Blind vision...

Blancmange is an English group formed in London in 1979 and originally composed of Neil Arthur, Stephen Luscombe and Laurence Stevens. Laurence Stevens will quickly leave the adventure and the group will then mutate into a duo.

Their first achievement is a mini-album "Irene & Mavis" in 1980, a mini album that will unfortunately go unnoticed.

They will have to wait two years and the release of the album "Happy families" in 1982 to record their first successes and what successes ! The tracks "Living on the ceiling" and "Waves" will become huge global hits and literally explode the notoriety of the group.

Success confirmed and amplified two years later when the album "Mange tout" was released in 1984, an album that remains their biggest success to this day. Album which will produce an impressive number of hits with to start the titles "Blind vision" and "That’s love that is" which they released a year earlier in 1983.

But it is above all the titles "The day before you came" (luxury cover of ABBA's title released two years earlier) but also, and above all, the enormous single "Don't tell me" that will allow the duo achieve consecration in 1984.

The album "Believe you me" which came out in 1985 was not going to have the same level of success as its predecessor. A poor performance that can be explained by the overall modest success of the singles that will result.

The group will never recover and will end up disappearing altogether. A return for the less unexpected which will see the release of a significant number of albums thereafter...

To discover or rediscover.

Discography (among others ...) :

Holiday camp 1980
God’s kitchen 1982
Feel me 1982
Living on the ceiling 1982
Waves 1983
Blind vision 1983
That’s love that it is 1983
Game above my head 1983
Don’t tell me 1984
The day before you came 1984
What’s your problem 1985
Lose your love 1985
Why don’t they leave things alone 1985
I can see it 1986
Drive me 2011
Paddington 2015
I want more 2015
Useless 2015
Last night (I dreamt I had a job) 2016
Distant storm 2018
Not a priority 2018
Big fat head 2019
I smashed your phone 2019
Mindset 2020
Some times these 2022
Reduced voltage 2022
Take me 2022
Again, I wait for the world 2024

Clips :

1980 ... the first steps of a group which in a few years will become one of the leading groups of the English New-Wave scene. With a first title which already says a lot about their potential ...

1982 ... the rise in power will be slow but success is already there with this first song which will be classified on both sides of the Atlantic...

1982...the group shows obvious potential and we can see that he has everything it takes to do great things. It remains to produce THE title that will set him apart from the crowd...

1982 ... a year 1982 which sees them enter in a sensational way in the big league with THIS title. First big planetary success, admittedly limited to the Anglo-Saxon sphere, but it still makes a few people on this good old earth ...

1983 ... this time, the success also extends to the Old Continent. The group has become in a few months one of the biggest musical phenomena across the Channel and it is set to last a little ...

1983 ... which will undoubtedly remain one of their most emblematic titles. The group now has a perfect command of its subject and you can feel it, especially you can hear it. HU-GE !

1983 ... even if this title will not be their best ranked, it is still probably the most dancing. All good little guys !

1983 ... a sound among the best of the moment which places them de facto in the gratin of the English music scene. Quite simply a good job !

1984 ... here they reach the peak of their career with what will remain as their biggest record success. A well-deserved consecration for one of the most gifted groups of its generation !

1984 ... when Blancmange takes over Abba dating from 1982. So there, that one, you had to dare ! 2 universes slightly poles apart from each other but which on this cover does not work that badly. Like what, in music, anything is possible !

1985 ... after 3 years spent in familiar terms with the stars, the group will suddenly unscrew. A sudden drop in power that is quite inexplicable but unfortunately irreversible. The beginning of the end, and yes, already ...

1985 ... a loosening, to say the least, incomprehensible when you see what they are still capable of producing. Another title among their best but which will receive only a rather mixed reception from the public. Go figure ...

1985 ... the crazy thing is that there is such an influx of groups across the Channel that you can be swept away by the competition in a few years, even if you do a good job. A hard law of the trade of which the group will be the victim ...

1986 ... the final clap. A group that will be mounted as quickly as it will come down, without anyone really knowing why. Anyway, what he produced is now written in history, the one with a capital H and that's the main thing !

2011... when we thought we would never see them again, here they are back 25 years later. A return that is unexpected to say the least and which necessarily delights the grassroots fans to the highest degree...

2015...coming back 25 years later is quite a challenge, to say the least. It remains to be seen whether they will be able to adapt to the latest musical trends of the moment...

2015... they are going to revisit here the title of the German group Can, a title dating from 1976. A nice revisited version but nothing more...

2015...the only problem is that the group remains too arched on its fundamentals of the 80s. An evolution in terms of sound becomes more urgent...

2016...they still haven't made the connection between sounds of the 80s and contemporary sounds, it is clear. Hopefully it happens at some point...

2018...a 2010 decade that did not allow them to come back significantly in the race. But it's not for lack of trying...

2018...after there is success or not, as long as they enjoy doing what they do, isn't that the main thing ? Knowing that in addition a return to grace is always possible...

2019...especially since they are not alone today because more and more bands from the same era as them are also coming back...

2019...the 2010 decade will above all have allowed them to show that they still exist. Let's hope the next decade is the decade of rebirth, the real...

2020...what is important is that they continue to believe in it and this is the case at first sight. It now remains to produce THE title that will finally allow them to come back to the surface...

2022...even if they no longer rank any singles, the albums are still ranked in the Independent Charts. It's always that...

2022...it's not really missing much to see them take off again, that's clear. Just the little extra that made all the difference during the 80s...

2022...we also imagine that this title won't be the last, at least we hope so. It remains to be seen whether they will have the courage to continue the adventure a little further in the years to come...