The Sound -

The Sound was an English post-punk band that made the 1980/81 Korova albums Jeopardy and From the Lions Mouth, followed by the 1982–87 titles All Fall Down, Shock of Daylight (EP), Heads and Hearts, and Thunder Up. They evolved from The Outsiders, a punk trio headed by guitarist/singer Adrian Borland, who also led the coldwave side-project Second Layer with Sound bassist Graham Bailey.

Members: Adrian Borland (guitar, vocals), Graham “Green” Bailey (bass), Mike Dudley (drums), Benita “Biltoo” Marshall (keyboards, saxophone, clarinet, 1979-80), Colvin “Max” Mayers (keyboards, 1980-88)

Background

The Sound was formed in 1979 London by guitarist/vocalist Adrian Borland (1957–1999). He arrived on the scene two years earlier fronting punk trio The Outsiders, which issued the 1977/78 albums Calling On Youth and Close Up. The second features bassist Graham “Green” Bailey, who followed Borland into The Sound with drummer Mike Dudley and keyboardist/reedist Belinda “Bi” Marshall. Though not a member, Outsiders drummer Adrian Janes occasionally co-wrote for the new band.

Propaganda

During May–June 1979, The Sound recorded an album’s worth of songs, produced by Adrian’s father Bob Borland.

Twenty years after its completion, UK re-issue specialists Renascent issued the songs as Propaganda, the intended debut Sounds LP.

Propaganda contains twelve Adrian Borland compositions, including “Physical World,” “Quarter Past Two,” and the epic “Missiles.” Graham Bailey co-wrote four songs: “Music Business,” “One More Escape,” “Cost of Living,” and “Night Vs. Day.” Those last two (plus the odd-numbered Side B cuts) have lyrics by Adrian Jans.

A1. “No Salvation” (3:12)
A2. “Deep Breath” (2:41)
A3. “Cost of Living” (3:53)
A4. “Quarter Past Two” (3:35)
A5. “Night Vs. Day” (3:08)
A6. “Physical World” (3:27)

B1. “Statik” (4:22)
B2. “Music Business” (4:56)
B3. “Propaganda” (2:50)
B4. “Words Fail Me” (3:01)
B5. “One More Escape” (3:17)
B6. “Missiles” (5:35)

The original Sound — Borland, Bailey, Mike Dudley, and Belinda Marshall — recorded Propaganda at Bob Borland’s residence. This was Adrian Borland’s first recording project after retiring the Outsiders name. Before any further Sound activity, Borland and Bailey masqeraded as Second Layer, an industrial/minimal wave side project.

Second Layer – Flesh as Property

In July 1979, Tortch issued the EP Flesh as Property (Tor 001), the first of three releases by the Borland–Bailey side-project Second Layer. It features three songs:

A1. “Courts or Wars”
A2. “Metal Sheet”
B. “Germany”

Between Flesh as Property and Physical World, Tortch issued the EP A Bus for a Bus on the Bus, the lone-release by Cardiacs-precursor Cardiac Arrest, featuring eventual Sound keyboardist Max Mayers.

Physical World

In December 1979, The Sound debuted with the EP Physical World, issued on small-press Tortch Records (Tor 003).

Physical World features three Borland originals, including the namesake cut from the vaulted Propaganda album.

A. “Cold Beat”
B1. “Physical World”
B2. “Unwritten Law”

Physical World sports an abstract perspective collage, credited to one K. Grey.

Second Layer – State of Emergency

In early 1980, Borland and Bailey released State of Emergency, their second three-song EP as Second Layer.

A. “State of Emergency” (4:37)
B1. “I Need Noise” (2:19)
B2. “The Cutting Motion” (1:48)

Second Layer co-produced State of Emergency with engineer Nick Robbins, a soundman on upcoming titles by Family Fodder, ex-Squeeze bassist Harri Kakoulli, and new wave journeyman Troy Tate (Teardrop Explodes, Fashion).

Jeopardy

The Sound released their first official album, Jeopardy, on November 1, 1980, on Korova (UK, Italy, France) and WEA (Belgium, New Zealand).

Jeopardy features six Adrian Borland originals and the group-written title-track. Graham Bailey (credited here as Green) co-wrote “Unwritten Law” and “Hour of Need,” the latter with third input by Mike Dudley.

Three cuts (“Missiles,” “Words Fail Me,” and “Night Vs. Day”) are re-recorded numbers from their shelved pre-debut Propaganda.

A1. “I Can’t Escape Myself” (3:55)
A2. “Heartland” (3:34)
A3. “Hour of Need” (3:03)
A4. “Words Fail Me” (2:59)
A5. “Missiles” (5:28)

B1. “Heyday” (3:03)
B2. “Jeopardy” (3:38)
B3. “Night Versus Day” (3:16)
B4. “Resistance” (2:48)
B5. “Unwritten Law” (3:40)
B6. “Desire” (3:35)

The Sound previewed the album with “Heyday,” released as a September single with “Brute Force,” an exclusive group-written number.

B. “Brute Force”

Sessions occurred at Elephant Studios, a special events location in London’s Wapping borough, where The Sound co-produced Jeopardy with State of Emergency soundman Nick Robbins, who worked on subsequent titles by Airstrip 1, Attila the Stockbroker, the Newton Neurotics, and Red London.

Jeopardy sports stark subject illustrations by Sara Batho, a cover artist for mid-Seventies hard rockers Geordie, Shanghai, and Strapps and (most recently) Korova ska parodist Judge Dread and WEA popsters The Expressos. Korova issued a Jeopardy test-press with an alternate cover: a down-shot of a man in freefall between two skyscrapers. Original copies contain a black inner-sleeve with a monochrome group-shot by Spencer Rowe, whose photography appears on mid-Eighties releases by 52nd Street and Working Week.

After Jeopardy, Belinda “Bi” Marshall cleared out for keyboardist Colvin “Max” Mayers, who cut an EP with Cardiac Arrest under the pseudonym Duncan Doilet.

Live Instinct

In 1981, The Sound released the four-song EP Live Instinct on the Dutch branch of WEA. It features live renditions of songs from Physical World (“Cold Beat”), Jeopardy (“Heartland,” “Jeopardy”), and the b-side “Brute Force.”

A1. “Heartland”
A2. “Brute Force”
B1. “Jeopardy”
B2. “Cold Beat”

Second Layer – World of Rubber

In November 1981, the post-punk label Cherry Red released the album World of Rubber, the third and final installment of Second Layer.

A1. “Definition of Honour” (4:18)
A2. “In Bits” (3:07)
A3. “Fixation” (4:04)
A4. “Save Our Souls” (3:27)
A5. “Distortion” (3:19)

B1. “Underneath the Gloss” (6:37)
B2. “Zero” (4:27)
B3. “Japanese Headset” (2:01)
B4. “Black Flowers” (5:27)

Borland and Bailey recorded World of Rubber at Elephant Studios with Nick Robbins.

Cherry Red graphic artist Jim Jag (Eyeless In Gaza, Thomas Leer) designed the World of Rubber sleeve, which shows two limbless mannequins thrice-enframed under bright overhead lights.

From the Lions Mouth

The Sound released their second album, From the Lions Mouth, on November 26, 1981, on Korova. This marked the debut of the classic Sounds lineup of Adrian Borland, bassist Graham “Green” Bailey, drummer Mike Dudley, and keyboardist Colvin “Max” Mayers.

From the Lions Mouth features two Borland solo compositions (“Silent Air,” “New Dark Age”) and another (“Possession”) with lyrics by Adrian Janes. Side A contains two-songs (“Contact the Fact,” “Judgement”) co-written with Mayers and Green.

The album contains five group-written numbers: three (“Winning,” “Sense of Purpose,” “Fatal Flaw”) by the current lineup and two (“Skeletons,” “The Fire”) from Belinda’s tenure (credited as Benita Biltoo).

A1. “Winning” (4:10)
A2. “Sense of Purpose” (3:48)
A3. “Contact the Fact” (4:17)
A4. “Skeletons” (3:22)
A5. “Judgement” (4:58)

B1. “Fatal Flaw” (4:25)
B2. “Possession” (3:23)
B3. “The Fire” (2:48)
B4. “Silent Air” (4:08)
B5. “New Dark Age” (5:44)

The Sound previewed Lions Mouth with “Sense of Purpose (What Are We Going to Do),” released on September 20 with “Point of No Return,” a Borland/Green/Dudley b-side with lyrics by Janes.

B. “Point of No Return”

Sessions occurred in Mommouth, Wales, at the lavish Rockfield Studios with Hugh Jones, a recent Teardrop Explodes soundman who produced and engineered From the Lions Mouth in sequence with 1981/82 Rockfield recordings by The Damned, Echo & The Bunnymen, and Modern English. Buggles associate Rockfield mixed Lions Mouth at Sarm East Studios in Whitechapel, London.

Korova issued Lions Mouth in a gatefold sleeve that reproduces Daniel in the Lions’ Den, an 1872 canvass by British animal painter Briton Rivière (1840–1920). Daniel is one of many artworks based on “Daniel in the Lions’ Den” (chapter 6 of the Book of Daniel), in which Daniel prays to the God of Israel in defiance of Darius the Medem, the King of Babylon, who condemns Daniel to death in the lion’s den. However, angels close the lion’s jaws because they find Daniel blameless.

The lyrical inner-gate contains a monochrome group pic by Simon Fowler, whose photography also graces 1980/81 sleeves by Altered Images (Happy Birthday), Cliff Richard (“Dreamin”’), The Cramps, and Samson (Head On).

On November 9, 1981, The Sound performed a John Peel session for the Radio One DJ’s 11/16 broadcast, which aired three Lions Mouth numbers (“Fatal Flaw,” “Skeletons,” “New Dark Age”) and one yet-unrecorded song (“Hothouse”).

The Witch Trials

In 1981, Adrian Borland partook in the Witch Trials, a project instigated by Dead Kennedys singer Jello Biafra during a London stop on DK’s 1981 European tour. DK guitarist East Bay Ray and US minimal wave keyboardist Christian Lunch also played on the self-produced Witch Trials, an EP with four songs:

Bat Side
A1. “Humanoids From the Deep”
A2. “The Tazer”

Writing Side
B1. “Trapped In the Playground”
B2. “Meat Beat”

Witch Trials was engineered by Morgan Fisher, a veteran organist (Morgan, Mott) whose recent activity included Miniatures, a multi-artist 1980 comp comprised of avant-garde pieces, all under one minute.

Witch Trials appeared in limited quantity (5,000 copies) on Subterranean Records, a US indie devoted to the West Coast hardcore scene. The back sleeve contains the following notes:

The Elephant Man
Poses Nude In Our Centerfold
You Poisoned Our Parents
And Forgot About Birth Control

“Hot House”

On May 14, 1982, The Sound released “Hot House,” a non-album single backed with a live version of “New Dark Age.”

A. “Hot House”

The Sound self-produced “Hot House” with engineer Craig Milliner, a soundman for earlier disco acts (Eastbound Expressway, Bad News Travels Fast, Love & Kisses) with credits on 1979–80 titles by Tina Turner, Rush (Permanent Waves), and Aussie new wavers Mental As Anything.

All Fall Down

The Sound released their third album, All Fall Down, on October 23, 1982, on WEA.

All Fall Down features two Adrian Borland solo compositions (“Party of the Mind,” “Monument”) and eight group-written numbers, including “Red Paint,” “Calling the New Tune,” and one track (“We Could Go Far”) with lyrics by Adrian Janes.

Graham Green plays drum machine and “wasp” effects in addition to bass. All Fall Down credits him and Mike Dudley with metal percussion.

A1. “All Fall Down” (2:28)
A2. “Party of the Mind” (3:57)
A3. “Monument” (5:08)
A4. “In Suspense” (4:05)
A5. “Where the Love Is” (4:09)

B1. “Song and Dance” (3:55)
B2. “Calling the New Tune” (3:30)
B3. “Red Paint” (3:15)
B4. “Glass and Smoke” (6:54)
B5. “We Could Go Far” (4:04)

Sessions occurred with Nick Robbins at London’s Trident Studios and Oxford’s Manor, a mansion facility owned by Virgin co-founder Richard Branson. The title-track vocal backing was courtesy of the “Manor Choir.”

“Hot House” soundman Craig Milliner co-engineered All Fall Down with Associates producer “Flood” (aka Mark Ellis) and Manor staffer Steve Prestage (Chas Jankel, Japan, Positive Noise, XTC). Milliner worked on All Fall Down in sequence with Untitled, the first of two albums by Marc & the Mambas.

All Fall Down presents a dithered window image by Andrew Douglas, whose photography also appears on 1980–82 albums by The Associates (The Affectionate Punch), The Cure (Seventeen Seconds), The Jam (Sound Affects), and The Psychedelic Furs (Talk Talk Talk). Designer Bill Smith created the All Fall Down graphics, which show fractured block letters (back) and framed imagery akin to his recent covers for Afraid of Mice, Genesis (Abacab), New Musik (Anywhere), Nico, Talk Talk (The Party’s Over), and Thomas Dolby (The Golden Age of Wireless).

This Cover Keeps Reality Unreal (EP, w/ Kevin Hewick)

In June 1982, The Sound backed Kevin Hewick on the singer/songwriter’s “Amber,” recorded and mixed at Q Studios in Queniborough, Leicestershire. In November 1983, the two parties reconvened at Elephant Studios, where The Sound performed on three Hewick originals: “Plenty,” “Neath Dancing Waves,” and “Scapegoat In a Country Churchyard.”

Cherry Red Records gathered the four songs on This Cover Keeps Reality Unreal, a late 1983 EP billed to Kevin Hewick and The Sound.

Colvin Mayers plays synthesizer, piano, and organ on Reality Unreal, which features “scratch cymbals” by bassist Graham Green and guitarist Adrian Borland, who also plays “slow bass.” Hewick plays “piano strings” and “McDonald’s cartons” in addition to guitar. Nick Robbins added “water sounds” during the engineering process.

A1. “Plenty”
A2. “Neath Dancing Waves”
B1. “Amber”
B2. “Scapegoat In a Country Churchyard”

Shock of Daylight

In April 1984, The Sound released the six-song EP Shock of Daylight on Statik–A&M. It features two Adrian Borland solo compositions (“Winter,” “Dreams Then Plans”) and the Colvin Mayers co-write “Golden Soldiers,” plus three group-written songs.

Borland and Mayers both play guitar and synthesizer on this release, which features guest brass by Tim and Sarah Smith, the Cardiacs’ married couple.

A1. “Golden Soldiers” (3:15)
A2. “Longest Days” (5:07)
A3. “Counting the Days” (3:36)
B1. “Winter” (4:17)
B2. “New Way of Life” (4:38)
B3. “Dreams Then Plans” (4:03)

Statik lifted “Counting the Days” as a UK 7″ single “Dreams Then Plans.” In Spain, Statik placed “Counting the Days” as the b-side of “Golden Soldiers.”

Shock of Daylight features a side-lighted monochrome group shot on the inner-sleeve. In the US, A&M issued the EP with an alternate cover by Fall photographer Carole Segar, who photographed The Sound against bridge rails.

Original Vibrators bassist Pat Collier produced Shock of Daylight ahead of titles by Lick the Tins, The Snake Corps, and The Screaming Blue Messiahs.

Heads and Hearts

The Sound released their fourth album, Heads and Hearts, in February 1985 on Statik.

Heads and Hearts features three Adrian Borland solo compositions (“Love Is Not a Ghost,” “One Thousand Reasons,” “Mining For Heart”) and two Graham Bailey co-writes (“Whirlpool,” “Temperature Drop”) amid six group-written songs. Borland wrote all the lyrics apart from “Wildest Dreams,” worded by Adrian Janes.

Fiat Lux saxophonist Ian Nelson (Bill Nelson‘s younger brother) guests on “Whirlpool,” “Under You,” and “Love Is Not a Ghost.”

A1. “Whirlpool” (4:00)
A2. “Total Recall” (4:29)
A3. “Under You” (4:18)
A4. “Burning Part of Me” (3:26)
A5. “Love Is Not a Ghost” (4:14)

B1. “Wildest Dreams” (5:13)
B2. “One Thousand Reasons” (3:04)
B3. “Restless Time” (3:39)
B4. “Mining For Heart” (2:48)
B5. “World As It Is” (2:07)
B6. “Temperature Drop” (4:20)

Statik preceded the album with “One Thousand Reasons,” released as a November 1984 single with “Blood and Poison,” an exclusive group-written b-side.

B. “Blood and Poison”

Sessions occurred the prior autumn at London’s Town House with veteran new wave producer Wally Brill, a prior soundman for Henry Badowski, Karel Fialka, Rema Rema, and Siam. Brill produced Heads and Hearts in sequence with 1984/85 titles by Annabel Lamb and the Icicle Works.

Statik lifted “Temperature Drop” as a June 1985 single backed with “Oiled,” a group-written exclusive.

B. “Oiled”

In France, Statik lifted “Under You” as a promo a-side backed with “Total Recall.”

Heads and Hearts lists three engineers: Town House staffer Gavin MacKillop (Endgames, Heaven 17, Midnight Oil), freelancer Richard Manwaring (Fischer-Z, Human League, Scars), and mixer Simon Smart (Dramatis, Freur, Zed). The album’s assistant engineers include Ben Tape (Housemartins, Waterboys, Vitamin Z) and Steve Barney (Big Country, China Crisis, Silent Running).

In the Hothouse

In late 1985, The Sound released In the Hothouse, a live double-album sourced from their August 27/28 shows at London’s Marquee Club.

In the Hothouse features fifteen songs from their Marquee setlist, including two from Jeopardy (“Heartland,” “Missiles”) and five from Lions Mouth: “Winning,” “Skeletons,” “Judgement,” “Silent Air,” and “Sense of Purpose.”

The first record features four numbers from their recent Heads and Hearts album: “Under You,” “Total Recall,” “Wildest Dreams,” and “Burning Part of Me.” Side C features one song each from All Fall Down (“Red Paint”) and Shock of Daylight (“Counting the Days”), plus the 1982 standalone “Hothouse.”

Side B opens with the yet-unrecorded “Prove Me Wrong,” which later appeared on their fifth studio album.

A1. “Winning” (3:53)
A2. “Under You” (5:01)
A3. “Total Recall” (4:51)
A4. “Skeletons” (4:03)

B1. “Prove Me Wrong” (2:36)
B2. “Wildest Dreams” (6:29)
B3. “Burning Part of Me” (3:43)
B4. “Heartland” (4:07)

C1. “Hothouse” (4:52)
C2. “Judgement” (3:59)
C3. “Counting the Days” (3:55)
C4. “Red Paint” (3:27)

D1. “Silent Air” (6:29)
D2. “Sense of Purpose” (5:18)
D3. “Missiles” (7:05)

Thunder Up

The Sound released their fifth and final studio album, Thunder Up, in December 1987 on the Belgian label Play It Again Sam.

“Heartland” icy, angular organ line cascades over turgid bassline, 4-downstrokes per bar (approximating buzzsaw)… trebly sustained power-chords under the chorus line… two note guitar solo, high and mid-range… urgent vocals…lyrics about futility of existence in an industrial city…or hopes and dreams of the mecca vs reality “Unwritten Law” slow, searing lead guitar sustain over deep bassline moving at double the speed (med-tempo). …Low key vocals on the verses, paced by an octave spanning bassline in A… pronounced, guitar lines on the chorus, only searing note at a time (G/Gb/A/G) over an angular key change (G/D/F/C) amid swelling volume …. Double guitar on middle-eight (lead and chordal/fuzzy)… lyrics about facts of life, laws and mortality, how there’s no escaping it wherever you go. “Missiles” slow, desolate fade in bass…. Joined by nervy, staccato guitar (plucked diads)… shimmery keyboard note fading in and out…. Swelling chorus, declamatory chorus line…echoey, fuzz-laden chordal sustains and harmonic notes flank the staccato figure during the second verse… echoey feedback, swelling volume in the middle-eight (sonic vortex)…rescind for third verse as icy organ reasserts… repeat all… lyrics question why men make missiles, knowing what they can do (quote)

Discography: