Dark Entries Records (USA) / LP
STARTER was a minimal electronic/synthpop group from Switzerland,
formed in 1980 by vocalist and fashion designer Francis Foss, Claudine Chirac
(from fellow Swiss Wave group Grauzone) and Jet Harbour. Originally the band also included Stephan Eicher who co-wrote two songs but departed
before the band recorded their debut album. STARTER began in the city of Bern
when Francis, Claudine and Jet decided to create their own brand of New Wave
music inspired by Gary Numan and Kraftwerk.They released their debut,
self-titled album STARTER in the summer of 1981, making this
summer the 30th anniversary of this long out-of-print and extremely hard to
find LP!
Using early analog
Roland and Korg synthesizers, STARTER’S music seamlessly merges wistful
electronics from Germany’s Neue Deutsche Welle movement and powerful vocal stylings from French Chanson. Alongside their Swiss Wave contemporaries like Grauzone, Yello,Liliputt/Kleenex,
STARTER created a new brand of hallucinatory ‘Techno-Pop’ made up of chopped
rhythms, energetic and almost epileptic vocals that are immediately catchy and
hypnotic, perfect for the dance-floor. In 1985 STARTER reformed as a duo with
Francis Foss on vocals again and Gary Grey on synth/rhythm programming. Their
first single “
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