The Comsat Angels were an English

post-punk Post-punk (originally called new musick) is a broad genre of music that emerged in late 1977 in the wake of punk rock. Post-punk musicians departed from punk's fundamental elements and raw simplicity, instead adopting a broader, more experiment ...

band Band or BAND may refer to: Places *Bánd, a village in Hungary * Band, Iran, a village in Urmia County, West Azerbaijan Province, Iran * Band, Mureș, a commune in Romania * Band-e Majid Khan, a village in Bukan County, West Azerbaijan Province, ...

from

Sheffield Sheffield is a city in South Yorkshire, England, situated south of Leeds and east of Manchester. The city is the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire and some of its so ...

, England, initially active from 1978 to 1995. Their music has been described as "abstract pop songs with sparse instrumentation, many of which were bleak and filled with some form of heartache". They have been credited as being an influence on later

post-punk revival Post-punk revival (also known as indie rock revival) is a Music genre, subgenre or movement of indie rock that emerged in the early 2000s as a stripped-down and back-to-basics version of Guitar-rock, guitar rock inspired by the original sounds a ...

bands such as

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, Bell Hollow,

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and

Interpol The International Criminal Police Organization – INTERPOL (abbreviated as ICPO–INTERPOL), commonly known as Interpol ( , ; stylized in allcaps), is an international organization that facilitates worldwide police cooperation and crime cont ...

. The Comsat Angels toured heavily in the UK and western Europe, especially in the Netherlands; the band's two concerts in August 1982 in Iceland had a strong influence on the music scene in

Reykjavík Reykjavík is the Capital city, capital and largest city in Iceland. It is located in southwestern Iceland on the southern shore of Faxaflói, the Faxaflói Bay. With a latitude of 64°08′ N, the city is List of northernmost items, the worl ...

. They also toured the United States twice. Their music has been extensively reissued and recompiled since 1995 by various

record label "Big Three" music labels A record label or record company is a brand or trademark of Sound recording and reproduction, music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a Music publisher, ...

History

Early years

Named after the

J. G. Ballard James Graham Ballard (15 November 193019 April 2009) was an English novelist and short-story writer, satirist and essayist known for psychologically provocative works of fiction that explore the relations between human psychology, technology, s ...

short story "The Comsat Angels", the foursome's original lineup (lasting from 1978 to 1992) consisted of Stephen Fellows (

vocals Singing is the art of creating music with the voice. It is the oldest form of musical expression, and the human voice can be considered the first musical instrument. The definition of singing varies across sources. Some sources define sing ...

guitar The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...

), Mik Glaisher (

drums The drum is a member of the percussion instrument, percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophones, membranophone. Drums consist of at least one Acoustic membrane, membrane, c ...

Kevin Bacon Kevin Norwood Bacon (born July 8, 1958) is an American actor. Known for various roles, including leading man characters, Bacon has received numerous accolades such as a Golden Globe Award and a Screen Actors Guild Award. Bacon made his featu ...

(

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Wood * Bass or basswood, the wood of the tilia americana tree Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in th ...

) and Andy Peake – ( keyboards). They debuted in 1979 with the "Red Planet" three-track single. This release attracted

Polydor Polydor Limited, also known as Polydor Records, is a British record label that operates as part of Universal Music Group. It has a close relationship with Universal's Interscope Geffen A&M Records label, which distributes Polydor's releases in ...

A&R man Frank Neilson and the band signed a three-album

recording contract A recording contract (commonly called a record contract or record deal) is a legal agreement between a record label and a recording act (artist or group), where the act makes an audio recording (or series of recordings) for the label to sell and ...

. These three albums – '' Waiting for a Miracle'' (1980), which included the single "Independence Day", probably their best known song, Trouser Press reported in a review that "Waiting For a Miracle" was hailed in one UK paper as the greatest debut LP of all time, it remains a stunning masterwork,'' Sleep No More'' (1981) and ''

Fiction Fiction is any creative work, chiefly any narrative work, portraying character (arts), individuals, events, or setting (narrative), places that are imagination, imaginary or in ways that are imaginary. Fictional portrayals are thus inconsistent ...

'' (1982) – are regarded by some as their best, but only sold modestly. In their early years, the group shared live stages with bands like

Siouxsie and the Banshees Siouxsie and the Banshees ( ) were a British Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1976 by vocalist Siouxsie Sioux and bass guitarist Steven Severin. Post-punk pioneers, they were widely influential, both over their contemporaries and later ...

Yellow Magic Orchestra Yellow Magic Orchestra (abbreviated to YMO) was a Japanese electronic music band formed in Tokyo in 1978 by Haruomi Hosono (bass, keyboards, vocals), Yukihiro Takahashi (drums, lead vocals, occasional keyboards) and Ryuichi Sakamoto (keyboards, ...

Depeche Mode Depeche Mode are an English electronic music, electronic band formed in Basildon, Essex in 1980. Originally formed with the line-up of Dave Gahan, Martin Gore, Andy Fletcher (musician), Andy Fletcher and Vince Clarke, the band currently consists ...

, U2 (an 18-date tour in 1981),

Captain Beefheart Don Van Vliet (; born 'Don Glen Vliet'; January 15, 1941 – December 17, 2010) was an American singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and visual artist known by the stage name Captain Beefheart. Conducting a rotating ensemble known as the M ...

, the Sound,

Wall of Voodoo Wall of Voodoo was an American rock band from Los Angeles, California who were active from 1977 until disbanding in 1989. Though largely an underground act for the majority of its existence, the band came to prominence when its 1982 single " ...

and

Gang of Four The Gang of Four () was a Maoist political faction composed of four Chinese Communist Party (CCP) officials. They came to prominence during the Cultural Revolution (1966–1976) and were later charged with a series of treasonous crimes due to th ...

. In 1982, they performed two songs on

BBC Television BBC Television is a service of the BBC. The corporation has operated a Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast television service in the United Kingdom, under the terms of a royal charter, since 1 January 1927. It p ...

's ''

the Old Grey Whistle Test ''The Old Grey Whistle Test'' (sometimes abbreviated to ''Whistle Test'' or ''OGWT'') is a British television music series broadcast by the BBC. It was devised by producer Rowan Ayers, commissioned by David Attenborough, and aired on BBC2 from ...

''. A U.S. tour in 1982 had to be cancelled after a week, due to Bacon contracting

appendicitis Appendicitis is inflammation of the Appendix (anatomy), appendix. Symptoms commonly include right lower abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, fever and anorexia (symptom), decreased appetite. However, approximately 40% of people do not have these t ...

C.S. Angels

In 1982, a US-based company

Communications Satellite Corporation Communications Satellite Corporation (COMSAT) is a global telecommunications company based in the United States. By 2007, it had branches in Brazil, Argentina, Colombia, Mexico, Peru, Venezuela and several other countries in the Americas. Alt ...

wrote a series of letters to the band's management saying that "the word Comsat was a registered trade mark in America and that the group had no authority to use the name." The name Comsat Angels was actually taken from a short story written by

. As a result of the threatened lawsuit, the band was forced to perform and release their records in the U.S. under the name "the C.S. Angels". The band also performed once in

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

in 1987 under the name "the Headhunters".

Jive years

The first three albums failed to live up to Polydor's expectations, so the record label let the band go. They then signed with

Jive Records Jive Records (later stylized as JIVE Records) was a British-American independent record label founded by Clive Calder in 1981 as a subsidiary of the Zomba Group of Companies, Zomba Group. In the US, the label had offices in New York City and Chic ...

and recorded ''

Land Land, also known as dry land, ground, or earth, is the solid terrestrial surface of Earth not submerged by the ocean or another body of water. It makes up 29.2% of Earth's surface and includes all continents and islands. Earth's land sur ...

'' (1983), which had a more commercial, new wave-oriented sound. The album included the single "Will You Stay Tonight?" which had some success on US radio and reached no 81 in the UK charts. In the wake of this unexpected success Independence Day was rereleased and peaked at no 75. Fifth album '' 7 Day Weekend'' (1985) also followed a more pop-oriented trend. However, it also failed on the

charts A chart (sometimes known as a graph) is a graphical representation for data visualization, in which "the data is represented by symbols, such as bars in a bar chart, lines in a line chart, or slices in a pie chart". A chart can represent t ...

, and Jive Records dropped the band. Their single "I'm Falling" was featured nearly in its entirety in the

movie A film, also known as a movie or motion picture, is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, emotions, or atmosphere through the use of moving images that are generally, sinc ...

Real Genius ''Real Genius'' is a 1985 American science fiction comedy film directed by Martha Coolidge, written by Neal Israel, Pat Proft, and PJ Torokvei, and starring Val Kilmer and Gabriel Jarret. The film, set on the campus of Pacific Tech, a scie ...

'' with

Val Kilmer Val Edward Kilmer (December 31, 1959 – April 1, 2025) was an American actor. Initially a stage actor, he later found fame as a Leading actor, leading man in films in a wide variety of genres, including Comedy film, comedies, dramas, action fi ...

. The movie never released an official

soundtrack A soundtrack is a recorded audio signal accompanying and synchronised to the images of a book, drama, motion picture, radio program, television show, television program, or video game; colloquially, a commercially released soundtrack album of m ...

album, but gave the band perhaps its widest audience.

Change of label

The band found a fan and supporter in Robert Palmer (a fellow Yorkshireman), who was at the height of his popularity at this point in the 1980s. Palmer facilitated the Comsat Angels' signing to

Island Records Island Records is a multinational record label owned by Universal Music Group. It was founded in Jamaica by Chris Blackwell, Graeme Goodall, and Leslie Kong in 1959, and was eventually sold to PolyGram in 1989. Island and A&M Records, another ...

, and he served as executive producer for their next album, '' Chasing Shadows'' (1986) and even sang on one song, "You'll Never Know". That album's music is viewed as the band's return to their dark, brooding roots.

Change of name to Dream Command

For the follow-up, they talked Island into letting them build their own studio. The band decided to try for AOR radio with their next recording, '' Fire on the Moon'' (1990). The group changed its name to Dream Command for this record, likely because of pressure from their record label and the Communications Satellite Corporation. Neither the band nor their label were happy with the album, which was released in small quantities in the US and the Netherlands only. They also released the single, "Celestine" (1990, Island Records). They never performed live with this name and never used it again. Few people in the UK even knew about it until the Comsats were mentioned in '' Q'' magazine's "Where Are They Now?" section. Afterwards, the band resumed using the name the Comsat Angels.

Second change of label

Around 1990, they recruited Sheffield musician Nick Robinson as an additional guitarist. (He appeared on "I Wanna Destroy You", later released on the compilation ''From Beyond 2''). This was another turning point for the band, as they set about writing and recording new material on their own terms and finally hooked up with RPM Records (and with

Caroline Records Caroline Records is a record label that was founded in 1973. Founded in the United Kingdom to showcase British progressive rock groups, the label ceased releasing titles in 1976 and then re-emerged in the United States in 1986. The label rel ...

in the U.S.), who then released the Comsats' 1979-84

BBC Radio 1 BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and Contemporary hit radio, current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including ...

sessions as ''Time Considered as a Helix of Semi-Precious Stones''. (The title was taken from a

Samuel R. Delany Samuel R. "Chip" Delany (, ; born April 1, 1942) is an American writer and literary critic. His work includes fiction (especially science fiction), memoir, criticism, and essays on science fiction, literature, sexual orientation, sexuality, and ...

short story.) RPM released a new Comsats single, "Driving", and an album, '' My Mind's Eye'', in 1992. (The album was released in the U.S. on Caroline Records, under the band name C.S. Angels, with two bonus tracks.) The music press praised the album, citing several current

shoegaze Shoegaze (originally called shoegazing and sometimes conflated with dream pop) is a subgenre of indie rock, indie and alternative rock characterized by its ethereal mixture of obscured vocals, guitar distortion (music), distortion and effects, a ...

-type bands (e.g.,

Curve In mathematics, a curve (also called a curved line in older texts) is an object similar to a line, but that does not have to be straight. Intuitively, a curve may be thought of as the trace left by a moving point. This is the definition that ...

, Catherine Wheel) who were influenced by the Comsats' sound. ''

Melody Maker ''Melody Maker'' was a British weekly music magazine, one of the world's earliest music weeklies; according to its publisher, IPC Media, the earliest. In January 2001, it was merged into "long-standing rival" (and IPC Media sister publicatio ...

s review stated:

"''My Mind's Eye'' could easily have been recorded by ghosts, such is the dexterity of The Comsats' approach and the haunted nature of their anguished restraint... Every snapping bassline and icebound guitar fragment has a place, a purity and a passion that chills... At the heart of their hurtling hailstorm lies Steve Fellows' punishing baritone. The man sounds like he's singing from a carriage on the soul train to hell, all sweat and worry as the songs rage around him like they've come for a debt".

RPM also issued a Dutch radio sessions collection, ''Unravelled'', prior to the release of the band's final studio album, '' The Glamour'', in 1995. ''The Glamour'' was the first studio album to feature new members Simon Anderson and Terry Todd (who appeared on ''Unravelled''), after the departure of Bacon. The latter had left to concentrate on production work at the band's Axis studio in Sheffield. No singles were released from ''The Glamour'', and several songs from these sessions (e.g., "Hyperprism" and "Evanescent") were only included on the 2007 reissue of the album. The Comsat Angels disbanded in late 1995 following UK dates to promote ''The Glamour''.

Other projects

Fellows released an instrumental album, ''Mood X'', his first solo release, on RPM in 1997. He also began managing the band Gomez that year after discovering them. He later helped the band Little Glitches, and was said to be working on a more traditional song-based solo album. In July 2008, he posted five songs recorded in the mid-1990s on his

Myspace Myspace (formerly stylized as MySpace, currently myspace; and sometimes my␣, with an elongated Whitespace character#Substitute images, open box symbol) is a social networking service based in the United States. Launched on August 1, 2003, it w ...

page. In January 2020 he released the album ''Slow Glass''. The rest of the Comsat Angels regrouped in the late 1990s under the new moniker Soup, with new vocalist Peter Hope, but soon disbanded. Their sole album, ''Condensed'', was recorded with producer John Wills of Loop in 1998, but not released until 2012. Peake later formed the duo Lost Garden.

Brief reformation

The Comsat Angels reformed for a gig on 26 April 2009 as part of the Sensoria music festival at the Sheffield O2 Academy. They played tracks from their first three albums, including what many consider to be their masterpiece, '' Sleep No More''.

Mark Kermode Mark Kermode (, ; ; born 2 July 1963) is an English film critic, musician, radio presenter, television presenter, author and podcaster. He is the co-presenter (with Ellen E. Jones) of the BBC Radio 4 programme ''Screenshot'', and co-presenter ...

introduced the band on stage, describing them not only as his personal favourite act of all time but as "the greatest band in the world". The band completed a UK tour of three cities (Glasgow, Manchester and London) during October 2009, followed by a special hometown show at Plug in Sheffield on 11 December 2010.

Legacy

The Comsat Angels' albums remained out of print for years, but RPM Records rereleased the first three Polydor albums on CD in 1995, while another British label, Renascent, reissued several of them in 2006 and 2007, adding outtakes and other tracks.

Martin Gore Martin Lee Gore (born 23 July 1961) is an English musician and songwriter. He is one of the founding members of the electronic music band Depeche Mode and is the band's main songwriter. He is the band's guitarist and keyboardist, and occasiona ...

of Depeche Mode covered "Gone" on his 1989 EP, ''

Counterfeit A counterfeit is a fake or unauthorized replica of a genuine product, such as money, documents, designer items, or other valuable goods. Counterfeiting generally involves creating an imitation of a genuine item that closely resembles the original ...

''. In 1992,

Silkworm ''Bombyx mori'', commonly known as the domestic silk moth, is a moth species belonging to the family Bombycidae. It is the closest relative of '' Bombyx mandarina'', the wild silk moth. Silkworms are the larvae of silk moths. The silkworm is of ...

covered "Our Secret" as the

B-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph record, vinyl records and Compact cassette, cassettes, and the terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side of a Single (music), single usually ...

of their "The Chain" 7" single. Joel RL Phelps, formerly of Silkworm, covered "Lost Continent" on his 1999 album ''Blackbird''. Jack Rabid, the publisher of ''

The Big Takeover ''The Big Takeover'' is a bi-annual music magazine published in New York City since May 1980 by critic Jack Rabid. History Establishment Jack Rabid and Dave Stein began publishing ''The Big Takeover'' in May 1980 as a fanzine dedicated to New ...

'' magazine, has been one of the band's biggest supporters since the early 1980s.

, a film critic for

BBC Radio 5 Live BBC Radio 5 Live is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It broadcasts mainly news, sport, Talk show, discussion, interviews and phone-ins, and is on air 24 hours a day. It is the principal BBC radio station Broadca ...

and ''

The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. First published in 1791, it is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper. In 1993 it was acquired by Guardian Media Group Limited, and operated as a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' ...

'', championed the Comsat Angels when reviewing the

Ian Curtis Ian Kevin Curtis (15 July 1956 – 18 May 1980) was an English singer, songwriter and musician. He was the lead singer, lyricist and occasional guitarist of the band Joy Division, with whom he released the albums ''Unknown Pleasures'' (197 ...

biopic '' Control'', stating that the Comsats were "the band that

Joy Division Joy Division were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Salford in 1976. The group consisted of vocalist, guitarist and lyricist Ian Curtis, guitarist and keyboardist Bernard Sumner, bassist Peter Hook and drummer Stephen Morris (musici ...

should have been". In May 2008, Kermode interviewed British poet

Simon Armitage Simon Robert Armitage (born 26 May 1963) is an English poet, playwright, musician and novelist. He was appointed Poet Laureate on 10 May 2019. He is professor of poetry at the University of Leeds. He has published over 20 collections of poetr ...

BBC Two BBC Two is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's second flagship channel, and it covers a wide range of subject matte ...

's ''

The Culture Show ''The Culture Show'' is a British magazine programme about books, art, film, architecture, music, visual fashion and the performing arts. The show was broadcast weekly on BBC Two between 2004 and 2015. Early history Launched in November 2004, th ...

'' and the two discussed their love of the band. In his ''Film Review'' show on 2 May 2014, Kermode related that Fellows had sent him the remains of the guitar he used in the band's first three albums, as he felt Kermode was one of the few people likely to appreciate it. Kermode had the guitar rebuilt into working order.

Members

* Stephen Fellows –

(1978–1995, 2009–2010) *Mik Glaisher –

(1978–1995, 2009–2010) *

–

(1978–1992, 2009–2010) *Andy Peake – keyboards (1978–1995, 2009–2010) * Nick Robinson – guitar (1990) *Simon Anderson – guitar (1993–1995) *Terry Todd –

(1993–1995, 2009)

Discography

Studio albums

*'' Waiting for a Miracle'' (1980,

) (reissued in 1995 on RPM, in 2006 on Renascent and in 2015 on Edsel) *'' Sleep No More'' (1981, Polydor) NZ No. 44, UK No. 51 (reissued in 1995 on RPM, in 2006 on Renascent and in 2015 on Edsel) *''

'' (1982, Polydor) UK No. 94 (reissued in 1995 on RPM, in 2006 on Renascent and in 2015 on Edsel) *''

'' (1983, Jive) (reissued on Connoisseur in 2001) UK No. 91 *'' 7 Day Weekend'' (1985, Jive) (reissued on Connoisseur in 2001) *'' Chasing Shadows'' (1986,

Island An island or isle is a piece of land, distinct from a continent, completely surrounded by water. There are continental islands, which were formed by being split from a continent by plate tectonics, and oceanic islands, which have never been ...

) (reissued on Edsel in 2015) *'' Fire on the Moon'' (as Dream Command) (1990, Island) (U.S. and Netherlands only) (reissued on Edsel in 2015) *'' My Mind's Eye'' (1992/1993, RPM/ Caroline .S. (U.S. version has bonus tracks "There Is No Enemy" and "Magonia") (reissued on Thunderbird in 2001 and in 2007 on Renascent) *'' The Glamour'' (1995, RPM) (reissued in 2007 on Renascent)

Singles and EPs

*"Red Planet" 7" (March 1979, Junta JUNTA1) (black and limited red vinyl versions) *"Total War" 7" (May 1980,

2059 227) *"Independence Day" 7" (11 July 1980, Polydor 2059 257) *"Eye of the Lens" 7"/double 7"/12" (March 1981, Polydor POSP 242) *"(Do The) Empty House" 7"/double 7" (October 1981, Polydor POSP 359) *"It's History" 7" (May 1982, Polydor POSP 432) *"After the Rain (Remix)" 7" (September 1982, Polydor POSP 513) *"Will You Stay Tonight?" 7"/12"/12" picture disc (August 1983, Jive JIVE 46) UK No. 81 *"Island Heart" 7"/ 12" (October 1983, Jive JIVE 51 ) UK No. 139 *"Independence Day" (re-recording) double 7"/12" (January 1984, Jive JIVE 54) UK No. 71 *"You Move Me" 7"/12" (May 1984, Jive JIVE 65) UK No. 101 *"Day One" 7"/12" (September 1984, Jive JIVE 73) UK No. 119 *"I'm Falling" 7"/12" (September 1985, Jive JIVE 87) UK No. 90 *"Forever Young" 7"/12" (November 1985, Jive JIVE 111) *"The Cutting Edge" 7"/12" (February 1987, Island IS 312) UK No. 175 *"Celestine" (as Dream Command) CD single (1990, Island) (U.S. only) *"Driving" 12"/CD EP (1992, RPM/ Thunderbird CSA001) *"Shiva Descending" CD EP (1993, Crisis/ Normal NORMAL 149) (Netherlands only) *"Field of Tall Flowers" 12"/CD EP (1994, RPM/ Thunderbird CSA 003) *"The Cutting Edge" (version from ''Unravelled'') CD EP (1994, Crisis 599 990–2)

Compilations and live albums

*''Enz'' (1982, Polydor) (Netherlands only) *'' Time Considered as a Helix of Semi-Precious Stones – The BBC Sessions 1979–1984'' (1992, RPM) (reissued in 2006 by Renascent) *''Unravelled'' (1994, RPM) (Dutch radio sessions) *''From Beyond 2'' (2000, Cherry Red) *'' To Before'' (2007, Renascent)

References

External links

Extensive fansiteThe Comsat Fellowship (discussion list)
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Comsat Angels, The Musical groups from Sheffield English new wave musical groups Musical groups established in 1978 English post-punk music groups 1978 establishments in England Polydor Records artists Jive Records artists Island Records artists