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Steve Strange

Real Name:
Steve John Harrington
Profile:
Lead vocal & founder of the "New Wave" group Visage.

Out of the ashes of the London punk scene of 1978 rose a new style of club. It started in Meard Street, Soho, on a Tuesday night at a club called Billy's. DJ Rusty Egan and Steve Strange provided the setting for a mixture of art students, hairdressers and fashion designers to become precursors for the New Romantic movement which defined the next style in music - a cross between the emerging New Wave (Ultravox, Gary Numan, etc.) and an escape from the reactionary image of punk. Three factors contributed to the success of the club: the music was sophisticated and danceable (Roxy Music, Kraftwerk, Human League and David Bowie), there was no violence, and the participants ultra-chic appearance. Billy's became too small and Tuesday nights moved across town to Great Queen Street, Covent Garden, in 1979, Blitz became the new location for these early rave parties and the yardstick by which all other clubs have been measured. Club for Heroes became the place to be seen in 1981. When everyone else started to do it, the duo raised close to a million pounds and transformed an old cinema (The Music Machine) into the first "full-time" club location called Camden Palace in April 1982, "Slum it in Style" on Tuesdays was the place to be. Where did Steve Strange fit into this picture? Starting out as a shop assistant at PX, he became the doorman (notorious at Blitz for letting in David Bowie but not Mick Jagger) in the early days and hosted Club for Heroes and Camden Palace. He also designed Visage and described the music as Futuristic.

Steve Strange

Born in Wales, educated at Oakdale Comprehensive School and expelled for dying his hair orange. He was invited to London by Billy Idol. Missed out on becoming a member of Gen X after hesitating on the move. Instead he did artwork for the bands posters, advertisements and album covers. After a short lived existence in a band called the Moores Murderer's and a band called the Photons, he met up with Rusty Egan of the Rich Kids - the rest is History. On March 5th 1986, at the London Hippodrome, Steve Stange unveils his new band, Strange Cruise, which features former Photo's singer Wendy Wu on vocals. The single "Rebel Blue Rocker" was released on 24th February. He resurfaced in 1989 organising club nights around Scotland and giving interviews about how he conquered his heroin addiction.

"When we started Billy's the only music there was the Human League, the Normal, Bowie and Roxy. The Rich Kids were about to split up and had some studio time they knew they weren't going to use, so we decided to record some music we could play at Billy's - that's how Visage started." "The meaning of Visage, apart from being French for face, is that the Vis is for the visual side of the band, the Visa... well, although we canít tour at the moment, as itís impossible to get everyone together, we will do, and like (Spandau) Ballet we wonít do run of the mill stuff, it'll be select gigs - that Visa is going to take us throughout, even if it's only me and Rusty itís going to take us to America or wherever, and the Age is the new age in dance music. That's how I see it."
In Groups:
Variations:
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Discography

Releases:
Bolan Esq (7")   Aside Records 1991
Fade To Grey (Maxi) (4 versions)   Trance Records (2) ... 1994
In The Dark Remixes (12")   Pale Music 2007
Mix:
The Disappearing Boy (LP, Album)   GIP 1980
Appears On:
Fade To Grey (Single, Maxi) (7 versions) The Steps Polydor 1980
Visage (Album) (9 versions)   Polydor ... 1980
Mind Of A Toy (Single, Maxi) (6 versions)   Polydor ... 1981
Visage (MiniAlbum, EP) (4 versions)   Polydor 1981
Visage (Dance Mix) (Maxi, Single) (3 versions)   Polydor 1981
High Life International (LP, Comp) The Damned Don't Cry Polystar Records 1982
Night Train (Dance Mix) (4 versions)   Polydor 1982
The Anvil (Album) (9 versions)   One Way Records (USA) ... 1982
The Damned Don't Cry (Single) (3 versions) The Damned Don't Cry (... Polydor 1982
Beat Boy (Album) (3 versions)   Polydor ... 1984
Beat Boy (12")   Polydor 1984
Love Glove (Maxi) (4 versions) Love Glove, She's A Ma... Polydor 1984
Rebel Blue Rocker (7")   EMI Records 1986
Rebel Blue Rocker (Rebel Mix) (12")   EMI Records 1986
Strange Cruise (LP, Album)   EMI Records 1986
The Beat Goes On (7") Silver Screen Queen EMI Records 1986
Manipulator (7", Single) Manipulator Virgin 1988
Synthesizer Greatest Volume 3 (Comp, Album) (8 versions) Fade To Grey Arcade ... 1989
Fade To Grey: The Best Of Visage (Comp) (3 versions)   Polydor 1991
Eternity (Album) (4 versions) Fade To Grey Irma ... 1993
Dance Mega Hits '94 (CD) Fade To Grey Jive 1994
Fade To Grey (Maxi) (5 versions) Fade To Grey (Kama Edi... ZYX Music ... 1994
Pronto Pronto ??!! Vol. 3 - A New Generation Of Italian Dance Hits (2xCD, Comp) Fade To Gray ZYX Music 1994
Revolt Of The Perverse (CD, Album) Fade To Grey Astralwerks 1994
The World Of Trance (Comp) (2 versions) Fade To Grey (Kama) ZYX Music 1995
The Damned Don't Cry (CD, Maxi)   Orbit Records 2000
The Damned Don't Cry (Comp) (2 versions)   Spectrum Music (2) 2000
Trance (3xCD, Comp) Fade To Grey (Karma) ZYX Music 2000
Akashic Recordings (Comp) (2 versions) The Damned Don't Cry 4th Dimension (Germany) 2002
Bloodsport (Album) (3 versions)   Tommy Boy Music ... 2002
Elec-Trax (CD) Mind Of A Toy Music Club 2002
That's My Beat (Comp) (2 versions) Pleasure Boys Soul Jazz Records 2002
Galactic Gigolo (Album) (2 versions)   International Deejay Gigolo Records 2003
Pop & Wave Präsentiert: 3 From 1 Vol. 3 (CD, Comp) The Damned Don´t Cry,... Sony Music Special Products 2003
Niteclub Skool (Remixes) (12")   Missile Records 2004
Plastique EP (EP) (2 versions) The Damned Don't Cry Beautycase-Records 2004
Advanced Electronics Vol. 5 (2xCD, Comp + DVD, Comp) In The Dark Synthetic Symphony 2006
Magica Italia Summer 2006 (CD) Fade To Grey S.A.I.F.A.M. 2006
Sonic Diary (2xCD, Album, Ltd, Comp, Har) The Damned Don't Cry GUN Records (2), Sony BMG Music Entertainment (Germany) 2006
The Kings Of Techno (2xCD) Frequency 7 Rapster Records 2006
The World Of Classic Trance (2xCD, Com) Fade To Grey (Kama) Zyx Music 2006
When Machines Ruled The World (2xCD) In The Dark, In The Dark Pale Music 2006
La Suite 5 (2xCD, Comp) Fade To Grey Planetworks 2007
Too Much History (Vol 1 + 2) (2xCD, Comp, Dig) Der Amboss AFM Records 2007
The Legends EP (12", EP) In The Dark (Night Ver... Pale Music 2008
Happy Christmas From The Stars (Flexi, 7", S/Sided)   Smash Hits, Lyntone, Levi's  
High Life - Original Top Hits (LP, Comp, Clu) Mind Of A Toy Polydor  
Tracks Appear On:
The World Of Trance (2xCD, Comp, RE) Fade To Grey (Kama) ZYX Music 1996
Los Cuarenta Summer 2006 (2xCD, Comp, P/Mixed) Fade To Grey S.A.I.F.A.M. 2006
La Suite 5 (2xCD, Comp) Fade To Grey Planetworks 2007
Unofficial Releases:
Greatest Hits (CD) Fade To Grey Dance Factory 1998
Freak Boutique MP3 - Are You Freak? (CD-ROM, Comp, Mixed, Unofficial, MP3) Fade To Grey (Raf Marc... Radio Record (KDK Bootlegs) 2007
The Lost Hits Vol. 1 (CDr) The Best Is Yet To Come Not On Label 2008
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YouTube Videos

Datura - Fade To Grey