On record, Act were a going concern for little over a year, from their debut single Snobbery And Decay in May 1987 to their sole album, Laughter, Tears And Rage in June 1988. However, being on ZTT, there were a plethora of remixes, album tracks that were unique to each format and unreleased songs and alternative versions. This has continued with a number of reissues, compilations and anthologies over the years.
I'd got in on the act (excuse the pun) because of Claudia Brücken's involvement - I was a big fan of Propaganda - but it's had the lasting impact of introducing me to Thomas Leer's solo work, before and after. Act was not a commercial success but they've remained a go to if you like your 80s pop with a dash of commentary on, as Wikipedia puts it, "decadence and moral bankruptcy".
1) Absolutely Immune II (Remix By Stephen Lipson & Trevor Horn) (1987)
2) Strong Poison (Remix By Stephen Lipson) (1987)
3) I Can't Escape From You (Razormaid Mix) (1992)
4) (Alternative) Gestures (Remix By Stephen Lipson) (1988)
5) Body Electric (1987)
6) Snobbery And Decay (Extended, For Stephanie Beecham) (1987)
7) Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now (Lucky's Skank 2) (ft. Casbah aka Aloysius 'Lucky' Gordon) (Cover of The Smiths) (1988)
8) White Rabbit (Cover of The Great Society with Grace Slick) (1987)
9) I'd Be Surprisingly Good For You (Cover of Julie Covington) (1987)
10) Chance (Throbbin' Mix By Stephen Lipson) (1988)
11) Under The Nights Of Germany (Trial Edit By Stephen Lipson) (1988)
12) Laughter (Seven Inch Mix By Greg Walsh) (1988)
13) Winner '88 (12" Mix By Stephen Lipson) (1988)
Never commented on this at the time. Met Claudia at the propaganda support slot for Heaven 17 a couple of years ago and she was lovely. I think she was just pleasantly surprised at how many people knew who she was.I also saw her solo at the Thekla a couple of years before and there was less than 100 people there and this was such a shame as her work with Propaganda and Act, let alone her solo stuff shows how great an artist she is.
ReplyDeleteWow, what an experience. I haven't lived in or been to a gig in Bristol for many years now, I'm guessing the two gigs were quite different in style and content but equally wonderful. I've seen loads of acts at The Thekla and had that conflict of cherishing the intimacy of the gig whilst simultaneously wondering why the hell such a brilliant artist is performing to such a small crowd. You're spot on about Claudia's solo stuff too: I really, really like the covers album that she did with Andrew Poppy; her last album with Jerome Froese was also very good. Hopefully, there will be new songs (an album, even more hopefully) to come from Claudia and if she does make it back to England for a tour, I don't want to pass up the opportunity.
ReplyDelete