This is the first song I heard by Blancmange when it was included on the Some Bizarre Album compilation in 1981.

Stephen Luscombe and Neil Arthur got together in Harrow in 1979, just as the New Wave was producing a new generation of DIY electro bands.

Originally called L360 but soon changing their name to Blancmange, they were a fixture in the early-’80s charts with singles including Living On The Ceiling, Waves, Blind Vision and Don’t Tell Me.

The duo split in 1986 and reunited in 2011, only for Luscombe to have to retire due to ill health, leaving Arthur to continue to release music under the Blancmange name for the remainder of the decade and beyond.

Blancmange received immediate recognition when they sent the song Sad Day to DJ Stevo, who included it on Some Bizarre Album, his 1981 compilation LP of then-unsigned New Wave groups.

Signed to London Records, Blancmange released their first two singles, God’s Kitchen and Feel Me, in 1982, followed by debut album Happy Families, spawning their first Top 10 hit with Living On The Ceiling, throwing Middle Eastern flavours into the electro mix.

By the time of their second album, Mange Tout, they Luscombe and Arthur had expanded their sound to experiment with “real” instruments, incorporating sitars, strings, woodwinds, and horns into their synthesized sound.

But Blancmange’s third album, Believe You Me, was a flop and they broke up soon after, with Arthur going solo and Luscombe forming The West Indian Company.

Following their 2011 reunion, and a new album Blanc Burn, Luscombe left after suffering an abdominal aneurism, leading to lifelong health problems. 

Trivia fact: Blancmange’s cover of The Day Before You Came was actually even more successful than ABBA’s original, peaking at number 22 – ten places higher than the Swedes.