Wang Chung -

Wang Chung was an English New Wave/modern-rock band that released a self-titled album under the name Huang Chung on Arista in 1982, setting clubs alight with “Ti Na Na” and “China.” On Geffen, they issued Points on the Curve in 1983, charting internationally with “Dance Hall Days.” After scoring William Friedkin’s 1985 action-drama To Live and Die in L.A., their 1986 release Mosaic spawned the Billboard hits “Everybody Have Fun Tonight” and “Let’s Go.”

Members: Jack Hues (lead vocals, guitar), Nick Feldman (bass, vocals), Darren Costin (drums, 1979-85), Hogg Robinson [Dave Burnand] (saxophone, 1981-82)

Wang Chung had its roots in a musical partnership between guitarist/singer Jack Hues and bassist/singer Nick Feldman, who met in the mid-1970s through a musicians-wanted ad placed by Feldman in Melody Maker.

Hues was born Jeremy Allan Ryder on December 10, 1954, in Gillingham, Kent, where he grew up listening to The Beatles, Jimi Hendrix, Yes, Genesis, and classical music. He studied music for three years at London’s Goldsmiths College, followed by a year at the Royal College of Music. His stage name, adopted after forming Wang Chung, is a phonetic play on J’Accuse, the title of an 1898 open letter to French president Félix Faure by playwright Émile Zola.

Feldman was borne to a North London Jewish family on May 1, 1955, the son of politician Basil Feldman, Baron Feldman. His aunt was Carry On actress Fenella Fielding. Nick studied psychology for a time at the University of Liverpool, but left to start a music career. He formed a band with his keyboardist friend Mike Smith and ex-Atomic Rooster/Hard Stuff drummer Paul Hammond.

Hues joined the band after answering Feldman’s Melody Maker ad. For 18 months, they skirted London’s burgeoning punk scene as The Intellektuals. The group collapsed when Smith departed for a songwriting contract with Chapman and Chinn.

In late 1977, Hues and Feldman formed 57 Men with bassist Leigh Gorman, drummer Darren Costin, and vocalist Glenn Gregory. This band lasted 18 months, during which Gregory declined an invitation by Sheffield musicians Martyn Ware and Ian Craig Marsh to join their new band, The Human League. (Gregory would later team with Ware and Marsh in Heaven 17.)

After 57 Men collapsed, Gorman joined Adam and the Ants, just before the Ants left Adam to form Bow Wow Wow. Hues and Feldman retained Costin, forming the initial lineup of Huang Chung as a trio. All three played keyboards in addition to their respective instruments. Feldman adopted the stagename Nick De Spig.

Huang Chung made their vinyl debut on the multi-artist comp Band’its at Ten O’Clock, released in 1980 on 101 Records. Their contribution, the Hues original “Baby I’m Hu-Man,” appears alongside early tracks by the Thompson Twins and The Comsat Angels.

Later in 1980, Huang Chung signed to small-press Rewind Records and issued their first two singles: “Isn’t It About Time We Were On TV” (b/w “Drive Me Crazy”) and “Stand Still” (b/w “I Dont Wanna Be Like You”). These releases caught the attention of Arista, which signed the band in early 1981.

Huang Chung expanded to a four-piece with saxophonist Dave Burnand, a friend of Hues from the Royal College who went by the stagename Hogg. Their first Arista single, “Hold Back The Tears” (b/w “Journey Without Maps”), appeared in 1981, produced by Rhett Davies (Camel, Roxy Music, The B-52’s, The Quick).

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