ERC015 – Pink And Black – Sometimes I Wish

 

 

With the synthesized sounds of Gary Numan, The Human League, Depeche Mode, New Order and Yazoo sweeping the pop charts between1980 and 1985, there were many electronic groups that never reached such heady heights.

 

Up and down the country, clubs were mixing these revolutionary hits with an array of underground and experimental electronic dance tracks that never made it up to the surface of popular culture.

 

While industrial groups like Chris & Cosey and Cabaret Voltaire developed from experimental tones towards a more pop and club orientated vision, a myriad of independent labels appeared to release literally hundreds of synth dominated groups vying for the spotlight.

 

Long lost labels like Ink, Survival and Illuminated today offer many lost treasures and in one of these you’ll find the duo of Pink And Black and their one (miss) hit wonder. Rob Stroud and Michelle Yee-Chong worked with limited budget, rudimentary studios and temperamental equipment to create a piece of synth-pop history.

 

While Sometimes I Wish was clearly aimed at the floor with it’s nonchalant vocals, driving rhythms and uplifting lines, it was Miss Fortune – hastily recorded in leftover studio minutes – that showed a true glimpse of (leftfield) genius.  Whispy vocals, snap breakbeat and DX bass line all meet here in an unreleased extended form and show why it has become a secret play for the likes of Veronica Vasicka (Minimal Wave) and Josh Coen (Dark Entries).