Customer Reviews

Second Helpings: Best of

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If you're at all interested in early eighties synth-pop and you missed Blancmange - do yourself a favor and check them out. What distinguishes this duo is the appealing fact that they didn't take themselves too seriously, unlike their angst-ridden, vanity struck contemporaries. Sure, Steve barely cracked a smile - but he was busy with his synths and drum machines and trying to keep the whole thing together. Neil simply enjoyed every minute of it - a big stupid grin on his face as he'd wrench out a deceptively simplistic guitar solo that would have made a 70's guitar god weep. But underneath the self-deprecating humor there was some pretty good music going on and I'm still enjoying Blancmange years after I've discarded the Visages, Numans, Modes and Yazoos. They were unpretentious - and their music was all the better for that.

Neil Arthur and Stephen Luscombe formed Blancmange in 1979 as a clever little synth duo. They started hitting bit in 1982, with the 3rd single Living On The Ceiling selling over 300 000 copies and propelling the Happy Families album into a lengthy chart run. Second Helpings includes 9 of their chart singles and a couple of interesting B-sides. Arthur's dulcet voice and the Depeche Mode-like synths are a pleasant combination, almost but not quite putting Blancmange on a par with the aforementioned synth wonders and contemporaries like Ultravox. A valuable retrospective on the sound of the early 1980's.

Since it's unavailable on most services, this album remains one of the few ways to get the classic song "Don't Tell Me". You pay for all the extra songs. Best to buy this used, get it in your iTunes, and ditch the CD.