Furniture

Furniture was a British group, that was active from 1979 to 1991. The group's members consisted of Jim Irvin on vocals and percussion, Sally Still on bass, Maya Gilder on keyboards, Tim Whelan on guitar, Hamilton Lee on drums and Larry N’Azone on saxophone.

Furniture was formed in the Ealing area of London, England. The group's founding members were Irvin, Whelan and Lee. After few line up changes in the early 80's, Still and Gilder joined in 1983 and Furniture released their first EP entitled 'When the Boom Was On', on the Premonition imprint of the Ealing based Survival record label. Switching to the main label, they released their next single, "Dancing the Hard Bargain", produced by a former member of Blue Zoo, Tim Parry; followed by "Love Your Shoes", produced by former member of The Teardrop Explodes, Troy Tate; and a self-produced EP "I Can't Crack". Some of this material was collected on an LP on Survival, The Lovemongers.
In 1986 the band switched to Stiff Records and released the single "Brilliant Mind", which peaked at number 21 in the UK Singles Chart. "Brilliant Mind" is the band’s most popular song. It has since been used on a series of 1980s compilation albums, and as regular incidental music in "World Shut Your Mouth" for the character with the cymbals. A re-recorded version of "Brilliant Mind" featured in the John Hughes film, Some Kind of Wonderful.

The band attempted to build on their success by releasing a second single, (a re-recorded version of) "Love Your Shoes". By this time Stiff Records was in financial crisis and could only afford to press a limited number of singles. Advance orders for their album 'The Wrong People' were fulfilled with a pressing of 30,000 copies, which sold out quickly, but Stiff Records went into liquidation and was sold to ZTT who pressed no further copies of the album.
In 1989 the band signed to Arista Records and released the album 'Food, Sex and Paranoia', which was produced by Mike Thorne. Sessions got underway for a third album, to be released on Survival (who also managed the band), but were curtailed when the label's recording studio was shut down. Furniture decided to take some time off after a series of gigs, one of which was a headlining slot on the second stage at the 1990 Reading Festival, and reconvene after the release of a compilation album, 'She Gets Out The Scrapbook' - released on vinyl and CD by Survival in 1991.

But the reunion never happened. Irvin made an album under the name 'Because' (1991), and has since been a music journalist for Melody Maker, Mojo, The Guardian and Time Out. Whelan and Lee went on to form Transglobal Underground in 1992.
An active fan forum, named "Wrongpeople" after the band's album, has existed since 2002 on Yahoo. Fans of Furniture discuss the band's music, and exchange information and updates on re-releases.

Hilary Blake 1950-2007

Hilary Blake, also known simply as Hilary, emerged onto the music scene with a single and EP in 1983. Despite limited online information, it is noted that she was from Los Angeles and was recognized as one of the pioneering female artists in the synth-pop genre. Tragically, she passed away in August 2007. Her legacy endures primarily through her standout single, "Kinetic."

http://www.hilarykinetic.com/news.htm

New Visage

Few weeks ago I posted a topic about the new Visage song that was going to be available soon. Now you can get the brand new Visage song in full on the official website. 

http://www.visagemusic.com/

Instant Hit: Secession- Michael

"Michael" was one of the several singles Secession released between 1983 and 1987. It was released in 1986 and marked the label change from Beggars Banquet to Siren Records and it also appeared on their only album release Dark Enchantment released a year later.

Echo And The Bunnymen- Ocean Rain Concert

Echo And The Bunnymen are to play their classic 1984 album 'Ocean Rain' in with full orchestra. The concert will be held in London's Royal Albert Hall on September 16th next year.


More info here:
http://www.bunnymen.com/

Minor Detail

Minor Detail was an Irish Synth-Pop duo consisting of the brothers John And Willie Hughes. They formed Minor Detail in the early 80's and released only one self titled album "Minor Detail". Soon after that, they split and John Hughes eventually became the manager of the Corrs . Their music was an expression of Longing, Romance and Peace. "Canvas of Life", "Take It Again" and "She's Back" were the only Minor Detail single releases. Their album was never released on CD.

More info:

http://www.irishrock.org/

Retrovision: Comateens- The Late Mistake

Instant Hit- The Blue Nile- I Love This Life

"I Love This Life" served as the debut single for the Glasgow-based band Blue Nile, released in 1981 under their own label, Peppermint Records. The song showcased a more minimalistic style compared to the music Blue Nile would later become known for. Interestingly, this single did not appear on any of the Blue Nile albums released throughout their career

Blue Peter- The Millenium Collection

The Best of Blue Peter, 20th Century Masters The Millennium Collection has recently been released(Nov 20, 2007) by Universal Music Canada . This release features 15 remastered tracks and includes songs such as Radio Silence, Video Verite, Chinese Graffiti, and Don't Walk Past. The songs were compiled by Peter Moore.

One Year of The Burning Flame Blog

Today is exactly one year since this blog started on Wordpress. I really enjoyed working on it and hope I managed to deliever some useful info about some lost bands. Here is the line up of the bands that were featured here:

The Associates, Josef K, I Start Counting, Nits, Blue Zoo, D.A.F., Fiat Lux, Fay Ray, Dalis Car, Tik And Tok, Thick Pigeon, Pink Industry, Images In Vogue, Stockholm Monsters, Terry Hall, Fra Lippo Lippi, Ronny, UV POP, Polyrock,
Do Re Mi, Dark Day, Mydolls, Intaferon, Snowy Red, The Beloved, Vitamin Z,
Leisure Process, Alison Statton, Mathematiques Modernes, Foreign Press, Black, Winston Tong, Little Nemo, Max and Malcolm, Seppuku