You know a single is rare when it is offered on eBay for enormous amounts of money. It is even more rare when it isn't offered on eBay at all. Ever since I knew about the existance of New Musik's single 'The planet doesn't mind' (which really isn't that long ago) I have been searching for this single to no avail. A copy recently popped up on discogs.com, offered on sale for the amount of 20 euros.
In 1980, CBS Records released the 'NU Disk' series of records on the Epic label. While they were similar to EP's, since both formats contained more than two tracks. EPs were usually on 7″ vinyl, and played at 45rpm. NU Disks were on 10″ vinyl, and they played at 33 1/3 rpm! For the most part, NU Disks were by New Wave synth-pop bands.
When I started collecting New Musik singles, I didn't know that the three albums they made brought forth so many different singles. I'm a lot wiser now than I was in the days before the Internet. I was aware of this French release for some time, but never thought I would actually find it - and so cheaply, too!
'Living by numbers' is New Musik's biggest hit. Released in January 1980, it peaked at number 13 in the UK singles chart. It was the second single taken from their debut album 'From A to B', and a great synthpop track.
At some point, every New Musik single I found was a nice surprise. I had the albums 'From A to B', 'Anywhere' and 'Warp', and I knew that all the tracks were great. So all I had to look for next were the B-sides. And there were B-side aplenty: 'While you wait', this single, even had two.
The single 'Churches' featured 'They all run after the carving knife' on the B-side. On this single, that track is the A-side - but it's an edited version, clocking in at 3'19 it's more than a minute shorter than the album version. It's a great dynamic track with lots of synths, which immediately explains its attraction to me.
This single by New Musik was released in France only. 'Churches' is a track from New Musik's second album 'Anywhere'. The photograph on this sleeve also appeared on an American album called 'Sanctuary', which collected tracks from New Musik's debut album 'From A to B' and 'Anywhere'.
Taken from New Musik's third and last album 'Warp', 'All you need is love' is a daring cover of a Beatles classic. On the album, it appeared as track six, just after track five which was also named 'All you need is love', but in that case was a new composition by New Musik.
'Straight lines' was actually New Musik's debut single, released in October 1979. It led to their first TV performance on the BBC's programme 'Top of the pops' (see it here), despite the fact that the single only made number 53 in the UK Singles chart. The song appeared on New Musik's debut album 'From A to B', released in 1980.
Why New Musik never achieved commercial success is a mystery to me. 'Luxury' is one of many singles that never reached a chart anywhere. And 'Anywhere' is the title of the album this single was taken from. 'Luxury' was the first of three singles taken from the album. It was backed with a non-album track, 'The office'.
'Sanctuary' is, in my opinion, one of the best synthpop songs ever. Created by New Musik, it fitted perfectly in the sound they had created for themselves. It was the second single to be taken from their album 'From A to B', and the last single to reach the UK singles chart. Just like 'This world of water' a few months earlier, it reached number 31.
New Musik was an English synthpop group, formed in 1979 in London by Tony Mansfield, Clive Gates and Cliff Venner. Their debut album 'From A to B' contained four hit singles, of which 'This world of water' was the only one to reach the Dutch Top 40, peaking at no. 30 in the summer of 1980. This is also how I found out about the band. Now, decades later, I can say that I own all of their singles. But this one was the first that I bought!