A discussion on Metafilter today about interviews with J.J. Jeczalik from Art of Noise tickled my brain and put this song back in heavy rotation.
“Close (To The Edit)” was released in 1984, with a weird-assed video on MTV that stuck with me for years after MTV stopped playing videos. Aside from this song and the “Peter Gunn” cover a few years later, I didn’t get much exposure to Art of Noise. I kind of forgot about the song and band for a while. Just a decade or so.
Then “Firestarter” by the Prodigy came out, and I recognized the sample from “Close” of the girl saying “Hey!” Sometime not long after that I picked up Who’s Afraid of the Art of Noise?
I started digging into their music more deeply a few years ago, and they’ve got a few fantastic albums as well as a few that are interesting but not terribly accessible to my ears. The whole catalog is worth trying out, but I’m still partial to “Close (To The Edit).”
As good as the original single is, this live performance from 2004 is even better. The bass work is a joy to listen to, and the entire performance is phenomenal.
Looking forward to the weekend so I can catch up on the interviews with J.J. Jeczalik. Happy listening!
I didn’t hear Art of Noise until fall of 1987 when I started college. I then got a volunteer gig at the college radio station and had the 7 am daily shift (since no one wanted it). I got a heavy rotation of Art of Noise (up to In No Sense), Oingo Boingo (Dead Man’s Party/Good for You), and the bouncier bits of early Depeche Mode.
I had not listened to that for years until now. Thnaks