Age of Chance
The Age of Chance was quite a
unique rock and dance crossover band that made its debut in Leeds,
England and was active in the mid-eighties until 1991. They were
most famous for their cover of Prince’s “Kiss,” which soared to the
top of the UK indie charts in 1986, even though it slightly missed
reaching “hit” status in 1987; the song reached #50 in the UK, and
even though the band was signed onto Virgin and was favoured by a
lot of UK press, they never had one major hit in the UK. But it may
be useful to know that “Don’t Get Mad…Get Even” had soared up to #5
in the dance chart residing in the US.
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As for as the band’s style and musicality, they sounded like a
combination of hip hop, dance, punk, industrial rock, and northern
soul. With perhaps one of the most rare nasal vocal styles ever
heard, which in some cases included the use of a megaphone, the band
honed a very unusual sound. Moreover, their amazing cover art that
was a collaborative effort between The Designers Republic and the
band itself was an unlikely breakthrough of sorts. One of their
famous contemporaries was Pop Will Eat Itself, whose bizarre music
featured guitar, samples, rock beats, and “Pop” found themselves
immersed in groups like The Jamms and Coldcut.
In 1985, The Age of chance came into the music world with their
single, “Motorcity/ Everlasting Yeah,” which belonged to their own
label. Eventually, Riot Bible was helped by a larger entity, Radio 1
DJ, John Peel. It was time for another recording session to ensue,
and at Maida vale studios, four songs were recorded, some of which
featured collaborative efforts with other stars of the independent
music scene.
The second release for the band was entitled “Bible of the
Beats/Liquid Jungle” in 1986. And due to the success of this single,
the band was invited for a compilation for the NME C86. Officially,
the band had made their debut in July 86, and then shortly
thereafter, a second peel-sessions had been recorded with the
following songs: “How the West Was Won,” “From Now On,” “Be Fast, Be
Clean, Be Cheap,” and “Kiss.” After this engaging and collaborative
effort, the band signed on with Sheffield, an indie label that
remixed several of the band’s songs, placing them among many peers
within the Festive 50 in 1986.
It was not until January 1987 that the band signed with the label
giant, Virgin, whereby a nationwide tour began. Moreover, the band
recorded a song with producer Howard Grey, at which point, their
very first album for Virgin Records was underway. Some of the songs
from their album included “One Thousand Years of Trouble,” Don’t Get
Mad, Get Even,” and Channel 4 began playing some their music for an
American football programme that ran for three years. Soon after
their first effort with Virgin, the band started on another record
with the label, which was recorded in Wales.
Difficulties began to arise for the band, as the original singer,
Steven-E, had departed in late September 1988, which occurred during
the recording of only their second LP; this created an urgency to
find a new lead singer. As often is the case in situations of this
nature, the chemistry was disturbed, and the image of the band was
altered, even though the band was enthused with the soulful nature
of the new singer, Charles Hutchinson. Some of the vocals needed to
be redone of course. A two-year stint for the vocalist allowed for a
successful single to be produced, namely “Higher Than heaven,” but
it just fell short of the charts at #53 in the UK. Shortly
thereafter, the singer left, which meant that Perry had to take on
any duties that the position of lead singer proscribed. The band
split after Hutchinson’s leaving, and the interesting mix of disco,
hip hop, and rock was a far cry from some of the sounds that were
coming from the US at the time; both indie and larger scale bands
were making their presence heard, specifically The Stone Temple
Pilots, The Happy Mondays, Crash Poetry, Faith No More, and a host
of others.
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