The Passions – In Concert at Amersfoort, Netherlands – July 14, 1981 – VPRO – Flip Martian Live and Loud.com –
The Passions in concert tonight. Recorded at Amersfoort in the Netherlands and broadcast by VPRO in Hilversum and resurrected, cleaned up and turbo-charged by Flip Martian at his Live and Loud.com site (lots of good stuff, check him out).
Unfairly pigeonholed as “one hit wonders”, The Passions were together a short period of time (relatively speaking), but made a few waves and continue to get fans as their albums and singles are being reissued to a whole new audience.
Some background on the band via their unofficial Fan Page:
The Passions were a West London band of the late 70’s and early 80’s, who helped create the template for the introspective, quirky pop common in the Indie era. Signed to Fiction records with the Cure, their debut album Michael And Miranda featured ringing, echoed guitars and observant lyrics. The Passions had a two boy, two girl line up that added to their fresh appeal. After a personnel change and newly signed to Polydor Records in 1980, the Passions released two singles, The Swimmer and I’m In Love With A German Film Star. The latter became a hit and exposed the band to a new audience. Five more singles and two albums followed, Thirty Thousand Feet Over China and Sanctuary. The band toured Britain and Europe extensively and performed in America during 1983, making many new friends. Lack of business acumen and explosive personal relationships caused the Passions to implode on their return to Britain. The band’s last ever gig was at the Marquee in Wardour Street on the 28th August 1983, counted by many as the best they ever did.
In the last few years there has been increasing interest in the band and an ever growing collection of cover versions of German Film Star, at least a dozen to date including the Foo Fighters, the Pet Shop Boys with Sam Taylor-Wood and Dubstar.
All three Passions’ albums have now been remastered and reissued on CD:
Sanctuary (with nine bonus tracks) re-released on CD by Rubellan Remasters:
Rubellan Remasters
Amazon UK
Amazon US
Also available on iTunes, Spotify etc.
Crank it up and enjoy the rest of the week.
