VISAGE - Fade To Grey (1980)

VISAGE are a British New Wave rock band. Formed in 1978, the band became closely linked to the burgeoning New Romantic fashion movement of the early 1980s, and are best known for their 1980 hit "Fade To Grey".

The VISAGE album reached #13 in the United Kingdom and was certified "Silver" by the British Phonographic Industry in March 1981. Their second single "Fade To Grey" became a huge dance floor hit. In early 1981, Fade to Grey peaked at #8 in the UK Singles Chart and reached #1 in both Germany and Switzerland.

The "Fade To Grey" structure was primarily composed by Billy Currie and Christopher John Payne. While setting the track listing of the Visage album, Midge Ure composed the song's lyrics after Billy Currie suggested the use of the melody for the album. Steve Strange had singing lessons with Ure in order to maintain himself in tune and be recorded. Gary Numan commented in interview for the Numan Digest: "As far as I'm concerned Chris and Billy were the driving force behind writing 'Fade to Grey'. They used to work on it during the sound checks on my '79 tour.

On the UK Channel 4 show "Top Ten New Romantics" in 1999, Steve Strange claimed to have been the one who came up with the idea for the French vocal in the track (a statement disputed by Midge Ure who claims this idea was his). However the original recording by Currie and Payne had featured a French vocal well before Ure and Strange were involved, and this was written by Payne who now lives in France.

The French vocal was performed by Brigitte Arendt, a young student from Luxembourg.