The Paradise, Boston - Semper Fi, Blancmange
Another in a series of shows featuring mid-level new wave bands that never quite made it. I was a big Blancmange (the band, not the dessert) fan going back to "Living on the ceiling" in 1983. They made three albums: Happy families, Mange tout, and Believe you me. They were touring on BYM. Don't remember much - since they were a duo, I'm pretty sure I remember some other players and backup singers. Catch one of their DVD releases if you doubt my poor memory. A number of compilations have been released over the years. Neil Arthur released a solo album, Suitcase, in 1994, long after Blancmange split up. Stephen Luscombe went on to form West India Company. He has also composed new music for a TV show called Globe Trekker.
The opening band was Semper Fi, who were previously known as Vinny or The Vinny Band. David Robinson of The Cars had some involvement in the band's fortunes, producing much of their output. No connection to the Marines that I could tell - as you may know, "semper fi" is short for "semper fidelis" - always faithful.
Blancmange is available on GEMM. So is Neil Arthur.
A Blancmange fan site.
The Ideal Copy has two Region 0 European DVDs and two compilations available.
Semper Fi gets a mention in The Fools' bio.
You can still get a copy of Vinny's LP, Olas de sexo.
The band "Semper Fi" had plenty of references to the Marine Corps. The lead singer and songwriter was a Marine "Grunt" in Vietnam 1969-1970.
Posted by: Ralph Vince Fatello | 2008.05.21 at 23:08