It was a wonderful life ...

Black, an English group from Liverpool, was born in the early 80s. Its leader, Colin Vearncombe, on which the success of the group is largely based, started music at the age of 16 by integrating a punk group with the surreal name of "Epileptic Tits", before founding a few years later Black . The 1st Single "Human features" was released in 1981, followed 1 year later "More than the sun", without either of them being noticed. The group still signs this year on WEA Records and it is the tour with the Thompson Twins that will reveal them to the general public. 1984 was going to be a pivotal year with the release of the Single "Hey presto" which enabled them to acquire a certain notoriety, especially in the UK. But it was 1987 that saw the release of the now cult "Wonderful Life", album and planetary hit of the same name. The album sold 2 million copies. 2 other albums will follow in 1988 and 1991, unfortunately crowned with relative success... Black will have deeply and lastingly marked the 80s. In particular thanks to these languid and captivating melodics, and to his style, so particular but just as fascinating.

Colin Vearncombe will leave us prematurely on January 26, 2016 at the age of 53 following a serious car accident he suffered near Cork airport in Ireland. To discover or rediscover...

Discography (among others ...) :

80s Decade :

• Human features 1981

• More than the sun 1982

• Hey presto 1984

• Wonderful life 1986

• Everything's coming up roses 1987

• Sweetest smile 1987

• I'm not afraid 1987

• Paradise 1988

• The big one 1988

• You're a big girl now 1988

• Now you’re gone 1989

• I can laugh about it now 1989

90s Decade :

• Feel like change 1991

• Here it comes again 1991

• Fly up to the moon 1991

• Don't take the silence too hard 1993

• Wishing you were here 1993

• Just like love 1993

• Sleeper (Colin Vearncombe) 1999

2000s Decade :

• Number one (Colin Vearncombe) 2000

• Alive (Colin Vearncombe) 2000

• Famous (Colin Vearncombe) 2000

• The sunshine (Colin Vearncombe) 2002

• In a heartbeat 2006

• Signal black spot 2006

• What makes a fool 2008

• Grievous angel 2008

• Tonight we cross the river 2008

• Blondes 2009

• Chapter and verse 2009

• Agnes prayer 2009

2010s Decade :

• Heart of the matter 2012

• Water's edge 2013

• Womanly panther 2015

• Ashes of angels 2015

• When it's over 2015

• Wicked game 2015

Tracks :

1981 ... the first steps and everything is already there ... The style, the voice, the originality ... Everything is ready for the fireworks that will follow ...

1982 ... a fireworks display that lasts but the evolution is evident year after year. It is clear that this group is really talented and above all, unlike any other ...

1984 ... they still have a little bit of work to finally access the big leagues. But it will not be long...

1986 ... and the fireworks, there it is ! A mega interplanetary tube that will surely remain one of the major hits of the decade and the end of the 20th century. MO-NU-MEN-TAL !

1987 ... a transition title that goes fast, very fast. And which contrasts radically with the previous gem ...

1987 ... a decidedly exceptional year with a second title in extraordinary lyricism which magically suspends time ...

1987 ... sudden tempo re-acceleration. The group will never have specialized in Dance titles but will have produced some fast tracks of good quality

1988 ... new WONDER a year later. An incredible inspiration that transcends a title with incredible lyricism !

1988 ... another title with certain quality. Jazzy, groovy, smoothy at will ...

1988 ... a particularly prolific year 1988 which sees the release of excellent titles, including this one !

1989 ... all in finesse once again. It is light and airy. Admittedly, it won't be a mega hit ... but it still works perfectly !

1989...a title with the most limited success since it was only released in...Spain ! It must be said that given its sound it was necessarily predestined for that ...

1991 ... decade change and capillary metamorphosis ....! The voice is lower too. But for the rest, especially on the inspiration side, it's still just as good !

1991 ... another magnificent ballad, tailor-made to provoke maximum emotions ... The group's last notorious hit ...

1991... here he is sharing the bill with Sam Brown on this title. We could have hoped that their musical encounter would pay off, but unfortunately that will not really be the case...

1993...a year 1993 which will not really benefit the group. Several titles will be released but none will obtain the favors of the public...

1993 ... a decade of the 90s that will prove more complicated to manage than expected. Gradual drop in inspiration, loss of reference points in a decade that spins at the speed of light, in short, everything to get the group to take down irreversibly ...

1993...a title full of softness and finesse as the group knows how to do them so well. Unfortunately, that won't be enough to bring them back to life...

1999...we will lose sight of them for almost 6 years and it is solo that the singer returns at the end of the decade. It won't benefit him any more than that...

1999...a decade that didn't really work for the band or the singer. And yet, what they proposed was far from devoid of interest...

2000...will the new decade allow them to finally get back into the race after a particularly difficult previous decade ? The future will tell us...

2000...for the moment, the singer continues to ride solo. He may put the best possible will into it, that doesn't change the situation for the moment...

2002... it is clear that it is not with this kind of sound that he risks attracting the young generation. An assumed bias but which de facto marginalizes him...

2006...back in grouped mode from the year 2006. Good work once again but which does not really correspond to what the youth of the 2000s expect...

2006...the big problem is that the band didn't know how to reinvent himself on the sound side and as a result only the basic fans continue to follow him. Really unfortunate...

2008...even if the success they have had has nothing to do with what the group knew in its heyday, that does not prevent them from continuing the adventure as they see fit. Right or wrong, that's something else...

2008...as long as they enjoy doing what they do, there's no reason for them to throw in the towel prematurely. The adventure will go as far as it can...

2008...a third decade ending gently, far from rhinestones and sequins. The band decided to play it as refined as possible, to say the least...

2009...solo return for this very last year of the decade. He alternates more and more grouped mode and more solitary mode with more or less success, it is clear...

2009...as long as the wind will carry him, he will continue the adventure. Too bad he has not undertaken to evolve with the times when there was still time...

2009...now remains to be seen whether he intends to return the following decade. And especially if he comes back, what does he intend to offer new..

2012...he came back, that's for sure. So here he begins a 4th decade which will not bring much new and which will above all end in a tragic way for the artist but that he does not know it yet...

2013...even if he won't offer much new, his talent alone is enough to produce quality titles all the same. Which we will largely be satisfied with...

2015...the last year. No one imagines in this year 2015 that the singer is at the dawn of his life and that fate is going to mow him down in a brutal way...

2015...especially since he absolutely did not intend to stop there at first sight. He still had things to offer and especially to sing...

2015...not to mention that we had found a particularly inspired Colin Vearncombe, which gave hope for great achievements later...

2015...an incredible adventure that will end with this beautiful cover of Chris Isaak's flagship title from 1989. Tchao the artist, we will undoubtedly miss you...