Fashion band box set slated for next month

Earlier this year, I heard a song from this band for the first time during SiriusXM DJ Richard Blade's radio show on 1st Wave (somehow, they bypassed my radar back in the day) and loved it. Glad to hear some of the band's material will be getting deluxe treatment. Read below for the press release info...

Fabrique, a limited edition 4-CD box set by late 1970s-mid-1980s British new wave band Fashion is scheduled for Jan. 31. It contains a 60-page color booklet, signed and numbered certificate of authenticity, four 8x10 photos, A3 poster reprint of a Birmingham Botanical Gardens reunion show ticket.

Pre-order here now:
https://www.musicglue.com/fashion-fabrique-deluxe/

Fashion was primarily active from 1978-1984, with a brief revival in 2009. They began as a post-punk band, before developing into a new the wave/synthpop ensemble that placed three singles on the lower reaches of the UK charts in 1982-84.

The band started in ‘79 as a punk band and went through various changes until 1981 when they reformed again with members being John Mulligan, Dave (De) Harris, Dik Davis and Martin Recchi.

This period was a complete change of direction musically and led to Fashion’s second album known as “Fabrique”. The band signed an international recording contract with Arista Records in 1982 and decided on Zeus B. Held to be their producer, a well known Krautrock musician & underground dance producer famed at the time for his work with Gina X. The album became a European product being written and recorded in Koln, Paris and London over a six-month period.

On release it went straight in at No. 10 in the British charts, by this time Fashion had started touring the album in Europe and gigs in the USA. On return to the UK, Dave Harris left the band and “Fabrique” became a collector’s item. The album included the UK hit singles “Streetplayer (Mechanik)”, which reached No. 46 in April 1982 and “Love Shadow”, which peaked at No. 51 in August of the same year. The track “Whitestuff” was featured in the television show Miami Vice’s two-hour season 2 opener. “Prodigal Son” and “You Only Left Your Picture” were featured in another episode. The album was re-released with additional material in 2004 as “The Height Of Fashion”.

Only through social media did they realize that there was a large fan base out there, still playing the album and cassette. The cassette had the full album on the A side and dance mixes of tracks on the B side. This was pretty well a first.

This new release “Fabrique Deluxe” will be a one off, every single track and version that was recorded for the “Fabrique” album has been digitized and split over 3 CDs, the 4th CD being the tracks from Dave and Zeus’s Birmingham gig on September 24th 2019. These are 7 of the original “Fabrique” tracks re-edited into extended Dance mixes, all containing new overdubs and a taste into what “Fabrique Global” might sound like.

Tracklists:

Face 01:

The A & B side of the Original “Fabrique” Album.

Move On

Love Shadow
Streetplayer - Mechanik
Dressed To Kill
You Only Left Your Picture
Something In Your Picture
It’s Alright
White Stuff (Short Cut)
Do You Wanna Make Love
Slow Blue

Face 02:

Extended mixes from 12” Dance Singles.

Mutant Dance Move
Smokey Dialogue
Mutant Mix Mechanik
Dressed to Kill (Double Dub)
You Only Left Your Picture (Reggae Reprise)
Alternative Playback (Half Frame)
White Stuff (The Unfinished)
Do You Wanna Make Love (at 5.00 A.M.?)

Face 03:

Dub Tracks from B side of original cassette plus various unreleased mixes.
Move On (Audio Extra)
StreetPlayer - Mechanik (Audio Extra)
Love Shadow- Smokey Dialogue
Something In Your Picture (Motor Drive)
Mutant Mechanik
Love Shadow (7” remix)
Alternative Playback (Full Frame)
Lets Play Dirty - (Centrefold)
Love Shadow (U.S. 12” Promo Mix)
Something in your picture (Test Pressing Mix)

Face 04:

Fabrique Global Birmingham MMXIX

Dressed To Kill
Something In Your Picture
Do You Wanna Make Love
Love Shadow
Streetplayer
Move on
You Only Left Your Picture