Blancmange () are an English

synth-pop Synth-pop (short for synthesizer pop; also called techno-pop; ) is a subgenre of new wave music that first became prominent in the late 1970s and features the synthesizer as the dominant musical instrument. It was prefigured in the 1960s a ...

band formed in

Harrow, London Harrow () is a large town in Greater London, England, and serves as the principal settlement of the London Borough of Harrow. Lying about north-west of Charing Cross and south of Watford, the entire town including its localities had a popul ...

, in 1979. The band were a duo for much of their career, composed of Neil Arthur (vocals) and Stephen Luscombe (keyboards). They came to prominence in the early 1980s, releasing four UK top-20 singles: " Living on the Ceiling", "

Waves Waves most often refers to: *Waves, oscillations accompanied by a transfer of energy that travel through space or mass. *Wind waves, surface waves that occur on the free surface of bodies of water. Waves may also refer to: Music * Waves (band ...

", " Blind Vision" and " Don't Tell Me". They released three studio albums during that decade: '' Happy Families'' (1982), ''

Mange Tout Mange tout (French for "eat all") or mangetout may refer to: * Sugar peas or edible-pod peas including: ** Snap pea ** Snow pea The snow pea is an edible-pod pea with flat pods and thin pod walls. It is eaten whole, with both the seeds and ...

'' (1984) and '' Believe You Me'' (1985).
The duo amicably broke up in 1986 but reformed in the late 2000s, and in 2011 released their fourth studio album, ''

Blanc Burn ''Blanc Burn'' is the fourth studio album by English synth-pop duo Blancmange (band), Blancmange, released on 7 March 2011 by Proper Records. It was Blancmange's first album of new material in a quarter of a century, following 1985's ''Believe ...

''. Luscombe left following the release due to ill health, and since then Arthur alone has continued to perform under the Blancmange name, releasing nine new studio albums along with a re-recording of the band's debut studio album, titled '' Happy Families Too...'' (2013). He has also been involved in a further three collaborative albums as Fader (with Benge) and Near Future (with Jez Bernholz).

Biography

Formation

Blancmange was formed in

, in 1979 by lead vocalist Neil Arthur (born 15 June 1958,

Darwen Darwen is a market town and civil parish in the Blackburn with Darwen borough in Lancashire, England. The residents of the town are known as "Darreners". The A666 road passes through Darwen towards Blackburn to the north, Bolton to the so ...

, Lancashire), instrumentalists Stephen Luscombe (born 29 October 1954,

Hillingdon Hillingdon is an area of Uxbridge within the London Borough of Hillingdon, centred 14.2 miles (22.8 km) west of Charing Cross. It was an ancient parish in Middlesex that included the market town of Uxbridge. During the 1920s the civil pa ...

, Middlesex) and Laurence Stevens. Stevens left shortly after the band was formed, and Arthur and Luscombe continued as a duo. The group's name derived from the dessert of the same name. The duo released their first EP, ''Irene and Mavis'', the following year, but their first real exposure came via the track "Sad Day" on the compilation album ''

Some Bizzare Album ''Some Bizzare Album'' is the first album issued by Some Bizzare Records. It was released in 1981 as a sampler of the label's musical ethos. The acts were not signed exclusively to the label at the time. Information The album consisted of tracks b ...

'' (1981), alongside acts such as

Soft Cell Soft Cell are an English synthpop duo who came to prominence in the early 1980s. The duo consists of vocalist Marc Almond and instrumentalist David Ball. The band are primarily known for their 1981 hit version of "Tainted Love" and their pla ...

and

Depeche Mode Depeche Mode are an English electronic music band formed in Basildon, Essex, in 1980. The band currently consists of Dave Gahan (lead vocals and co-songwriting) and Martin Gore (keyboards, guitar, co-lead vocals and main songwriting). Depeche ...

. This led to them signing a

recording contract A recording contract (commonly called a record contract or record deal) is a legal agreement between a record label and a recording artist (or group), where the artist makes a record (or series of records) for the label to sell and promote. Artists ...

with

London Records London Recordings (or London Records and London Music Stream) is a British record label that marketed records in the United States, Canada, and Latin America for Decca Records from 1947 to 1980 before becoming semi-independent. The London nam ...

. In December 1981 they supported

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

on their "Visions of China" UK tour.

Success

The duo found minor success with their 1982

double A-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record company ...

d 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 on the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top ...

and was an international hit. Their debut studio album, '' Happy Families'' (which featured a

sleeve A sleeve ( ang, slīef, a word allied to ''slip'', cf. Dutch ) is the part of a garment that covers the arm, or through which the arm passes or slips. The sleeve is a characteristic of fashion seen in almost every country and time period, acro ...

painting in the style of Louis Wain and of the cover artwork of

Enid Blyton Enid Mary Blyton (11 August 1897 – 28 November 1968) was an English List of children's literature writers, children's writer, whose books have been worldwide bestsellers since the 1930s, selling more than 600 million copies. Her books a ...

's books), also reached the top 30. Further hits followed with "

" (no. 19), " Blind Vision" (no. 10), " That's Love, That It Is" (no. 33) and " Don't Tell Me" (no. 8), while their second studio album ''

'' (1984) also reached no. 8 in the

UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales and (from March 2015) audio streaming in the United Kingdom. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the Official Charts ...

. The album featured a

cover version In popular music, a cover version, cover song, remake, revival, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording by a musician other than the original performer or composer of the song. Originally, it referred to a version of a song release ...

ABBA ABBA ( , , formerly named Björn & Benny, Agnetha & Anni-Frid or Björn & Benny, Agnetha & Frida) are a Swedish supergroup formed in Stockholm in 1972 by Agnetha Fältskog, Björn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson, and Anni-Frid Lyngstad. The grou ...

's " The Day Before You Came", which reached no. 22 in the UK (slightly higher than Abba's original less than two years earlier). However, after this, the band's fortunes declined. Their 1985 single " What's Your Problem" only reached no. 40, and the subsequent studio album '' Believe You Me'' (1985) spent only two weeks in the UK Albums Chart, peaking at no. 54. The duo announced that they were breaking up in June 1986 after a

Greenpeace Greenpeace is an independent global campaigning network, founded in Canada in 1971 by Irving Stowe and Dorothy Stowe, immigrant environmental activists from the United States. Greenpeace states its goal is to "ensure the ability of the Earth ...

concert at London's Royal Albert Hall. Luscombe released an album of Indian-influenced music, ''New Demons'', with

Pandit Dinesh Pandit Dinesh (born 29 May 1955) is a music composer and percussionist specializing in Indian rhythms. He uses the tabla, conga drums, and more. Dinesh is known for his collaborations with West India Company, Dizrhythmia, The Pax Trio, and Blanc ...

, Peter Culshaw, Priya Khajuria and

Asha Bhosle Asha Bhosle (; Mangeshkar; born 8 September 1933) is an Indian playback singer, entrepreneur and occasional actress and television personality who predominantly works in Indian Cinema. Known for her versatility, she has been described in the ...

under the name West India Company, in 1989. Meanwhile, Arthur released his debut solo studio album, ''

Suitcase A suitcase is a form of luggage. It is a rectangular container with a handle typically used to carry one's clothes and other belongings while traveling. The first suitcases appeared in the late 19th century due to the increased popularity of ma ...

'', in 1994, which spawned the charting single " I Love I Hate" (UK No. 50). In 2008, Edsel re-released the three studio albums as expanded versions.

Reformed

Following a gap of a quarter of a century, Blancmange reunited and released their fourth studio album, ''

'', in March 2011. After suffering from an

abdominal aortic aneurysm Abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) is a localized enlargement of the abdominal aorta such that the diameter is greater than 3 cm or more than 50% larger than normal. They usually cause no symptoms, except during rupture. Occasionally, abdominal, ...

, Luscombe was forced to leave the band. Since then Arthur elected to continue recording and performing as Blancmange, with the assistance of

session musician Session musicians, studio musicians, or backing musicians are musicians hired to perform in recording sessions or live performances. The term sideman is also used in the case of live performances, such as accompanying a recording artist on a ...

s. Blancmange performed a UK tour in November 2013, during which they played their debut studio album ''Happy Families'' (1982) in its entirety at each show. They also released a new album, '' Happy Families Too...'', featuring updated recordings of the original tracks from their 1982 debut album. Initially the new album was only available to buy on the tour, but a digital download followed and a physical CD was released on 7 April 2014 which included four brand new remixes. On 2 December 2014, the official Blancmange website announced details of a new studio album for release on 23 March 2015 on

Cherry Red Records Cherry Red Records is a British independent record label founded in Malvern, Worcestershire by Iain McNay in 1978. The label has released recordings by Dead Kennedys, Everything But the Girl, The Monochrome Set, and Felt, among others, as wel ...

. The album, '' Semi Detached'', contains ten tracks. On 9 March 2015, the first single from ''Semi Detached'', "Paddington", was released as a digital download. The second single from the album, "Useless", was announced for release on 11 May 2015. On 23 April 2015, Blancmange announced a new album of instrumental music titled '' Nil by Mouth''. This release was initially only available for purchase at the band's two shows at London's Red Gallery in May 2015. It subsequently became available as a CD through the official Blancmange website on 25 September 2015. On 29 May 2015, Blancmange announced the release of their cover of Can's " I Want More" as a limited edition 12" record for

Record Store Day Record Store Day is an annual event inaugurated in 2007 and held on one Saturday (typically the third) every April and every Black Friday in November to "celebrate the culture of the independently owned record store". The day brings together fa ...

, making it the third single from ''Semi Detached''. '' Commuter 23'', a studio album containing 14 tracks, was released on 11 March 2016. On 20 March 2017, the band announced on their website that a new studio album, '' Unfurnished Rooms,'' would be released on 22 September 2017. On 23 June 2017, Fader, a new musical project between Neil Arthur and Benge, released their debut studio album, ''First Light''. It was preceded by a single, "I Prefer Solitude", on 7 June 2017. In August 2017, Edsel Records released the 9-CD boxset ''The Blanc Tapes'' that expanded each of the three 1980s albums over three discs with additional material and liner notes by Neil Arthur. In February 2018, Near Future, another side project comprising Neil Arthur and Jez Bernholz (from Gazelle Twin), announced they will release their debut studio album, ''Ideal Home'', on 25 May 2018. In April 2018, Blancmange announced a forthcoming studio album, ''

Wanderlust Wanderlust is a strong desire to wander or travel and explore the world. Etymology The first documented use of the term in English occurred in 1902 as a reflection of what was then seen as a characteristically German predilection for wandering ...

'', and a UK tour in November. In July 2019, ''In Shadow'', the second studio album by the Fader project (Neil Arthur and Benge), was announced for release on 18 October 2019. An instrumental album by Blancmange, ''Nil by Mouth II'', was released on 22 November 2019 as a limited-edition run of 1000 copies. The album was released on a larger scale on CD in June 2020. A new album, titled ''Mindset'', preceded by a single with the same title in February, was released in June 2020.

Discography

* '' Happy Families'' (1982) * ''

'' (1984) * '' Believe You Me'' (1985) * ''

'' (2011) * '' Happy Families Too...'' (2013) * '' Semi Detached'' (2015) * '' Nil by Mouth'' (2015) * '' Commuter 23'' (2016) * '' Unfurnished Rooms'' (2017) * ''

'' (2018) * ''Nil by Mouth II'' (2019) * ''Waiting Room (Volume 1)'' (2020) * ''Mindset'' (2020) * ''Expanded Mindset'' (2020) * ''Nil by Mouth III'' (2021) * ''Commercial Break'' (2021) * ''Nil by Mouth IV/V'' (2022) * ''Private View'' (2022)

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Blancmange (Band) Alternative dance musical groups Musical groups established in 1979 1979 establishments in England Musical groups disestablished in 1987 1987 disestablishments in England Musical groups reestablished in 2006 British synth-pop new wave groups English synth-pop groups English new wave musical groups English musical duos New wave duos Male musical duos Musical groups from the London Borough of Harrow London Records artists Sire Records artists Warner Records artists Proper Records artists