Overview
“#7885: Electropunk to Technopop 1978–1985” is a compilation album by Cabaret Voltaire, an English music group led by Chris Watson (keyboards, tapes), Richard H. Kirk (guitars, keyboards, clarinet, saxophone, tapes, sampling, drum machines, sequencer programming), and Stephen Mallinder (vocals, bass, keyboards), and formed in Sheffield in 1973.
Commentary
Their group name derives from a Zurich nightclub that was a gathering spot for pivotal figures in the Dada movement in the 1910s.
In Cabaret Voltaire’s career, the periods with Rough Trade (1978–1982) and Some Bizzare/Virgin (1983–1985) were most important and influential.
In the Rough Trade period, they pioneered experimental and innovative industrial music in the context of post-punk, incorporating cutup/tape collage techniques, noise, electronic sounds, and sound processing like dub music, along with Throbbing Gristle and SPK.
In the Some Bizzare/Virgin period after Chris Watson left the group, they developed their industrial music into more pop-oriented electronic dance music, incorporating minimal sequencer loop, harmonizer, drum machine and funky bass lines, and had a wide influence on techno and electronic dance music in general.
The major tracks of each period were anthologized separately, and were released as two compilation albums: “The Original Sound of Sheffield ’78/’82” (2002) and “The Original Sound of Sheffield ’83/’87” (2001).
This album is a compilation like “an introduction to Cabs”, which squeezes 19 major tracks released in the Rough Trade and Some Bizzare/Virgin periods into one disc. The tracks were compiled by Richard H. Kirk and were remastered. It was released by Mute Records/The Grey Area in 2014.
“The Original Sound of Sheffield ’83/’87” includes the 12″ versions of Some Bizzare-era singles, while this album includes the original 7″ versions of “Just Fascination”, “The Dream Ticket”, “Sensoria”, “James Brown”, “Kino”, “Big Funk”, and “I Want You”.
The single released in 1979, “Nag Nag Nag” is a famous industrial music track.
The singles released in 1984, “Sensoria” and “James Brown” are electronic dance music classics.
The Japanese edition includes “Cut The Damn Camera (12″ Version)” as a bonus track.
