Strange Boutique, the debut, and its follow-up Love Zombies are newly reissued. Further confirmation of their slipperiness came in October 1980 when a second album was released. A combination of raised-eyebrow archness and dolefulness confirmed the band was setting-out its own path. The April 1980 New Musical Express review of The Monochrome Set’s debut album wasn’t entirely favourable but it captured the difficulty of getting to grips with the band.
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