Random Hold was an English New Wave/art-rock band from London that released a self-titled EP and a standalone single on Polydor in 1979, followed by the album The View From Here in 1980. That same year, contents from all three releases were compiled onto the U.S. Passport release Etceteraville.

A change in lineup yielded three further singles and a second album on RCA between 1981 and 1982. Demos from the band’s 1977–78 period were later issued on the Voiceprint CD Over View.

Members (original band): David Ferguson (keyboards, 1976–1982), David Rhodes (guitar, vocals, 1976–1980), Simon Ainley (guitar, vocals, 1978–79), Bill MacCormick (bass, 1978–1980), Andrew Wileman (drums, 1978), David Leach (drums, 1978–79), Peter Phipps (drums, 1979–1982)

Members (second lineup, 1981–82): David Ferguson (keyboards), Peter Phipps (drums), Steve Wilkin (guitar), Martyn Swain (bass; preceded by Andy Prince and Nigel Hardy), Susan Raven (vocals)

Background

Random Hold took shape in the aftermath of a September 3, 1976, concert by 801 at the Queen Elizabeth Hall — the Manzanera/Eno project that left two former Dulwich College schoolmates, David Ferguson and David Rhodes, convinced the assembled musicians had played it safe. Ferguson had left Dulwich for a degree in Serbo-Croat at the London School of Slavonic and East European Studies, then moved through theatre work in Edinburgh, Stoke, and London. Rhodes studied Fine Art at Leeds, then at Central Saint Martins and Goldsmiths.

The two set to work shortly after, performing under the name Manscheinen — a deliberate nod to Can and Kraftwerk — with processed sounds, tape loops, and a rule against conventional notes. Ferguson broke it with an accidental bass note, and the project shifted toward tonality. He described it in a 1977 press piece as “body music” built from “processed natural sounds,” performed with a slide show and puppet theatre.

Simon Ainley, another Dulwich alumnus, reached the band through Bill MacCormick, a mutual school acquaintance then completing work with Manzanera on Listen Now. The latter to grouped twice before in Quiet Sun, which cut the 1975 album Mainstream during Roxy Music downtime and served as the springboard for This Heat. MacCormick passed an Ainley tape to Manzanera, who recruited him as lead vocalist; Ainley subsequently joined the 801 touring lineup. His position collapsed at the outset of K-Scope sessions when Manzanera replaced him with Tim Finn. Ferguson and Rhodes approached Ainley directly; he joined on guitar and vocals in April 1978, and the band adopted the name Random Hold. MacCormick followed on bass in August.

A December 1978 Melody Maker feature by Allan Jones generated immediate label interest and Random Hold signed to Polydor on March 19, 1979. Artist Graham Dean alerted Peter Gabriel to the band; Gabriel attended an April Rock Garden show and Gail Colson subsequently arranged for the band to spend time at Gabriel’s Bath home, an exercise that led to Rhodes joining the sessions for Gabriel’s third solo album. Colson engaged Peter Hammill, former Van der Graaf Generator frontman, to produce the Random Hold record.

Ferguson and Rhodes replaced drummer David Leach with Peter Phipps, formerly of the Glitter Band, and dismissed Ainley on the grounds that his approach had softened the band’s character. Rhodes absorbed lead vocals and the four-piece resumed rehearsals at Wharf Studios on June 25, 1979.

1979 Single and EP

On October 12, 1979, Random Hold debuted with “Etceteraville,” a Rhodes/McCormick number backed with “Precarious Timbers,” a Ferguson/Rhodes number.

A. “Etceteraville” — Rhodes/I. MacCormick
B. “Precarious Timbers” — Ferguson/Rhodes

In December, Random Hold released their self-titled debut EP on Polydor, a five-track 12″ pressed at 33⅓ RPM.

“Meat” opens as a blunt, aggressive instrumental — Ferguson had recorded a vocal for the track but Hammill removed it during production. “The Ballad” follows on an accusatory tone, Rhodes’s guitar and Ferguson’s keyboards working against each other in a tense, purposeful exchange. “Avalanche” builds from an insistent bass pattern into sustained, coiled tension. “Film Music” anchors side two on an uneasy, heartbeat-steady pulse, its vocal holding an emotionally detached distance over the dissolution of former lovers. “Montgomery Clift” fades in on airy synths over a menacing bass line before climbing to a violent exchange between guitar and vocal.

A1. “Meat” (2:35) — Ferguson/Rhodes
A2. “The Ballad” (3:55) — Ferguson/Rhodes/Ainley
A3. “Avalanche” (4:26) — Ferguson/Rhodes
B1. “Film Music” (4:31) — Ferguson/Rhodes
B2. “Montgomery Clift” (6:48) — Ferguson/Rhodes

Random Hold had recorded the seven tracks at Startling Studios — Tittenhurst Park, Ascot, the house John Lennon had owned before Ringo Starr converted it to a recording facility — over three weeks in July and August 1979 with producer Peter Hammill and engineer Neil Kernon.

The View From Here

Random Hold released their debut album, The View From Here, in February 1980 on Polydor.

The album extends across eight tracks, drawing on the same sessions as the single and EP. Ferguson’s keyboards provide the atmospheric architecture — layered synth figures, dense textures, and repetitive motifs that hold the songs in an unsettled air. Rhodes’s guitar works both ends of the dynamic range, from clipped rhythmic interjections to aggressive, scything runs. MacCormick’s bass carries a dominant, prowling presence throughout, and Phipps anchors the record with metronomic precision.

“What Happened” opens on a bubbling synth line and strained vocals that lose momentum at the chorus. “Dolphin Logic” builds from doomy synth chords into a swirling exchange of guitar and voices, its central line — “We are caught between discipline and desire” — a fair index of the album’s concerns; it runs directly into “Silver Spoons, Golden Tongues.” “With People (Out of Love)” closes past six minutes with a building menace, Rhodes releasing a scything run with the force of a slow burn that finally breaks. The eight-minute title track opens on a lightly jazzy introduction before shifting into a swiftly changing rhythmic flow and closing on a stark, siren-like warning.

A1. “What Happened” (4:47) — Ferguson/Rhodes/Ainley
A2. “Dolphin Logic” (6:17) — Rhodes; segues into the following track.
A3. “Silver Spoons, Golden Tongues” (3:32) — Ferguson/Rhodes; titled “Silver Spoons” on the LP label.
A4. “Central Reservation” (4:17) — Ferguson/Rhodes/Ainley
A5. “Fear Eats the Soul” (3:11) — I. MacCormick

B1. “Etceteraville” (3:53) — Rhodes/I. MacCormick
B2. “With People (Out of Love)” (6:23) — Rhodes
B3. “The View From Here” (8:13) — W. MacCormick/Ferguson/Rhodes

Random Hold recorded The View From Here at Startling Studios, Tittenhurst Park, Ascot with producer Peter Hammill and engineer Neil Kernon. Brian Griffin shot the front cover and Simon Watts the back; Rhodes contributed the artwork. Mantis Studio handled the cover design.

Etceteraville | Avalanche

In 1980, Passport Records issued Etceteraville for the North American market to coincide with the band’s summer US tour supporting Peter Gabriel. The record assembles nine tracks from the Hammill-produced sessions in a configuration distinct from the UK album, drawing on the single, EP, and The View From Here alongside one track absent from all prior UK releases.

A1. “What Happened” — from The View From Here
A2. “Montgomery Clift” — from the EP
A3. “Silver Spoons” — from The View From Here
A4. “Film Music” — from the EP

B1. “Second Nature” — not on UK LP
B2. “Central Reservation” — from The View From Here
B3. “Etceteraville” — from the single
B4. “Precarious Timbers” — from the single
B5. “Avalanche” — from the EP

In 1981, Ferguson pressed Avalanche as a limited double-LP on Upper Class Records, realising the original Polydor concept of releasing all the Hammill-produced material in a single package. The set gathered all pre-1982 studio recordings across four sides, including “Cause and Effect” and “Tunnel Vision,” neither of which had appeared on any prior release, alongside “Second Nature,” previously available only on the US Etceteraville.

A1. “Meat” — EP
A2. “Second Nature” — US Etceteraville only
A3. “The Ballad” — EP
A4. “Precarious Timbers” — single
A5. “Central Reservation” — The View From Here

B1. “Avalanche” — EP
B2. “Cause and Effect” — previously unreleased
B3. “Dolphin Logic” — The View From Here
B4. “Silver Spoons, Golden Tongues” — The View From Here
B5. “Fear Eats the Soul” — The View From Here

C1. “Etceteraville” — single
C2. “With People Out of Love” — The View From Here
C3. “Film Music” — EP
C4. “Montgomery Clift” — EP

D1. “Tunnel Vision” — previously unreleased
D2. “What Happened” — The View From Here
D3. “The View From Here” — The View From Here

The 2001 Voiceprint double-CD reissue, also titled The View From Here, retained the Avalanche sequencing and added a live set recorded at the Tower Theatre, Philadelphia, on July 10, 1980, with an introduction by Peter Gabriel. Voiceprint issued Over View the same year, collecting archive and demo material documenting the band’s evolution, overseen by MacCormick.

Random Hold Mk II

In 1981, Ferguson revived the Random Hold name and signed the new lineup to RCA. The reconstituted band retained drummer Peter Phipps and welcomed singer Susan Raven and guitarist Steve Wilkin. They shuffled through multiple bassists (Andy Prince, Nigel Hardy) before Martyn Swain filled that slot. The band’s first release on RCA was the 7” single “Walking on the Edge” b/w “Shining Smile.”

On June 19, RCA issued “Walking on the Edge” as the band’s third 7″ single backed with “Shining Smile,” an exclusive self-produced Ferguson original. In October, “The March” appeared as a standalone a-side backed with “Dance Feeling,” an eventual album track.

Burn the Buildings

Random Hold released their second proper album, Burn the Buildings, in March 1982 on RCA.

The record moves decisively away from the post-punk darkness of the Hammill-produced work. Ferguson and co-producer Rikki Sylvan handle the synthesizer work, with Phipps and Swain as the rhythmic foundation and Wilkin on guitar in a supporting role. Raven takes lead vocals across the record. Lyrical themes invoke urban imagery and social dislocation. The tracklist includes a cover of Lennon and McCartney’s “We Can Work It Out.”

A1. “Cityclean” — Ferguson/Phipps
A2. “Toys” — Ferguson
A3. “Walking on the Edge” — Ferguson/Phipps
A4. “Dance Feeling” — Ferguson/Phipps
A5. “Palmreader” — McCormick/Ferguson
A6. “The March (Live at Drury Lane)” — Ferguson/Phipps

B1. “Missing the Boat” — Ferguson/Phipps
B2. “Future Kids” — R. Hold/Wilkin
B3. “Is There Light” — Ferguson/R. Hold
B4. “In the Centre” — Ferguson/Phipps
B5. “We Can Work It Out” — Lennon/McCartney
B6. “Burn the Buildings” — Ferguson/R. Hold

Random Hold recorded Burn the Buildings at Music Works and Theatre Royal, Drury Lane with producers Random Hold and Rikki Sylvan and engineers Joe Dworniak and Mark Wallis. Mastered by timtom (A1–A6) and TY (B1–B6) at CBS Studios, London. Cover paintings and photography: Graham Dean.

In July 1982, Random Hold released a standalone 12″ single: “Dancing in the Street,” a Motown standard backed with “Lying on the Floor,” a self-produced Ferguson original engineered by Jo Dworniak; the A-side is listed as “Dancing in the Streets” on the sleeve and “Dancing in the Street” on the label.

Postlude

Rhodes joined the backing band of Peter Gabriel band as principal guitarist from 1980 onward. He appeared on the ex-Genesis frontman’s 1980 third solo album (Melt) and each subsequent studio and live release. He later contributed guitar to sessions with Japan, Blancmange, Talk Talk, Joan Armatrading, Paul McCartney, Roy Orbison, Tori Amos, Kate Bush, and others, and released two solo albums, Bittersweet (2009) and Rhodes (2014).

MacCormick left the music industry in early 1981, turning to politics. He stood as a Liberal, then Liberal Democrat, candidate, served as a London borough councillor, and worked as a Liberal Democrat organizer and campaign manager.

Phipps went on to drum on two XTC albums and worked with Roger Chapman, Eurythmics, and Mike Rutherford.

Ferguson pursued a career composing for film and television scores, including work on Gabriel’s “Biko” (credited for the high-pitched screaming sound at the opening of the track rather than keyboard playing, despite appearing in some compilations credits). He also recorded under the name Nine Ways to Win with a new lineup on Atlantic Records before his death in 2009.

Leach became a television executive. Ainley returned to complete his architecture qualification and worked for British Waterways as a waterways manager in the Midlands.

In 2001, Voiceprint issued a double-CD reissue titled The View From Here (VP239CD), compiling all pre-1982 studio material plus a live set from the Tower Theatre, Philadelphia, July 10, 1980, with an introduction by Peter Gabriel. The same year, Voiceprint issued Over View, collecting archive and demo material documenting the band’s evolution, overseen by MacCormick.

Discography: