After discovering Gary Numan in 1979 and John Foxx and Ultravox in 1980, New Musik were also one of the earliest electronic bands I really liked, but while they had some initial hits, I always felt they got a raw deal and their arc of acclaim was cut all too short. Because sonically – and lyrically, as the world we inhabit pans out in ever more alarming ways – New Musik were well ahead of the curve and you can hear echoes of the sound that they were mining, particularly on the ‘Warp’ album, in the likes of the dusky, shimmering sonic heaven of the wonderful Ulrich Schnauss in more contemporary times, for example.
‘The Planet Doesn’t Mind’ was catchy and had a great sound when it was released as a single in late 1981, but it vanished without trace commercially. Perhaps the lyrical theme of mankind trashing the planet was just too far ahead of its time? All too real now. Perhaps it was just that New Musik were viewed as being a bit too nerdy and uncool by comparison to the wave of other synth acts that had emerged.
The single was first released on 7” and 12” versions. The 7” pictured here is a promo copy, the 12” a regular stock copy – neither of these came with picture sleeves, but there are regular copies of the 7”available in picture sleeves, but I’ve never come across one myself. The 7” mix (with a duration of 3’38”) is positively lush in sound – there are scant credits on the single, but by this time the New Musik line-up had changed, slimmed down from the four-piece that made the first two albums (Tony Mansfield (vocals, guitars, keyboards), Clive Gates (keyboards), Tony Hibbert (bass) and Phil Towner (drums)) to a new line-up of Tony Mansfield, Clive Gates and new addition of Cliff Venner on drums/electronic percussion and voice. At least, that’s my guess based on the credits for the following ‘Warp’ album, since the record itself doesn’t specify.
The 12” mix (listed with a longer duration of 4’46” on the record label) is a good bit different, starting off with a rather off-kilter electronic rhythmical motif that makes it easy to spot. I say this because, in the spirit of version crazy, there are numerous mixes to be had – as well as the 7” and 12” mixes, it was completely re-recorded for the ‘Warp’ album when it was released later in 1982 and that had a far more stripped-down sound by comparison to the single mixes (and despite its longer, more ambient intro, it clocks in at a duration of 3’43”).
Pictured along with this post are the UK 7” in promo form (GTO Records, GT 302), the 12” (GTO Records, GT 13 302), plus two other variants – the Dutch single release in its unique picture sleeve and also a rather out-of-the-blue later re-release of the 12” dating from 2019 (Above Board Distribution / GTO GT13302AB) – the label on this 12” lists it with a duration of 4’14”, which is a curious anomaly compared to the original 12”… are they different mixes? No – the answer is that the timing printed on the label of the original 12” is wrong and it is not 4’46” duration. This later release corrects that error.
Not mentioned thus far is the B side, ‘24 Hours From Culture (Part II)’ – it is even more of a forward-looking sonic construction than the A side even, stripped down, minimal, almost dub-like in its abstraction. Its equally likely that this B side was behind the 2019 re-release as the A side, I would reckon? (By the way, there is, as far as I’m aware, not a ‘Part I’ for this tongue-in-cheek titled track, unless anyone knows different…)
If you have never sampled New Musik, I’d certainly urge you to so and this single is as good a place to dive in as any.
Ahhh… New Musik… A group that deserved to have more success and recognition than they actually received. Even now they are criminally overlooked by record companies, just glance through the multitude of mainstream compilation albums dedicated to the early 80’s and you will be lucky to see any appearance and any contribution is generally either Living By Numbers or This World Of Water (sometimes mistitled as The World Of Water). The Anywhere album was (and still is) a particular favourite of mine, the cassette with extra tracks and sideways sleeve is still sitting proudly in my collection after all these years along with the rest of the New Musik vinyls. I also have never seen the picture sleeve for the UK 7″ of The Planet Doesn’t Mind although it is noted on discogs, but to me it appears more of a European design than a UK with the repeated design and typography on front and back, this was often done in Germany and the Netherlands during the 80s
Thankfully those wonderful people at Music On Vinyl released all three of the albums earlier this year (2022) and each release included an additional album of single mixes and b-sides, including the tracks mentioned above on the Warp album.
I was introduced to New Music when Epic Records US licensed them for release in 1980 with a 10″ 4-track EP that was amazingly fantastic technopop. Machine like, yet a very warm production. The antithesis of Foxx. I still have it and the “Sanctuary” LP which was a long, 55 minute US compilation of “From A To B” and “Anywhere” that followed the EP in The States. It took me a decade until I ran across a UK LP of “Anywhere” in the early 90s at a record show, and then I pounced on the first two CDs that came out in Holland in 1994 with B-sides added. For years that was my New Music collection.
I always felt like New Music and Tony Mansfield, were like a mirror image of The Buggles/Trevor Horn. Both definitely nerds, with no shortage of musical talent and a facility for using the latest tech creatively. They even sounded like they had similar vocal ranges. They each got transitioned into production after their three albums [one of Trevor’s was a Yes album] and Tony had success with producing Mari Wilson, Captain Sensible, Naked Eyes, Vicious Pink, and a-ha. Naked Eyes were the odd band out there for me. Too MOR.
“Warp” was one of those records that I only saw in reference books like the Trouser Press Record Guides for a good 15 years, before one day while shopping in Washington D.C. in 2002 , at the best record store I’ve ever visited [https://postpunkmonk.com/2014/10/24/redux-the-great-record-stores-yesterday-today-records/] when I triumphantly found the evasive LP. And the very next day, when at Tower Records there [r.i.p.] I stumbled, incredulously, on the unknown to me Japanese CD of “Warp” with all of those single tracks as bonus material! Stunned by news of the 2019 reissue. It seems that the GTO catalogue has been bought by Sony/BMG. I can’t keep up with what’s left of the industry!