BURNING THE GROUND EXCLUSIVE 1980
“Fade to Grey” is the second single by the British pioneers of the New Romantic movement Visage, released on Polydor Records in 1980.
The song was the band’s most successful single. It entered the singles charts in late 1980, peaking at no. 8 in the UK Singles Chart and reaching no. 1 in Germany and Switzerland. Steve Strange was on lead vocals; the French lyrics were spoken by Rusty Egan’s Belgian girlfriend Brigitte Arens.
The music video became one of the first video clips that Kevin Godley and Lol Creme directed before they became known for their works with the Police, Duran Duran, and Herbie Hancock.
The song features the same lyrics in two languages, English and French. The English lyrics are sung, whereas the French lyrics are spoken by a female voice. Steve Strange and Midge Ure both claimed to have been the one who came up with the idea for the French vocal in the track. On the finished track, the French vocal was performed by Brigitte Arens, a young student from Luxembourg who was Rusty Egan’s girlfriend at the time. On the album, the song is credited to Billy Currie, Chris Payne, and Midge Ure. In his 2002 autobiography, Strange said it was not fair to credit the song to Ure, Currie, and Payne only since his input was significant and he was “the focal point of the group”.
Currie and Payne worked on the instrumental part of the sound checks on Gary Numan’s 1979 tour. Cedric Sharpley, the drummer of Numan’s backing band, was also heavily involved. In those days it was called “Toot City”. While setting the track listing of the Visage album, Midge Ure suggested the use of the melody and wrote the song’s lyrics.
SIDE A:
Fade To Grey 6:15
Written-By – Currie*, Payne*, Ure*
SIDE B:
The Steps 3:15
Written-By – Currie*, Formula*, McGeoch*, Ure*, Egan*, Strange*
VINYL GRADE:
Vinyl: Near Mint
Sleeve: Near Mint
RELEASE INFORMATION:
Label: Polydor – 2141 318
Format: Vinyl, 12″, 45 RPM, Maxi-Single
Country: Germany
Released: 1980
Genre: Electronic
Style: New Wave, Synth-pop
CREDITS:
Arranged By – Visage
Producer – Midge Ure, Visage
NOTES:
Made in West Germany
Find the 12″ on DISCOGS
VINYL RESTORATION BY:
-DjPaulT
burningtheground.net
EQUIPMENT USED:
Turntable: Pro-Ject Debut Carbon (DC)
Cartridge: Ortofon 2M
Stylus: Ortofon 2M Bronze
Isolation: Auralex Acoustics ISO-Tone Turntable Isolation Platform
Platter: Pro-Ject Acryl-It platter
Stabilizer: Pro-Ject Record Puck
Phono Pre-amp: Bellari VP130 Tube Phono Preamp
Tube: Tung-Sol 12AX7 TubeGold Pins
Soundcard: Novation Audiohub 2×4 Audio Interface
Record Cleaning: VPI HW 16.5 Record Cleaning Machine
Artwork Scans: Epson Workforce WF-7610 Professional Printer/Scanner
SOFTWARE USED:
Recording/Editing: Adobe Audition 3.0 (Recording)
Down Sampling: iZotope RX Advanced 2, ocenaudio
Artwork Editor: Adobe Photoshop CS5
Click Removal: Manual
FLAC/MP3 Conversion: dBpoweramp
M3U Playlist: Playlist Creator
RESTORATION NOTES:
All vinyl rips are recorded @ 32bit/float
FLAC (Level Eight)
MP3 (320kbps)
Artwork scanned at 600dpi
