2LP – Limited Edition Black Vinyl
(*Only 800 copies being pressed in this edition. With printed inner & liner notes from lead singer and guitarist Luke Sky.)
Contains every studio recording of the first lineup of Fashion including US singles, all completely remastered. Includes unreleased tracks. Fashion went through several line-up overhauls during its initial existence between 1978 and 1984. John Mulligan (synthesiser, bass) and Dik Davis‘ (drums) were constants, but the band’s frontman changed with each of the band’s three albums.
Post-punk years: Fàshiön Music Fashion was formed originally as Fàshiön Music, in Birmingham, England, in 1978, and consisted of John Mulligan (bass, synthesizer), Dik Davis (drums), and Al James (vocals, guitar). James became known as Luke Sky, or simply Luke or Lûke (short for “Luke Skyscraper” – a reference to the Star Wars character Luke Skywalker and the fact that James was tall and thin), while John Mulligan was known simply as Mulligan and Dik Davis simply as Dïk (or “Dik Mamba” on their debut single).
In 1978, they also founded their own Fàshiön Music label; from this point forward, the band was generally (though not completely consistently) identified as Fashion, as distinct from the name of their self-owned label. Fashion released their first two singles (Steady Eddie Steady and Citinite) as independent issues on the UK in November 1978 and June 1979 respectively. The group was quickly picked up by I.R.S., who put out a third single in the US in September 1979, “The Innocent“. Their sound was varied, playing punk, post-punk and indie repertoire, although Mulligan at that time also had a synthesizer which later characterized the future synthpop years of the band.
Still signed to I.R.S., in 1979 they recorded and released their first album, Product Perfect. All three members were credited as having written the songs collectively. Between 1978 and 1980, Fashion played shows with performers such as Toyah Willcox, UB40, Hazel O’Connor and Billy Idol. A then-recently formed Duran Duran opened their shows; they toured the UK with U2, both the UK and US with The Police, and opened for The B-52’s on their first British tour. In March 1980, no longer associated with I.R.S., Fashion released their Silver Blades single, again on their own Fàshiön Music label. Later in 1980 they also released one more song, Let Go, on a Birmingham bands compilation called Bouncing in the Red (EMI).
In June 1980, after a last gig in London with U2, Luke James left the band, and later moved to the United States.
Tracklisting:
Side A (20:54)
1. Steady Eddie Steady (3.30)
2. Killing Time (5.13)
3. Citinite (5.20)
4. Wastelife (4.26)
5. Silver Blades (2.25)
Side B (19:16)
1. Silver Blades A Deeper Cut (3.40)
2. Sodium Pentathol Negative (1.49
3. (The) innocent (2.42)
4. Red, Green & Gold (4.45)
5. Fiction Factory (6.20)
Side C (19:08)
1. Do It In The Dark (3.47)
2.Steady Eddie Steady (1980) (4.23)
3.Emotional Blackmail (3.34)
4.Bad Move (4.21)
5.Let Go (3.03)
Side D (20:51)
1. I Don’t Take Drugs, I Don’t Tell Lies – 1978 (3.27)
2. We’re The Fashion – 1978 (2.52)
3. Small People – 197 (2.05)
4. Bike Boys 1978 (5.22)
5. The Naff All Tango (2.41)
6. Killing Time – 1978 (original) (2.32)