The Passions -

The Passions were an English ethereal new wave band that cut two 1979 post-punk singles and signed with Fiction Records for their 1980 album, Michael & Miranda. On Polydor, they made the 1981/82 albums Thirty Thousand Feet Over China and Sanctuary and scored a UK hit with “I’m In Love With a German Film Star.”

Singer Barbara Gogan played earlier in The Derelicts, an unrecorded politi-folk band with her sister, Susan Gogan, who fronted pragVEC. Guitarist Clive Timperley hailed from the 101’ers alongside a pre-Clash Joe Strummer.

Members: Barbara Gogan (vocals, guitar), Mitch Barker (vocals, 1978-79), Clive Timperley (guitar, vocals, 1978-81), Claire Bidwell (bass, vocals, 1978-80), Richard Williams (drums), David Agar (bass 1980-82), Kevin Armstrong (guitar, 1981-82), Jeff Smith (keyboards, 1981-82), Stephen Wright (guitar, 1982)

Background

The Passions coalesced in late 1978 when two ex-members of The Derelicts (singer/guitarist Barbara Gogan and drummer Richard Williams) joined Rivers of Passion, a post-punk band launched by bassist Claire Bidwell.

Barbara (b. 1954), grew up in Dublin with her sister, Susan Gogan. By age sixteen, she learned acoustic guitar to songs by Joni Mitchell and Leonard Cohen. She graduated at seventeen and studied art for two years in France. In 1973, she settled in West London and met Williams. The two became personal partners.

The Derelicts

In 1975, Barbara, Richard, and Susan formed The Derelicts, a political folk-rock band that gigged for two years on the Shepherd’s Bush pub scene. The band’s revolving-door lineup included ex-101’ers bassist Dan Kelleher and future Art Attacks bassist Marion Fudger. Despite their edgy name and radical bent, The Derelicts resisted punk’s onslaught and disbanded with no recorded legacy.

In February 1978, Susan departed for pragVEC, an avant-garde post-punk band that cut two singles and one album. Barbara auditioned for other bands and accepted a temp typist job. That autumn, Barbara and Richard moved to a new flat next door to Claire Bidwell, who recently formed Rivers of Passion (originally The Youngsters) with guitarist Dack Dyde and singer Mitch Barker. The couple joined Claire’s band, which trimmed its name to The Passions.

Dyde cleared for guitarist Clive Timperley, who played on the June 1976 Chiswick single “Keys to Your Heart” by the 101’ers, which disbanded on release due to Joe Strummer’s exit for The Clash.

1979 Singles

The Passions got their first deal with Soho Records, a London post-punk indie headed by Stan Brennan and Phil Gaston, the management team behind The Nipple Erectors, Shane McGowan’s pre-Pogues band.

In March 1979, The Passions debuted with “Needles and Pills,” a band original from Dyde’s tenure backed with “Body and Soul,” a recent number.

A. “Needles and Pills” (3:52)
B. “Body and Soul” (3:11)

“Needles and Pills” impressed Chris Parry, a Kiwi-born producer and talent scout who signed The Passions to Fiction Records, a Polydor-distributed indie with newcomers The Cure, The Associates, and The Purple Hearts. On November 9, 1979, Fiction issued the second Passions single: “Hunted” backed with “Oh No, It’s You,” both Parry-produced band originals.

A. “Hunted” (3:28)
B. “Oh No, It’s You” (4:23)

On November 19, The Passions dropped by BBC Radio One DJ John Peel and gave an in-studio performance of four songs (“Snow,” “Man On the Tube,” “Oh No It’s You,” “Why Me?”) for his 11/29 broadcast (re-aired 1/17/80). Barker exited the band, which continued as a quartet with Barbara as sole vocalist.

Michael & Miranda

The Passions released their debut album, Michael & Miranda, on April 18, 1980, on Fiction Records.

The album delivers a tense, coiled set of short-form originals driven by dual guitar and keyboard interplay between Clive Timperley and Barbara Gogan, with Timperley also adding violin and marimba accents. Gogan alternates piano with guitar while Claire Bidwell supplies second vocals alongside bass, creating layered vocal exchanges across the set.

Michael & Miranda moves in short, compressed statements built from treated guitars and sparse keyboards with constant push–pull between restraint and tension. “Pedal Fury” opens with jittered guitar lines that pull against the beat, setting an off-balance tension that runs through the album. “Oh No, It’s You” holds to a fixed pulse and cycles its phrases in looped succession, building pressure without shifting pace.

“Snow” and “Love Song” move at mid-tempo with clean, chiming guitar lines that run in parallel, shaping contoured motion through subtle harmonic shifts without raising intensity. “Man on the Tube” slows the pace and pulls the vocals deeper into the background while letting the instruments stretch and decay. “Obsession” pushes the form further, shifting tempo and layering guitar figures while the vocals stay distant. “Absentee” and “Why Me” close the album with compact, forward-driving patterns built on angular phrasing and steady motion instead of contrast or release.

A1. “Pedal Fury” (2:09)
A2. “Oh No, It’s You” (4:29)
A3. “Snow” (2:31)
A4. “Love Song” (2:37)
A5. “Man on the Tube” (3:54)
A6. “Miranda” (1:12)

B1. “Obsession” (3:37)
B2. “Suspicion” (2:36)
B3. “Palava” (2:06)
B4. “Absentee” (3:18)
B5. “Brick Wall” (2:39)
B6. “Why Me” (3:14)

Sessions took place at Morgan Studios in London with Chris Parry and engineers Mike Hedges, Michael J. Dutton, and Mark Freegard. The album appeared in a monochrome sleeve with photography by Mike Laye, a staffer for The Face with credits on sleeves for Squeeze (Argybargy), Fingerprintz (Beat Noir), and Charge (Perfection).

In support of Michael & Miranda, the Passions opened for The Cure on the May 1980 UK/continental tour behind their second album, Seventeen Seconds. Shortly after the tour, Bidwell departed for The Wall, a Tyneside punk band.

“I’m in Love with a German Film Star”

On October 10, 1980, The Passions dropped “The Swimmer,” their first single with new bassist David Agar. The track appeared in a monochrome blue sleeve eleven months before its reappearance on LP, backed with the exclusive “War Song,” both produced by Pete Wilson, a prior Sham 69 soundman with concurrent credits behind The Comsat Angels, Cockney Rejects, and The Vapors.

B. “War Song” (3:18)

On January 23, 1981, The Passions released their fourth single: “I’m in Love with a German Film Star,” an ode to Steve “Roadent” Connelly, a former Pistols/Clash roadie with minor acting credits, including the role of the Joker in the 1978 mini-series Das Ding. Wilson produced the song and its flip, “(Don’t Talk To Me) I’m Shy,” their fifth non-album track.

B. “(Don’t Talk To Me) I’m Shy” (2:18)

“I’m in Love with a German Film Star” reached No. 25 on the UK Singles Chart. The Passions mimed it for the February 5 broadcast of Top of the Pops, which twice aired the song amid winter in-studio numbers by Beggar & Co (“(Somebody) Help Me Out”), Dire Straits (“Romeo and Juliet”), Freeez (“Southern Freeez”), Kiki Dee (“Star”), Kim Wilde (“Kids In America”), Madness (“The Return of the Los Palmas 7”), Spandau Ballet (“The Freeze”), Status Quo (“Something ‘Bout You Baby I Like”), and XTC (“Sgt Rock (Is Going To Help Me)”).

In early July 1981, The Passions issued “Skin Deep,” the third advance single from their upcoming album, backed with the exclusive “I Radiate” and housed in a suggestive bare-back picture sleeve.

Thirty Thousand Feet Over China

The Passions released their second album, Thirty Thousand Feet Over China, on September 18, 1981, on Polydor.

The record contrasts crisp textures and spacious arrangements, shaped by the layered interaction of Clive Timperley’s Echoplex guitar figures and Barbara Gogan’s alternating piano and rhythm guitar parts. Bassist David Agar adds second guitar on “Small Stones” and auxiliary percussion on “Skin Deep,” expanding the sonic range around Gogan’s focal vocal presence.

Thirty Thousand Feet Over China shifts into slower tempos and layered arrangements that trade urgency for atmosphere. Guitars echo with soft decay, wrapping around sustained keyboard figures and voice with a measured pace that leaves space between parts. “I’m in Love with a German Film Star” unfolds on a hypnotic pulse, built from repeated guitar phrases and a vocal delivery that hovers between detachment and ache.

“The Swimmer” carries more drive beneath its surface, pairing dense rhythmic motion with one of Gogan’s sharpest vocal turns. “Strange Affair” keeps to a minimal framework but unsettles through subtle pacing shifts and restrained tonal shifts that darken over time. “Skin Deep” strips back to near-instrumental form, relying on texture and shape rather than structure, while “Bachelor Girls” breaks the mood with a clipped, bright rhythm and more percussive vocal phrasing. Throughout the album, changes in intensity are internal rather than overt, building tension from repetition and resonance instead of contrast or release.

A1. “I’m in Love with a German Film Star” (4:01)
A2. “Someone Special” (4:07)
A3. “The Swimmer” (3:32)
A4. “Strange Affair” (3:29)
A5. “Small Stones” (5:37)

B1. “Runaway” (3:04)
B2. “The Square” (3:30)
B3. “Alice’s Song” (3:12)
B4. “Bachelor Girls” (2:21)
B5. “Skin Deep” (4:19)

Apart from the first two Wilson-produced a-sides, sessions occurred at Surrey Sound Studios in London with producer Nigel Gray, a prior Police soundman credited on 1980/81 albums by Hazel O’Connor, The Planets, Wishbone Ash, and Siouxsie & The Banshees. Sons and Lovers soundman Pete Buhlmann co-engineered Thirty Thousand Feet Over China with Martin Moss, both credited on the third Bruford album, Gradually Going Tornado. Rob O’Connor directed the album’s visual presentation with photography by Jeff Veitch.

One week prior to the album’s appearance, Polydor re-released “The Swimmer,” backed this time with “Some Fun,” a self-produced exclusive.

B. “Some Fun” (3:43)

“Africa Mine”

In December 1981, Timperley exited The Passions over political differences during the Italian leg of their Tour Till We Crack rounds. He appeared on the 1982 Peppermint Rock single “Candy,” a pop-reggae one-off produced by Dave Ball of Soft Cell with brass by Pete Thomas of Joe Jackson‘s Jumpin’ Jive big band.

On January 8, 1983, The Passions rebounded with “Africa Mine,” a standalone single (b/w “I Feel Cheap”) recorded by the trio of Barbara Gogan, David Agar, and Richard Williams with guitar handled by producer Peter Wilson. The first press (Polydor POSP 384) contained a second 7″ with four live cuts: “The Square,” “Snow,” “I’m In Love With a German Film Star” and “Why Me?”

A. “Africa Mine” (3:48)
B. “I Feel Cheap” (3:02)

The Passions continued with guitarist Kevin Armstrong, a recent member of the post-punk band Local Heroes SW9 and a sideman of Thomas Dolby on his debut, The Golden Age of Wireless. He debuted with the band on their May 1982 single “Jump for Joy,” a taster for their upcoming album with the exclusive b-side “The Story,” both produced by Mick Glossop, who oversaw assorted Seventies acts (Clearlight, Jade Warrior, Tangerine Dream, Skids) and recent titles by Gillan, Interview, Chaz Jankel, and Hambi & The Dance.

B. “The Story” (4:12)

Synthesist Jeff Smith augmented the sessions, four years after backing Lene Lovich on her debut album Stateless.

Sanctuary

The Passions released their third album, Sanctuary, in September 1982 on Polydor.

Kevin Armstrong joins on lead guitar and vocals, trading phrases with Barbara Gogan’s rhythm parts while Jeff Smith surrounds the arrangements with sustained synthesizer textures. Armstrong co-arranges most of the material alongside Gogan and David Agar, who adds second vocals in addition to bass.

Sanctuary stretches The Passions’ sound into smoother, denser territory, trading the clipped angularity of earlier records for longer phrases and deeper layering. Synth lines saturate the midrange and carry forward motion on tracks like “Into Night,” where the pace remains measured and the textures shift gradually rather than sharply. “The Letter” and “White Lies” rely on pulse-driven rhythm guitar patterns that lock against fretless bass contours, building tension through tight repetition rather than dynamic lift.

“Small Talk” runs cooler, holding to sparse phrasing with an unsettled undercurrent, while “Love Is Essential” softens into slower pacing with spacious arrangements that leave room for restrained vocal phrasing. “Cars Driven Fast” closes with a return to rhythmic insistence, tethered by recurring guitar lines that stay steady beneath vocal arcs. The title track opens in low light—organ tones and suspended chords—then widens into a slow-burning rise, pacing its escalation in long steps rather than bursts. Throughout the album, the band narrows their dynamics and leans into tone and shape, placing emphasis on contrast between density and restraint.

A1. “Jump for Joy” (4:00)
A2. “The Letter” (3:26)
A3. “Into Night” (4:45)
A4. “Small Talk” (4:05)
A5. “White Lies” (3:15)

B1. “Cars Driven Fast” (4:51)
B2. “Love Is Essential” (3:25)
B3. “Your Friend” (3:33)
B4. “Hold On Don’t Go” (3:17)
B5. “Sanctuary” (5:47)

Sessions took place at The Garden in London with Mick Glossop, who produced and engineered the album with assistance from Corinne Simcock and Colin Leggett. Pyramid Graphics handled design and Chris Hopper supplied the photography. Original artwork and early promotional materials used the title Cars Driven Fast before management prompted a rebrand to Sanctuary ahead of release.

Polydor lifted the song “Sanctuary” as a single with “Tempting Fate,” an outtake from the album’s sessions. The 12″ contains a second exclusive, “Stop That Man.”

B1. “Tempting Fate”
B2. “Stop That Man”

Postlude

The Passions disbanded in mid-1983 after a final show at London’s Marquee Club. Polydor issued the Passion Plays compilation in 1985, with reissues of all three studio albums following between 2008 and 2019.

Barbara Gogan returned in 1997 with Made on Earth, a collaboration with Hector Zazou. Kevin Armstrong went on to work with David Bowie, Iggy Pop, Morrissey, and Sinéad O’Connor.

Discography: