Fade to Grey (Visage song)

"Fade to Grey"
Song
B-side	"The Steps"

"Fade to Grey"
Song

"Fade to Grey"
Song

"Fade to Grey" is the second single by British New Romantic group Visage.

The song was the band's most successful single and is often considered one of the most representative songs of the New Romantic era. It was recorded at Genetic Sound Studios and released as a single on Polydor Records on November 10, 1980. It became a huge dancefloor hit and entered the singles charts in early 1981 peaking at no.8 in the UK and reaching no.1 in several other countries.

History

The song's structure was primarily composed by Billy Currie and Christopher Payne. While setting the tracklisting of the Visage album, Midge Ure composed the song's lyics 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 [1]: "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. Cedric [Sharpley - drummer of the Gary Numan's backing band] was also heavily involved. In those days it was called 'Toot City'".

Regarding the meaning of the lyrics, Steve Strange gave an explanation in an interview on Bravo magazine [2]: "Not long ago I have been in Berlin and I looked over "the wall" to East Berlin [...] a tristess overview. Everything appeared being grey for me, weird, threatening– the barbed wire, the Vopos. And then I saw an old, tired man moving with a stick. Tired, disappointed of life. And there in mind the picture of Fade to Grey came to me: getting into grey, in the old age, sinking into nothing. This mood should the song tell about." However, it should be noted that the song's lyrics were not written by Strange, although many years later on the UK Channel 4 show "Top Ten New Romantics", he 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). The French vocal was performed by Bridget Arendt, a young woman from Luxembourg who was Rusty Egan's girlfriend at the time. The video also featured Billy Idol's girlfriend, at the time, Perri Lister.

A remix by Bassheads/Andy Stevenson was released in 1993 to promote the "Best of Visage" compilation, becoming a modest Top 40 hit. Several other artists have made their own versions of this song.

In 2007 "Fade to Grey" was sampled on the Kylie Minogue song "Like a Drug" from her album X.

In 2008, Strange appeared on the BBC series Ashes to Ashes performing the song in the Blitz nightclub.

B-sides

The B-side to the original "Fade to Grey" single is "The Steps", an instrumental track taken from the Visage album. The B-side to the French release of the single was a different album track, "Moon Over Moscow".

Visage version personnel

• Steve Strange (vocals)
• Brigit Arendt (from Luxembourg) (French vocals)
• Midge Ure (backing vocals)
• Billy Currie (synthesizer, electric violin)
• Christopher Payne (synthesizer, viola)
• Cedric Sharpley (drums, electronic drums programming)
• Rusty Egan (backing vocals)

Chart performance

Chart (1981)	Peak position
Germany	1
Austria	3
Sweden	12
Switzerland	1
Australia	6
UK	8
Ireland	7

The Datura version

In the 1990s, the Italian electronic group Datura made a distinctive version of Fade to Grey with a rerecorded vocal track by Steve Strange singing lyrics specifically for the version.

Fade to Grey and One Word

In 2005, a copyright dispute arose over similarities between Fade to Grey and the Kelly Osbourne single, One Word. Billy Currie accused One Word writer Linda Perry of copyright infringement and had discussions with co-writers Midge Ure and Christopher Payne with a view to taking legal action. However, the matter was resolved after Perry agreed to pay them a share of the royalties from the single. Visage's second incarnation have announced their intention to release a One Word remix, but this has not yet materialised. They have, however, produced a reworked version of Fade to Grey in 2005.

Ironically, Italian pop star Tiziano Ferro had a hit in Italy in 2006 with Stop! Dimentica, a song which is basically an unauthorized Italian version of the Kelly Osbourne single.

Track listing

7" version:

1. "Fade to Grey" - 3:49
2. "The Steps" - 3:14

12" version:

1. "Fade to Grey (Extended)" – 6:14
2. "The Steps" – 3:14

Visage 1993 Mixes

1. Fade to Grey (Bassheads 7" edit) – 3:22 (remixed by Bassheads aka Desa/Nick) & Andy Stevenson
2. Fade to Grey (7" remix) – 3:37 [remixed by Tim Wedge/Daryl Stickley]
3. Fade to Grey (original 7" mix) – 3:49
4. Fade to Grey (Bassheads 12" Dub) – 7:35 (remixed by Bassheads aka Desa/Nick)
5. Fade to Grey (Bassheads 12" Trance) – 7:28 (remixed by Bassheads aka Desa/Nick) & Dave Ralph
6. Fade to Grey (Subliminal Mix) – 5:16 [remixed by Tim Wedge/Daryl Stickley]
7. Fade to Grey (Wild Cat Mix) – 7:48 [remixed by Tim Wedge/Daryl Stickley]

Datura version

1. Fade to Grey (Kama Edit) – 3:40
2. Fade to Grey (Kama) – 4:40
3. Fade to Grey (Lila Instrumental) – 4:26
4. Eternity (Datura's Seed) – 4:30
5. Eternity (Datura's Leaf) – 4:44

References

• Numan Digest, December 1995
• Fansite with Bravo magazine's quote
• Information on Datura's version of 'Fade to Grey'