Realised a couple of days ago it’s almost exactly two decades since my first major label recording session. Bloody hell, I feel old.
It was late 1989 and I’d been asked to add a rap to new material by Sheffield’s electro pioneers Cabaret Voltaire.
The Cabs were – and still are – considered godfathers of experimental UK music (to understand why, watch this clip from BBC4′s Synth Britannia).
Sadly – like my lyrical contribution – the album they were brewing at the time wasn’t among their best. Groovy, Laidback and Nasty was their last release for EMI, an (understandable) attempt to parlay their electro roots into hit singles, via house music.
It didn’t really hit the spot, and the pair – in particular Richard Kirk – returned to producing tense, technical mood music pretty much straight after.
But I’m very proud I got the chance to contribute, proud I made it onto vinyl, and proud too that EMI have re-released the album electronically within the last few weeks.
Here’s the track in question. All pre-work was done by sending cassettes in Jiffy bags back and forth between Nottingham and Sheffield. Those were the days.
I’ll doubtless return to the fertile blogging ground of Sheffield’s music scene in the future.
But for now, here’s something stronger from Cabaret Voltaire’s catalogue – the tremendous, still-fresh Sensoria. Watch out for the late, lamented Tinsley cooling towers at 2:49.
Oh – and I first saw this video on The Max Headroom Show. It literally does not get any more 80s than that.
