The Colours – Dierdre Is An Artist [7''] (1980, See Saw Sound)

The Colours appeared in February 1980, recording and releasing the single “Dierdre is an Artist,” which was favourably reviewed in Melody Maker by Paolo Hewitt. The main members were singer, lyricist, and film technician Simon Matthews; multi-instrumentalist Brendan Beal; and, on synthesiser, Royal College of Art graduate Jean Elmes. After recording more demos with a drum machine in autumn 1980, Richard Strange booked them twice to close Cabaret Futura at the Latin Quarter on Wardour Street, where they performed alongside Kissing The Pink, Soft Cell, Blancmange, and Richard Jobson. In April 1981, they played at the Cabaret Futura night at Heaven. 

 

The Colours were unusual: they played their set live in darkness while a film was projected onto a huge screen behind them, showing brightly edited images of beauty contests, NATO training films, fashion shows, and current affairs documentaries. Paul Tickell, writing in Sounds, commented that “the spectacle of the film, with its bias towards the Cold War and the nuclear era of the 1950s, was intriguing.” A review in NME stated: “The Colours gave a passable impression of two rival radio stations competing for a single band; as the music gelled, they began to sound like a more chaotic version of Suicide.” 

 

Many gigs followed, including three headlining shows at the Rock Garden, which described them as “exponents of sound and film, and better at it than Pink Floyd.” However, failing to secure a record deal, The Colours disbanded at the end of 1981. After their demise, Brendan Beal released some of the earliest acid house singles and appeared on S’Express’s hit “Hey Music Lover.” Jean Elmes taught photography and visual arts at City and Islington College, and Simon Matthews published "Psychedelic Celluloid," a study of music in UK film and television.

 

 

Label: See Saw Sounds – SAW 1 

Format: Vinyl, 7", Single 

Country: UK 

Released: 1980 

Style: New Wave, Post-Punk 

 

Tracklist: 

A Dierdre Is An Artist 3:15 

B1 Over My Head 6:27 

B2 Facts Of Life 0:40 

 

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