"Underpass" | ||||
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Single by John Foxx | ||||
from the album Metamatic | ||||
B-side | "Film One" | |||
Released | 10 January 1980 | |||
Recorded | Pathway, London, September 1979 | |||
Genre | New wave, synthpop | |||
Length | 3:21 | |||
Label | Virgin Metal Beat VS 318 | |||
Songwriter(s) | John Foxx | |||
Producer(s) | John Foxx | |||
John Foxx singles chronology | ||||
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"Underpass" is a song by UK artist John Foxx, and was released as a single in January 1980. It was the artist's first solo single release after leaving the band Ultravox and the first single release from the Metamatic album, which was released shortly after.
The song typically features music made using synthesisers and electronic percussion only, and the vocal in the verses is delivered in a cold robotic style by Foxx, with an anthemic single word chorus. The lyrics feature Ballardian themes such as memory, architecture, dystopia and cars. There are no great differences in length or content between the album and single version, although an extended version did emerge years later and was used as the opening track on the Metatronic compilation album in 2010.
The single reached no. 31 in the UK charts and was performed by Foxx with three keyboard players on UK music show Top of the Pops . A promotional video for the song was also made.
"Underpass" is featured on all John Foxx's compilation albums Assembly (1982), Modern Art - The Best of John Foxx (2001), Glimmer - Best of John Foxx (2008) and Metatronic (2010). The latter features the extended version and a new remix by Mark Reeder.
7" single disc VS-318
The B side of the "Underpass" single is given as "Film 1" on the sleeve but as "Film One" on the label. The track did not feature on the Metamatic album but was included on later CD re-releases of the album in 1993 (track 12), 2001 (track 11) and 2010 (disc 2, track 1). It is an instrumental and was used by Alex Proyas as the soundtrack to his short film Parallel Lives featured during a live performance of John Foxx And The Maths at The Roundhouse in London in 2010. [1] "Film One" was also used as introduction music during the live performance of "Metamatic" performed by John Foxx and Louis Gordon in 2007, as documented on the live album A New Kind Of Man (2008). [2]
A 12-inch only promo disc for "Underpass" was also produced with cat no. VDJ 31. The version of "Underpass" is a standard 3:46 edit, although the B side was the Metamatic track "He's A Liquid", although a different mix from the album version. This version resurfaced much later on the 2001 compilation album Modern Art and on the 2007 "definitive" re-issue of Metamatic, listed as an "alternative version".
Foxx repurposed and re-styled the song during his live shows with Louis Gordon in 1997 giving it the new title of "Overpass". The song takes the lyric of the original verses although the single word "underpass!" in the chorus is replaced by "overpass!". The track can be heard on the live EP Exotour (1997), also released on CD as The Omnidelic Exotour and Retro Future (2007, recorded live in Shrewsbury, 1998). In the sleevnotes to The Omnidelic Exotour CD, Foxx writes for "Overpass": "This was the original title. How I felt when I came back from the war." Foxx and Gordon later reverted to playing the "standard" version of "Underpass" live, as documented on Live from a Room (As Big as a City) (2006).
The track was remixed by Mark Reeder as a bonus track on the John Foxx retrospective Metatronic compilation album. Three different remixes were issued as mp3 download only [3]
The remixes feature additional bass guitar played by Reeder himself. "Underpass (Mark Reeder's Sinister Subway Remix Edit)" (4:08) was issued on Reeder's 2011 5.1 Dolby Digital Surround remix DVD [4]
A special limited-edition 12-inch vinyl-only issue featuring two new remixes of "Underpass" was announced for released on Record Store Day, 20 April 2013. The release was, however, delayed and was eventually released on 27 May 2013. [5] This special 12-inch single is limited to 500 numbered copies worldwide, and features new artwork created by Jonathan Barnbrook.
The "Oh the Gilt Mix" was played for the first time by John Doran on the BBC 6 Music programme Now Playing in September 2012. Doran described the tracks as being "Like J G Ballard with a disco ball". [6] The remix was featured in The Quietus in April 2013 [7] and published on The Quietus' SoundCloud page. [8]
As of May 2013 [update] there were no plans to make the two mixes of "Underpass" featured on this release available elsewhere, except on the CD which was included as part of the VIP Packages for John Foxx and the Maths live shows in April, May and June 2013. [5] [9]
A promotional video for "Underpass" was produced by Virgin at the time of the single release. It featured Foxx dressed in suit, tie and overcoat roaming a post-apocalyptic basement with neon light tubes, two keyboard players and two abandoned young children while a black and white film is being projected onto a suspended screen. The film of Foxx roaming the basement miming the lyrics to the song is interspersed with a mysterious telephone receiver dangling in a park and footage of underpasses, overpasses and urban highways. A revised 'black and white' version of the video was included on the DVD of the Metatronic compilation album (2010).
A revised version was also made by Karborn for the same DVD to accompany "Mark Reeder’s Sinister Subway Mix". This digitally restored version also contains footage from the promo video for the successive John Foxx single "No-One Driving" (1980).
A live version of "Underpass" performed by John Foxx and the Maths is included on the Analogue Circuit DVD (2013) and shows specially prepared video footage and imagery by Jonathan Barnbrook.
John Foxx is an English singer, musician, artist, photographer, graphic designer, writer, teacher and lecturer. He was the original lead singer of the new wave band Ultravox, before leaving to embark on a solo career in 1980 with the album Metamatic.
Metamatic is the debut solo album by John Foxx, released in 1980. It was his first solo project following his split with Ultravox the previous year. A departure from the mix of synthesizers and conventional rock instrumentation on that band's work, Metamatic was purely electronic in sound. The name 'Metamatic' comes from a painting machine by kinetic artist Jean Tinguely, first exhibited at the Paris Biennial in 1959. The album peaked at #18 on the UK Albums Chart.
"Burning Car" is a song by John Foxx, released as a single in 1980. It was his third solo single, following "Underpass" and "No-One Driving" earlier in the year. The track was not included on Foxx's debut solo album Metamatic, post-dating its January 1980 release, but has been included as a bonus track on the 2001 and 2007 CD reissues. It was Foxx's last 1980s record in a hard-edged electronica style.
"Miles Away" is a song by John Foxx, released as a single in October 1980. It was his fourth solo single, following "Burning Car" in July that year. The track was not included on any original album, falling roughly midway between the release of Foxx's debut LP Metamatic in January 1980 and his second album The Garden in September 1981.
Greed is the third studio album by American experimental rock band Swans. It was released in 1986, through record label K.422. Greed marks the slow turning point for Swans away from the harsh, brutal noise rock of prior releases, and is also the first Swans album to contain contributions from Jarboe.
The Pleasures of Electricity is an album by John Foxx and Louis Gordon, released in 2001. It was the duo's second studio album, and Foxx's third after his return to the music scene in 1997.
Who's Got the Last Laugh Now? is the eleventh studio album by Scooter. It was released on 4 November 2005 through Sheffield Tunes.
"Young Savage" is the second single by Ultravox!. It was released as a single by Island Records on 28 May 1977, during a time of experimentation to define a new sound for the band, in advance of their second album.
Retro was the only EP (7") by Ultravox, then Ultravox!, released on 10 February 1978. It was the last recording released by the band as Ultravox!. Also this was the last disc featuring original guitarist Stevie Shears, who left the band after its release.
Shifting City is an album by John Foxx and Louis Gordon, released in 1997. Released simultaneously with Foxx's ambient album Cathedral Oceans, Shifting City was Foxx's first album release since In Mysterious Ways (1985).
Mark Reeder is a British musician and record producer. He grew up in Manchester, England. At a young age, Reeder became interested in progressive rock and especially early electronic music. In his teens, he worked in a small Virgin Records store in Manchester city centre.
Happy Hour! is a Japanese exclusive compilation album by the American punk rock band The Offspring. It was released on August 4, 2010. The album chronicles tracks from approximately 15 years of the band's career. It is the first album by the Offspring not to be released in the United States.
Metatronic is a retrospective compilation of recorded audio and visual material by British musician and recording artist John Foxx. It was released in 2010 by Edsel Records to mark the 30th anniversary of Foxx's debut solo album Metamatic and the start of his solo career. The idea for the compilation was first mentioned in the Ultravox fanzine Extreme Voice back in 1999.
John Foxx and the Maths is a musical project featuring electronic music pioneer John Foxx, Benge and more recently Hannah Peel. The group specialises in the use of analogue synthesizers and drum machines. It was initially a studio based project working from Benge's studio in Shoreditch, London but has also engaged in live work.
"No-One Driving" is a 1980 song by UK artist John Foxx, and was released as a single in March 1980. It was the second single release from the Metamatic album, after "Underpass". The song is typical of Foxx's musical output of the time, featuring a Ballardian dystopian scenario involving an automobile in the lyrics, with music produced using electronic instruments only.
This is a complete discography of the British recording artist John Foxx.
Assembly is the title of an 18-track compilation album by British recording artist John Foxx, issued in 1992. It contains tracks from the artist's first four albums – Metamatic, The Garden, The Golden Section and In Mysterious Ways as well as tracks which had not been previously issued in an album format. The album was remastered for CD by Foxx himself, and although was the first time many of his solo tracks had appeared on CD there were no new tracks and none of the tracks remain exclusive to this release.
Modern Art - the Best of John Foxx is the title of an 18-track compilation album by British recording artist John Foxx, issued in 2001.
"Europe After The Rain" is the title of a John Foxx song, released as a single in August 1981, and included on The Garden album released later the same year.
"Dancing Like A Gun" is the title of a John Foxx song, released as a single in October 1981, taken from The Garden album released a month previously.