New Musik was an English synthpop band that released the 1980/81 albums From A to B and Anywhere on GTO/CBS, scoring hits with “Straight Lines,” “Living By Numbers,” “Sanctuary,” and “This World of Water.” After their 1982 release Warp, mastermind Tony Mansfield went into production. Early keyboardist Nick Straker left pre-record to front his own Brit-funk band with overlapping personnel.
Members: Tony Mansfield (vocals, guitar), Nick Straker (keyboards, 1977-79), Tony Hibbert (bass, 1977-81), Phil Towner (drums, 1977-81), Clive Gates (keyboards, 1979-82), Cliff Venner (percussion, vocals, 1982)
New Musik formed in 1977 when guitarist/singer Tony Mansfield and bassist Tony Hibbert teamed with keyboardist Nick Straker and drummer Phil Towner. Mansfield and Hibbert came from the unrecorded End of the World. Straker led Limmie Funk Limited, which included Towner.
The budding four-piece demoed material (“On Islands,” “Love Train”) that combined semi-acoustic, Beatles/Hollies harmony pop with the clean electronic sounds of Kraftwerk and Ultravox. Straker, opting for a funkier, more dance-oriented approach, left before they signed a deal. In 1978, New Musik welcomed keyboardist Clive Gates, who’d played as a teen with Mansfield in Reeman Zeegus.
Signed to CBS-subsidiary GTO, New Musik debuted with the September 1979 single “Straight Lines” (b/w “On Islands”).
Discography:
- From A to B (1980)
- Anywhere (1981)
- Warp (1982)
Sources:
Artist/Album Pages:
The Alan Bown Set were an English soul-rock/psych ensemble that released seven singles on Pye betwee...
Tim Eyermann (July 20, 1946 — May 1, 2007) was an American saxophonist from Pittsburgh who fronted...
Strife were an English hard-rock band from Bootle, Merseyside, that released the album Rush on Chr...
Sad Café was an English ensemble that was active between the late 1970s and mid-1980s. Hailing from ...
Crawler were an English/American hard-rock band that evolved out of Back Street Crawler following ...
Evensong were an English folk-psych duo that released a self-titled album on Philips in 1973. Me...
Family was an English rock band that released six albums on Reprise between 1968 and 1972, followed ...
Data were an English synthpop trio that released two albums on Illuminated between 1981 and 1983, ...
Klaatu was a Canadian symphonic art-pop trio that issued four 1973–75 singles, compiled with furth...
Earthstar were an American electronic combo from Utica, NY, that released the album Salterbarty T...
Billy Squier (born May 12, 1950) is an American hard-rock singer and guitarist who played in the b...
Mick Softley (Sept. 26, 1939 — Sept. 1, 2017) was an English singer/songwriter from Woodford, Esse...