Modern Art - Cleaners From Venus – Souvenir [Cass] (1986, Color Tapes)

Modern Art was an electro/synth rock band formed by Gary Ramon in the early 1980s. The band played live only on several occasions and the project did see the release of a slew of limited cassette only releases, and two studio albums. After moving in a more psychedelic direction, Ramon disbanded Modern Art and formed Sun Dial in 1989. 

The most extensive of singer/songwriter Martin Newell's various projects, Cleaners from Venus recorded some of the finest -and most neglected- British pop/rock of the 1980s. The Cleaners' failure to find a wider audience is due at least in part to their unconventional method of distribution. After a short, bitter experience in the music business recording for a large label, Newell retreated to his home studio at the beginning of the '80s, determined not to have to play by the usual compromising music business rules. As the chief of Cleaners from Venus, he and cohorts recorded several albums on their own, and distributed them via self-produced cassettes that were chiefly available by mail. There were thousands of such acts working in this manner in the cassette underground, but most of them were either off-puttingly amateurish or forebodingly avant-garde and experimental. Cleaners from Venus were distinguished from the usual lot because they specialized in extremely witty, cheery, and compact pop songs. 

The original first released edition of this tape (1986, UK) comes with printed labels. It was released under license by Calypso Now, original by Color Tapes (catalogue number Color 19). Various cassette colors were used for the licensed release, and also the color of the paper for the cover varied (mostly grey as scanned or white). Calypso Now was a Swiss independent cassette label run by Rudi Tüscher (Hotcha) that released around 200 cassette productions from 1983 to 1988, most of them licensed from other labels. Also, these tapes were copied over the years as needed, so the actual cassette used depended on what was available on the market at the time, and the covers do not always carry mention of the Calypso Now label and practically never an order number -that was due to the punk idea ("Be there or be square"). After 1989 the label became home to Hotcha's band Pull My Daisy until 1992, where all activities stopped.

 

 

Label: Color Tapes – color 19 

Format: Cassette, C60 

Country: UK 

Released: 1986 

Style: New Wave, Synth-pop, Minimal 

 

Tracklist:

Side A: Cleaners From Venus

A1 She's Checking You Out 

A2 Johnny The Moondog 

A3 Lukewarm Lovesong

A4 Sandstorm In Paradise 

A5 Julie Profumo 

A6 Be An Idiot Pop Star 

A7 Albion's Daughter 

A8 Hand Of Stone 

Side B: Modern Art

B1 Dress Of Adventure 

B2 Quest For Gold 

B3 Beach On The Horizon 

B4 46 Botanical Species 

B5 Confrontation 

B6 Last Day Of The Sun 

B7 She Cannot Yet Be Seen 

B8 September 

 

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