New Musik were an English

synth-pop Synth-pop (short for synthesizer pop; also called techno-pop; ) is a music genre that first became prominent in the late 1970s and features the synthesizer as the dominant musical instrument. It was prefigured in the 1960s and early 1970s b ...

group A group is a number of persons or things that are located, gathered, or classed together. Groups of people * Cultural group, a group whose members share the same cultural identity * Ethnic group, a group whose members share the same ethnic iden ...

active from 1977 to 1982. Led by

Tony Mansfield Anthony Charles Mansfield (born 19 January 1955) is an English songwriter, musician and record producer. He first gained prominence as the frontman of the synth-pop band New Musik, which he formed in 1977. Throughout his career, Mansfield has ...

, they achieved success in 1980 with the top 20 single " Living by Numbers" which was followed up with the top 40 hits "This World of Water", "Sanctuary" and hit album '' From A to B''.

History

New Musik formed in 1977 in London, growing out of a casual band of South London school friends who jammed together under the name End of the World. The lead

vocalist 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 singi ...

and

frontman The lead vocalist in popular music is typically the member of a group or band whose voice is the most prominent melody in a performance where multiple voices may be heard. The lead singer sets their voice against the accompaniment parts of the ...

for the band was

songwriter A songwriter is a person who creates musical compositions or writes lyrics for songs, or both. The writer of the music for a song can be called a composer, although this term tends to be used mainly in the classical music genre and film scoring. ...

and

record producer A record producer or music producer is a music creating project's overall supervisor whose responsibilities can involve a range of creative and technical leadership roles. Typically the job involves hands-on oversight of recording sessions; ensu ...

, with

bassist A bassist (also known as a bass player or bass guitarist) is a musician who plays a bass instrument such as a double bass (upright bass, contrabass, wood bass), bass guitar (electric bass, acoustic bass), keyboard bass (synth bass) or a low br ...

Tony Hibbert Anthony James Hibbert (born 20 February 1981) is an English former professional footballer. Originally a midfielder, Hibbert converted to play at right-back. He spent his entire professional career with Everton, having joined the club in 1991. ...

and

drummer A drummer is a percussionist who creates music using drums. Most contemporary western music ensemble, bands that play Rock music, rock, Pop music, pop, jazz, or Contemporary R&B, R&B music include a drummer for purposes including timekeepi ...

Phil Towner, who where all at that time also members of the

Nick Straker Band The Nick Straker Band were an English pop music group from London, England, led by musician and vocalist Nick Straker, who had earlier gained experience by playing in Dennis Bovell's Matumbi, a dub and roots reggae band. Several members of th ...

. The line-up was completed in 1979 with the introduction of

keyboardist A keyboardist or keyboard player is a musician who plays keyboard instruments. Until the early 1960s musicians who played keyboards were generally classified as either pianists or organists. Since the mid-1960s, a plethora of new musical instru ...

Clive Gates. Their debut single, "Straight Lines", was released by

GTO Records GTO Records was a British record label which released many hits during the 1970s. It ran from 1974 to 1981 and mainly concentrated on pop music and disco music, disco. The acronym represented the Gem Toby Organization. Background The record lab ...

in September 1979 and New Musik performed the single on the

BBC TV BBC Television is a service of the BBC. The corporation has operated a public broadcast television service in the United Kingdom, under the terms of a royal charter, since 1 January 1927. It produced television programmes from its own studios ...

pop Pop or POP may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Pop music, a musical genre Artists * POP, a Japanese idol group now known as Gang Parade * Pop! (British group), a UK pop group * Pop! featuring Angie Hart, an Australian band Album ...

programme ''

Top of the Pops ''Top of the Pops'' (''TOTP'') is a British record chart television programme, made by the BBC and broadcast weekly between 1January 1964 and 30 July 2006. The programme was the world's longest-running weekly music show. For most of its histo ...

''. "Straight Lines" received

airplay Airplay is how frequently a song is being played through broadcasting on radio stations. A song which is being played several times every day (spins) would have a significant amount of airplay. Music which became very popular on jukeboxes, in n ...

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 ...

from guest DJ

Frank Zappa Frank Vincent Zappa (December 21, 1940 – December 4, 1993) was an American guitarist, composer, and bandleader. In a career spanning more than 30 years, Zappa composed Rock music, rock, Pop music, pop, jazz, jazz fusion, orchestra ...

, and also on

WPIX-FM WFAN-FM (101.9 FM) is a commercial radio station licensed to New York, New York. Owned by Audacy, Inc., the station simulcasts a sports radio format known as "Sports Radio 66 AM and 101.9 FM", or "The FAN", along with co-owned WFAN (660 AM) ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

. Their debut album '' From A to B'' came out in April 1980, and reached the

Top 40 In the music industry, the Top 40 is a list of the 40 currently most popular songs in a particular genre. It is the best-selling or most frequently broadcast popular music. Record charts have traditionally consisted of a total of 40 songs. "To ...

in the

UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is the United Kingdom's industry-recognised national record chart for album, albums. Entries are ranked by sales and audio streaming. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the O ...

. The album contained four hit singles: "Straight Lines", "This World of Water", "Sanctuary" and their most commercially successful single "Living by Numbers". In 1980,

Casio is a Japanese multinational electronics manufacturing corporation headquartered in Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan. Its products include calculators, mobile phones, digital cameras, electronic musical instruments, and analogue and digital watches. It ...

used the latter track as part of a TV advertising campaign for its digital calculators, latching on to the phrase "Such a digital lifetime" used in one of the verses. Touring the UK in 1980, New Musik performed at May Balls in both

Oxford Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...

and

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...

with

Elvis Costello Declan Patrick MacManus (born 25 August 1954), known professionally as Elvis Costello, is an English singer, songwriter, record producer, author and television host. According to ''Rolling Stone'', Costello "reinvigorated the literate, lyrical ...

; and the Rotterdam New Pop 1980

festival A festival is an event celebrated by a community and centering on some characteristic aspect or aspects of that community and its religion or cultures. It is often marked as a local or national holiday, Melā, mela, or Muslim holidays, eid. A ...

in the Netherlands. In 1981, the band played a second UK tour and were featured in a 1981

documentary film A documentary film (often described simply as a documentary) is a nonfiction Film, motion picture intended to "document reality, primarily for instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". The American author and ...

, ''Listen to London'', performing "Straight Lines" and "This World of Water". The band's second album, '' Anywhere'', was released in 1981 and reached No. 68 in the UK. The album's single releases, "Luxury" and "While You Wait", did not chart. The band performed "Luxury" on ''

Multi-Coloured Swap Shop ''Multi-Coloured Swap Shop'', more commonly known simply as ''Swap Shop'', is a British children's television series that aired on BBC1 from 2 October 1976 to 27 March 1982. It was groundbreaking in many ways: by broadcasting on Saturday morning ...

''. In 1981, a compilation album, ''

Sanctuary A sanctuary, in its original meaning, is a sacred space, sacred place, such as a shrine, protected by ecclesiastical immunity. By the use of such places as a haven, by extension the term has come to be used for any place of safety. This seconda ...

'', was released exclusively in the United States, consisting of five tracks from ''From A to B'' and seven from ''Anywhere''. Previous to this release, there had also been a four-song 10" vinyl "Straight Lines" released by

CBS Records CBS Records may refer to: * CBS Records, a former name of Sony Music, a global music company * CBS/Sony, a former name of Sony Music Entertainment Japan, a Japanese music company division of Sony * CBS Records International, a label for Columbia Re ...

in the

U.S. The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 contiguous ...

as part of their short-lived

Epic Epic commonly refers to: * Epic poetry, a long narrative poem celebrating heroic deeds and events significant to a culture or nation * Epic film, a genre of film defined by the spectacular presentation of human drama on a grandiose scale Epic(s) ...

'Nu-Disk' series, which also included

The Clash The Clash were an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1976. Billed as "The Only Band That Matters", they are considered one of the most influential acts in the original wave of British punk rock, with their music fusing elements ...

's, ''

Black Market Clash ''Super Black Market Clash'' is a 1993 compilation album released by the English punk rock band The Clash. It contains B-sides and rare tracks not available on the group's regular studio albums. The album is an expanded repackaging of the 1980 r ...

''. Towner and Hibbert departed, and Mansfield and Gates cut the next album with the assistance of studio musicians. After the demise of GTO Records, the band released their third and final album, ''

Warp Warp, warped or warping may refer to: Arts and entertainment Books and comics * WaRP Graphics, an alternative comics publisher * ''Warp'' (First Comics), comic book series published by First Comics based on the play ''Warp!'' * Warp (comics), a D ...

'', in 1982 which was more experimental than their previous releases. ''Warp'' was almost entirely

electronic Electronic may refer to: *Electronics, the science of how to control electric energy in semiconductors * ''Electronics'' (magazine), a defunct American trade journal *Electronic storage, the storage of data using an electronic device *Electronic c ...

, and one of the first albums to be recorded primarily with

digital Digital usually refers to something using discrete digits, often binary digits. Businesses *Digital bank, a form of financial institution *Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) or Digital, a computer company *Digital Research (DR or DRI), a software ...

samplers and

emulator In computing, an emulator is Computer hardware, hardware or software that enables one computer system (called the ''host'') to behave like another computer system (called the ''guest''). An emulator typically enables the host system to run sof ...

s. It featured a synthesized version of

the Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960. The core lineup of the band comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are widely regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatle ...

' hit song "

All You Need Is Love "All You Need Is Love" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles that was released as a non-album single in July 1967, with "Baby, You're a Rich Man" as its A-side and B-side, B-side. It was written by John Lennon and credited to the Lenn ...

", alongside an identically titled track of their own. New Musik disbanded shortly after its release that year. Mansfield went on to achieve success in the field of

production Production may refer to: Economics and business * Production (economics) * Production, the act of manufacturing goods * Production, in the outline of industrial organization, the act of making products (goods and services) * Production as a stat ...

with

After the Fire After the Fire (or ATF) were a British rock band that evolved from playing progressive rock to new wave over ten years, while having one hit in the United States (" Der Kommissar") and another hit in the United Kingdom (" One Rule for You"). ...

a-ha A-ha (often stylised as ''a''-h''a''; ) is a Norwegian synth-pop band formed in Oslo in 1982. Founded by Paul Waaktaar-Savoy (guitars and vocals), Magne Furuholmen (keyboards, guitars and vocals), and Morten Harket (lead vocals), the band ros ...

Aztec Camera Aztec Camera were a Scottish pop/ new wave band founded by Roddy Frame, the group's singer, songwriter and only consistent member. Established in 1980, Aztec Camera released a total of six studio albums: '' High Land, Hard Rain'' (1983), ''Kn ...

The B-52's The B-52s, originally presented as the B-52's (with an errant apostrophe; used until 2008), are an American band formed in Athens, Georgia, in 1976. The original lineup consisted of Fred Schneider (vocals, percussion), Kate Pierson (vocals, k ...

, The Damned,

Captain Sensible Raymond Ian Burns (born 24 April 1954), known by the stage name Captain Sensible, is an English guitarist, singer and songwriter. He co-founded the punk rock band the Damned in 1976, originally playing bass before switching to guitar. He is kn ...

Naked Eyes Naked Eyes are an English new wave duo"All Eyes on Pete Byrne", ''Newsday'', 15 October 2013 that rose to prominence in the early 1980s. The band had four US Top 40 singles. The group's first hit, " Always Something There to Remind Me", was ...

Mari Wilson Mari Macmillan Ramsay Wilson (born 29 September 1954, Neasden, London) is a British pop and jazz singer. She is best known for her 1982 UK top-10 hit single " Just What I Always Wanted". She had a further UK top-40 hit in 1983 with a cover of ...

Jean Paul Gaultier Jean Paul Gaultier (; born 24 June 1952) is a French haute couture and Ready-to-wear, prêt-à-porter fashion designer. He is described as an "enfant terrible" of the fashion industry and is known for his unconventional designs with motifs in ...

Miguel Bosé Miguel Bosé (born Luis Miguel Dominguín Bosé; 3 April 1956) is a Spanish-Italian Pop music, pop singer and actor. Early life Bosé was born in San Fernando Hospital in Panama City, Panama, the son of Italian actress Lucia Bosè (1931–202 ...

, and

Ana Torroja Ana Torroja Fungairiño, 3rd Marchioness of Torroja (born 28 December 1959) is a Spanish singer. She was the lead singer of the pop trio Mecano, considered one of the most popular pop bands from Spain during the 1980s and 1990s. Mecano split in ...

. ''From A to B'' and ''Anywhere'' were released on CD in 1994, and again in 2001 and 2011, remastered and with bonus tracks. ''Warp'' was also released with bonus tracks on CD for the first time in 2001, exclusively in Japan. Warp's first CD release in the UK came in January 2011 on the Cherry Red label (CDLEMD 182).

Members

Last line up before disbandment

(1977–1982) * Clive Gates (c. 1979–1982) *Cliff Venner (1982)

Other members

(1977–81) *Phil Towner (1977–81)

Timeline

Discography

Studio albums

Compilation albums

Singles

References

External links

Foremost New Musik fan site

TopPop performance of "This World of Water"
on

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

{{Authority control English synth-pop groups English synth-pop new wave groups English new wave musical groups English electronic music groups English pop music groups Pop music groups from London Musical groups established in 1977 Musical groups disestablished in 1982