"Fade to Grey" | ||||
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Single by Visage | ||||
from the album Visage | ||||
B-side | "The Steps" | |||
Released | 14 November 1980 [1] | |||
Genre | ||||
Length |
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Label | Polydor | |||
Songwriter(s) | ||||
Producer(s) |
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Visage singles chronology | ||||
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1993 re-release cover | ||||
"Fade to Grey" is a song by British synth-pop band Visage, released in November 1980 as the second single from their debut album, Visage (1980), on Polydor Records.
The song was the band's most successful single. It entered the singles charts in late 1980, peaking at no. 8 in the UK Singles Chart and reaching no. 1 in West Germany and Switzerland. Steve Strange was on lead vocals; the French lyrics were spoken by Rusty Egan's Luxembourgish girlfriend Brigitte Arendt. [5]
The accompanying music video for the song became one of the first videoclips that Kevin Godley and Lol Creme directed, before they became known for their works with the Police, Duran Duran and Herbie Hancock. [6] [7]
"Fade to Grey" was originally written as an instrumental by Billy Currie and Chris Payne. Payne came up with the bassline and the chords while Currie added the other parts. [8] They worked on it during soundchecks on Gary Numan's 1979 tour. Cedric Sharpley, the drummer of Numan's backing band, was also heavily involved. [9] In those days it was called "Toot City". Initially considered to be released as a Billy Currie and Chris Payne single, the track eventually became part of the Visage project. [8] While setting the track listing of the Visage album, Midge Ure suggested the use of the melody [10] and wrote the song's lyrics. [11]
"Fade to Grey" was Visage's second single, but their first release on a major label, Polydor. It was released in 1980, on the same day as the band's debut album, Visage . "Fade to Grey" charted around Europe in late 1980/early 1981, becoming a Top 10 hit in the UK, a Top 5 hit in five countries, and no. 1 in West Germany and Switzerland. The song is sung in English and spoken in French.
A remix by Bassheads/Andy Stevenson was released in 1993 to promote the Fade to Grey – The Best of Visage compilation (an updated re-release of 1983's Fade to Grey – The Singles Collection ). The new version became a modest Top 40 hit in the UK, peaking at no. 39. [12]
In 2008, Steve Strange appeared on the BBC series Ashes to Ashes performing the song in the Blitz nightclub.
In 2014, Visage released "Fade to Grey (Orchestral)", a new version of the song re-recorded with a symphony orchestra. This followed the band's appearance at the 2014 World Ski Jumping Championships in Prague, Czech Republic, where they played a ten-song set backed by the Czech Synthosymphonica Orchestra. The band also released an album, Orchestral , which featured several classic Visage songs rerecorded with the orchestra.
Steve Strange and Midge Ure both claimed to have been the one who came up with the idea for the French vocal in the track. [10] [13] On the finished track, the French vocal was performed by Brigitte Arendt, a young student from Luxembourg who was Rusty Egan's girlfriend at the time. [14] On the single and album, the song is credited to Billy Currie, Chris Payne and Midge Ure. [15] In his 2002 autobiography, Strange said it was not fair to credit the song to Ure, Currie and Payne only, since his input was significant and he was "the focal point of the group". [13]
Visage's first music video was for this song, and was directed by Godley & Creme. [16] Appearing with Steve Strange in the video was his friend Julia Fodor, who mimed the French lyrics in the video. [17] [18] The clip was included on band's 1986 video release, Visage .
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Weekly charts
| Year-end charts
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Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
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France (SNEP) [46] | Gold | 500,000* |
Germany (BVMI) [47] | Gold | 500,000^ |
United Kingdom (BPI) [48] | Silver | 250,000^ |
* Sales figures based on certification alone. |
German DJ Mark 'Oh covered "Fade to Grey" in 1996. His version reached no. 11 in Germany and was a Top 40 hit in Switzerland, Austria, Finland and the Netherlands.
Chart (1996) | Peak position |
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Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40) [49] | 24 |
Finland (Suomen virallinen lista) [50] | 20 |
Germany (Official German Charts) [51] | 11 |
Hungary (Mahasz) [52] | 2 |
Netherlands (Dutch Top 40) [53] | 35 |
Netherlands (Single Top 100) [54] | 24 |
Sweden (Sverigetopplistan) [55] | 45 |
Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade) [56] | 15 |
In 1994, the Italian electronic group Datura made a version of "Fade to Grey" with a re-recorded vocal track by Steve Strange singing lyrics specifically for this version. The single peaked at no. 5 in the Italian singles chart. [57]
Italian doom/gothic metal band Monumentum released a version on their "In Absentia Christi" album in 1995. [58] It features the vocals of Francesca Nicoli (Ataraxia).
German metal band Atrocity released a version on their cover album Werk 80 II in 2008. It features the vocals of Jensara Swann (The Veil). [59]
Ultravox were a British new wave band, formed in London in April 1974 as Tiger Lily. Between 1980 and 1986, they scored seven Top Ten albums and seventeen Top 40 singles in the UK, the most successful of which was their 1981 hit "Vienna".
William Lee Currie is a British multi-instrumentalist and songwriter from Huddersfield, England. He is best known as the keyboard and strings player with new wave band Ultravox, who achieved their greatest commercial success in the 1980s.
Visage were a British synth-pop band formed in London in 1978. The band became closely linked to the burgeoning New Romantic fashion movement of the early 1980s, and are best known for their hit "Fade to Grey" which was released in late 1980. In the UK, the band achieved two Top 20 albums and five Top 30 singles before the commercial failure of their third album led to their breakup in 1985.
James "Midge" Ure is a Scottish musician, singer-songwriter and record producer. His stage name, Midge, is a phonetic reversal of Jim, a hypocorism of his given name. Ure enjoyed particular success in the 1970s and 1980s in bands including Slik, Thin Lizzy, Rich Kids and Visage, and as the second frontman of Ultravox. In 1984, he co-wrote and produced the charity single "Do They Know It's Christmas?", which has sold 3.7 million copies in the UK. The song is the second-highest-selling single in UK chart history. Ure co-organised Band Aid, Live Aid and Live 8 with Bob Geldof. He acts as a trustee for the charity and also serves as an ambassador for Save the Children.
"Vienna" is a song by British new wave band Ultravox, released on 9 January 1981 by Chrysalis Records as the third single and the title track from their fourth studio album of the same name. Featuring Midge Ure on lead vocals, the new wave ballad is regarded as a staple of the synth-pop genre that was popularised in the early 1980s and remains both the band's signature song and their most commercially successful release.
"The Damned Don't Cry" is a song by British synth-pop group Visage, released as a single by Polydor Records in 1982.
Stephen John Harrington, known professionally as Steve Strange, was a Welsh singer. From the late 1970s, he was a nightclub host and promoter. He became famous as the leader of the new wave synth-pop group Visage, best known for their single "Fade to Grey", and was one of the most influential figures behind the New Romantic movement of the early 1980s.
The Anvil is the second studio album by the British synth-pop band Visage, released in March 1982 by Polydor Records. The album reached No. 6 in the UK and was certified "Silver" by the British Phonographic Industry in April 1982.
Visage is the debut studio album by the British synth-pop band Visage. It was recorded at Genetic Sound Studios in Reading, Berkshire and released in November 1980 by Polydor Records.
"Mind of a Toy" is the third single by the British synth-pop group Visage, released on Polydor Records in March 1981. It was taken from the band's eponymous debut album, following up their international hit "Fade to Grey".
"Tar" is the debut single by the British synth-pop group Visage, released in 1979.
"Night Train" is the sixth single by the British synth-pop group Visage, released by Polydor Records in June 1982.
"Visage" is the fourth single by the British synth-pop group Visage, released by Polydor Records in July 1981. It is the title track from Visage's eponymous debut album. The single peaked at no.21 in the UK Singles Chart.
"Pleasure Boys" is a song by the British synth-pop group Visage, released as a single on Polydor Records in October 1982.
The Damned Don't Cry is a compilation album by the British synth-pop group Visage released in 2000.
Master Series is a compilation album by the British synth-pop band Visage released in 1997.
The discography of the British new wave band Visage consists of five studio albums, eight compilation albums, one EP and nineteen singles. Formed in 1978, the band released their first single "Tar" on the short-lived Radar Records label in 1979, before signing to Polydor Records in 1980. Their second single, "Fade To Grey", was released soon afterwards and became an international hit. After three studio albums and several personnel changes, the group disbanded in 1985 though a new line-up emerged in the 2000s, again led by vocalist Steve Strange. In 2013, the band released a new album, Hearts and Knives, the first new Visage album for 29 years. The following year, the band released Orchestral, a partly live album featuring various classic Visage songs remade with a symphony orchestra. The band's final studio album, Demons to Diamonds, was released in November 2015.
"The Voice" is Ultravox's second single from the Rage in Eden album, recorded in Conny Plank's Studio in Cologne, Germany and released on 30 October 1981. It peaked at #16 in the UK singles chart, #27 in the Irish Singles Chart and #29 in the New Zealand Singles Chart.
"Dancing with Tears in My Eyes" is the second single from Lament, Ultravox's seventh studio album, released on 11 May 1984.
If I Was: The Very Best of Midge Ure & Ultravox is a 1993 compilation album by Scottish musician Midge Ure, featuring songs from his solo career and as part of the new wave and synthpop band Ultravox, along with Ure's collaborations with Mick Karn, Phil Lynott, Visage, and charity supergroup Band Aid.