A NEW IDEA : APRIL-SEPTEMBER 1981

Before April 1981, Don Gordon And Gary Smith were in a band called Pin-ups and had recorded a couple of demos. But Don and Gary had an idea for a new band, a more electronic sounding band, and they had an idea for a name-- Images In Vogue. They had run an ad in the Georgia Straight looking for "a keyboard player with gear...influences Japan, Ultravox, Simple Minds, etc."

Kevin Crompton had played in a few bands, including a punk band called Illegal Youth with his high school friend Al Nelson, but hadn't yet committed himself to being a full-time musician.

Gary Smith was working in a record store where he would play interesting new music for customers. Gary and Kevin both were fans of Japan and it was inevitable that they would start talking about David Sylvian, the lead singer of Japan.

Joe Vizvary had spent the three years since graduating from UBC playing in various bands, touring bars and beer parlours throughout BC. His band NV had started playing original material, but was running out of steam. Joe started writing and recording 4-track demos of some new electronic music that was not right for NV. He saw a note in the Music Notes column in The Georgia Straight about a band looking for a keyboard player with gear.

Dale Martindale was attending The Emily Carr School of Art in Vancouver after finishing high school in Chilliwack, a suburb about 100 kilometres outside Vancouver. Dale started spending time at various clubs around town that played new music. A few people mentioned that he looked like Steve Jansen, the drummer for Japan.

Glen Nelson, whose brother Al had played in Illegal Youth with Kevin, had gone from The Mobile Clones, who had released a 7 inch single, to e , an experimental electronic band.

	The first line-up (1981): Joe Vizvary, Gary Smith, Gary J, Kevin Crompton, Don Gordon.

When Joe's band NV finally ended in April 1981, he called the number he had seen in the Georgia Straight, and ended up talking to Don for hours about music and their ideas about what kind of band they saw themselves in. Both seemed to have the same ideas about forming an electronic-based band that would concentrate on writing music about moods and textures. A few days later, Don, Gary, Kevin, and Joe (along with Pin-ups singer Gary Johnson) met to see if they might form a band. A mutual interest in the types of music everyone listened to became apparent, particularly in groups like Yellow Magic Orchestra, Kraftwerk, Japan, Ultravox, and Roxy Music, as well as post-punk bands like Joy Division, the Cure, Wire, and many others. A rehearsal was arranged and after playing a few songs together, on April 29,1981, Images In Vogue was born.

The band's first decision was to concentrate on writing and recording, then wait until the right moment before playing live. Everyone would

keep their day jobs during this time: Don worked as a marine biologist for the Department of Fisheries, Gary was shipper/receiver at a music store, and Kevin was a checker at a Safeway grocery store in North Vancouver. Joe had been working as a full-time musician, but he went back to work at the sawmill where he had worked summers as a university student. Later that year, he started working as a high school substitute teacher.

	The Poster for "Elektra", designed by Douglas Coupland

The band members pooled their resources to pay for a rehearsal space, recording time and new equipment. In May 1981, the band bought one of the first Roland TR-808 drum machines and Sequential Circuits Pro-1 synthesizers in western Canada. The band started writing immediately, and within weeks had five songs ready for the studio. In June, IIV entered Bullfrog Studios, a 16 track studio in Vancouver. The songs they recorded included Anxiety Reaction, which had been a Pin-ups song which Don and Joe reworked to suit the new band. Politics of Sound was a song Joe had previously recorded on his own and had performed with NV.

The Bullfrog demo tape received great reviews, including a cover headline on the Georgia Straight. The sound was pop, but not quite pop; dance, but not quite dance; experimental, but still accessible. Anxiety Reaction was remixed and released on tape to club DJs around Vancouver. In September, the band recorded 5 more songs at Bullfrog and, again, the demo received great reviews for its combination electronic and acoustic percussion and high quality of production

With ten songs recorded, the band was ready to make its live debut. IIV wanted to make their debut an event, something that would be memorable. The band got together with another new band, Moev, managed by Terry McBride. They decided to rent a hall and put on a "Fashion Dance" where not only would the two bands make their premieres, but the audience members could show off their own new fashions and be part of the show. The idea caught on, as there had not yet been an event which brought together the developing post-punk scene in Vancouver. This was an opportunity for everyone to help define the new underground scene.

Gary and Terry worked hard to promote and organize "Elektra: The Fashion Dance." Terry sold tickets at Cinematica, the import record store where he worked. A young artist, Douglas Coupland (author of the novel Generation X), was enlisted to create the poster and ads for the event. The event quickly sold out, and on September 26, 1981 Images In Vogue and Moev made their live debuts at the Viking Hall on East Hastings street. IIV played a ten song set consisting of all the songs they had recorded at Bullfrog. An eleventh song, For Germans, had been written a few days before the show in order to lengthen the set, but was not played. Reviews of the show in the Georgia Straight were favourable, declaring that IIV and Moev were sure to sign to record deals soon.