THE 1000 BEST SONGS IN THE WORLD EVER.

543-Visage-Fade to Grey.

1980-Number 8 single.

Best Bit-At 0.08. It sounded futuristic over 40 years ago, and it still sounds futuristic now. How ‘STRANGE’ is that.

Visage were an amalgamation of musicians who had all played in other bands, or whom were involved in the making of music, and came together to form the group ‘Visage,’ in London, England, in 1978. ‘Visage’ is a French word, meaning ‘the face, countenance, or appearance of a person, or sometimes an animal.’ The original seven members involved from 1978, and then played on the debut Album called ‘Visage,’ released in 1980 were, Steve Strange, (1959-2015) (vocals) Rusty Egan, (drums) Midge Ure, (see also best songs 532 and 455) (guitar, and synthesizers) Bill Currie, (keyboards, and violin) Dave Formula, (keyboards) John McGeoch, (1955-2004) (guitar, and saxophone) and Barry Adamson (bass.) Visage were active until 1985, with different personnel coming and going, In 2002 the groups one constant Steve Strange reformed Visage with differing members, and they remained active until his death in 2015, when the groups name was retired. The discography of Visage includes five studio Albums released between 1980-2015, and 19 singles released between 1979-2015, there are also four remix Albums, eight official compilation Albums, and one live Album available. In the UK, their first two Albums both reached the top 20, and six of their singles have reached the UK top 40, with ‘Fade to Grey,’ peaking the highest at Number 8, the song was most successful in Germany, and Switzerland, where it reached Number 1 in both territories.

Steve Strange was born Stephen John Harrington, on May 28th, 1959, in Newbridge, Caerphilly, Wales, United Kingdom, he died on February 12th, 2015, after suffering a heart attack, whilst in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, at the age of 55. Steve Strange was one of the most influential figures in the rise of the ‘New Romantic’ scene in the early 1980’s, influencing amongst others David Bowie, (1948-2016) (see also best songs 807-440-334-302-209-186-118-47-31 and 5) with his clothing, and persona, so much so that Bowie asked him to appear in his 1980 video for ‘Ashes to Ashes.’ Prior to forming ‘Visage,’ Steve Strange, and fellow future ‘Visage’ member Rusty Egan began to make a name for themselves as a nightclub host, and DJ respectively. They began organising ‘Bowie nights’ on Tuesdays at ‘Billy’s club’ in Soho, London, before taking over Tuesdays at the ‘Blitz wine bar’ in London’s Covent Garden in 1979, which became the iconic ‘Blitz Club.’ At his club nights Steve Strange had a strict door policy of admitting only ‘the weird and wonderful.’ the club took off and became an essential location in the rise of what would become the ‘New Romantic’ movement.

‘New Romantic’ was an underground subculture movement that originated in the United Kingdom in the late 1970’s. The ‘New Romantic’ movement was characterised by flamboyant, eccentric fashion inspired by fashion boutiques such as ‘Kahn and Bell’ in Birmingham, and ‘PX’ in London. The movement was influenced in the main by David Bowie, Marc Bolan, (1947-1977) (see also best songs 790-386 and 67) and Roxy Music, (see also best songs 721-316 and 57) from the way they had dressed during the ‘Glam Rock’ era of the early to mid 1970’s. ‘New Romantic’ was also influenced by the early ‘Romantic period’ of the late 18th and early 19th century in Europe, which was from where the movement took its name. The term ‘New Romantic’ is known to have been coined by the musician, producer, manager and innovator Richard James Burgess.

‘Fade to Grey’ was the second of four singles released from the debut studio Album by Visage, of the same name, from November 1980. The songs writing is credited to ‘Visage,’ with the production credited to Midge Ure, and Visage. ‘Fade to Grey’ was originally written as an instrumental by Billy Currie, and Chris Payne in 1979. Payne at that time was a member of Gary Numan’s (see also best songs 772-232 and 177) backing band, playing keyboards, and viola. Neither Payne, or Cederic Sharpley, who was Gary Numan’s drummer, who was also influential in the writing of the song, receive writing credits. As an instrumental, the track was called ‘Toot City,’ the lyrics were later added by Midge Ure. ‘Fade to Grey’ is unusual in that it features the same lyrics in two different languages. The English lyrics are sung by Steve Strange, whereas the French lyrics are spoken by Brigitte Arens, who was born in Luxembourg, and whom at the time was a student, and the girlfriend of Rusty Egan. There was a dispute as to whose idea it was for both sets of vocals to be used, with both Midge Ure and Steve Strange claiming it was theirs.

‘Fade to Grey’ is a song about deep depression, with the songs subject not able to see anything worth living for.

‘Feel the rain like an English summer, hear the notes from a distant song. Stepping out from a back shop poster, wishing life wouldn’t be so long.’