Whirlpool Heart-The Wild Swans
The Wild Swans were a Post-punk band from Liverpool, England, which formed in 1980 shortly after Paul Simpson (ex-keyboards) left The Teardrop Explodes and teamed up (on vocals) with Jeremy Kelly (guitar), Ged Quinn (keyboards) and Justin Stavely (drums). Stavely was later replaced by Alan Wills and although bass players came and went, Joseph Fearon played on both of the studio albums, recorded by a reincarnated Mark II version of the band.
Enjoying a degree of success and/or cult status in the USA, Germany, UK, Japan, and especially the Philippines, The Wild Swans also spawned two interesting splinter projects; Care and The Lotus Eaters. As the parent outfit, The Wild Swans remained the cornerstone and historically, will probably be remembered as the most revered and influential of the three projects.
download trackThe Distance Between Us-Fra Lippo Lippi
Fra Lippo Lippi is a New Wave/synth pop band from Norway. They had several hits in the 1980s, such as "Shouldn't Have To Be Like That", and recorded a new album as late as 2002. Their band name is apparently taken from Robert
Browning's poem of the same name.The Norwegian band Fra Lippo Lippi swam in the depths of despair before diving into pop and jazz. Per Oystein Sorensen (vocals, synthesizer, keyboards), Rune Kristoffersen (guitar, bass, keyboards, piano), and Morten Sjoberg (drums, keyboards) formed Fra Lippo Lippi in 1978. Fra Lippo Lippi enveloped their first album, In Silence, with ominous bass lines, death-march percussion, pensive keyboards, and sinister, indecipherable vocals. However, by 1983's Small Mercies, Sorensen's pop background helped the group to become increasingly melodic. In 1985, Fra Lippo Lippi signed with Virgin Records in the U.K., releasing their third album, Songs. Fra Lippo Lippi jettisoned the gloom of their earlier efforts on Songs, experimenting with synth-pop and romantic balladry powered by Kristoffersen's piano. The transformation enabled the group to achieve minor chart success in England and Canada, but in the Philippines many of their singles became staples on the country's new wave radio stations. Tracks such as "The Distance Between Us" and "Come Summer" topped request lines. When the jazz-inflected Light and Shade was released in 1987, Fra Lippo Lippi had become superstars in the Philippines, much to the band's surprise. Largely unknown throughout most of the world, Fra Lippo Lippi performed to sold-out audiences of thousands in Manila, Philippines, in 1989. Financially, the band was very disappointed with Philippine distributor and producer OctoArts, who gave them no idea at all how popular they were, with OctoArts profits at such unimaginable levels that the band had no right to claim even a percentage of. Fra Lippo Lippi released two more albums, 1989's The Colour Album and 1991's Dreams, before the lack of commercial success forced the group into indefinite hiatus. Since Fra Lippo Lippi's departure from the recording studio, Kristoffersen released two instrumental albums, Elephant Song and Monolight, and started his own label, Rune Grammofon. Sorensen has worked with fellow Norwegian artist Trine Rein.
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