Fashion (stylised as Fashiøn) were an English new wave band, primarily active from 1978 to 1984, with a brief revival in 2009. They began as a post-punk band, before developing into a new wave/synth-pop ensemble that placed three singles on the lower reaches of the UK singles chart in 1982–84.

History

Fashion went through several line-up overhauls during its initial existence between 1978 and 1984. John Mulligan (synthesizer, bass) and Dik Davis (drums) were constants, but the band's frontman changed with each of the band's three albums.

Post-punk years: Fàshiön Music

Fashion was formed originally as Fàshiön Music, in Birmingham, England, in 1978, and consisted of John Mulligan (bass, synthesizer), Dik Davis (drums), and Al James (vocals, guitar). James became known as Luke Sky, or simply Luke or Lûke (short for "Luke Skyscraper" – a reference to the Star Wars character Luke Skywalker and the fact that James was tall and thin), while John Mulligan was known simply as Mulligan and Dik Davis simply as Dïk (or "Dik Mamba" on their debut single).

In 1978, they also founded their own Fàshiön Music label; from this point forward, the band was generally (though not completely consistently) identified as Fashion, as distinct from the name of their self-owned label.

Fashion released their first two singles ("Steady Eddie Steady" and "Citinite") as independent issues on the UK in November 1978 and June 1979 respectively. The group was quickly picked up by I.R.S., who put out a third single in the US in September 1979, "The Innocent".

Their sound was varied, playing punk, post-punk and indie repertoire, although Mulligan at that time also had a synthesizer which later characterized the future synth-pop years of the band.

Still signed to I.R.S., in 1979 they recorded and released their first album, Product Perfect.

In March 1980, no longer associated with I.R.S., Fashion released their "Silver Blades" single,

A revised line-up was assembled, containing Dik and Mulligan along with Tony Dial (former singer with the Neon Hearts) on vocals and guitar and Ian Moore on bass. This version of the group recorded sessions for BRMB, and played live gigs as a support act for The Human League, as well as at the Holy City Zoo club in Birmingham. However, Dial and Moore soon left, and the band regrouped once more.

New Romantic years: Fashiøn

By late 1981, Fashion—which had now been picked up by Arista Records—consisted of De Harriss (vocals, guitar), Martin Recchi (bass), Mulligan (synths) and Dik Daviss (as he now billed himself) on drums. This line-up issued the single "Move On" in November 1981, and though it did not chart, the single still garnered enough attention to allow the band to record the album Fabrique (1982),

|-

! scope="row" |Product Perfect<br/><small>(as Fàshiön Music)</small>

|

  • Released: July 1979
  • Label: Fàshiön Music
  • Formats: LP

|—

|-

! scope="row" |Fabrique

|

  • Released: 25 June 1982
  • Label: Arista
  • Formats: LP, MC

|10

|-

! scope="row" |Twilight of Idols

|

  • Released: June 1984
  • Label: Epic
  • Formats: LP, MC

|69

|-

! scope="row" |Stairway to Nowhere

|

  • Released: 2009
  • Label: Fàshiön Music
  • Formats: CD

|—

|-

| colspan="3" style="font-size:90%" |"—" denotes releases that did not chart.

|}

Compilation albums

{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;"

! scope="col" style="width:15em;" | Title

! scope="col" style="width:15em;" | Album details

|-

! scope="row" |The Height of Fashion

|

  • Released: 1990
  • Label: Arista
  • Formats: CD

|-

! scope="row" |Hits

|

  • Released: 2009
  • Label: Self-released
  • Formats: CD

|-

! scope="row" |MMXIX

|

  • Released: 2019
  • Label: Self-released
  • Formats: CD
  • Limited remixes

|-

! scope="row" |Fabrique de luxe

|

  • Released: 31 January 2021
  • Label: Gonzo Multimedia
  • Formats: 4xCD box set

|-

! scope="row" |Fàshiön Music

|

  • Released: April 2022
  • Label: Easy Action
  • Formats: 2xCD, LP

|}

Singles

{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;"

! rowspan="2" scope="col" style="width:17em;" | Title

! rowspan="2" scope="col" style="width:2em;" | Year

! colspan="2" |Peak chart positions

! rowspan="2" |Album

|-

! scope="col" style="width:2em;font-size:90%;" | UK<br />

! scope="col" style="width:2em;font-size:90%;" | UK Indie<br />

|-

! scope="row" |"Steady Eddie Steady"

|1978

|—

|—

|

|-

! scope="row" |"Citinite"

| rowspan="2" |1979

|—

|—

| rowspan="2" |Product Perfect

|-

! scope="row" |"The Innocent" <small>(US-only release)</small>

|—

|—

|-

! scope="row" |"Silver Blades"

|1980

|—

|29

|

|-

! scope="row" |"Move On"

|1981

|—

|—

| rowspan="5" |Fabrique

|-

! scope="row" |"Streetplayer (Mechanik)"

| rowspan="4" |1982

|46

|—

|-

! scope="row" |"Something in Your Picture"

|—

|—

|-

! scope="row" |"Love Shadow"

|51

|—

|-

! scope="row" |"You Only Left Your Picture" <small>(US-only release)</small>

|—

|—

|-

! scope="row" |"Eye Talk"

| rowspan="3" |1984

|69

|—

| rowspan="3" |Twilight of Idols

|-

! scope="row" |"Dreaming"

|101

|—

|-

! scope="row" |"You in the Night"

|94

|—

|-

! scope="row" |"Sodium Pentathol Negative"

|2022

|—

|—

|

|-

| colspan="5" style="font-size:90%" |"—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released in that territory.

|}

References

  • Stairway To Nowhere – fàshiön Fàshiön homepage
  • Official Fàshiön MySpace site released by singer and guitarist Luke Sky Featuring only Fàshiön Music period and new material
  • Fashion discography
  • Fashion information
  • Fashion fan page