The Monochrome Set: Strange Boutique 1980 + Love Zombies 1980 + Eligible Bachelors 1982 ( Deluxe edition 3CD)

 

The Monochrome Set was formed in London in 1978 from the remnants of a college group called The B-Sides, whose members had included Stuart Goddard, later known as Adam Ant. Their first

live gig was on 15 Feb 1978, at Westfield College in London. The original line-up consisted of Indian-born lead singer and principal songwriter Bid (real name Ganesh Seshadri), Canadian guitarist Lester Square (real name Thomas W.B. Hardy), drummer John D. Haney (formerly of The Art Attacks) and bass guitarist Charlie X. The band had two more bassists, Jeremy Harrington and Simon Croft, before Andy Warren of the Ants, a childhood friend of Bid, joined in late 1979.
                  

When the British art school punk band the B-Sides changed their name and direction to become Adam

& the Ants, guitarist/vocalist Bid and guitarist Lester Square opted out to form their own group, the Monochrome Set. The Monochrome Set started out as a witty, urbane take on post-punk that owed a debt to swinging '60s pop and twangy surf music. Steered by the darkly clever songs of Bid and the crisp playing of the band, their first records were smart and weird, covering obscure lyrical territory while also delivering snappy hooks.
               

Their jumpy debut single, 1979's "He's Frank," set the template for the band through the early '80s on a string of albums like early masterpiece Eligible Bachelors that balanced Bid's songs and the group's

growing sonic presence. They released several singles for the Rough Trade label before recording their debut studio album, Strange Boutique, produced by Bob Sargeant for Virgin Records' imprint DinDisc in 1980. It peaked at No. 62 in the UK Albums Chart in 1980.[7] Their follow-up effort, Love Zombies, was produced by Alvin Clark and the band later that same year. Haney left the band in 1981, and was replaced by Lexington Crane.
                   

In 1982, the band switched labels to Cherry Red to release their third album, Eligible Bachelors,

produced by Tim Hart. Square and Crane left soon afterwards, and were replaced by keyboardist Carrie Booth and drummer Nicholas Weslowski. This line-up recorded a 1982 single, "Cast a Long Shadow", for Cherry Red, before Booth was in turn replaced by new lead guitarist James 'Foz' Foster (later of David Devant & His Spirit Wife).
                  

The first incarnation of the group ran out of steam in the mid-'80s but Bid rounded up a familiar

supporting cast in the '90s to release albums that captured their original sound and tweaked it gently for the times. After another split, then a reunion spurred by Bid's recovery from an aneurysm, they came back in the 2010s to issue albums like 2016's Cosmonaut, which showed that their brand of sophisticated, hooky guitar pop not only still sounded fresh, but was better than ever. 2022's Allhallowtide did nothing to change that impression.
                  

1.  STRANGE BOUTIQUE 1980

                                  

By the time it was scheduled, Andy Warren (ex-Adam & the Ants) had replaced Jeremy Harrington on bass, and the lineup was completed by guitarist Lester Square (also ex-Ants), Indian-born vocalist/

guitarist Bid, and former Art Attacks drummer J.D. Haney. There are a number of superb, non-single album tracks that make this an essential purchase for fans -- especially "Ici les Enfants," "The Puerto Rican Fence Climber," and "The Lighter Side of Dating." Amid the austerity of post-punk England, and before we became awash with irony and archness, we needed a band who could raise their eyebrows and smirk at it all without ever being condescending.

                 

The Monochrome Set – Strange Boutique
Label: Tapete Records – TR394
Format: CD, Album, Reissue, Remastered Apr 2020
Country: ?
Released: 1980
Genre: Rock
Style: Post-Punk, New Wave

TRACKS

                

01. The Monochrome Set (I Presume)    5:14
02. The Lighter Side of Dating    2:45
03. Expresso    3:14
04. The Puerto Rican Fence Climber    3:00
05. Tomorrow Will Be Too Long    3:00
06. Martians Go Home    2:05
07. Love Goes Down The Drain    2:29
08. Ici Les Enfants    3:09
09. The Etcetera Stroll    4:42
10. Goodbye Joe    2:43
11. The Strange Boutique    3:12

LINE - UP

                   

Alto Vocals [Eager Alto] – Princess Tagmemics
Bass Guitar, Vocals – Andy Warren
Drums, Percussion, Vocals – J.D. Haney
Keyboards, Vocals, Producer – Bob Sargeant
Lead Guitar, Vocals – Lester Square
Lead Vocals, Guitar – Bid (Ganesh Seshadri)

Flac Size: 249 MB

2.  LOVE ZOMBIES 1980

                  

The group's second album (and last for Virgin subsidiary Dindisc), Love Zombies features more accomplished songwriting from main man Bid -- especially the title track and the playful "The Man

with the Black Moustache." Fans -- BBC Radio DJ John Peel among them -- had long since recognized the Monochrome Set's supreme compositional agility. This is amply demonstrated by Love Zombies, which switches from sweet pop to wry ballads to a kind of alt-rock rhumba with disarming ease. "The Weird, Wild and Wonderful World of Tony Potts," incidentally, is a tribute to the band's visual designer and "fifth member." And isn't "In Love, Cancer?" one of the all-time great song titles?
                 

The Monochrome Set – Love Zombies
Label: Tapete Records – TR395, Tapete Records – TR394
Format: CD, Album, Reissue, Remastered Apr 3, 2020
Country: US    
Released: 1980    
Genre: Rock
Style: Post-Punk, New Wave

TRACKS

                  

01. Love Zombies    4:05
02. Adeste Fideles    3:48
03. 405 Lines    3:18
04. B-I-D Spells Bid    3:18
05. R.S.V.P.    3:33
06. Apocalypso    3:37
07. Karma Suture    4:48
08. The Man with the Black Moustache    3:19
09. The Weird, Wild and Wonderful World of Tony Potts    3:26
10. "In Love, Cancer?"    3:23

LINE - UP

              

Bass Guitar – Andy Warren
Drums – J.D. Haney
Keyboards, Producer, Engineer – Alvin Clark
Lead Guitar, Synthesizer [Wasp] – Lester Square
Lead Vocals, Guitar – Bid (Ganesh Seshadri)

Flac Size: 221 MB

3.  ELIGIBLE BACHELORS ( 3 CD DELUXE EDITION) 1982

                       

One of the classic albums of the early '80s by a band that doesn't get the love it should, the Monochrome Set's Eligible Bachelors from 1982 is a tour de force of wit and musical imagination.

Bustling through 11 songs so sharp and intelligent that it's easy to listen to the album multiple times without getting bored, the band and Bid are at the absolute top of their game, a game that others like Haircut 100 and Orange Juice were also playing. If creating their masterpiece couldn't get the job done, what was left for them to do? Luckily for fans of Bid and his band, they didn't give up, but even if they had, Eligible Bachelors would stand up as a definitive work of the post-punk/new wave era.
                

The Monochrome Set – Eligible Bachelors
Label: MSI – MSIG 1201-3
Format: 3 x CD, Album, Deluxe Edition, Box Set, Remastered 2018
Country: Japan
Released: 1982
Genre: Rock
Style: Post Punk, New Wave

CD1. ELIGIBLE BACHELORS    

                 

   
01. The Jet Set Junta    2:06
02. I'll Scry Instead    2:51
03. On The 13th Day    3:08
04. Cloud 10    3:31
05. The Mating Game    3:23
06. March Of The Eligible Bachelors    3:02
07. The Devil Rides Out    3:04
08. Fun For All The Family    3:47
09. The Midas Touch    4:55
10. The Ruling Class    2:44
11. The Great Barrier Riff    3:43

BONUS TRACKS: SINGLES AND B-SIDES        
    
12. He's Frank    2:38
13. Alphaville    2:46
14. Eine Symphonie Des Grauens    2:23
15. Lester Leaps In    2:33
16. The Monochrome Set    2:20
17. Mr. Bizarro    2:52
18. He's Frank (Slight Return)    2:43
19. Silicon Carne    3:14
20. Fallout    2:57
21. Ten Don'ts For Honeymooners    2:55
22. Straits Of Malacca    3:19
23. J.D.H.A.N.E.Y.    3:22
24. Cast A Long Shadow    3:22
25. The Bridge    3:07
26. The Jet Set Junta    1:51

Flac Size: 527 MB

CD2.  RARITIES AND BBC SESSIONS - BBC RADIO 1's JOHN PEEL SHOW, 22 FEBRUARY 1979         

                     

           
01. Love Goes Down The Drain    2:43
02. Noise (Eine Kleine Symphonie)    2:03
03. Espresso    3:11
04. Fat Fun    1:28
05. Ici Les Enfants    2:39

BBC RADIO 1's JOHN PEEL SHOW, 6 SEPTEMBER 1979            

06. Martians Go Home    1:52
07. Fallout    2:26
08. Goodbye Joe    2:08
09. Strange Boutique    2:56
10. Viva Death Row    2:04

BBC RADIO 1'S JOHN PEEL SHOW, 23 APRIL 1980        
    
11. 405 Lines    3:06
12. Love Zombies    3:36

CAPITAL RADIO'S NICKY HORNE SHOW, JUNE 1980        
    
13. The Man With The Black Moustache    3:51

EMI SESSION, RECORDED MARCH 1981        
    
14. Fun For All The Family    3:07
15. The Ruling Class    3:08

DO IT RECORDS DEMO, RECORDED DECEMBER 1981        
    
16. Avanti    2:06

RARITIES        
    
17. Yo, Ho, Ho And Three Bottles Of Wine    4:49
18. Andiamo    3:01
19. Cowboy Country    3:38
20. Jacob’s Ladder    2:53
21. Inside Your Heart    2:30
22. White Noise    2:56
23. We Are Zarbie    3:10
24. I Don't Know    4:11
25. Flesh/Trash/Heat    2:03
26. Private Dick    3:59
27. It's More Than Just Love    2:58

Flac Size: 514 MB

CD3. FIN        

                   

    
01. He's Frank    2:39
02. Martians Go Home    2:05
03. Straits Of Malacca    3:13
04. Sugar Plum    3:10
05. B-I-D Spells Bid    2:30
06. Alphaville    2:30
07. Heaven Can Wait    2:45
08. Goodbye Joe    1:59
09. The Strange Boutique    4:36
10. The Strange Boutique (Reprise)    0:40
11. Jacob's Ladder    2:08
12. Wallflower    2:49
13. Apocalypso    3:17
14. Mr. Bizarro    2:36
15. I'll Scry Instead    2:47
16. Espresso    3:18
17. 405 Lines    2:42
18. Eine Symphonie Des Grauens    2:03
19. The Monochrome Set    5:13

BONUS TRACKS        

    
20. Up (1986 Demo)    3:15
21. Bid  –Reach For Your Gun    3:39
22. Bid – Love    3:39
23. Bid – Sweet Chariots    3:15

Flac Size: 435 MB

LINE - UP

                 

Bass, Vocals – Andrew Warren
Drums, Vocals – Lexington Crane
Guitar, Lead Vocals – Bid (Ganesh Seshadri)
Lead Guitar, Keyboards, Vocals – Lester Square