Neil Arthur is celebrating 45 years of Blancmange with the group’s new best-of collection – a project spurred on by his former bandmate, Stephen Luscombe.
The duo formed in 1979 and released three albums together – ‘Happy Families’ (1982), ‘Mange Tout’ (1984) and ‘Believe You Me’ (1985) – scoring a run of hits including Living On The Ceiling, Blind Vision and Don’t Tell Me.
After parting company in the mid-’80s, they reformed for ‘Blanc Burn’ in 2011, which remains their final release as a duo.
After suffering from heart issues, Stephen was forced to leave the band, with Neil continuing to record and tour as Blancmange with his blessing. Health-wise, he says Stephen is “not doing very well at all”, but the longtime pals are still in contact and it’s him who gave Neil the “kick up the ass” to put out the ‘Everything Is Connected’ compilation.
“So and that’s what I did,” he smiles, speaking in RETROPOP’s May 2024 edition. “You know, I do it because I want to do it as well. I’m very proud of what we did together in the ‘80s and I’m also equally proud of what I’m able to do now. Being creative is probably when I’m happiest.”
Blancmange’s foundations were always in music and creativity and in their early years they made instruments out of everyday household objects. “The first time I actually saw Stephen perform with his band Miru was in the college bar, he was either playing a washing machine or he was playing a saxophone connected to a Hoover that somebody had managed to get on reverse thrust – so it wasn’t sucking, it was blowing,” Neil recalls. “That’s the kind of route we took.
“I also remember making one out of a Smash instant mashed potato tin; we put some dried barley inside of it, tin foil on top and played it with little brushes. I think that features on ‘Irene And Mavis’ too – it didn’t make it onto Blind Vision or anything like that!”
It wasn’t until they broke into the mainstream with the Top 10 hit, Living On The Ceiling, that the pair realised their commercial potential too. “It was all a bit of a blur and me and Stephen used to have to pinch ourselves from time to time,” Neil reflects.
“I remember the first ‘Top Of The Pops’, going through the run through being slightly surprised at what the BBC studio was like, thinking: ‘I thought he was gonna be a bit more sophisticated than this.’ Obviously, the technology probably was, but there were so many run throughs for the sound and lights.
“In fact, I noticed this person on the floor who was singing along and he knew all the words really well – when the lights went up, I looked down and it was George Michael! I thought, ‘OK, that’s interesting’, because he probably knew the lyrics better than I did!”
It’s sustained the blancmange brand for 45 years and while Neil putting together a live set for the forthcoming best-of tour, which plays across the UK in May and June, he’s got new music on the go too.
“There’s definitely going to be new Blancmange music next year,” he teases, “and more to come from the other projects I’m involved with too. More Fader, more Near Future, more The Remainder, more Nil By Mouth instrumental albums. Lots more to come!”
