John Foxx compilations across the years Part 2

The second part of this series looking at John Foxx’s music as compiled over the years… 1989’s (presumably) self titled promo video clip collection and 1992’s compilation CD, Assembly’.

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John Foxx video compilation (Virgin Music Vault, VVC582, 1989)

This odd little release was one in a series of short video compilations of Virgin label catalogue artists issued in 1989, while VHS was still the format of choice. Amongst other acts of interest in the series (at least for me…) were Skids and Magazine. This video was the first time I was able to view again some promo videos I had seen only a handful of times anyway back in the very early ’80s, and some I had never seen before, so it was a welcome purchase, despite the brevity (clocking in around 25 minutes). Being a UK based Top Of The Pops viewer, the videos were less common sights due to the frequent and memorable John Foxx appearances in the TOTP studio, not least for ‘Underpass’, ‘No One Driving’ (the latter with no less than four Yamaha CS80’s for the backing band!) and ‘Europe, After The Rain’.

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Tracklist:

The packaging does not note the versions – I have added these notes:

1. He’s A Liquid (alternative version)
2. Underpass
3. No-One Driving (edit of album version)
4. Miles Away (alternative version)
5. Dancing Like A Gun
6. Endlessly (1983 single version)
7. Stars On Fire (excerpt)
8. Lose All Sense Of Time

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What is / was unique to this compilation?

Several of the promo videos contained alternative mixes compared to the standard single releases (where there was one), namely;

• ‘He’s A Liquid’ alternative version – at the time of the video release it was only to be found as the B side of a promo 12″ single of ‘Underpass’ from 1980 (Virgin VDJ 31).
• ‘No One Driving’ – short mix of the album version (cuts out the second verse), approx. 2’53” in duration. Note: When the video was included on 2010 compilation CD/DVD set ‘Metatronic’ it used an edit of the single remix instead.
• ‘Miles Away’ alternative version – at the time of the video release it was only to be found on the Japanese 12″ mini-album ‘Burning Car’.
• ‘Stars On Fire’ – short excerpt, approx. 1 min.

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Where can the exclusives be sourced now?

‘He’s A Liquid’ alternative version can be found on

• 2001 compilation CD ‘Modern Art – The Best Of John Foxx’ (Music Club MCCD 454)
• 2007 ‘Metamatic’ CD re-issue bonus track (Edsel Records EDSD 2013)
• 2014 box set ‘The Virgin Years 1980-1985’ as a bonus track on the ‘Metamatic’ disc (Metamatic META52BX)
• 2015 compilation CD ’20th Century: The Noise’ (Metamatic META57CD)
• 2016 compilation LP ‘Burning Car’ (Metamatic META59LP)
• 2018 ‘Metamatic’ 3xCD re-issue bonus track (Metamatic META63BX)

‘No One Driving’ short mix:

• I am not sure that this version has ever been re-issued. There was a promo 7″ at the time of the single’s release that stickered the sleeve ‘Recut D.J. Copy’ with a timing of 2’53” which may be the version from the original video, but I don’t have a copy of this promo, so I don’t know for sure if it is the same version as the video.

‘Miles Away’ alternative version:

• 1981 compilation mini-album ‘Burning Car’ Japanese ‘Pic Label’ series (Virgin VIP-5903)
• 2008 2xCD ‘The Garden’ (Edsel Records – EDSD2014)
• 2013 compilation DVD ‘Metadelic’ (Edsel Records EDSG8024)

‘Stars On Fire’ excerpt

• 2013 compilation DVD ‘Metadelic’ (Edsel Records EDSG8024)

Impressions of the video compilation

Opening with minimal, cheapo title graphics, it goes straight off into ‘He’s A Liquid’, in its alternative mix form that has since gained a re-release on various CDs, but was first issued as one side of a white label promo-only 12″ single along with ‘Underpass’ on the other side (Virgin VDJ31, 1980). Its like the ‘Metamatic’ LP cover come to life at times, but with Foxx in a mysterious slow-motion mystery dance of recognition with a female clone of his personae come to life from the familiar ‘Metamatic’ screen, that ultimately replaces him.

It is followed by ‘Underpass’ – notably, in its original, colour, video form – as videos for ‘Underpass’ were made available many years later on the ‘Metatronic’ compilation, but re-worked. This is properly Ballardian in its scope and very early ’80s – all glowing strip lights, video screens, characters illuminated by film projectors, post-apocalyptic children playing/sheltering with an abandoned shopping trolley, while Foxx and musical conspirators coolly mime to the music -all on synthesizers, natch. Interspersed is footage of motorway driving, underpasses and the like.

The ‘Metamatic’ era continues with the promo video for ‘No One Driving’. Foxx mimes and dances to the music lit by eerie green light or against a broiling sky background or with that classic early ’80s illuminated Venetian blinds trope, while his band of keyboard players are this time surrounded by twirling strip-light cube constructions. For the middle-eight, two ‘Come Dancing’ style ballroom dancers take to the floor. A field day for any early ’80s/new romantic/futurist haters who like to take the piss on anything remotely pretentious – by God, Foxx looks good here though and you can see why this video in particular has been plundered for various record covers – firstly the ‘Burning Car’ 7″ picture disc in 1980 and most recently the limited edition ‘Burning Car’ vinyl LP from 2016. On this video, it is a shorter, sub three minute edit of the album mix that is used, not the re-recorded single mix. When re-issued on the ‘Metatronic’ compilation, that video uses an edit of the single mix instead.

‘Miles Away’ is up next and of all the videos contained on here, it has the one with the most personal resonance I think – it was such a rarity on UK terrestrial television (1980, a grand total of three TV channels to choose from!) to see these kind of videos at one time and this one I recall seeing only the once on some later afternoon ITV show during the week and being struck by the imagery. While it starts off all a good bit more animated and upbeat, Foxx having discarded the stiff, crisp suit, shirt and tie of the previous videos, the strange dissolved man / empty suit is recreated from the front cover of the single’s picture sleeve. But even further than the sleeve… the same empty suit/dissolved man transplanted to a commuter train and a park bench – while scenes of a deserted swimming pool and Foxx floating still on his back, fully suited and booted add to the eerie and mind-boggling for a youngster experience.

Moving on to the era of ‘The Garden’ – while John had appeared on the UK chart show Top Of The Pops to mime along to ‘Europe, After The Rain’, a promo video was produced for ‘Dancing Like A Gun’ – it was shown on Saturday morning’s kids TV, ‘Swap Shop’, I think – but I wasn’t in to see it – my younger brother was and he described it to me on returning home. I thought he was having a laugh. He described at as having characters that were kung-fu kicking and each time they did there was a lightning flash appeared from their feet. What a wind-up, I thought – this wasn’t right, surely – not in a John Foxx video?! I’d seen ‘No One Driving’! It wasn’t until I watched this VHS for the first time in 1989 I realised that – gasp!! – he hadn’t been fibbing and there were indeed scenes just like this after all. Something of a cast of surrealist set-pieces, and that illuminated strip-light cube in the background once again, this one above all probably brings together many an early ’80s cliche.

‘Endlessly’ is up next in its glossy, Zeus B Held produced re-recording from 1983, rather than the original electro-psychedlia 1982 single take. A much softer, more classically romantic take on the John Foxx look… the cold, ‘Metamatic’ visuals banished altogether by now. Endlessly chasing deserted corridors and country lanes, climbing the spiral staircase to nowhere. Should have been a hit. he gets the girl in the end though…

‘Stars On Fire’ is a short but sweet John Foxx record sleeve animated into life, while for the closing ‘Lose All Sense Of Time’ the video taps into the spirit of glossy magazine cut-outs collage and Monty Python inspired, Terry Gilliam-esque stop-motion animation, with no trace of Foxx himself to be found on either of these two.

The packaging design, by The Leisure Process, is vaguely in a similar territory to what Foxx himself might have fashioned, though not quite. It also comes with some sleeve notes of a fairly balanced nature, by John Tobler.

The whole lot is uploaded there on YouTube if you want to view it in its original, scuzzy VHS form… If you want to find them in more pristine digital form, then you can find ‘He’s A Liquid’ and ‘No One Driving’ (though with different music version) on the ‘Metatronic’ CD/DVD compilation from 2010. ‘Underpass’ is there too, but in a new ‘black and white’ version which retains plenty from the original but is quite different nevertheless. The colour elements are featured on the version for the Mark Reeder remix – and combined with elements from the ‘No One Driving’ video too. Meanwhile, ‘Miles Away’, ‘Dancing Like A Gun’, ‘Endlessly’, ‘Stars On Fire’ and ‘Lose All Sense Of Time’ can be found on the DVD portion of 2013’s ‘Metadelic’ compilation – which also includes that 1981 Top Of The Pops appearance for ‘Europe, After The Rain’ too.

One thing that remains missing to this day though is the unique performance mix on short lived ITV Saturday morning show ‘The Fun Factory’ of ‘Burning Car’… scuzzy quality only, presumably long since wiped (or maybe never recorded) from the Granada television vaults… oh for a time machine!

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‘Assembly’ UK compilation CD (Virgin Venture, CDVM 9002, 1992)

The first full-length compilation CD of John’s music (though it was also on cassette format), this takes a selection from right across the spectrum of his Virgin era albums and includes some absolutely terrific sleeves notes from John himself in his wonderful economically precise yet illuminating style – “Carcrash music tailored by Burtons“ indeed! At the time of release, this was the only way to listen to most the material on CD format.

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Tracklist:

1. A New Kind Of Man (3:40)
2. Underpass (3:56)
3. Burning Car (3:13)
4. This City (3:06)
5. Twilight’s Last Gleaming (4:23)
6. Ghosts On Water (3:12)
7. This Jungle (4:41)
8. Endlessly (4:19)
9. Someone (3:31)
10. Sitting At The Edge Of The World (4:20)
11. In Mysterious Ways (3:05)
12. Morning Glory (5:53)
13. Europe After The Rain (3:59)
14. Systems Of Romance (4:03)
15. Walk Away (3:52)
16. When I Was A Man And You Were A Woman (3:36)
17. Pater Noster (2:33)
18. The Garden (7:08)

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What is / was unique to this compilation?

None of the versions on ‘Assembly’ are really ‘exclusive’ – but, at the time the CD was released in 1992 the only tracks which had previously been issued on CD were those from ‘In Mysterious Ways’, which was issued on CD at the time of its original release in 1985. The other three Virgin era albums did not see a release on CD until later than this 1992 compilation – in the case of tracks from ‘Metamatic’ and ‘The Garden’ it was 1993 and and many years later for songs from ‘The Golden Section’ and single A / B sides.

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Where can the exclusives be sourced now?

Not really applicable in this case, they are all the well known mixes from the albums and singles available on CD easily.