The biggest redeeming quality of all these singles was that they were produced by Tony Mansfield, of New Musik fame. You can his recognizable synth sounds on this single. Apparently there's a 12" single version as well - which will probably feature on this blog soon as well.
My collection: 7" single no. 7146
Found: Record fair, Rijswijk, 3 March 2024
Tracks: 'Stop the world' / 'Back to school?'
According to Captain Sensible, the song came to be when he was in the USA during a tour with the Damned. He heard this horrible pounding sound coming from outside at 5am. It was coming from a building site and as it was so early and he wanted to sleep in the hotel, he recorded the noise to make a complaint. He played it to the reception, informing them that it was disgusting and a ploy to upset British bands, and he was trying to get some sleep, and they just said, "Have a nice day". Nothing was done and he got no sleep. When he returned to the UK, he played the tape to Tony Mansfield who took the tape and created a loop (backing track) from it within about 10 minutes. This sound loop formed the basis of the song. The loop can be heard clearly at the beginning and near the end of the song.
'Wot!' reached number 10 in the Dutch Top 40 and number 26 in the UK singles chart.
My collection: 7" single no. 6976
Found: Record fair, Den Bosch, 22 April 2023
Tracks: 'Wot!' / 'Strawberry dross'
The only way to inject a bit of originality is searching for producers - which is exactly what I did recently. As a fan of New Musik and Tony Mansfield I thought he would be the man to produce some interesting Eighties singles. And indeed I found this 'forgotten' (at least by me) single by Captain Sensible. The single managed to reach number 57 in the UK singles chart, but went by unnoticed over here in the Netherlands. What a shame, because it's a great song.
My collection: 7" single no. 6321
Found: Discogs.com, received August 14, 2020
Cost: 3 euro
Tracks: 'There are more snakes than ladders' / 'The 4 Marys Go Go Dance All Night At The Groovy Cellar'
'Glad it's all over' was produced by Tony Mansfield. No wonder then, that this track sounds suspiciously like a New Musik song. After having been out of sight for more than a year, Captain Sensible had a top 10 hit with this in the UK in May 1984. The double A-side single also featured 'Damned on 45', a 'Stars on 45'-inspired medley of tracks by The Damned, the band in which Captain Sensible found his fame in the Seventies.
Captain Sensible, formerly a member of the English band The Damned, made a Christmas single that sounded nothing like a traditional Christmas track in 1984. Produced by Tony Mansfield, formerly a member of the synthpop band New Musik, produced 'One Christmas catalogue', a track laden with synths and vocal samples. It wasn't a hit anywhere and the only reason I got to know it was because the local radio station was playing it a lot during Christmas 1984, 1985 and 1986.
