The Passage were a
post-punk
Post-punk (originally called new musick) is a broad genre of punk music that emerged in the late 1970s as musicians departed from punk's traditional elements and raw simplicity, instead adopting a variety of avant-garde sensibilities and non-roc ...
band from
Manchester
Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...
, England, who appeared on several record labels including Object Music,
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 well ...
, and their own label Night & Day, a subsidiary label to
Virgin Records
Virgin Records is a record label owned by Universal Music Group. It originally founded as a British independent record label in 1972 by entrepreneurs Richard Branson, Simon Draper, Nik Powell, and musician Tom Newman. It grew to be a worldwid ...
.
The band was formed as a quartet by songwriter and former
Hallé Orchestra percussionist
Richard Witts in
1978, but later became a trio. Witts produced the band's recordings and sang on most of their releases, the occasional lead vocal being taken by Tony Friel or Andy Wilson. Although they never truly broke into the mainstream, their most successful song was "XOYO" which came 41st in
John Peel's Festive Fifty
The Festive Fifty was originally an annual list of the year's 50 (though the exact figure varied above and below this number) best songs compiled at the end of the year and voted for by listeners to John Peel's BBC Radio 1 show. It was usually do ...
for 1982, which was the top 50 songs of the year as voted by the listeners. The song was an experiment to see whether
John Cage
John Milton Cage Jr. (September 5, 1912 – August 12, 1992) was an American composer and music theorist. A pioneer of indeterminacy in music, electroacoustic music, and non-standard use of musical instruments, Cage was one of the leading fi ...
's method of
aleatoric composition could be successfully applied to popular music composition. "XOYO" also appeared on the
Cherry Red compilation album ''
Pillows & Prayers
''Pillows & Prayers'' (subtitled ''Cherry Red 1982-1983'') is a compilation album released Christmas 1982, featuring artists on the Cherry Red record label. The record was originally sold at 99 pence (in fact, "pay no more than 99p" was printed ...
''. The band broke up in 1983.
Richard Witts is now a lecturer and has taught at the
University of Edinburgh
The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 15 ...
, Goldsmiths University in
London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
and currently teaches at
Edge Hill University
Edge Hill University is a campus-based public university in Ormskirk, Lancashire, England, which opened in 1885 as Edge Hill College, the first non-denominational teacher training college for women in England, before admitting its first male st ...
in
Lancashire
Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly.
The non-metropolitan county of Lancashi ...
. Andy Wilson is a club and radio DJ based mainly in
Ibiza
Ibiza (natively and officially in ca, Eivissa, ) is a Spanish island in the Mediterranean Sea off the eastern coast of the Iberian Peninsula. It is from the city of Valencia. It is the third largest of the Balearic Islands, in Spain. Its l ...
. Joe Mckechnie is a producer, remixer, and DJ based in
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...
. He has released records on Acacia (Detroit), Ochre (UK), Blood (UK) and Aspro (Holland) amongst others. Recent remixes include
Ladytron
Ladytron are a largely British electronic band formed in Liverpool in 1999. The group consists of Helen Marnie (lead vocals, synthesizers), Mira Aroyo (vocals, synthesizers), Daniel Hunt (synthesizers, guitar, vocals), and Reuben Wu (synthesize ...
/ROC and
Echo & the Bunnymen.
In 2003, the entire Passage back catalogue was reissued and remastered across 5 CDs by the
LTM label.
Discography
Albums
*''
Pindrop'' - Object Music (Nov 1980)
*''For All and None'' - Night & Day (Jul 1981)
*''
Degenerates'' - Cherry Red (Jun 1982)
*''
Enflame'' - Cherry Red (Mar 1983)
*''BBC Sessions'' - LTM (Mar 2003)
Singles and EPs
*''New Love Songs EP'' - "Love Song" / "The Competition" / "Slit Machine" / "New Kind of Love" (Object Music OM2) (Dec 1978)
*''About Time EP'' - "Taking My Time" / "Clock Paradox" / "16 Hours" / "Time Delay" (Object Music OM8) (Oct 1979)
*"Devils and Angels" / "Watching You Dance" (Night & Day AMPM 24.00) (Feb 1981)
*"Troops Out" / "Hip Rebels" (Night & Day AMPM 22.00) (May 1981)
*"XOYO" / "Animal in Me" (Cherry Red CHERRY 35) (May 1982)
*"Wave" / "Angleland" (Cherry Red CHERRY 50) (Oct 1982)
*"Sharp Tongue" / "BRD USA GDR JFK" (Cherry Red CHERRY 58) (Mar 1983)
Compilations
*Through the Passage - Cherry Red (Nov 1983)
*Seedy - Cherry Red (Re-issue 1997)
External links
A Tribute to The PassageTony Friel's WebsiteThe Passage's MySpaceJoe Mckechnie's MySpaceDick Witts's websiteDick Witts's academic publications website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Passage, The
Musical groups from Manchester
English new wave musical groups
English post-punk music groups
Cherry Red Records artists