It shows you how far and fast New Wave travelled. Five years earlier, Chris Sullivan might have been screaming lyrics in a punk band; in 1980, he could have been skanking in front of some neo-ska bunch. But in 1982, he was singing in a quasi-salsa/cool-jazz group wanting, in his words, to “bring back showbiz”.
Their second album, Chewing the Fat, used a number of big name producers (Langer and Winstanley, Godley and Creme, Mike Chapman), and the multi-ethnic London-based ten-piece turned in solid performances.
Blue Rondo à la Turk fractured with guitarist Mark Reilly, bassist Kito Poncioni and keyboard player Daniel White leaving to found the soon-to-be-chart-bound group Matt Bianco.
Art Collins, Tholo Tsegona, Moses Mount Bassie and Mike Bynoe also dropped out around this time, leaving the group a trio: vocalists Sullivan and Christos Tolera, and percussionist Geraldo D’Arbilly.
Chris Sullivan
Vocals
Christos Tolera
Vocals
Mark Reilly
Guitars
Kito Poncioni
Bass
Mike (‘Choco Mick’) Lloyd Bynoe
Drums and timbales
Geraldo D’Arbilly
Percussion
Moses Mount Bassie
Saxophone
Art Collins
Saxophone
Tholo Peter Tsegona
Trumpet
Daniel White
Keyboards
