RIP the original moisturiser boy...

http://m.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-a ... ws_central

"Fade To Grey" by Visage..a pioneering single, think about it, it was released in 1980. 1980.......still sounds "Futuristic" today. ALL other New Romantic/Synth Pop records followed in the wake of "Fade To Grey". RIP Steve.

Aye I seen that. The fat Welsh poof. Thats what Heroin does to you I'm afraid, he's been on the decline for a long time now.

Phil, is that the same Fade to Grey that Midge Ure did the vocals instead of Steve Strange?

RIP Steve Strange, you were definitely a leader of the a fashion and music revolution that was beyond punk and dare I say it, more important.

Yes, Midge sang on it but it was "created" by Steve Strange. At the time Midge Ure wasn't "fashionable" at all. He'd just joined Ultravox after fronting the Rich Kids. It needed Strange's style and ideas to make it what it was.

I was my last year at school doing O level French.. I was that traumatised by the language that I never realised till years later that the French and English lyrics are the same!

Aye but Midge Ure was never credited. It's even more pronounced on 'Mind of a Toy' its blatantly obvious its Midge Ure. I don't deny for a moment Strange's influence, he was a genius creating the Blitz and my very favourite hangout back then, The Camden Palace.

Visages 2nd Album "The Anvil" has some great tracks on it like "Night Train" and my favourite "Pleasure Boys" which were totally sans-Midge and are brilliant "of-the-era" tunes. Looking back through my vinyl last night I bought all of Visages 45's on 12" Singles, apart from "Fade To Grey" which I have adressed via Ebay this lunchtime!

I had that album on auto rewind for months in the car. These were the days when Cassettes would auto turn over. Them were the days! No one ever had a problem with a cassette.

If only we could go back to those days. They is a new romantic video filmed London in which I appear in the background looking as queer as a Russ Green promise. No I will not post it.

Who's the band.. Go on Mr I spill the beans... PS ...if only we could wind the clock back 35 years.. (Even thinking its that long is scary !)

how much roughly a month were you spending on make-up mr i ?

It's not a band Mr offshore, its a documentary of the new romantic club scene back then. Incidentally, For a couple of years I led a dual life getting down to London most Thursday nights, this was not the sort of getup you could wear around any barracks!

It wasn't so much the make up, it was the gallons of Anne French to get it off again.

Normally we left camp as early as possible, there were four of us. Bomb up to London to Mick Young's house in Chiswick. Get ready, a couple of hours and off to whichever club we were going to.

Normally we'd head back about 3ish, stop at the services and get changed into regular stuff; jeans, sweat shirts etc. This one night we were late so we half got change on the way with a plan to get the war paint off when we got into camp. Trouble was that the alert had gone up to black Alpha which meant you had to sign in at the guardroom.

Lad on the gate gave us the good news and in we went, head down. If I remember rightly I was wearing a Bruce Lee suit with a big red sach along, some daft little slippers and with what was left of a load of oriental face paint. I went in to sign and the RSM (Sgt Major) was in the guardroom. I tried desperately to avoid his gaze but to no avail. FUCKING STAND UP!!!!! came the cry from the other side of the building and his routine started.

WHAT THE FARKING HELL ARE YOU??
WHERE, WHAT THE FUCK............ WHERE HAVE YOU LOT BEEN?

Me: Fancy dress party Sir!

I TAKE IT YOU FUCKING WON!!!

GET AWAY AND GET BACK HERE LOOKING SOMETHING LIKE FUCKING SOLDIERS OR AS CLOSE AS YOU CAN MANAGE.


Next Morning on parade......... the Razzman gets the parade up to attention... and starts.

IT HAS COME TO MY ATTENTION THAT CERTAIN FACTIONS OF THIS SO CALLED COMMANDO UNIT HAS TAKEN TO WEARING FROCKS AND MAKE UP. [giggles everywhere]

RIGHT LADS. NEXT TIME YOU GO OUT TO A FARKING TEA DANCE REMEMBER YOU ARE SOLDIERS. YOU ARE PART OF HER MAJESTIES FUCKING COMMANDO BRIGADE. So...... try and act and look like it. Think about it lads..... a little less eye shadow, maybe a slightly lighter shade of lipstick and NO FUCKING ROUGE!!!!

It must have taken us three months to live it down.

Absolutely brilliant and they say that RSMs have no sense of humour!.... Ever thought about writing a book?

Naw, the shelves are too full already. Incidentally, without any doubt, the best and funniest real life military book out there is this one:


http://www.amazon.co.uk/Picking-Up-Bras ... 1906308039

Ha! Just googled Mr I and this is what I found..............



Outed!

Just invested £1.99 and bought it for the e-reader..

You won't regret it although you will look silly bursting out laughing in inappropriate places. Did you see teh reviews 'I laughed so much a bit of wee came out'