Positive Noise were a new wave and

synthpop 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 from

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

who had a number of indie hits in the 1980s. They released three albums and several singles and were together for over five years.

History

The band was formed in 1979 by Ross Middleton (vocals), his brothers Graham Middleton (keyboards, vocals) and Fraser Middleton (bass guitar, vocals), Russell Blackstock (guitar, vocals), and Les Gaff (drums). Their first released material were two tracks ("Refugees" and "The Long March") on the Statik label compilation EP ''Second City Statik'' in 1980, and they followed this with two singles on Statik in 1981, both of which were top-ten hits on the

UK Independent Chart The UK Independent Singles Chart and UK Independent Albums Chart are charts of the best-selling independent singles and albums, respectively, in the United Kingdom. Originally published in January 1980, and widely known as the indie chart, the rele ...

. Début album ''Heart of Darkness'' was released in May 1981, after which Ross left to form the short-lived

Leisure Process Leisure Process were a British new wave duo formed in the early 1980s. They consisted of Ross Middleton, previously of post-punk Glasgow band Positive Noise, and session sax player Gary Barnacle. Four singles were released (one credited to 'Leis ...

, with Blackstock taking over on lead vocals. ''Heart of Darkness'' peaked at number four on the independent chart, and the band's second album, ''Change of Heart'' (1982), also charted, reaching number 21. They released a third and final album, ''Distant Fires'', in 1985, now with John Telford on drums and John Coletta on guitar, but their earlier success was not repeated and they split up shortly afterwards. Ross Middleton had earlier worked as a music journalist, writing for ''

Sounds In physics, sound is a vibration that propagates as an acoustic wave, through a transmission medium such as a gas, liquid or solid. In human physiology and psychology, sound is the ''reception'' of such waves and their ''perception'' by the ...

'' under the pen name Maxwell Park.

Discography

All releases on Statik Records.

Albums

* ''Heart of Darkness'' (1981) - came with a bonus 7-inch single: "Love Like Property" * ''Change of Heart'' (1982) * ''Distant Fires'' (1985)

Singles

* "Give Me Passion" (1981) * "Charm" (1981) * "Positive Negative" (1981) * "Waiting for the Seventh Man" (1982) * "Get Up and Go" (1982) * "When Lightning Strikes" (1983) * "A Million Miles Away" (1984) * "Distant Fires" (1985)

Compilation appearances

*''Second City Statik'' (1980), Statik: "Refugees", "The Long March" *''Cabaret Futura - Fools Rush in Where Angels Dare to Tread'' (1981), Martyrwell Music: "Love Like Property (Live)", "Treachery (Live)"

References

{{Authority control British synth-pop new wave groups Musical groups from Glasgow Scottish new wave musical groups