B-Movie – Hidden Treasures

B-Movie is set to release its new album, ‘Hidden Treasures’, on May 30th. They say what goes around comes around, and that applies to music as well as to everything else. But B-Movie does it in that timeless way that shows that some music was meant to last forever and stay relevant no matter what time we reside in.

Each track on ‘Hidden Treasures’ is exactly what the title says. Secret diamonds, some in the rough and some glistening in their own right. Originally started as a part of history with ‘Marylin Dreams’, recorded at the same time as Soft Cells’ cover of the Gloria Jones track ‘Tainted Love’ (full story below), what was past is now prologue with nothing standing in the way and everything set for the next generation.

What relates best with me, with this initial listen, is how current everything now sounds with ‘Hidden Treasures’. The sound is as new as it is signature. With what is already known versus what is just uncovered, together the music sounds like a complete and solid collective meant for the masses as a timeless muse.

About B-Movie

In May 1981 B-Movie and Soft Cell went into Advision Studios in London with the same producer, Mike Thorne (Wire, Bronski Beat, China Crisis, The Communards) to record singles for the label they were both signed to.

Phonogram had wanted to sign B-Movie but had also committed to Soft Cell, having been coerced into it by Stev0, who managed both artists and wouldn’t let them have one without the other.

B-Movie commenced recording the dark moody anti-fame anthem ‘Marilyn Dreams’, whilst Soft Cell got underway on a cover of an obscure Northern Soul classic. When both songs were released in July 1981, ‘Tainted Love’ became a worldwide hit and shot Soft Cell to international fame, making them the biggest artist of 1981. Unfortunately, for B-Movie, ‘Marilyn Dreams’, despite pleasing their fanbase, failed to make the charts and disappeared without a trace, pushing the band back into the shadows.

B-Movie had formed in 1979, in Mansfield, a typical northern town in the middle of the Nottinghamshire coalfield. Originally a three-piece of vocals/bass, guitar, and drums, they expanded by adding a keyboard player to broaden their initial post-punk sound. Local Lincoln independent record label, Dead Good Records, first put them on the compilation LP ‘East’, followed by the 7-inch “Take 3” EP and the “Nowhere Girl” 12-inch EP. The latter had an A-side that played at 45RPM and a B-side at 33RPM, which led to production issues (only around 900 were pressed) making this release something of a rarity.

B-Movie then came to the attention of Stev0, who was DJ’ing at the Chelsea Drugstore, playing the band’s songs at his night and featuring them in his Futurist Chart, which was published weekly in the ‘Sounds’ music paper. With the creation of Some Bizarre by Stev0, B-Movie was chosen to feature on the label’s legendary first release, the Some Bizarre compilation LP, – alongside the likes of Blancmange, Depeche Mode, Soft Cell and The The, amongst others – the album once described as the ‘dead sea scrolls’ of the new wave / post-punk scene.

Live performances and the compilation appearance led to major label and press interest in B-Movie, from which the deal with Phonogram materialized. Phonogram quickly sent B-Movie into Scorpio Sound Studios in London with producer Mike Thorne in 1981 to re-record the track ‘Remembrance Day’, which had initially appeared on the Dead Good 12” and was a live favorite. The resulting single reached No 61 in the UK chart and, more importantly, was played by BBC Radio 1 DJ John Peel, appearing in his Festive 50 for two consecutive years.

This really helped build a fanbase for B-Movie, with more sell-out shows and an anticipation of great things to come. Obviously following up with “Marilyn Dreams” and the spectacular rise of Soft Cell, temporarily derailed the B-Movie train.

However, not to be deterred, the band went back into the studio with the late producer Steve Brown (The Cult, Manic Street Preachers) to re-record “Nowhere Girl” – the original version also featuring on that Dead Good 12” single. The resulting single was deemed to be a surefire bona fide smash hit, the perfect 80’s anthem, equal to anything or anyone out there. Released in March 1982, despite good reviews, radio airplay and a UK tour, it inexplicably stalled at No67 in the UK charts.

This signaled the beginning of the end for the original B-Movie, as Soft Cell continued their domination of the charts, the Some Bizarre management roster burgeoned, not to mention the emergence of The The with their own trio of magnificent singles for CBS.

With B-Movie temporarily ‘grounded’, any thoughts of a debut album were shelved, a couple of members left, and although the band regrouped and eventually signed to Sire Records, releasing a couple of further singles and the ‘Forever Running’ album in 1985, they finally disbanded in 1986.

All of the recordings the band made during their Phonogram period were consigned to the Universal Music vault for several decades and after years of inquiries and negotiations, the band finally managed to have these returned in 2024. The various tapes were digitized and restored, resulting in the creation of that 1982 debut LP ‘That Never Was’, ten tracks including the three singles plus seven previously unreleased recordings. The CD version contains a further seven tracks including the 12” versions, single B-sides, and “Moles’” from the Some Bizarre compilation.

So, finally, here we have the ‘debut’ album “Hidden Treasures” from B-Movie, four decades late but still able to sit seamlessly alongside contemporaries like The Chameleons and The Sound. The LP is a darker, brooding, and almost psychedelic-infused affair, probably more akin to the gothic elements of the Bunnymen or Joy Division, than the ‘pop sensations’ Phonogram wanted them to become. Hopefully, opening and closing this chapter of B-Movie will put them firmly on the same footing as their new wave and post-punk contemporaries, which is the least they deserve, as one of the great ‘lost’ bands of the early 1980s.

“It’s nice to hear B-Movie are finally getting a chance to release their forgotten gems’” Matt Johnson (The The)

LINKS:
https://b-movie.org
https://www.instagram.com/b_movieband/
https://www.facebook.com/B.MovieMusic/
https://open.spotify.com/artist/7zUgfhtNGSNLMl2ydFse4S
https://music.apple.com/us/artist/b-movie/79406776
https://b-movie2.bandcamp.com/