Age of Chance
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| Age Of Chance | ||
|---|---|---|
| Background information | ||
| Origin | Leeds, England, UK | |
| Genre(s) | alternative rock electronic dance |
|
| Years active | 1985 - 1991 | |
| Label(s) | Riot Bible FON Virgin |
|
| Former members | ||
| Steven Elvidge Geoff Taylor Neil Howson Jan Perry Noel "DJ Powercut" Watson Charles Hutchinson |
||
Age Of Chance were an alternative rock-dance crossover band from Leeds, England active from 1985 to 1991. They were perhaps most known for their mutant metallic cover of Prince's "Kiss" which topped the indie chart in 1986 but narrowly missed being a hit at the beginning of 1987, reaching #50 in the UK.[1] Despite signing for major label Virgin, and being favourites with the UK music press, they never enjoyed a hit in the UK, although Don't Get Mad… Get Even! reached #5 in the US Dance Chart[2].
Musically they were a sonic collision of punk, hip hop, industrial rock and Northern Soul. Steven E provided a distinctive strident nasal vocal style, often employing a megaphone. Striking cover art visuals were a collaboration between the group and The Designers Republic, who would go on to graphic design fame. They were contemporaries of Pop Will Eat Itself whose music also featured rock guitar, dance beats and copious samples and other early UK samplist groups such as Coldcut and The JAMMs.
Contents |
[edit] History
They first came to national attention with a track on the NME C86 compilation tape.
They released their first 2 self-funded singles on their own indie label Riot Bible, before signing to Sheffield indie label Fon for the Kiss single and its remix 12"s and mini-LP. Kiss was originally recorded for a John Peel session while the Prince single was still in the charts. Kiss was No.2 in the Festive 50 for 1986.[3]
Original singer/rapper Steven E left in September 1988,[4] during the recording of their second LP, forcing the rest of the band to recruit a new singer, the soulful Charles Hutchinson in January 1989 and "re-vocal" the LP, which was released as Mecca in 1990. The main single off that LP, Higher Than Heaven also missed the charts stalling at #53 in the UK,[1] despite being voted "record of the week" by Radio 1's breakfast show listeners.[2] When Hutchinson left, Perry took on vocal duties briefly before the band split in 1991. Elvidge went on to form a new group, Mad Love, before embarking on a career as a DJ.
[edit] Cover art
A strong visual identity was developed by the band, from their clothes (notably featuring cycling tops) to their cover art. The first singles had a punk like cut-up graphic design produced by the band featuring slogans and mini-manifestos. "Stay Young!! Say Yeah!! Call Each Other Bay-Beah!!" "You CAN live forever with the Age of Chance". The slogans and visual imagery were passed to The_Designers_Republic who produced a series of classic cover designs for the Kiss releases and the series of 1987 Virgin releases. The sleeve of Don't Get Mad ... Get Even was one of Q Magazine's 100 Best Record Covers Of All Time (2001), with the cittation describing the collaborations as "Too intricate to rightfully exist in the pre-desktop publishing age, the sleeves were edgy, loaded, with menacing visual manifestos adorned with slogans ... alongside bar codes, cruise missiles and astronaut Yuri Gagarin's face."[5] Designer Ian Anderson recalled that "The way they were presented was very much as a philosophy; it was a punk attitude crossed with disco styling, that asked questions to get a reaction. Once the vocabulary was set, the sleeves almost designed themselves. We may have done the designs, but the language was created by the band."
[edit] Line-up
- Steven Elvidge (mob-orator)
- Geoff Taylor (all nite bass frequencies)
- Neil Howson (power-noise generator)
- Jan Perry (beat dominator)
- Charles Hutchinson (singer on Mecca)
[edit] Discography
[edit] Albums
- Kiss Crush Collision (mini LP, 1986)
- One Thousand Years of Trouble (1987)
- Mecca (1990)
[edit] Singles
- Motorcity (1985)
- Bible of the Beats (1986)
- The Twilight World of Sonic Disco EP (collecting first 2 7" singles, 1986)
- Kiss (1986) (re-issued 1987)
- Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Noise (1987)
- Don't Get Mad ... Get Even (1987)
- Take It! (1988)
- Time's Up (1989)
- Higher Than Heaven (1990)
- Playing With Fire (1990)
[edit] External links
[edit] References
- ^ a b Guinness Book of British Hit Singles
- ^ a b History page on the ageofchanceinfo.co.uk website, http://homepage.ntlworld.com/gavinmorrow/history.htm
- ^ Entry on the BBC John Peel bands website, http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio1/johnpeel/artists/a/ageofchance/
- ^ press relase for Times Up, http://www.ireallylovemusic.co.uk/aoc/press.htm
- ^ Q Magazine's 100 Best Record Covers Of All Time (2001), http://homepage.ntlworld.com/gavinmorrow/interview%20(Q%20mag%20special).htm
