UK synth-pop outfit Blancmange’s first three studio albums: Happy Families (1982), Mange Tout (1984) and Believe You Me (1985) are to be reissued by London Records on LP and CD, revisiting a landmark period in the history of British electronic pop. Each album features freshly restored artwork and will be available on vinyl (new 2026 vinyl cuts, faithfully following the original track listings), and also on CD, each featuring bonus tracks including B-sides, extended versions and remixes. Pre-order here
Originally released within a remarkably prolific run of four years, the three first Blancmange albums capture Neil Arthur and Stephen Luscombe at their most inventive, combining infectious synth-pop melodies with restless experimentation, distinctive rhythms and influences that reached well beyond the conventions of mainstream pop, and would go on to inspire a slew of artists including the likes of Moby, John Grant and Honey Dijon.
Blancmange signed with London Records in February 1982 and, with their first flush of early global success of ‘Living On The Ceiling,’ embarked on one of the great Imperial Phases of synth-pop. Their singles were Radio One hits secretly nourished by the likes of Can and Captain Beefheart, buoyed by off the wall videos and wrapped up in surreal sleeve iconography.
1982’s Happy Families is reissued on transparent orange vinyl. The CD version features studio B-sides, some BBC session tracks and contemporary remixes of ‘Living On The Ceiling’ by Roman Flügel and Richard Norris, both available on CD for the first time.
The “zesty, eclectic” (Post-Punk Monk) Mange Tout (1984) took Blancmange to New York, recording with producer John Luongo and conjuring a muscular electronic sound, replete with brass stabs and soulful backing vocals. The album is released on transparent green vinyl, with the CD featuring B-sides, extended versions and Honey Dijon’s rework of ‘Blind Vision’, available here on CD for the first time.
Believe You Me (1985) was the closing chapter of the first part of Blancmange’s story, working with soul producer Stewart Levine. The album explored a different balance of electronic instrumentation, strings, woodwind and carefully constructed pop songwriting
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