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China Crisis

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China Crisis are an English pop/rock group formed in 1979 in Kirkby, near Liverpool, Merseyside with a core band of vocalist/keyboardist Gary Daly (born 1962) and guitarist Eddie Lundon (born 1962). Their output was pop music similar in style to that of the new romantics, but with strong similarities to the post-punk movement of the early-1980s, namely inclusion of a broader range of musical influences and occasional flirtation with political commentary.

Throughout their career, China Crisis has seen moderate success in the United Kingdom, Western Europe, Australia and the Americas.

Biography

Sharing an affection for Stevie Wonder, Steely Dan, David Bowie, and Brian Eno, Daly and Lundon had become burned out from playing with various Knowsley post-punk groups. Daly quit school and then spent much of his time indoors tinkering with synthesizers and a drum machine. Along with Lundon, Daly began writing songs using his high-tech toys. Feeling creatively stifled by the drum machine, the pair eventually asked drummer and percussionist Dave Reilly to join them, and in 1982 they released the single African & White as China Crisis on the independent label Inevitable.

The band was signed to Virgin Records and recorded their debut album, Difficult Shapes & Passive Rhythms: Some People Think It's Fun To Entertain, released in December 1982. A re-release of African & White became China Crisis' first hit in the U.K., reaching #45, and another single, Christian, made UK #12 in early 1983 and brought them to national prominence. By this time, Reilly had left but was still credited on the sleeve as a guest on the single along with new member Steve Levy (oboe/saxophone) The album peaked at #21. During this period the band toured supporting Simple Minds (as discussed in interviews on the DVD Live in Concert at the Paul McCartney Auditorium Liverpool Institute of Performing Arts).

Adding Gary "Gazza" Johnson (bass) and Kevin Wilkinson (drums) to the line-up, a second album, Working With Fire & Steel : Possible Pop Songs - Volume 2 was released in November 1983. This was regarded as a more consistent effort, with standout tracks being 'Tragedy and Mystery' (released as a single six months earlier), 'Hanna Hanna' and the upbeat title track, Working With Fire & Steel, which became a hit single in Australia (though many fans believed the album's strongest track, 'When The Piper Calls', should have been released as a single). The album was a Top 20 success in the UK, and China Crisis spent 1984-1985 making their biggest chart run, beginning with their one and only UK Top 10 hit single, Wishful Thinking, which peaked at #9.

Their third album, Flaunt The Imperfection, was produced by the sympathetic Walter Becker (of Steely Dan fame) and reached #9 in the UK charts in May 1985. According to the album credits, China Crisis was now officially a quintet consisting of Daly, Lundon, Johnson, Wilkinson, and Becker. However, Becker never appeared with the band and the subsequent tour featured new keyboardist Brian McNeil. Johnson was now credited as co-writer with Daly and Lundon.

The LP was previewed by the #14 UK hit single Black Man Ray, which also enjoyed international success. The follow-up, King In A Catholic Style (Wake Up) was also a Top 20 UK single (#19), but it would prove to be the band's last substantial hit. A third release from the album, You Did Cut Me, stalled at UK #54. Again, there were several stronger tracks on the album which may have fared better as a single, notably the excellent 'Wall of God'. They simultaneously released a video compilation, Showbiz Absurd.

In 1986, the band returned with the lower-key What Price Paradise, the key tracks being the epic Arizona Sky (the LP's first single release and another Australian hit), the bouncy pop of 'June Bride', the unusual 'The Understudy' and the multi-paced 'A Day's Work For the Dayo's Done'. All the band were now credited as songwriters. A second single from the album, Best Kept Secret, made UK #36 in early 1987. It was to be the band's final Top 40 hit single.

The five-piece band worked with Becker once more on 1989's Diary Of A Hollow Horse, which earned critical acclaim though little commercial success and spawned the singles 'St Saviour Square' and 'Red Letter Day', both only reaching the lower reaches of the UK Top 100. Becker acted as the producer of most of the album's tracks, but this time was not credited as an official band member.

The band's last studio album, Warped By Success, was released in 1994 following the band's parting of ways with the Virgin label and produced their final UK Top 100 single, Everyday The Same. Although Johnson and Wilkinson both made small contributions the band was now listed as comprising Daly, Lundon, producer terry Adams and engineer Mark Phythian. In 1995 they released a live unplugged album and video entitled Acoustically Yours, which proved to be their recording swansong. This featured one last single, a live version of Black Man Ray and also saw a return for Johnson, Wilkinson and McNeil.

Sometimes misunderstood by critics, China Crisis distinguished themselves from their Liverpudlian contemporaries such as Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark, The Teardrop Explodes, and Echo & The Bunnymen by digesting a cornucopia of musical genres, everything from jazz to progressive rock. Despite the stylistic deviations, China Crisis maintained their distinctive sound through a number of albums in the 1980s and '1990s.

Wilkinson, who had played with a wide variety of bands including The Waterboys, Fish, The Proclaimers, Squeeze and Howard Jones, hanged himself on 17th July 1999. In 2000 Daly contributed a track to a tribute compilation to Wilkinson, Green Indians. The band accumulated a body of work consisting of six studio albums and two live albums between 1982 and 1995. In the UK they achieved one top 10 hit single, three further top 20 singles and an additional five Top 50 singles whilst enjoying both a top 10 and top 20 album and two further albums in the top 40, selling an estimated 2.5 million records in the process.

Since 1992 there have been four compilations albums of their work for the UK/US markets and three live DVDs.

China Crisis toured the UK during January and February 2007 as part of their 25th Anniversary.

Discography

Singles

  • "African & White" INEV 011, Inevitable, UK - 1981 UK #45
  • "Scream Down at Me" VS 495, Virgin, UK - 1982
  • "No More Blue Horizons" VS 521, Virgin, UK - 1982
  • "Christian" VS 562, Virgin, UK - 1982 UK #12
  • "Tragedy & Mystery" VS 587, Virgin, UK - 1983 UK #46
  • "Working with Fire & Steel" VS 620, Virgin, UK - 1983 UK #48
  • "Wishful Thinking" VS 647, Virgin, UK - 1983 UK #9
  • "Hanna Hanna" VS 665, Virgin, UK - 1984 UK #44
  • "Black Man Ray" VS 752, Virgin, UK - 1985 UK #14
  • "Animalistic" 1985 VS1266DJ, Virgin, CAN Promo - 1985
  • "King in a Catholic Style (Wake Up)" VS 765, Virgin, UK - 1985 UK #19
  • "You Did Cut Me" VS 799, Virgin, UK - 1985 UK #54
  • "The Highest High" VS 829, Virgin, UK - 1985 UK #82
  • "Arizona Sky" VS 898, Virgin, UK - 1986 UK #47
  • "Best Kept Secret" VS 926, Virgin, UK - 1987 UK #36
  • "St. Saviour Square" VS 1168, Virgin, UK - 1989 UK #81
  • "Red Letter Day" VS 1188, Virgin, UK - 1989 UK #84
  • "African and White (The Steve Proctor Remix)" VS 1197, Virgin, UK - 1990
  • "Everyday the Same" 12STA001, Stardumb, UK - 1994
  • "Black Man Ray (Live)" tlg cd 006, Telegraph, UK - 1996

Albums

  • Difficult Shapes & Passive Rhythms (Some People Think It's Fun To Entertain) V 2243, Virgin, UK - 1982
  • Working with Fire & Steel (Possible Pop Songs Volume Two) V 2286, Virgin, UK - 1983
  • Flaunt the Imperfection V 2342, Virgin, UK - 1985
  • What Price Paradise V 2410, Virgin, UK - 1986
  • Diary of a Hollow Horse V 2567, Virgin, UK - 1989
  • Collection: The Very Best of China Crisis V 2613, Virgin, UK - 1990
  • Diary: A Collection CD VVIPD 117, Virgin, UK - 1992
  • Warped By Success STALP1, Stardumb, UK - 1994
  • Acoustically Yours (Live) TLG CD 005, Telegraph, UK - 1995
  • Collection: The Very Best of China Crisis (US-Only Reissue) CD CAROL 1117-2, Caroline, US - 1997
  • The Best of China Crisis CLP 0350-2, Purple Pyramid, US - 1998
  • Wishful Thinking (Repackaged Acoustically Yours and Warped by Success) SMDCD 117, Snapper Music, UK - 1999
  • Scrap Book Vol. 1 (Live at the Dominion Theatre) (Concert from 1985) CHVP101CD, Crisis, UK - 2002
  • Diary: A Collection (Copy-protected reissue, changed album art) 7243 5 95404 2 1, EMI Gold, EU - 2003

External links



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