CABARET VOLTAIRE (Post-Punk/Synthpop/Experimental)

Cabaret Voltaire (also known as The Cabs) were a British music group from Sheffield, England.

Initially comprised of Stephen Mallinder, Richard H. Kirk and Chris Watson, the group was named after the Cabaret Voltaire, a nightclub in Zurich, Switzerland that was a center for the early Dada movement.

Their earliest performances were dada-influenced performance art, but Cabaret Voltaire later developed into one of the most prolific and important groups to blend pop with dance music, techno, dub house and experimental electronic music.


Origin: Sheffield, Yorkshire, England
Genre(s): Post-punk, Industrial, Alternative dance, Ambient techno, Acid house, Experimental rock, Synthpop
Years active: 1973-1994

Members;
* Stephen Mallinder - vocals, bass (1973-1994)
* Richard H. Kirk - guitars, keyboards, tapes (1973-1994)
* Chris Watson - keyboards, tapes (1973-1981)


The band formed in Sheffield in 1973 and experimented widely with sound creation and processing, seemingly more interested in sound itself rather than song; these early experiments are documented on the 3CD set Methodology (Mute 2002). They eventually turned to live performance - generally attracting hostility from Sheffield's working-class audiences. In one incident, Mallinder was hospitalised with a chipped backbone after the band had objects thrown at them. However the arrival of punk rock brought a more accepting audience for their industrial, electronic sound and they were championed by Sheffield punk fanzine Gunrubber edited by Paul Bower.

In 1978, Cabaret Voltaire signed to Rough Trade Records. With Rough Trade they released several highly acclaimed musically experimental singles and EPs, including Extended Play, Nag Nag Nag, Three Mantras and 3 Crepuscule Tracks, and albums such as The Voice of America in 1980 and the widely-hailed Red Mecca in 1981.

During this time they toured Europe, Japan and America without major-label support, releasing Hai!, a live album recorded in Japan, in 1982.

In 1983, coinciding with the departure of Watson (who went on to found The Hafler Trio with Andrew M. McKenzie before becoming a BBC sound engineer and then a soloist), Cabaret Voltaire decided consciously to turn in a more commercial direction, with the album The Crackdown on Some Bizzare / Virgin Records. This decision was rewarded with the album reaching No. 31 in the UK - over 60 places higher than their previous (and only) chart placing. In 1984, the singles "Sensoria" and "James Brown" from the album Micro Phonies (also on Virgin) charted on the independent music charts as well as getting heavy play in the underground dance scene.

In 1987, the band released Code, followed by the house-influenced Groovy, Laidback & Nasty in 1990. A series of completely instrumental works under the Cabaret Voltaire name were released on Instinct Records in 1993 and 1994, but appeared to be largely the product of Kirk. However, Mallinder was present and involved in these recordings even if his vocals were absent. The only album where Mallinder's involvement is questionable is 1994's The Conversation where Kirk is credited with all instruments, programming, arrangements and samples and Mallinder gets only a co-writing credit. The last CV release to feature Mallinder singing is the ethno-techno single, Colours in 1990.

Since the mid-late '80s, Kirk has begun a solo career under several names, including Electronic Eye and Sandoz, while Mallinder has relocated to Perth, Australia and records with a collaborator under the name Sassi & Loco and more recently in another collaborative effort the Kuling-Bros. Mallinder also helps run his own Offworld Sounds label and contributed to synths and programming on The Happy Mondays' singer Shaun Ryder's solo album Amateur Night at the Big Top.

In 1996, Mallinder reported to Inpress magazine's Andrez Bergen that "I do think the manipulation of sound in our early days - the physical act of cutting up tapes, creating tape loops and all that - has a strong reference to Burroughs and Gysin; in terms of the Dada thing, there's a similarity between the Dadaists' reaction to the bourgeoisie and the war and our own position - we felt alienated from popular culture ourselves. I think those kinds of attitudes become embedded within you, but I'm not sure how it relates now..."

Hopes of a Cabaret Voltaire reunion were raised when Kirk dropped hints in the late '90s, the most significant being in the notes of a reissue of Radiation, where Kirk says he is working on new CV material due to be released soon. This never happened and now a reunion looks unlikely in the near future. In a special 'Depeche Mode/History of Electro-pop' edition of Q Magazine, Kirk suggests he is still considering resurrecting the CV name but this time he plans to "Get some young people involved" hinting that Mallinder's role in the band may be finished.


Discography

Studio Albums:

* Mix-Up (October 1979) #12 UK Indie
* The Voice of America (July 1980) #3 UK Indie
* Red Mecca (August 1981) #1 UK Indie
* 2x45 (May 1982) #1 UK Indie
* The Crackdown (August 1983) #31 UK
* Johnny Yesno (November 1983) #8 UK Indie
* Micro Phonies (November 1984)
* The Covenant, The Sword, and the Arm of the Lord (October 1985)
* Code (October 1987)
* Groovy, Laidback and Nasty (June 1990)
* Body and Soul (March 1991)
* Plasticity (October 1992)
* International Language (June 1993)
* The Conversation (July 1994)


Live Albums:

* Live at the Y.M.C.A. (February 1980) #2 UK Indie
* Live at the Lyceum (1981 cassette) #14 UK Indie
* Hai! (Live In Japan) (October 1982) #5 UK Indie
* Radiation (BBC Recordings 84-86) (2001) (Sessions)


Compilation Albums:

* Cabaret Voltaire 1974-1976 (1981 cassette)
* Golden Moments Of Cabaret Voltaire (1987) (Compilation)
* Listen Up With Cabaret Voltaire (1990) (Compilation)
* The Living Legends (1990) (Compilation)
* Technology:Western Re-Works 1992 (June 1992)
* Remixed (2001)
* The Original Sound of Sheffield '83/'87 (2001) (Compilation)
* Conform to Deform '82/'90 (2002) (Compilation)
* The Original Sound of Sheffield '78/'82 (2002) (Compilation)
* Methodology '74/'78: The Attic Tapes (2002) (Demos)


Singles/EPs:

* Extended Play EP (tracks: Talkover/Here She Comes Now/Do The Mussolini (Headkick)/The Set Up) (July 1978)
* Baader-Meinhof/Sex in Secret on A Factory Sample (January 1979)
* Nag Nag Nag (April 1979)
* Silent Command/Chance Versus Causality (October 1979) UK #10 Indie
* Three Mantras (January 1980) UK #10 Indie
* Seconds Too Late (September 1980) UK #8 Indie
* Sluggin' For Jesus/Your Agent Man (March 1981)
* Eddie's Out/Walls of Jericho (July 1981) UK #6 Indie (initial copies included free 7" single "Jazz the Glass"/"Burnt to the Ground")
* Yashar
* Crackdown/Just Fascination (December 1982)
* Just Fascination (July 1983) #94 UK
* The Dream Ticket (September 1983)
* Fools Game (Sluggin' fer Jesus part 3)/Gut Level (1983)
* Yashar (Remix) (October 1983) UK #6 Indie
* Sensoria (March 1984) #96 UK
* James Brown (October 1984) #100 UK
* Drinking Gasoline Virgin (January 1985)
* I Want You (June 1985) #91 UK
* Shakedown (March 1986)
* The Drain Train (July 1986) #5 UK Indie
* Don't Argue (February 1987) #69 UK
* Here To Go (September 1987) US #16 Hot Dance Music/Club Play, UK #88
* Eight Crepuscule Tracks EP (1988)
* Hypnotised (December 1989) #66 UK
* Keep On (June 1990) #55 UK
* Easy Life (October 1990) #61 UK
* Colours (January 1991)
* What Is Real (April 1991)
* Percussion Force (September 1991)
* I Want You/Kino '92 (February 1992)
* Nag Nag Nag (October 2002)