vice versa: 1979-1980

Vice Versa was formed by Stephen Singleton and Mark White in 1978. They asked Martin Fry to join them after Martin had interviewed them for his fanzine Modern Drugs. They founded their own independent label called Neutron Records and produced their first release (Vice Versa -- Music 4 EP). This is probably one of the greatest minimal-synth releases ever without any doubts. Neutron Records' most important contribution to the scene was the 1980 EP The First 15 Minutes, which featured four unsigned bands of Sheffield: Clock DVA, I'm So Hollow, the Stuntkites and of course, Vice Versa. The band released another 7" (Stilyagi/Eyes Of Christ) and the cassette 8 Aspects of Love. As Vice Versa they played a numerous amount of concerts. Their first gig was together with the Human League at Now Society at the Sheffield University and it was called 'What no Drummers.' When they went over to Holland on tour, they were invited to jam in a studio in Rotterdam. Martin started to improvise on vocals and everybody was surprised by the quality of his voice. They decided to make him the lead singer instead of Mark White and spent about a year writing new songs, thinking of a new name and concept. The result was ABC, one of the most famous UK pop bands of the '80s.