Clive Langer & The Boxes - Splash (1980)

The first vinyl release by the Boxes was not warmly received by the press. Clive Langer, who by 1979 had already successfully produced Bette Bright, Madness and the Teardrop Explodes, put his experience and focus into re-vitalizing his solo project. In 1980, after a support tour with Elvis Costello, Clive Langer and a new line-up for the Boxes – including Ben Barson on keyboards, James Eller on bass, Martin Hughes of drums, the brass section of the Rumour, plus Steve Allen and Bette Bright on backing vocals – released a couple of singles (namely Splash (A Tear Goes Rolling Down) b/w Hello and It’s All Over Now b/w Lovely Evening), both of which were to be included in the band’s first LP (except for the b-side Lovely Evening, already featured on the first 12”):

Splash (1980)
- Hello
- Never Wanted You
- Ain’t Gonna Kiss Ya
- Hope And Glory
- Best Dressed Man
- Half As Nice
- Splash
- It's All Over Now
- Burning Money
- Take You Down
- First Thing In The Morning


(For all Madness fans out there, this is where the sound that was to become distinctive of the band was born, experimented with and developed.) After his time with the Boxes, Clive Langer started his collaboration with Alan Winstanley, as one of the most appreciated and productive partnership of producers of the 80s.

clive langer - 1980


(see also http://www.langerwinstanley.com/ )