Hi,
I was wondering about how many records feature Billy Currie,
As far as I know a possible discography should sound like this (apart from FoxxVox and Urevox albums & singles). This is just an aide memoire and not a proper and detailed discography.
Any addition or info will be welcomed:

Billy Currie Transportation lp/cd/tape
Billy Currie Stand Up and Walk cd (lp? tape?)
Billy Currie Unearthed cd
Billy Currie Keys and the Fiddle cd

Gary Numan The Pleasure Principle lp/cd/tape
Gary Numan Living Ornaments 1979 (live) lp/cd/tape

Visage Visage lp/cd/tape
Visage The Anvil lp/cd/tape
Visage Fade To Grey-The Singles Collection (also dance mix version) lp/cd/tape
Visage Beat Boy lp/tape

Ultravox Revelation lp/cd/tape
Ultravox Ingenuity cd
Ultravox Future Picture cd

The Armoury Show Waiting For The Flood lp/cd/tape

Steve Howe Turbulence lp/cd/tape

Duffo Gonna Send The Boys Around 12"

VV.AA. Freispiel (german cd with a Billy Currie unreleased solo track) cd-only

cheers
Roger

Roger, there is this little quote, which unfortunately I cannot reveal the source of, but it does mention a musical contribution made by Billy...

"The ‘Solo In Soho’ album, released in October 1980, was generally acclaimed by the music press and showed a wide range of styles and featured a terrific host of guest musicians such as Mark Knopfler, Gary Moore, Huey Lewis, Mark Nauseef, Bobby C. Benberg and Ultravox/Visage member Billy Currie. The new electronic dance beats were represented by the song ‘Yellow Pearl’, co-written with Midge, which contained some ARP Odyssey synth contributions from Billy Currie."

Regards...

Ah, ah...thanks Rodney, that quote sounds familiar...however, let's add this one:

Phil Lynott "Solo In Soho" lp/tape/cd

cheers
Roger

Just a quickie to say that a number of years ago, Dave Conn got me a the Steve Howe Turbulence album and its quite excellent - I don't like Yes at all and thought I'd hate it, but was quite pleasantly surprised. Worth picking up if you come across it. <img border="0" title="" alt="[Cool]" src="cool.gif" />

By the way, the Steve Howe Turbulence cd has been recently reissued and it's currently available.
Just check out some on-line good music store.

Stand Up and Walk was definitely available on LP and Tape - moreover, there were two different tape cover designs. I know this 'cos I've just scanned them in for the Billy Currie section of the Discography...

Rob

hey roger !

i was quite surprised to find The Armoury Show Waiting For The Flood lp/cd/tape in a discography of billy & had to check the album again to find out that he did a violin solo there !!!

what a busy man he was ... especially durin' the 80s !!! <img border="0" title="" alt="[Cool]" src="cool.gif" />

however ... thanx a lot for the discography ( so far ) , m8 !!!

anyway ... c u !

olaf a.k.a. ..::=|MeTaMaTRiX|=::..

Phew!

Thank you internet (e-bay). Dave Formula co-wrote with Howard 2 songs from that LP :'Topless' and 'Some will Pay (for what others pay to avoid)'. Surely he must play Synths on the album.

Chris C

Hi Chris!
Magazine are deninitely one of my favourite bands...they've been criminally overlooked and they still are. They were unique, thanks to the talents of Howard Devoto, Barry Adamson, Dave Formula and great John McGeoch (RIP)...the drummers were more normal...
I'd really like to make a cover of "About The Weather", a great song a bit ruined by Martin Hannet's 'metallic' production.

"Rainy Season" is another great song. And you can find other gems on both Luxuria cds ("Unanswerable Lust" and "The Beast Box").

...and yes, no Billy Currie on Howard Devoto's works

Great to find MAGAZINE being chatted about - I'm hard-pressed to find anyone who's even heard of them !

I must admit that their last album, "Magic, Murder and the Weather", was their weakest for me, although it's so long since I've listened to it (vinyl all in one attic, turntable elsewhere, neither of them near) that I might well find my feelings changed on listening again. For me, "The Correct Use of Soap" has it: great title and some superb songs - anyone for Dostoyevsky set to music ?! Oh, and the B-side cover of "Goldfinger" - nice!

LUXURIA , too, were criminally under-rated. One favourable reviewer stated that this was the true and logical successor to the New Romantic movement - although he didn't give it a name - and it does have something of the filmic creativity and flamboyance of new Romanticism but with a far more realist heart - Devoto's almost like a connoisseur of the stale and the mundanely twisted or a pickler of grotesques.

Does anyone know what he or his multi-instumentalist collaborator in LUXURIA (name escapes me - was it "Noko" or summat similar?)are up to these days ?

Hi Chris,
yes Dave Formula is on "JVOAD", and also on Luxuria's "Beast Box" as musician and producer.
I'm sorry I'm not into synths, so I can't help, but I'm sure many people hre can give you the right answer.

It's a pity we don't live nearer...I can provide decent vocal imitations of John Foxx and Howard Devoto...many years ago I did Magazine and Ultravox covers with my own band ("Definitive Gaze", "Shot BY Both Sides", "The Light Pours Out Of Me", "Slow Motion")

Could we maybe think of John McGeoch as the new wave guitar par excellence? Don't want to put any label on him, I'm just noting he played in such important new wave bands as Magazine, Visage, Siouxsie & The Banshees, PIL and in other less famous, but which featured cult figures (Richard Jobson's Armoury Show).

Oesterreicher II: yes, Noko is the right name. I agree that "Magic, Murder and the Weather" is the weakest Magazine album. I dare to say that it's weak in itself, because it lacks that sublime mix of unforgettable hooks and hard-edged style which makes great nearly every moment of "The Correct Use Of Soap". Philadelphia is one of the greatest songs of my whole record collection.
You can find a lot of info on: www.shotbybothsides.com

cheers

A good source for Howard Devoto is www.shotbybothsides.com. He did a one-off album with fellow Buzzcocker Pete Shelley a couple of years ago but, aside from that, I think he has retired from the music scene.

I agree: Magazine rocked. Secondhand Daylight is my favourite album.

do you count

Billy's PIECES OF THE PUZZLE CD

as a part of the discography ??

Indeed that performance is stellar. But then, everything Mr. Currie creates musically is, as you said, "out of this world." <img border="0" title="" alt="[Cool]" src="cool.gif" />

- Volglory

After John with Ultravox, Magazine was my favourite band No.2. I have all vinyl LP's ( incl. Howard Devoto's " Jerky versions of the dream" - There is no work from Billy on this LP mentioned ) and on CD. I bought me the CD box " Maybe it's right to be nervous now" for a couple of weeks - it inc. all!!! b -sides, different versions, The Peel sessions!!!!!, and some live stuff. An absolutely "MUST" for everyone who loved this band in the past!!!

It was made by Howard Devoto and have a nice booklet included too.

Fave songs? The Light pours out of me, Feed the enemy, Back to nature, Permafrost, Definitive Gaze and.......

Regards, S.M.

Hi Roger, Billy Currie also played keyboards on Gary Numan's John Peel session recorded 25th May and broadcast on 25th June 1979. The tracks were; Cars, Airlane, Films and Conversation. This session has been released on vinyl and CD. The CD I've got is a double Peel session which also has an earlier Tubeway Army session from January 1979 which doesn't feature Billy. These sessions are also included on an album called Gary Numan - BBC Recordings. This album also features some live tracks from 1979; different to the Living Ornaments recordings.

Hi Roger,

One addition:

Gary Numan: The Radio One Recordings - CD
(Billy is on tracks 4-10)

One possible addition:
Gary Numan - Telekon - CD
Quoting from Jonas Warstad's discography:

Two more tracks 'Photograph' & 'Trois Gymnopedies (1st movement)' were recorded 9-12 April right before the main album sessions - they were released in 1980 as B-sides, but they 'belong' to this album. Also recorded 9-12 April were (unreleased) demo versions of Cars, Metal, Observer, Conversation, Tracks, Airlane and Engineers.

My question does Billy feature on Telekon's CD bonus tracks : Photograph & Trois Gymnopedies ? I have a feeling that Billy was a real asset for Gary and would have featured in these 2 keyboard/viola based tracks.

Voix mentioned that Living Ornaments 1980 will eventually be released on CD in the UK for the first time. I hope Gary doesn't forget about these demos. Will they feature Billy? Gary like John and Midge are all rounders perhaps it's just him on vocals and all instruments.

Chris C

The liner notes from "Telekon" are incorrect. Photograph does date from April 1979 & features Numan on synths & Chris Payne on piano. Trois Gymnopedies was recorded in the Spring of 1981 & features: Numan - Polymoogs, Paul Gardiner - bass, Chris Payne - piano, RRussell Bell - guitar, Denis Haines - ARP pro-soloist & CP30.

Trois Gymnopedies was released as the B-side of We Are Glass in May 1980, so I assume you meant to write Spring of 1980... and not 1981 .

Fluff

Time to revive the thread, I think

One addition to the discography:

Billy appears on the single by Dead or Alive - the lesser one from 1991 called "Unhappy Birthday". It was only released in Japan as a CD3, and our Bill is credited with "Electric Viola" on the third track: "Unhappy Birthday (Ninja Billy Mix)".
More detailed info here:
http://www.discogs.com/release/552058

Another connection between him and DOA - they recorded an album in his studio in 1989 (I think).

FSE was Dave's name for all his synths - "Formula Serial Electronics".

cheers
Graeme

Hi Roger,

One new addition:

Humania: Sinews of the Soul - CD

Truly an important piece of Billy's puzzle!!!

Chris C
PS Can't wait to get hold of this one although I won't be tempted to go for the download...who knows...March is still far away! :rolleyes:

3 additions:

Accidental Poetry of the Structure - 2006 CD release by Billy. Very classical feel to the album.

Sixty Minutes With- 2007 compilation CD from Voiceprint. Covers the period from Transportation to Still Movement.

The track An Incident in Algiers from the mini LP Strength Trough Joy by The Skids. Billy plays electric viola.

Chris

Living Ornaments 1980 has already been released on 2CD, although I have a feeling that it was only available via the BB site for a short time. Some the the tracks have been restored from the monitor mixing desk, so sound a bit tinny but its a nice CD to compelte the LO trilogy.

Paul

So, was it worth the wait? I thought it was very disappointing myself...

some information for you which you may find interesting...
i am a huge fan/collector of Frankie Goes To Hollywood including pre and post projects and i am in an honoured position to be in touch with a few members of the band and through this i have a couple of tracks which you wont know about.
They were recorded after FGTH split up way backk by the bands guitarist Nasher and one of his projects at the time, the tracks are called
1. Broke
2. Love over war
both were recorded at the sonic innovation studios in london and feature Billy on Viola.
niether song has ever been released in these versions although a different mix of broke is available on Nashers debut solo album Ripe (BP001) WHICH IS AVAILABLE TO ORDER VIA cd baby.com

Thanks g man, much appreciated.

It has been mentioned on another thread & technically should go under the "whose birthday" thread, but sod it, this is where it really belongs.....

Happy Birthday Billy.

Hi Rob

Digging up an old thread here, as the rest of the internet has failed to provide what I was searching for.

I'm curious about the different releases and artwork for Stand Up And Walk. I bought the cassette by mail order when it came out - the sleeve has a photo of Billy and his viola, but I've seen online that there are two other sleeve designs (for the CD and/or vinyl) that I wasn't aware of and your post mentions two different cassette sleeves.

So, what I'm trying to find out is the complete release history with sleeve designs for this album.

Some of it is in Discogs (I added the cassette release from my copy), but not all.
https://www.discogs.com/Billy-Currie-Stand-Up-And-Walk/master/339936

Can you shed any light on this? Thanks

I'm also not sure why I bought it on cassette if there was a vinyl version available - I hated tapes! Maybe I was worried about a record being sent by mail back in 1991.