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Visage: Fade to Grey: The Singles Collection 12” (original Polydor 1983, reissue Rubellan Remasters, 2022)
If you flip through my record collection, you’ll see long runs of multiple records by the same artist. The biggest run is the Fall, whose 12”s take up at least half an expedit cube, but you’ll also see other favorites like Wire, the Kinks, Miles Davis, Siouxsie and the Banshees, and many others that have several inches of shelf space devoted to them. When I hear a record or even a song I like, my first impulse is to get everything the artist released, to pull that thread and see if there’s even more. Sometimes there’s something even better than what first drew me in. Often there are duds, but usually I can appreciate those within the context of an artist’s larger body of work.
The first time I heard Visage’s song “Fade to Grey,” I was smitten. I love a track with a big hook and a strong beat, and “Fade to Grey” fits the bill. Originally released in 1980, “Fade to Grey” is darkwave before there was darkwave, its tough drum machine rhythms presaging 90s industrial music while the lyrics and vocals add a dash of glamor. Their sound is gritty and colorful at the same, like someone dressed to the nines making their way through a seedy section of town on their way to the club. Which is appropriate, since Visage was born under precisely those circumstances.
Visage’s original goal was to create music for DJ Rusty Egan to play at his London club nights, where dancers favored the cold and futuristic sounds of 70s Bowie and Kraftwerk. Egan teamed up with Midge Ure, his bandmate in the Rich Kids (Glen Matlock’s post-Sex Pistols band) and cut a demo as a proof of concept. From there, they put together Visage, enlisting Ultravox keyboardist Billy Currie and scenester Steve Strange (who had also performed in a few under the radar punk bands) as frontperson and face of the band. The lineup expanded again to incorporate three-fifths of Magazine: guitarist John McGeotch, keyboardist Dave Formula, and bassist Barry Adamson. Magazine is one of my favorite bands (another who has a few inches of space on my LP and singles shelves), and if you’re a fan of that band’s top-notch musicianship, Visage’s first album is an essential listen.
Fade to Grey collects six Visage singles released between 1980 and 1984. “Fade to Grey,” of course, is the biggest hit and their best song, but I like every track on the collection. Visage’s first album is essential (and you can find it pretty easily and usually for not much money), but Fade to Grey is most useful for collecting the best tracks from Visage’s later years. Visage’s second album, The Anvil, isn’t as strong as Fade to Grey, but singles “The Anvil,” “Night Train,” and “Damned Don’t Cry” are all bangers. Visage’s much-maligned third album (made after all the folks from Magazine left), Beat Boy, is represented by “Beat Boy” and “Love Glove,” and while I rarely pull Beat Boy off the shelf, those tracks stand up next to the earlier material despite their glossier sound.
I’d been looking for a copy of Fade to Grey for years, but they don’t turn up often in the US. When I saw this reissue pop up on one of our distributor lists, I jumped on getting copies for the store because I knew I’d make at least one sale to myself. The record looks and sounds great and even contains the Beat Boy-era tracks I mentioned above, which aren’t on the original 1983 edition. And the “blue smoke” vinyl looks pretty cool too. Maybe you’re a darkwave DJ who can blow minds by dropping one of these tracks into the retro portion of your set, but if you’re like me, Visage’s insistent dance rhythms are the perfect soundtrack for sweeping, washing dishes, and getting things done.