Easy Action [Release date 01.05.22]
This double CD is a great opportunity to hear a proto Fashion, the Birmingham band who made some impact in the early 1980s with their blend of electro funk. They signed to Arista in 1981, released ‘Fabrique’ but without their original frontman Luke ‘Skyscraper’ James.
Prior to their first signing to IRS (and 1979′s ‘Product Perfect’) they made several independent demos and this collection brings these and other recordings together plus the band’s first four singles with B-sides.
The second disc is mainly an unreleased live show (in excellent sound quality), recorded at RAF Brize Norton. Sadly the booklet is a bit light on detail and dates, merely referring punters to Skyscraper’s biography ‘Stairway To Nowhere’ also the name of his 2009 album when he revived the band name.
For someone who saw the band playing live c.1982 and bought their later singles, the big question is how the early sound differed from the subsequent configuration. The difference is revealed in that opening salvo of early singles.
‘Steady Eddie Steady’ (also included in different versions) and ‘Killing Time’ fuses reggae/pop possibly influenced by The Police (with whom they toured in the UK and USA when signed with Miles Copeland’s label). Fashion’s formation coincided with the ascendancy of Sting but also the popularity of fellow Brummie bands like U.B.40 and Steel Pulse who purveyed their own fusion of reggae and rock.
‘Citinite’ another early single sounds like Roxy Music on speed, whilst B-side ‘Wastelife’ is average punk along with the somewhat weird ‘Silver Blades’. Well, it was the dawn of the 80s, a decade where anything was possible. Fashion straddled punk whilst ushering in New Wave; they certainly looked the part.
Interestingly, of the 1978 demos only one song made the final album cut, whilst the six 1980 demos were presumably being readied for a second album before the first line-up change.
The critical thing here is that James’ replacement De Harisss wrote most of the later, arguably more mainstream, material.
The band subsequently signed to Epic and made a third album (with a new vocalist and guitarist) ‘Twilight Of Idols’ (1984).
In spite of an attempt to revive the brand in 2009 it seems that Fashion went…out of fashion. Those who are curious should track down ‘The Height Of Fashion’ which reinforces that the band made their best work in 1982. ***
Review by David Randall
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