<TEXTFORMAT LEADING="2"><P ALIGN="LEFT"><FONT FACE="Verdana" SIZE="10" COLOR="#0B333C" LETTERSPACING="0" KERNING="0">Blancmange is a British synthpop band that is best known for their hits in the early to mid 1980s.</FONT></P></TEXTFORMAT><TEXTFORMAT LEADING="2"><P ALIGN="LEFT"><FONT FACE="Verdana" SIZE="10" COLOR="#0B333C" LETTERSPACING="0" KERNING="0"></FONT></P></TEXTFORMAT><TEXTFORMAT LEADING="2"><P ALIGN="LEFT"><FONT FACE="Verdana" SIZE="10" COLOR="#0B333C" LETTERSPACING="0" KERNING="0">According to a Smash Hits interview done by Chris Heath, Neil Arthur attended the University of Birmingham at the same time as Duran Duran lead singer Simon Le Bon. Years later, when the two met up backstage at a Top Of The Pops taping, Le Bon recognized Arthur from university days and the two met up for a drink and some friendly chat.</FONT></P></TEXTFORMAT><TEXTFORMAT LEADING="2"><P ALIGN="LEFT"><FONT FACE="Verdana" SIZE="10" COLOR="#0B333C" LETTERSPACING="0" KERNING="0"></FONT></P></TEXTFORMAT><TEXTFORMAT LEADING="2"><P ALIGN="LEFT"><FONT FACE="Verdana" SIZE="10" COLOR="#0B333C" LETTERSPACING="0" KERNING="0">Before forming Blancmange, Luscombe was a member of the West Middlesex group, &apos;Miru Music Club&apos;. Luscombe also recorded with the &apos;Spontaneous Music Orchestra&apos; and the &apos;Portsmouth Sinfonia&apos;.</FONT></P></TEXTFORMAT><TEXTFORMAT LEADING="2"><P ALIGN="LEFT"><FONT FACE="Verdana" SIZE="10" COLOR="#0B333C" LETTERSPACING="0" KERNING="0"></FONT></P></TEXTFORMAT><TEXTFORMAT LEADING="2"><P ALIGN="LEFT"><FONT FACE="Verdana" SIZE="10" COLOR="#0B333C" LETTERSPACING="0" KERNING="0">Blancmange was formed in Harrow, London in 1979 by vocalist Neil Arthur (born 15 June 1958, Darwen, Lancashire) and instrumentalist Stephen Luscombe (born 29 October 1954, Hillingdon, Middlesex). The duo released their first EP &quot;Irene and Mavis&quot; the following year, but had their first real exposure via a track on the seminal Some Bizzare Album, alongside fellow acts Soft Cell and Depeche Mode. This led to them signing a recording contract with London Records.</FONT></P></TEXTFORMAT><TEXTFORMAT LEADING="2"><P ALIGN="LEFT"><FONT FACE="Verdana" SIZE="10" COLOR="#0B333C" LETTERSPACING="0" KERNING="0"></FONT></P></TEXTFORMAT><TEXTFORMAT LEADING="2"><P ALIGN="LEFT"><FONT FACE="Verdana" SIZE="10" COLOR="#0B333C" LETTERSPACING="0" KERNING="0">Blancmange supported Nash the Slash on a London club tour in October and November 1980. Nash introduced the band to the Virgin subsidiary record label Dindisc, but they were subsequently signed by London Records, in 1982.</FONT></P></TEXTFORMAT><TEXTFORMAT LEADING="2"><P ALIGN="LEFT"><FONT FACE="Verdana" SIZE="10" COLOR="#0B333C" LETTERSPACING="0" KERNING="0"></FONT></P></TEXTFORMAT><TEXTFORMAT LEADING="2"><P ALIGN="LEFT"><FONT FACE="Verdana" SIZE="10" COLOR="#0B333C" LETTERSPACING="0" KERNING="0">Their first success was the 1982 minor hit single, &quot;Feel Me&quot;. Later that year they broke through with &quot;Living on the Ceiling&quot; (below), which made Number 7 in the UK Singles Chart. The sleeve of their first album Happy Families is a painting in the style of Louis Wain.</FONT></P></TEXTFORMAT><TEXTFORMAT LEADING="2"><P ALIGN="LEFT"><FONT FACE="Verdana" SIZE="10" COLOR="#0B333C" LETTERSPACING="0" KERNING="0"></FONT></P></TEXTFORMAT><TEXTFORMAT LEADING="2"><P ALIGN="LEFT"><FONT FACE="Verdana" SIZE="10" COLOR="#0B333C" LETTERSPACING="0" KERNING="0">In 1984 Blancmange covered ABBA&apos;s single &quot;The Day Before You Came,&quot; which reached No 22 in the UK. Eventually, as synthpop became less fashionable, the band&apos;s fortunes declined; the 1985 single &quot;What&apos;s Your Problem&quot; only reached No. 40, and the same year&apos;s album Believe You Me spent only two weeks in the UK Albums Chart. The video for their song &quot;Lose Your Love&quot; was briefly shown during a scene in the 1986 Disney film Flight of the Navigator.</FONT></P></TEXTFORMAT><TEXTFORMAT LEADING="2"><P ALIGN="LEFT"><FONT FACE="Verdana" SIZE="10" COLOR="#0B333C" LETTERSPACING="0" KERNING="0"></FONT></P></TEXTFORMAT><TEXTFORMAT LEADING="2"><P ALIGN="LEFT"><FONT FACE="Verdana" SIZE="10" COLOR="#0B333C" LETTERSPACING="0" KERNING="0">Blancmange split up in 1987.</FONT></P></TEXTFORMAT><TEXTFORMAT LEADING="2"><P ALIGN="LEFT"><FONT FACE="Verdana" SIZE="10" COLOR="#0B333C" LETTERSPACING="0" KERNING="0"></FONT></P></TEXTFORMAT><TEXTFORMAT LEADING="2"><P ALIGN="LEFT"><FONT FACE="Verdana" SIZE="10" COLOR="#0B333C" LETTERSPACING="0" KERNING="0">Luscombe released an album of Indian influenced music, New Demons, with Pandit Dinesh, Peter Culshaw and Asha Bhosle under the name &apos;The West India Company&apos;, in 1989. Arthur meanwhile released his solo album Suitcase, in 1994.</FONT></P></TEXTFORMAT><TEXTFORMAT LEADING="2"><P ALIGN="LEFT"><FONT FACE="Verdana" SIZE="10" COLOR="#0B333C" LETTERSPACING="0" KERNING="0"></FONT></P></TEXTFORMAT><TEXTFORMAT LEADING="2"><P ALIGN="LEFT"><FONT FACE="Verdana" SIZE="10" COLOR="#0B333C" LETTERSPACING="0" KERNING="0">As stated on the band&apos;s official MySpace page, Blancmange have recently reformed and are writing material for a new album.</FONT></P></TEXTFORMAT>