Age of Chance

Infobox musical artist
Name = Age of Chance
Background = group_or_band
Origin = Leeds, England, UK
Genre = alternative rock
electronic dance
Years_active = 1985 - 1991
Label = Riot Bible
FON Virgin
Past_members = Steven Elvidge
Geoff Taylor
Neil Howson
Jan Perry
Noel "DJ Powercut" Watson
Charles Hutchinson

Age of Chance were an alternative rock-dance crossover band from Leeds, England active from 1985 to 1991. They were perhaps most known for their mutant metallic cover of Prince's "Kiss" which topped the UK Indie Chart in 1986 but narrowly missed being a hit at the beginning of 1987, reaching #50 in the UK.Guinness Book of British Hit Singles] Despite signing for major label Virgin, and being favourites with the UK music press, they never enjoyed a hit in the UK, although "Don't Get Mad… Get Even!" reached #5 in the US Dance ChartHistory page on the ageofchanceinfo.co.uk website, http://homepage.ntlworld.com/gavinmorrow/history.htm] .

Musically they were a sonic collision of punk, hip hop, industrial rock and Northern Soul. Steven E provided a distinctive strident nasal vocal style, often employing a megaphone. Striking cover art visuals were a collaboration between the group and The Designers Republic, who would go on to graphic design fame. They were contemporaries of Pop Will Eat Itself whose music also featured rock guitar, dance beats and copious samples and other early UK samplist groups such as Coldcut and The JAMMs.

History

They first came to national attention with a track on the NME C86 compilation tape.

They released their first 2 self-funded singles on their own indie label "Riot Bible", before signing to Sheffield indie label Fon for the "Kiss" single and its remix 12"s and mini-LP. "Kiss" was originally recorded for a John Peel session while the Prince single was still in the charts. "Kiss" was No.2 in the Festive 50 for 1986.Entry on the BBC John Peel bands website, http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio1/johnpeel/artists/a/ageofchance/]

Original singer Steven-E left in September 1988,press release for Times Up, http://www.ireallylovemusic.co.uk/aoc/press.htm] during the recording of their second LP, forcing the rest of the band to recruit a new singer, the soulful Charles Hutchinson in January 1989 and "re-vocal" the LP, which was released as "Mecca" in 1990. The main single off that LP, "Higher Than Heaven" also missed the charts stalling at #53 in the UK, despite being voted "record of the week" by Radio 1's breakfast show listeners. When Hutchinson left, Perry took on vocal duties briefly before the band split in 1991.

Cover art

A strong visual identity was developed by the band, from their clothes (notably featuring cycling tops) to their cover art. The first singles had a punk like cut-up graphic design produced by the band featuring slogans and mini-manifestos. "Stay Young!! Say Yeah!! Call Each Other Bay-Beah!!" "You CAN live forever with the Age of Chance". The slogans and visual imagery were passed to The Designers Republic who produced a series of classic cover designs for the Kiss releases and the series of 1987 Virgin releases. The sleeve of "Don't Get Mad ... Get Even" was one of Q Magazine's 100 Best Record Covers Of All Time (2001), with the citation describing the collaborations as "Too intricate to rightfully exist in the pre-desktop publishing age, the sleeves were edgy, loaded, with menacing visual manifestos adorned with slogans ... alongside bar codes, cruise missiles and (first woman in space)Valentina Tereshkova's face."Q Magazine's 100 Best Record Covers Of All Time (2001), http://homepage.ntlworld.com/gavinmorrow/interview%20(Q%20mag%20special).htm] Designer Ian Anderson recalled that "The way they were presented was very much as a philosophy; it was a punk attitude crossed with disco styling, that asked questions to get a reaction. Once the vocabulary was set, the sleeves almost designed themselves. We may have done the designs, but the language was created by the band."

Line-up

* Steven Elvidge (mob-orator)
* Geoff Taylor (all nite bass frequencies)
* Neil Howson (power-noise generator)
* Jan Perry (beat dominator)

* Charles Hutchinson (singer on "Mecca")

Discography

Albums

* "Kiss Crush Collision" (mini LP, 1986) (UK Indie #4)cite book |last=Lazell |first=Barry |title=Indie Hits 1980-1999 |year= 1997 |publisher=Cherry Red Books |isbn=0-9517206-9-4 ]
* "One Thousand Years of Trouble" (1987)
* "Mecca" (1990)

ingles

* "Motorcity" (1985) (UK Indie #26)
* "Bible of the Beats" (1986) (UK Indie #3)
* "The Twilight World of Sonic Disco EP" (collecting first 2 7" singles, 1986)
* "Kiss" (1986) (UK Indie #1) (re-issued 1987) UK #50cite book |last=Strong |first=Martin C. |title=The Great Alternative & Indie Discography |year= 1999 |publisher=Canongate |isbn=0-86241-913-1 ]
* "Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Noise" (1987)
* "Don't Get Mad ... Get Even" (1987)
* "Take It!" (1988)
* "Time's Up" (1989)
* "Higher Than Heaven" (1990)
* "Playing With Fire" (1990)

External links

* [http://www.ageofchanceinfo.co.uk/ major fan site]
* [http://www.ageofchance.com/ another fan site]
* [http://www.discogs.com/artist/Age+Of+Chance listing on discogs.com]

References