Name	Visage
Background	group_or_band
Origin	London, England
Genre	Synthpop, New Romantic, Electronic, New Wave
Years active	1978–1985, 2004–present
Label	Polydor Records Radar Records
Url	www.myspace.com/visageofficial
Current members	Steve Strange Steven Young Sandrine Gouriou Rosie Harris Ross Tregenza
Past members	Rusty Egan Midge Ure Billy Currie John McGeoch Dave Formula Gary Barnacle Steve Barnacle Andy Barnett

Visage are a British New Wave band. Formed in 1978, the band became closely linked to the burgeoning New Romantic fashion movement of the early 1980s.

History

New Wave years (1978–1985)

Founder members Steve Strange and Rusty Egan were hosting club nights at Blitz nightclub in Great Queen Street, London at the time and were eager to find new music to play, ultimately opting to create music themselves. Strange commented about the meaning of the band's name: "The meaning of Visage, apart from being French for face, is that the Vis is for the visual side of the band... and the Age is the new age in dance music. That's how I see it."

Initially, the band was composed of Strange, Egan and Midge Ure. Ure and Egan began working with Strange during their last days with band The Rich Kids, with Strange himself being at a loose end after leaving the new wave band The Photons. The trio recorded a demo which included a cover of the Zager and Evans hit "In the Year 2525". Ultravox's multi-instrumentalist Billy Currie and the core of post-punk band Magazine – guitarist John McGeoch and keyboardist Dave Formula – joined the studio-only band later (Magazine's bassist Barry Adamson also played a minor role in the recording sessions though was not officially listed as a band member on any of Visage's record releases). Visage signed to Radar Records and released their first single, "Tar", in September 1979. The single failed to chart, but the band managed to secure a deal with a larger record company (Polydor) the following year.

December 1980 saw the release of their second single, "Fade to Grey". The single became a huge hit in early 1981, making the top ten in the UK and several other countries, and reaching no.1 in Germany and Switzerland. It was quickly followed by the release of their self-titled debut album which was also a chart success.

After further Top 40 hits with "Mind of a Toy" and the title track "Visage", Strange struggled to reunite the band's members again to record a second album because of their commitments with their respective bands (Ure and Currie with Ultravox, Formula with Magazine, and McGeoch with Siouxsie and the Banshees). However, in the autumn of 1981 all musicians (except McGeoch) went into the studio again and recorded The Anvil. The album was released in March 1982 and became Visage's first (and only) UK top ten album, producing two top twenty singles with "The Damned Don't Cry" and "Night Train". The Anvil earned a Silver disc in the UK, as did the band's first album.

Following this, Ure left the band to concentrate on his work with Ultravox, who were by now becoming even more successful than Visage were. Creative differences with Strange were also cited as reasons for his departure at the time. Visage, now without Ure and Adamson (who continued collaborating with Pete Shelley, and joined The Birthday Party) but with the addition of bassist Steve Barnacle, recorded the stand-alone single "Pleasure Boys", which was released in October 1982. Unfortunately, the single failed to prolong their string of hits and peaked just outside the UK top 40.

Although still recording, Visage then took a two year hiatus from releasing any new material due to contractual difficulties. Polydor issued a "best of" compilation in 1983; Fade to Grey - The Singles Collection which included all of the singles released to date and the previously unreleased "In The Year 2525". Limited quantities of the album were issued with a free "Pleasure Boys" 7" picture disc single, whereas the cassette version of the album featured remixes of the singles. Although the album was certified Gold in the UK for pre-release sales to stores, it only peaked at no.38 after its release in November 1983.

With their contractual problems resolved, 1984 saw the return of Visage for what would become their third and final album to date. Beat Boy was released in September 1984 but was a critical and commercial failure, peaking at #79 in the UK. Two singles from the album; "Love Glove" and "Beat Boy" also failed to make the UK top 40. By this time, Billy Currie and Dave Formula had also departed the band (though they received a "special thanks" credit on the album sleeve for their input), leaving only Strange and Egan from the original line-up along with newer musicians Steve & Gary Barnacle and Andy Barnett. A decision to make Visage a live band instead of a strictly studio-based project also failed to meet with success and the band subsequently split in 1985. Their final release was a Visage VHS video compilation of the band's renowned promotional videos and also included footage of Strange's trip to North Africa the year before. The compilation does not, however, include the original video for the "Love Glove" single which was filmed at a late-night Dockland location in London in 1984.

Following the demise of Visage, Strange then formed the short-lived band Strange Cruise. They were signed to EMI and released two singles; these being "Rebel Blue Rocker" and a cover version of Sonny and Cher's "And The Beat Goes On". Neither of these singles made the charts. The band also released one album in 1986, though this too proved unsuccessful. Visage returned to the charts once more when a Bassheads remix of "Fade to Grey" was a UK Top 40 hit in 1993.

Second incarnation (2004-present)

Steve Strange reappeared on the music scene in 2002, after several years of battling a heroin addiction. Strange performed several Visage songs on the "Here and Now Xmas Tour" — a revival of 1980s musicians. Some time after the performance, noting he still had a fanbase, Strange decided to launch a "Mark II" of Visage with people from several electronic bands and projects: Steven Young, Sandrine Gouriou and Rosie Harris from Seize and Ross Tregenza from Jetstream Lovers/Goteki. After the announcement of the formation of the new line-up and several television appearances, plans for reworking old material and releasing a new record have made slow progress. An updated version of Fade To Grey was produced in 2005 and Strange recorded the first "Visage mark II" original track, "In the Dark", as part of electroduo Punx Soundcheck's debut double album When Machines Ruled the World. The album was released in Europe in Summer 2006.

In 2007, another new song entitled "Diary Of A Madman" was recorded. Written by Strange with Visage mk II member Ross Tregenza, the track was co-produced by original Visage member Dave Formula . This song was made available for download from their official website in return for a donation to the charity Children in Need.

The long-since deleted Visage VHS video collection was repackaged for release on DVD in Summer 2006, though it was mistakenly titled Visage Live.

In 2008, Strange (and Visage II keyboardist Sandrine Gouriou) made an appearance in the BBC series, Ashes to Ashes which is set in 1981. In it, they performed the song "Fade to Grey" in a scene set in the "Blitz" nightclub.

In 2009, Strange and Egan appeared in Living TV's Pop Goes the Band, a series in which pop stars from the 1980s are given a complete makeover in return for a one-off performance. The Visage episode aired on 16 March 2009, and was the first time that the two men had spoken in over 20 years. The episode focussed (like others in the series) more on getting them fit in the gym than on the current state of their relationship, though they appeared to get on well enough. At the culmination of the episode, they performed "Fade to Grey".

In 2010, new remixes of "Fade to Grey" were produced by club DJs Michael Gray and Lee Mortimer to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the song. The remixes have been included on a new compilation album, The Face - The Very Best of Visage, which was released in March 2010.

Discography

Visage (1980)

The Anvil (1982)

Beat Boy (1984)

Media

This section includes music samples of several Visage tracks:

References

External links

BBC biography on Steve Strange

Category:English electronic music groups Category:Musical groups from London Category:British New Wave musical groups Category:Musical groups established in 1978 Category:1980s music groups

Name	Midge Ure
Background	solo_singer
Birth name	James Ure
Born	October 10, 1953 Cambuslang, Lanarkshire, Scotland
Genre	New Romantic, soft rock, punk rock, hard rock, synthpop, New Wave
Occupation	Singer-songwriter, musician, producer
Instrument	Vocals, guitar, keyboards, synthesizer
Years active	1972–present
Associated acts	Slik, The Rich Kids, Visage, Thin Lizzy, Ultravox, Band Aid
Url	Official website
Notable instruments	Fender Stratocaster Yamaha SG 2000 Ibanez Roadstar RS125

James "Midge" Ure, OBE (born 10 October 1953) is a Scottish guitarist, singer, keyboard player, and songwriter. He enjoyed particular success in the 1970s and 1980s in bands including Slik, Thin Lizzy, The Rich Kids, Visage, and most notably as frontman of Ultravox. Ure co-wrote and produced the charity single "Do They Know It's Christmas?" and co-organised Band Aid, Live Aid and Live 8 with Bob Geldof. He twice received an Ivor Novello Award with Geldof for co-writing "Do They Know It's Christmas?" Ure acts as trustee for the charity, and serves as ambassador for Save The Children. His stage name, Midge, is a phonetic reversal of Jim, the diminutive form of his real name.

Career

Early years

Born to a working-class family in Cambuslang, Lanarkshire, Scotland, he attended Rutherglen Academy, in Glasgow, until he was 15 years old. After leaving school, Ure began to work as engineer, training at the National Engineering Laboratory, (NEL), in nearby East Kilbride and playing music in a Glasgow band called Stumble (c. 1969 - c. 1971), that included a girl singing duet Christine, Agnes, and on lead guitar John McMenemy, Alan Wright on harmonica Fraser Spiers on bass Kenny Ireland on drums Alec Baird on vocals Gordon Appacellie.

Salvation, Slik and PVC2

Ure joined Salvation as a guitarist in 1972. The band had been formed in Glasgow in June 1970 by the brothers Kevin (vocals) and Jim McGinlay (bass guitar). Kevin McGinlay decided to turn Ure's name backwards to "Midge" to avoid any confusion caused by two members of the band having the same first name. Ure has since presented himself in the music scene as Midge Ure. The band performed covers as house band in the Glasgow discothèque Clouds, the venue for major bands playing on tour in the city. The band also comprised Billy McIsaac on keyboards and Kenny Hyslop on drums.

In April 1974, Kevin McGinlay left to pursue a solo career,

Although Slik were rising in popularity in early 1976, achieving a number one single in February with "Forever And Ever", the band were soon to be out of step with the rising punk rock scene. In early 1977 Jim McGinlay decided to quit the band, being replaced by Russell Webb.

Slik terminated their contract with Martin and Coulter, realising their boy-band image was hindering their chances of success. They changed their name to PVC2 and adopted a more punkish style. Ure's only release with the band under this name was the "Put You In The Picture" single.

The Rich Kids

By October 1977 Ure had left PVC2 to join former Sex Pistol Glen Matlock in The Rich Kids. Ure moved to London and soon found himself immersed in a scene he had previously only read about in the pages of the NME. utilising cinematic techniques and became quite influential. In interview, Ure has recalled the way "[music] video changed after that. All these things that became video clichés – cropping the top and bottom off the screen, shooting on film as opposed to videotape, making it look like a movie ... we were quite a groundbreaking act for a while."

In 1981, Ultravox recorded their second album with Ure as frontman, Rage in Eden, which was also a top 5 hit in the UK. After its release, Ure and Currie reconvened with Visage to record the band's second album, The Anvil. Released in early 1982, the album was a Top 10 hit, but Ure left the band soon after its release, citing creative differences with frontman Steve Strange. The same year saw Ultravox record and release their third album with Ure, Quartet, with production by Beatles' producer George Martin. The album became their third Top 10 hit and featured four Top 20 singles. This period also saw Ure work as a producer for other artists, amongst them Steve Harley, The Skids and Strasse, and in 1982 he also released his first solo single, a cover of the 1968 Tom Rush song "No Regrets" (based on the 1975 hit cover version by The Walker Brothers), which made the UK Top 10.

After the live album Monument in 1983, Ultravox released their fourth studio album with Ure, Lament, in 1984. The album was another Top 10 success and contained the Top 3 hit "Dancing with Tears in My Eyes". The band released their first ever "greatest hits" album at the end of the year, featuring all of the singles from 1980 onwards. The album peaked at no.2 in the UK and was later certified triple platinum.

After Ure's successful debut solo album in 1985, the fifth and final Ultravox album with Ure, U-Vox, was released in 1986. Although another Top 10 hit, the album (and singles) fared less well than their previous releases.

Band Aid

In 1984, Ure co-wrote the Band Aid hit, "Do They Know It's Christmas?" with Bob Geldof. Ure was rehearsing with Ultravox for an episode of the Channel 4 music show The Tube when host Paula Yates handed him the phone. It was her then husband, Geldof, who proceeded, recalls Ure, "to rant on about the Michael Buerk BBC news report on the Ethiopian famine." Geldof provided the initial lyrics, with Ure working the musical theme on a small keyboard in his kitchen. The second half was composed by Ure, with the bridging chorus only assembled in the studio when the artists had gathered. Ure has described the song as one of the worst he has ever written, commenting that "the momentum the artists gave it in the recording studio is what made it".

At the studio recording, Ure also took on the production duties for the song. Although Trevor Horn had been approached to fulfill this role, he needed more time to fulfill his obligations than was available. Ure stepped into the breach, with Horn providing his studio, remixing the track and producing the 12" version. He and Geldof jointly set up the Band Aid Trust, and he remains active as a Band Aid Trustee to this day. He also co-organised the Live Aid concert of 1985 along with Geldof and Harvey Goldsmith. Geldof and Ure have been honoured with two Ivor Novello awards for writing the song.

Solo career

After working on the Band Aid project and during a hiatus from Ultravox, Ure pursued a solo career in 1985. The single, "If I Was", was a UK number one single, and his debut album, The Gift, reached #2. After returning to Ultravox for what would be their final album together, the band effectively disbanded in 1987 and Ure concentrated solely on his solo career but with less success. The albums Answers to Nothing (1988) and Pure (1991) failed to make the UK top 20. A career retrospective, "If I Was", was released in 1993, while in 1998 the single "Breathe" was a hit in Europe, boosted by its use in a Swatch TV ad campaign. The video was directed by Dani Jacobs.

In 2005, Ure organised Live 8 concerts with Bob Geldof with the aim of pressing G8 leaders into taking action to end world poverty. Later that year he was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for services to music and charity. He has also received four honorary degrees in recent years. He was made an Honorary Doctor of Arts in 2005 by the University of Abertay Dundee for his artistic and charity work over the past 30 years. He was made a Doctor of Music by University of Edinburgh in 2006. In 2007, he received from the University of Paisley his third honorary doctorate, for his contribution to Scottish culture and charity work. In 2008, Glasgow Caledonian University awarded him his fourth honorary doctorate, for his musical and humanitarian achievements.

Ure is an Ambassador for Save the Children and in recent years he has gone back to Ethiopia and visited Sierra Leone in that capacity.

Ure continues to perform his own songs, along with popular Ultravox songs, in concerts both solo, acoustic and with a band. Ultravox briefly reformed in 2009 and undertook a successful tour (as well as appearing at the Isle of Wight 2009 Festival) to celebrate, in their own words, the "anniversary of their classic line-up". There are, however, no plans for new recordings as Ure stated in a BBC interview in April 2009, "we are not trying to get our youth back, nor the hair that's fallen off already". Further concerts in the UK and Europe were scheduled in 2010.

Covers

16 year old Australian-born classical-crossover soprano Grace Bawden released a version of Dear God which she recorded at age 14 and released in November 2008 on her self-titled EP. The track was then included on her Gifts of Grace debut album released in September 2009. One reviewer wrote: "'Dear God', an eighties pop song by Ultravox's Midge Ure is another bizarre choice, and the song is given a just as bizarre arrangement that sounds completely different from the original, but it works...'.

Personal life

Ure resides in a village near Bath. Ure has been married twice: to actress and writer Annabel Giles (with whom he has one daughter, Molly) and to Sheridan Forbes (with whom he has three daughters, Kitty, Ruby and Flossie). Ure's two main passions are music and cooking. He was able to indulge the second of these in the 2007 Celebrity MasterChef series, winning his heat and progressing to the final on 15 June, alongside Nadia Sawalha and Craig Revel Horwood. Although all three competitors greatly impressed the judges, the trophy was won by Sawalha.

Ure is a recovering alcoholic, something he openly admits and discusses in his autobiography If I Was.

Solo discography

Albums

{| class="wikitable" |- ! Year !! Album !! UK !! US !! Label !! Catalogue !! Notes |- | 1985 || The Gift || 2 || - || Chrysalis Music || 0946 CCD 1508 || - |- | 1988 || Answers to Nothing || 30 || 88 || Chrysalis Music || CCD 1649 || - |- | 1991 || Pure || 36 || - || BMG || 261 922 || - |- | 1996 || Breathe || 95 || - || BMG || 74321346292 || - |- | 1996 || The Gift || - || - || Chrysalis Music || CDGOLD 1045 || Expanded reissue with four bonus tracks. |- | 1998 || Answers to Nothing || - || - || Chrysalis Music || 496 8242 || Expanded reissue with four bonus tracks. |- | 2000 || Went To Coney Island On A Mission From God... Be Back By Five || - || - || EvenMore Entertainment || - || Instrumental soundtrack. |- | 2001 || Move Me || - || - || Curb Records || CURCD 100 || - |- | 2006 || Move Me + || - || - || Hypertension || - || Expanded 2CD digipack reissue with bonus tracks. |- | 2008 || 10 || - || - || Hypertension || HYP 8264 || Cover versions album. |- | 2009 || Pure + Breathe || - || - || Edsel Records || EDSD 2034 || Expanded 2CD reissue of both albums with bonus tracks. |}

Compilations & live albums

Live In Concert - (1999, Strange Fruit, SFRSCD086) - Live album recorded at the Manchester Apollo, 12/11/1991.

If I Was: The Very Best Of Midge Ure & Ultravox - (1993, Chrysalis Records Ltd) (#10 UK Albums Chart) - Compilation album.

If I Was: The Very Best Of Midge Ure & Ultravox - (1993, Chrysalis Records Ltd, f2 21995) - US version with three bonus tracks.

No Regrets: The Very Best Of Midge Ure - (2000, EMI Records Ltd, 528 5622) - Compilation album comprising studio and live sets.

A Glorious Noise - 'Breathe' Live - (2001, Environment Records, ENVCD 001) - Live album. Released exclusively via the web site.

The Very Best Of Midge Ure & Ultravox - (2001, EMI Records Ltd, 535 8112) - Compilation album.

Little Orphans - (2001, Environment Records, ENVCD 002) - Unreleased tracks. Released exclusively via the web site.

Intimate Moments: 12–22 April 2002 - (2002, Environment Records, ENV03) - Live album. Released exclusively via the web site.

One Night In Scotland: 21 Nov 1988 - (2002, Environment Records, ENV04) - Live album. Released exclusively via the web site.

Once Upon A Time In America - (2003, Environment Records, ENV05) - Live album (CD & VCD). Released exclusively via the web site.

Septemberfest - (2004, Environment Records, ENV06) - Live album (CD & VCD) recorded in Germany 1996. Released exclusively via the web site.

Re*Live - (2005, Hypertension, HYP 5235) - Live album recorded in 2003 from the UK 'Sampled, Looped And Trigger Happy' tour.

Duet - (2006, Environment Records, ENVCD 009) - Live album with Troy Donockley. Released exclusively via the web site.

A Live Christmas - (2007, Environment Records, ENVCD 010) - Live album recorded at Wembley Arena 23/12/1985. Released exclusively via the web site.

Intimate Moments 2 - (2008, Environment Records, ENV10) - Live album (CD & DVD-R) recorded in Germany 2006 / 2007. Released exclusively via the web site.

Singles

{| class="wikitable" !align="left" valign="top" |Single ! valign="top" width="40"|Year ! valign="top" width="40"|UK Singles Chart ! valign="top" width="40"|US Hot 100 ! valign="top" width="40"|US Modern Rock ! valign="top" width="40"|US Main- stream Rock ! valign="top" |Album |- |align="left" valign="top"|No Regrets |align="center" valign="top"|1982 |align="center" valign="top"|9 |align="center" valign="top"|- |align="center" valign="top"|- |align="center" valign="top"|- |align="left" valign="top"|'' |- |align="left" valign="top"|After a Fashion (with Mick Karn) |align="center" valign="top"|1983 |align="center" valign="top"|39 |align="center" valign="top"|- |align="center" valign="top"|- |align="center" valign="top"|- |align="left" valign="top"|'' |- |align="left" valign="top"|If I Was |align="center" valign="top" rowspan=2|1985 |align="center" valign="top"|1 |align="center" valign="top"|- |align="center" valign="top"|- |align="center" valign="top"|- |align="left" valign="top" rowspan=3|The Gift |- |align="left" valign="top"|That Certain Smile |align="center" valign="top"|28 |align="center" valign="top"|- |align="center" valign="top"|- |align="center" valign="top"|- |- |align="left" valign="top"|Wastelands |align="center" valign="top" rowspan=2|1986 |align="center" valign="top"|46 |align="center" valign="top"|- |align="center" valign="top"|- |align="center" valign="top"|- |- |align="left" valign="top"|Call of the Wild |align="center" valign="top"|27 |align="center" valign="top"|- |align="center" valign="top"|- |align="center" valign="top"|- |align="left" valign="top"|'' |- |align="left" valign="top"|Answers to Nothing |align="center" valign="top" rowspan=2|1989 |align="center" valign="top"|49 |align="center" valign="top"|- |align="center" valign="top"|26 |align="center" valign="top"|- |align="left" valign="top" rowspan=2|Answers to Nothing |- |align="left" valign="top"|Dear God |align="center" valign="top"|55 |align="center" valign="top"|95 |align="center" valign="top"|4 |align="center" valign="top"|6 |- |align="left" valign="top"|Cold, Cold Heart |align="center" valign="top" rowspan=2|1991 |align="center" valign="top"|17 |align="center" valign="top"|- |align="center" valign="top"|12 |align="center" valign="top"|- |align="left" valign="top" rowspan=2|Pure |- |align="left" valign="top"|I See Hope (In The Morning Light) |align="center" valign="top"|- |align="center" valign="top"|- |align="center" valign="top"|- |align="center" valign="top"|- |- |align="left" valign="top"|Breathe |align="center" valign="top" rowspan=2|1996 |align="center" valign="top"|70 |align="center" valign="top"|- |align="center" valign="top"|- |align="center" valign="top"|- |align="left" valign="top" rowspan=2|Breathe |- |align="left" valign="top"|Guns and Arrows |align="center" valign="top"|166 |align="center" valign="top"|- |align="center" valign="top"|- |align="center" valign="top"|- |- |align="left" valign="top"|You Move Me |align="center" valign="top" rowspan=2|2001 |align="center" valign="top"|- |align="center" valign="top"|- |align="center" valign="top"|- |align="center" valign="top"|- |align="left" valign="top" rowspan=2|Move Me |- |align="left" valign="top"|Beneath a Spielberg Sky |align="center" valign="top"|- |align="center" valign="top"|- |align="center" valign="top"|- |align="center" valign="top"|- |- |}

References

External links

Official website

Midge Ure discography @ Discogs.com

Listings of all Ultravox albums and music sampler

Final Rich Kids concert, and photos

Category:1953 births Category:Living people Category:Scottish pop singers Category:Scottish male singers Category:BRIT Award winners Category:Ivor Novello Award winners Category:Officers of the Order of the British Empire Category:People from Cambuslang Category:Ultravox members Category:Thin Lizzy members

Thierry "Titi" Robin (born 1957 in Angers, Maine-et-Loire, France), is a French musician influenced by gypsy, tzigane and Arabic music, and by the musicians Camaron de la Isla and Iraqi oud player Munir Bashir. Robin plays the guitar, oud, and bouzouki. He has given numerous concerts, in South Africa, the Middle East, and France.

He has frequently collaborated with Gulabi Sapera, who has appeared on several of his albums to lend his distinctive vocals peculiar to gypsy motifs. He has also been involved in extensive collaborations with Erik Marchand, a musician from Brittany focusing on reinterpretations of that region's distinctive Celtic music.

Citations

"L'idée du voyage n'est pas géographique. Ce qui est vraiment important, c'est le voyage intérieur. Celui que l'on fait quand on construit sa vie, sa démarche artistique. Le voyage le plus intense n'est pas sur la route, mais entre nos rêves et ce qu'on arrive à réaliser. Quand je joue de la musique, c'est à ce niveau-là que ça se passe. A La limite, on s'attache au fait que je joue avec des musiciens indiens, gitans, arabes et qu'on voudrait trouver là-dedans un sens à ma démarche, peut-être est-ce un malentendu."

Discography

Gitans, Silex, 1993.

Kali gadji, Silex, 1998.

Un ciel de cuivre, Naïve, 2000.

Rakhi, Naïve, 2002.

Alezane, Naïve, 2004.

Ces vagues que l'amour soulève, Naïve, 2005.

Anita Naïve, 2006.

Kali Sultana Naïve, 2009.

Jaadu: Magic (with Faiz Ali Faiz), 2009.

References

External links

Site officiel

Category:1957 births Category:Living people Category:French musicians Category:Oud players Category:Modal jazz oud players

Name	Steve Strange
Background	solo_singer
Birth name	Steven John Harrington
Born	May 28, 1959
Origin	Newbridge, Monmouthshire
Genre	Punk, New Wave, Synthpop
Years active	1977 - 1986 2004 - present
Label	Polydor Records
Associated acts	The Moors Murderers, The Photos, Visage, Strange Cruise
Url

Steve Strange (born Steven John Harrington, 28 May 1959, Newbridge, South Wales) is a Welsh pop singer, best known as the lead singer and frontman of the 1980s pop group Visage. Since the late 1970s he has also been a prominent nightclub host and promoter.

Biography

Harrington was born in Wales, but moved with his family to Aldershot where his father was serving in the army as a paratrooper. The family moved back to Wales and lived in Rhyl where his parents bought a large guest house and opened sea front cafes. They then divorced and he moved with his mother to Newbridge in South Wales where he attended Newbridge Grammar School. It merged with a secondary school to form Newbridge Comprehensive School a year after he arrived there, and he subsequently lost interest in all subjects but arts.

Career

Punk era

After seeing a Sex Pistols concert at the Stowaway Club in Newport in 1976, Harrington befriended the bass player Glen Matlock. He then arranged gigs for punk bands in his home town and befriended Jean-Jacques Burnel of the Stranglers before leaving for London where he worked for Malcolm McLaren

Later in 1978, Harrington briefly joined the punk/new wave band The Photons (originally from Liverpool) as vocalist and co-songwriter at the behest of David Littler (ex The Spitfire Boys). The band were managed by Punk impresario Andy Czezowski.

Harrington was also the subject of the song "Poseur" by fellow punk band Combat 84 in 1982.

Visage

Shortly after leaving The Photons and now using the alias "Steve Strange", Harrington formed Visage with then Rich Kids members Rusty Egan and Midge Ure. Intended as a studio-based project, they signed to the small label Radar Records and released their first single "Tar" in 1979. The single was not a success, but the following year, Strange appeared in the video for David Bowie's no.1 hit Ashes to Ashes, a song which helped to propel the burgeoning New Romantic movement into the mainstream (although Bowie himself was never associated with it). Later that year, Visage signed a new record deal with the major label Polydor and released their second single, "Fade to Grey". The single became a top 10 hit in the UK and topped the charts in several other countries. Being the public face of the band, Strange shot to stardom in Britain and other parts of Europe, and Visage enjoyed a string of hit singles and two hit albums before later commercial disappointments led to their breakup in 1985.

After the dissolution of Visage, Strange formed the short-lived band Strange Cruise with Wendy Wu and Elite model Leza Cruz, although this outfit failed to recapture the level of success he had enjoyed in the early 1980s.

Club host

In the late 1970s, prior to their success with Visage, Strange and Visage partner Rusty Egan began to make a name for themselves as a nightclub host and DJ respectively at "Blitz" in London. Adhering to Strange's strict door policy of admitting only the weird and wonderful, the club took off and became an essential location in the rise of what would become the New Romantic movement. Following this, Strange and Egan then ran the Camden Palace nightclub for two years, which became one of the most famous venues of the era, attracting major celebrities on a regular basis. However, after conflicts with the financial backers of the club, Strange and Egan left the Camden Palace and moved on to a new club named "The Playground", but this venue was not as successful.

Later in the 1980s, Strange went to Ibiza, Spain and became an integral part of the budding Trance club movement and hosting exotic parties for celebrities such as Sylvester Stallone. In the early 1990s he was the host at the Double Bass club.

Personal life

Strange has always been somewhat ambiguous about his sexuality, although he has made it known he has had relationships with both men and women.

For many years, Strange battled a heroin addiction. In later years he suffered a nervous breakdown and was also arrested for shoplifting. In court, he was found guilty and given a three month suspended sentence as the British media had a field day publicising the case of a pop star who had fallen on hard times.

Recent years

Strange's autobiography Blitzed! was published in 2002. In it, he speaks about his heroin addiction and his nervous breakdown, his sexuality, and the ongoing attempts to get his life back together. Following this, Strange attempted to revive his music career and formed a new version of Visage (dubbed Visage mk II) with various musicians from modern electronic bands (none of the other original members were involved in this new project). With a plan to re-record some of the older, classic Visage tracks as well as produce some new material, the project never seemed to fully get off the ground despite some television appearances. The first Visage Mark II song was called "Diary of A Madman", which was made available for download in 2007 in return for a donation to the Children In Need appeal. Prior to this in 2006, Strange had collaborated with electronic music duo Punx Soundcheck for their 2006 album When Machines Rules The World, co-writing and performing on the track "In the Dark".

In 2005, Strange appeared in a Channel 4 documentary called Whatever Happened To The Gender Benders?, which reflected on the advent of the New Romantic movement of the early 1980s and the prominent roles that Strange, Boy George and Marilyn each played within it. In stark contrast to the relative glamour of the New Romantic era, interviews with all three stars in the present day highlighted the sheer devastation that fame, fortune and drug addiction had taken on each of them during the past 25 or so years, with Strange and Marilyn in particular being openly candid about the mental health problems they now try to cope with every day.

Taboo

Boy George reflected on the New Romantic scene of the early 1980s in his 2002 stage musical Taboo which featured actors playing Steve Strange, Marilyn, Leigh Bowery, and other peers from the era.

Celebrity Scissorhands

In November 2006, Strange took part in, and went on to win, the BBC reality series for Children in Need Celebrity Scissorhands (featuring top celebrity hairdresser Lee Stafford). He returned to the show for the subsequent two series (2007 and 2008) as Assistant Manager/Image Consultant. In that role, he was in charge of the catwalk, showing all of the best haircuts of the series and also people dressed in 80's style clothing and make-up.

Ashes to Ashes

Strange made a brief appearance in episode two of the 1980s-themed BBC TV series Ashes to Ashes, which was aired on 14 February 2008. He played himself performing the Visage song Fade to Grey at the "Blitz" nightclub in which he was once host.

Worried About The Boy

In 2010, Strange was portrayed by actor Marc Warren in the BBC programme Worried About The Boy, a dramatisation of Boy George's rise to fame. Although the programme was set in the early 1980s, when Strange was in his early 20s, Warren was 43 at the time of production.

References

Category:1959 births Category:Living people Category:Bisexual musicians Category:LGBT musicians from the United Kingdom Category:LGBT people from Wales Category:People from Newbridge, Caerphilly Category:Welsh male singers Category:Welsh pop singers