Blancmange is an English New Wave-Synth-Pop duo made up of Neil Arthur (vocals, lyrics) & Stephen Luscombe (keyboards). The group was founded in London in 1979 as a trio, including Laurence Stevens; he left soon after the band was formed. They released a 7 inch EP entitled Irene & Mavis the same year; it was a minimalist synth record entirely different from anything onward. In 1980, they appeared on the indie synth-pop compilation Some Bizarre by Mute Records that also featured Depeche Mode and Soft Cell in their very early days. London Records was intrigued and picked them up for a recording contract.
From 1980 to 1982, Neil and Stephen developed their distinctive blend of orientalism, synthpop, and New Wave, concocting one of the most unique sounds of the British New Wave scene. In 1982, their debut LP Happy Families was released, which spawned such cuts like "Feel Me", "Waves", & "Living On The Ceiling" (their biggest hit and breakthrough single). The duo's status grew even higher in 1983, with Mange Tout having two of their most memorable singles: "Blind Vision" and "Don't Tell Me". Unfortunately, 1985's Believe You Me was a critical and commercial failure, leading to the two breaking up in 1986.
Stephen released the Indian-inspired album New Demons in 1989 with Pandhita Dinesh, Peter Calshaw, Priya Khajulia and Asha Bhosle. Arthur released a solo album, Suitcase, in 1994. The duo got back together in 2011.
You keep me troping round and round, well that's alright with me:
- Bowdlerise: "Living On The Ceiling" has a highly rare 45 radio edit that replaces the word "bloody" with "cuckoo".
- Chewing the Scenery: Neil's bombastic, bold vocals are sure to make the listener grin.
- Early-Installment Weirdness: In two aspects:
- Their inaugural release, Irene & Mavis, was an experimental minimal synth 7 inch collection of 6 songs that had cacophonous melodies and used Laurence instead of a drum machine, sounding totally unlike their later work.
- "Sad Days" on the Some Bizarre comp was a basic instrumental synth track; on Happy Families it was reworked to have more interesting percussion and a pinch of Orientalism.
- Genre-Busting: Their signature sound combined Indian/Asian/vaguely "Eastern" aestheticism, modern-for-the-time synths, and the witty lyricism and unconventional vocalist you'd expect from a New Wave band.
- Later-Installment Weirdness: Believe You Me aped the period-typical synth sounds of the era, with only the vaguest residues of their Eastern influences left. Unsurprisingly, it was a flop.
- Since the band got restarted in 2011, they've evolved into a pure electro-pop sound, sadly still devoid of anything remotely Eastern. Fan reaction has...not been too kind.
- Large Ham: Neil, in a rather amusing fashion, that provides much of the band's charm:
- "It's notttt, it's, it's not, it's getting harder, it's, it's, it's getting harderrrr, it's getting HARD!"
- "It's blind HELL!"
- "I'm up the BLOODY tree!"
- Precision F-Strike: Rather memorably in "Living On The Ceiling". "I'm up the bloody tree!"
- Word Salad Lyrics: Downplayed compared to some other New Wave bands, but, pray tell, what are "Living On The Ceiling" and "Blind Vision" about?
- "Living On The Ceiling" could potentially be about an abusive relationship. No clue on "Blind Vision", though.
