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
Hey Paul,
Is it just me, or does The Steps main hook sound like a slowed down version of the Theme from Mission Impossible?
Although official, in various bootlegged formats, I have the Visage compilation few heard, yet remains the “holy grail” of unreleased Visage albums. In the early 80s, this was the cassette version I had. This official release was not a medley; rather, a non-stop extended edition of the well-known “Visage: The Single Collection”. The remixes on this are fantastic and can be found on no other release. I have many MP3 320Kbs editions yet not a pristine FLAC with the talent of your restoration. Truly worth the effort for any Visage fan. I would contribute to the purchase if you found… Read more »
I have a pristine vinyl copy of this, bought it new upon its release. Maybe I can get a clean recording of it to Paul somehow.
That… would… be… wonderful!
– Nicholas
OMG the Holy Grail of 80’s synth on 12″. Thanks Paul – great sleeve scan too 🙂
“Fade to Grey” did not have an extended version at the time of release, for this reason there was this basic extended version that is nothing else than the normal version repeated twice. In 1983, John Luongo was hired to finally make what would be the true 12″ version that was included in “Fade To Grey (The Singles Collection)” compilation.
https://www.discogs.com/Visage-Fade-To-Grey-The-Singles-Collection/master/76893
…. Visage is a band I love, ‘Fade To Grey’ is such a classic and favorite of mine. Sad when Steve Strange passed away, as I was just starting to get in to the recent music released by Visage. Great stuff!
I agree Great Stuff 🙂
Such a classic iconic song from the early 80’s. Loving the New Romantic vibe happening on here this week Paul. Thank you for posting this. I also want to mention the Duran Duran ‘Careless Memories’ (UK 12″) you posted yesterday./ That is one of my favorite songs by Duran Duran. And also the Spandau Ballet “To Cut A Long Story Short” (UK 12″) was a surprise. That is my favorite song by them. So was thrilled to see that posted. This week’s selections so far are definitely my kind of 80’s music, so again I am loving this!
You are very welcome Memoryboy 🙂
A true classic. Bizarrely this version didn’t appear on the UK 12″, which had the standard 7″ mix. I didn’t get to hear this mix until it was included on the dance mix version of their Singles album in 1984.
This is not the “Dance Mix” included in “The Singles Collection” album but the “fake” extended edit.
May I make a song suggestion?
‘Paul King – Follow My Heart’ is an absolute 80s classic. Failed to chart high but a real gem:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X9qgipWJKow
Not sure if there’s a 12 inch version. DjPaulT is the man to find out! 🙂
Another fantastic New Romantic or Futurist post, Paul (my favourite era). Loved Visage, and always enjoyed Steve Strange’s voice and personality. This track is always a pleasure to listen or dance to. The synth bass is just hypnotic and the french vocals by Rusty Egan’s girlfriend (Belgian) Brigitte Arens, just adds that extra spice to it. The video is just so interesting to watch, later around the Beat Boy timeline the videos weren’t so good , as it was just Steve on location in North Africa, but still fun to watch. There is another video version of Love Glove that… Read more »
Hi, John, I don’t have the ’93 mixes but I will add them to my list.
I had a feeling some Visage would show up this week Paul. 🙂
Do you remember that Kelly Osbourne song, One Word, that sounded almost exactly like Fade To Grey? How did the team behind it not think they’d get sued? 😀
I don’t recall that Kelly Osbourne track I didn’t really follow her at the time so I missed it.
I can only agree with you. I think it was a strategy to promote it.
Favorite. Amazing tune.
Enjoy Charly 🙂
Awesome material of it’s time.
I personally adore the B-Side, sounding like it should be from a Hollywood 1950’s horror movie.
Here’s a bit of trivia about the A-Side, originally written during during rehearsals of Gary Numan’s 1979 world tour by Chris Payne, it’s actually one of Numan’s tracks “Metal” in reverse order, the rest of the band which included Billy Currie added to it and was known as “Toot City”.
They presented it to Ure during Visage’s album creation when Ure added lyrics, then got Steve to sing – Steve was never credited which he was bitter about.
Thanks for the trivia Richard. However, I did include this in the write-up above 🙂
Face meets palm…
THIS IS AN ICON.
One of my first 12inches ever. Gosh. How could you not love that song? I prefer the other remix version by far, though. The last one minute or so of that other remix (just the “Fade To Grey” vocals and the rhythm part) have always been well known by my neighbours at every placed I´ve ever live. That part MUST be played LOUD, LOUDER, INSANELY LOUD. 🙂
Thank you Paul. The mother of synthpop as we know it.
You’re welcome Song_and_Dance 🙂
Thanks Paul once again. There has been several remixes recently, but the original is by far the best.
You’re welcome Omar 🙂
Love this track so much. It could easily have worked as an Ultravox track also – by that I mean with added drums and guitars and Midge Ure on vocals.
I agree with you Osc 🙂
great track paul,
i actually never heard the original before.
i bought this 12 inch of midge ure – that certain smile
https://www.discogs.com/Midge-Ure-That-Certain-Smile/release/1086525
it had a rehearsal version recorded on it, and i always thought it
was his song.
there are tons of live versions of him singing it on youtube, but
most are acoustic
later
-1
Midge Ure did record a version with him on vocals. It’s really good, but nothing beats the original with Steve Strange.
Yet another amazing track from the never ending treasure trove of 80s music!
This site is fun, because every new post is a surprise.
I still keep my hopes up we will see Private Lives – Living In A World Turned Upside Down, or Movieland – Postcard From New York some day!
Private Lives possibly soon. Still looking for a nice copy of the UK 12″ for Movieland just because it has a picture sleeve 🙂
Truly, one of the most definitive and groundbreaking synthpop songs in existence, and also one of Midge Ure’s greatest compositions. Would have been a hit were it to have come out today.
Thanks Paul!
You’re welcome Goodguy 🙂