"Is Vic There?" is a song by

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 Department S, released by

Demon Records Demon Music Group Limited (DMG; formerly Object Enterprises Limited from 19821991 and Music Collection International Limited from 19912000) is a record company owned by BBC Studios that is mainly concerned with back-catalogue rights and re-iss ...

on 29 December 1980. It was their first single under the name Department S, after their debut single "I'm Gonna Rough My Girlfriend's Boyfriend Up Tonight" under the name Guns for Hire. It was produced by former Mott the Hoople members Buffin and Overend Watts. The title is a quotation from a

Monty Python Monty Python, also known as the Pythons, were a British comedy troupe formed in 1969 consisting of Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones and Michael Palin. The group came to prominence for the sketch comedy ser ...

sketch titled "Phone-In", which closed the comedy troupe's 1973 ''

Matching Tie and Handkerchief ''The Monty Python Matching Tie and Handkerchief'' is the fourth album by the comedy group Monty Python, released in 1973. Most of the material was newly written for the album along with a handful of sketches from the third series of '' Flying ...

'' album.

Release

"Is Vic There?" charted at No. 22 on the UK Singles Chart and, when re-released on

RCA Records RCA Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Group Corporation. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside Columbia Records (its former longtime rival), Arista Records and Epic R ...

in March 1981, it made No. 67 on the

Hot Dance Club Play The Dance Club Songs (also known as National Disco Action, Hot Dance/Disco Club Play, and Hot Dance Club Play) was a chart published weekly between 1976 and 2020 by ''Billboard'' magazine. It used club disc jockeys set lists to determine the mos ...

chart. The Demon and RCA UK

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 ...

was a

cover Cover or covers may refer to: Packaging * Another name for a lid * Cover (philately), generic term for envelope or package * Album cover, the front of the packaging * Book cover or magazine cover ** Book design ** Back cover copy, part of c ...

of T.Rex's "

Solid Gold Easy Action ''Solid Gold Easy Action'' is a song by English rock band T. Rex, written by Marc Bolan. It was released as a single on 1 December 1972 and reached number 2 in the UK Singles Chart. The song did not feature on an original studio album but was ...

", featuring

Thunderthighs Thunderthighs (also known as "Thunder Thighs") were a British backing vocal group, who released records in their own right. Career The female trio, consisting of Karen Friedman, Dari Lalou (American) and Casey Synge, provided the backing vo ...

backing vocals A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are us ...

. A 1981 release of the single in the US by

Stiff Records Stiff Records is a British independent record label formed in London by Dave Robinson (music executive), Dave Robinson and Jake Riviera. Originally active from 1976 to 1986, the label was reactivated in 2007. Established at the outset of the p ...

featured a different B-side, "Put All the Crosses in the Right Boxes", as did a remixed edition of the song released that year by Stiff as a single in Europe.

Legacy

Clan of Xymox Clan of Xymox, also known as simply Xymox, are a Dutch rock band formed in 1981 best known as pioneers of dark wave music. Clan of Xymox featured a trio of singer-songwriters – Ronny Moorings, Anka Wolbert, and Pieter Nooten – and gained ...

covered "Is Vic There?" on their album ''Kindred Spirits'' in 2012. Dave Clarke included a cover of "Is Vic There?" (sung by Louisahhh!!!) on his 2017 album, ''The Desecration of Desire''.

Charts

References

{{authority control 1980 songs 1980 singles Department S (band) songs Songs written by Vaughn Toulouse Demon Music Group singles RCA Records singles Stiff Records singles Songs about telephone calls