Vicious Pink

Vicious Pink was a synthpop duo formed in Leeds, England in 1981, and active until 1986.

History

With a catchy sound and a penchant for highly provocative and sexualized lyrics, the band's music was aimed toward clubs rather than commercial hits. Vicious Pink consisted of two members, English/French singer Josephine Warden and keyboardist Brian Moss. The duo began as backing vocalists for Soft Cell, then known as the Vicious Pink Phenomenon.

Vicious Pink are remembered for four dance singles: 8:15 to Nowhere, Cccan't You See, Fetish, and Take Me Now, produced by Tony Mansfield of New Musik fame.

Vicious Pink backed Soft Cell at The Warehouse in Leeds. The American owner of The Warehouse, Mike Wiand, was their manager. Wiand was also a key factor in the success of the 1980s dance track Let the Music Play by Shannon, which was produced by his Warehouse Records label. Vicious Pink played live at The Ritz in New York in December 1984.

Vicious Pink were able to briefly attain a cult level of success without ever breaking into the mainstream. Although they had started releasing music in 1982, they failed to attract much attention until the release of the single Cccan't You See (UK No. 67) and its instrumental b-side 8:15 To Nowhere in 1984. Over the next two years, both sides of this single accrued play in clubs on both sides of the Atlantic. However, it was their only issue to appear in the official UK Singles Chart. Their later single Fetish was not as successful.

Cccan't You See

"Cccan't You See" is a 1984 single by Vicious Pink. Released as their third single, it charted at number 67 on the UK Singles Chart, becoming their only top 75 entry on that chart.

Background

"Cccan't You See" was Vicious Pink's third single, after "My Private Tokyo" and "Je T'Aime (Moi Non Plus)". It was recorded in September 1983 at Buckinghamshire's FarmYard Studios.

For this single, the band had acquired a new producer, Tony Mansfield of New Musik; their previous producer, Dave Ball, was also a member of Soft Cell, and left after the release of "Je T'Aime" after Soft Cell had an international hit single with "Tainted Love". The single featured Mansfield's Fairlight CMI, which was used to sample Russian choirs from short wave radio in an effort to defuse tensions caused by the Cold War, which was a major issue of the time. In addition, vocalist Josephine Warden was sampled and then chopped into assorted rhythms. A Roland Juno-60, a Jupiter 8 and a LinnDrum machine were also used.