The Assembly
Encyclopedia
The Assembly were a synthpop
project formed in 1983 in Basildon
, England
by:
Feargal Sharkey
was hired as a guest vocalist for the A-side of the group's only single, "Never Never". Clarke and Radcliffe had planned to use a different singer on each track the group recorded, but the group disbanded after the release of "Never Never", and no other vocalists were employed by the duo.
(featuring vocalist Alison Moyet
), upon completion and distribution of Yazoo's 1983 album
, You and Me Both
. Clarke's partner in The Assembly was Eric Radcliffe.
The Assembly marked the most-involved phase of Clarke's long-term professional relationship with sound engineer
Radcliffe, who had contributed significant sonic influences to the recordings
of Clarke's previous bands, Depeche Mode
and Yazoo. However, the Assembly project never became a full-fledged band
and resulted in only one single
release, the UK
hit
"Never Never
" (which featured a then cutting-edge sampled
guitar
track triggered note for note on a Fairlight CMI
). The sound was plumped by the usage of session musician
Clem Clempson
on electric guitar
.
Former Undertones
frontman Feargal Sharkey
was hired to sing on this track
. Clarke and Radcliffe had planned to use a different singer on each track the group recorded, but none were released after "Never Never".
The other track on the single, "Stop/Start," was an instrumental
, featuring Clarke's signature songwriting style with syncopation
that gradually becomes the downbeat of the musical phrase.
Despite the commercial success of the single, The Assembly was no longer a functioning entity by the end of 1984. Clarke went on to form Erasure
with vocalist and co-songwriter Andy Bell
in 1985. Although Erasure worked with Radcliffe on some of their early work, they eventually began working with other producers and engineers, including Flood (aka Mark Ellis). Sharkey, for his part, began a successful solo career in 1984 and achieved his first UK number one single in 1985 with "A Good Heart
".
"Never Never" was re-released on CD single
in 1996 with four tracks, containing both the normal and extended versions of both the title song, and "Stop/Start". The music video
for "Never Never", filmed at Upminster Windmill
in the London Borough of Havering
, was featured on the first Now That's What I Call Music!
video in 1983, though it didn't feature on the corresponding compilation album.
Synthpop
Synthpop is a genre of popular music that first became prominent in the 1980s, in which the synthesizer is the dominant musical instrument. It was prefigured in the 1960s and early 1970s by the use of synthesizers in progressive rock, electronic art rock, disco and particularly the "Kraut rock" of...
project formed in 1983 in Basildon
Basildon
Basildon is a town located in the Basildon District of the county of Essex, England.It lies east of Central London and south of the county town of Chelmsford...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
by:
- Vince ClarkeVince ClarkeVince Clarke is an English synthpop musician and songwriter. Clarke has been involved with a number of successful groups, including Depeche Mode, Yazoo, The Assembly and Erasure....
(songwritingSongwriterA songwriter is an individual who writes both the lyrics and music to a song. Someone who solely writes lyrics may be called a lyricist, and someone who only writes music may be called a composer...
, keyboardsKeyboard instrumentA keyboard instrument is a musical instrument which is played using a musical keyboard. The most common of these is the piano. Other widely used keyboard instruments include organs of various types as well as other mechanical, electromechanical and electronic instruments...
, backing vocalsBacking vocalistA backing vocalist or backing singer is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists...
) - Eric RadcliffeEric RadcliffeEric Radcliffe is a recording engineer and producer who worked with New Wave and synthpop bands in the early 1980s in Basildon, England...
(songwriting, productionRecord producerA record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
)
Feargal Sharkey
Feargal Sharkey
Feargal Sharkey is a singer from Northern Ireland who first found fame as the lead vocalist of pop punk band The Undertones...
was hired as a guest vocalist for the A-side of the group's only single, "Never Never". Clarke and Radcliffe had planned to use a different singer on each track the group recorded, but the group disbanded after the release of "Never Never", and no other vocalists were employed by the duo.
Band history
Clarke founded The Assembly shortly after disbanding YazooYazoo (band)
Yazoo are a British synthpop duo from Basildon, Essex. They had a number of Top 10 hits in the UK charts in the early 1980s...
(featuring vocalist Alison Moyet
Alison Moyet
Alison Moyet , is an English singer, songwriter and performer noted for her bluesy voice.Her UK album sales have reached a certified 2.3 million, with 800,000 singles sold, all in the UK, where all seven of her studio albums and three compilation albums have charted in the Top 40 UK Album Chart,...
), upon completion and distribution of Yazoo's 1983 album
Album
An album is a collection of recordings, released as a single package on gramophone record, cassette, compact disc, or via digital distribution. The word derives from the Latin word for list .Vinyl LP records have two sides, each comprising one half of the album...
, You and Me Both
You and Me Both
You and Me Both is the second, and final, album released by British synthpop duo Yazoo in 1983. As was their debut, the record was produced by Yazoo members Vince Clarke and Alison Moyet along with E.C. Radcliffe...
. Clarke's partner in The Assembly was Eric Radcliffe.
The Assembly marked the most-involved phase of Clarke's long-term professional relationship with sound engineer
Audio engineering
An audio engineer, also called audio technician, audio technologist or sound technician, is a specialist in a skilled trade that deals with the use of machinery and equipment for the recording, mixing and reproduction of sounds. The field draws on many artistic and vocational areas, including...
Radcliffe, who had contributed significant sonic influences to the recordings
Sound recording and reproduction
Sound recording and reproduction is an electrical or mechanical inscription and re-creation of sound waves, such as spoken voice, singing, instrumental music, or sound effects. The two main classes of sound recording technology are analog recording and digital recording...
of Clarke's previous bands, Depeche Mode
Depeche Mode
Depeche Mode are an English electronic music band formed in 1980 in Basildon, Essex. The group's original line-up consisted of Dave Gahan , Martin Gore , Andy Fletcher and Vince Clarke...
and Yazoo. However, the Assembly project never became a full-fledged band
Band (music)
In music, a musical ensemble or band is a group of musicians that works together to perform music. The following articles concern types of musical bands:* All-female band* Big band* Boy band* Christian band* Church band* Concert band* Cover band...
and resulted in only one single
Single (music)
In music, a single or record single is a type of release, typically a recording of fewer tracks than an LP or a CD. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats. In most cases, the single is a song that is released separately from an album, but it can still appear...
release, the UK
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
hit
Hit record
A hit record is a sound recording, usually in the form of a single or album, that sells a large number of copies or otherwise becomes broadly popular or well-known, through airplay, club play, inclusion in a film or stage play soundtrack, causing it to have "hit" one of the popular chart listings...
"Never Never
Never Never (The Assembly song)
"Never Never" is the title of the only single released by the Vince Clarke project, The Assembly, in 1983.The song features Feargal Sharkey of The Undertones on vocals; Sharkey's performance on "Never Never" was a total departure from the punk sound of The Undertones. The song peaked at number four...
" (which featured a then cutting-edge sampled
Sampling (music)
In music, sampling is the act of taking a portion, or sample, of one sound recording and reusing it as an instrument or a different sound recording of a song or piece. Sampling was originally developed by experimental musicians working with musique concrète and electroacoustic music, who physically...
guitar
Guitar
The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
track triggered note for note on a Fairlight CMI
Fairlight CMI
The Fairlight CMI is a digital sampling synthesizer. It was designed in 1979 by the founders of Fairlight, Peter Vogel and Kim Ryrie, and based on a dual-6800 microprocessor computer designed by Tony Furse in Sydney, Australia...
). The sound was plumped by the usage of session musician
Session musician
Session musicians are instrumental and vocal performers, musicians, who are available to work with others at live performances or recording sessions. Usually such musicians are not permanent members of a musical ensemble and often do not achieve fame in their own right as soloists or bandleaders...
Clem Clempson
Clem Clempson
Clem Clempson is an English rock guitarist who has played in a number of bands including Colosseum and Humble Pie.-Career:...
on electric guitar
Electric guitar
An electric guitar is a guitar that uses the principle of direct electromagnetic induction to convert vibrations of its metal strings into electric audio signals. The signal generated by an electric guitar is too weak to drive a loudspeaker, so it is amplified before sending it to a loudspeaker...
.
Former Undertones
The Undertones
The Undertones are a punk rock/new wave band formed in Derry, Northern Ireland, in 1975.The original line-up of the Undertones released thirteen singles and four studio albums — The Undertones , Hypnotised , Positive Touch and The Sin of Pride — before disbanding in July 1983.Music guide Allmusic...
frontman Feargal Sharkey
Feargal Sharkey
Feargal Sharkey is a singer from Northern Ireland who first found fame as the lead vocalist of pop punk band The Undertones...
was hired to sing on this track
Song
In music, a song is a composition for voice or voices, performed by singing.A song may be accompanied by musical instruments, or it may be unaccompanied, as in the case of a cappella songs...
. Clarke and Radcliffe had planned to use a different singer on each track the group recorded, but none were released after "Never Never".
The other track on the single, "Stop/Start," was an instrumental
Instrumental
An instrumental is a musical composition or recording without lyrics or singing, although it might include some non-articulate vocal input; the music is primarily or exclusively produced by musical instruments....
, featuring Clarke's signature songwriting style with syncopation
Syncopation
In music, syncopation includes a variety of rhythms which are in some way unexpected in that they deviate from the strict succession of regularly spaced strong and weak but also powerful beats in a meter . These include a stress on a normally unstressed beat or a rest where one would normally be...
that gradually becomes the downbeat of the musical phrase.
Despite the commercial success of the single, The Assembly was no longer a functioning entity by the end of 1984. Clarke went on to form Erasure
Erasure
Erasure are an English synthpop duo, consisting of songwriter and keyboardist Vince Clarke and singer Andy Bell. Erasure entered the music scene in 1985 with their debut single "Who Needs Love Like That"...
with vocalist and co-songwriter Andy Bell
Andy Bell (singer)
Andrew Ivan "Andy" Bell is the lead singer of the English synthpop duo Erasure. He also has a solo career, with the albums Non-Stop and Electric Blue.-Early life:Andy Bell originates from the Dogsthorpe area in Peterborough...
in 1985. Although Erasure worked with Radcliffe on some of their early work, they eventually began working with other producers and engineers, including Flood (aka Mark Ellis). Sharkey, for his part, began a successful solo career in 1984 and achieved his first UK number one single in 1985 with "A Good Heart
A Good Heart
"A Good Heart" is a 1985 single by Feargal Sharkey, from his self-titled album.Written by Maria McKee about her relationship with Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers keyboard player Benmont Tench and produced by the Eurythmics' David A. Stewart, this was former Undertones singer Feargal Sharkey's third...
".
"Never Never" was re-released on CD single
CD single
A CD single is a music single in the form of a standard size Compact Disc, not to be confused with the 3-inch CD single, which uses a smaller form factor. The format was introduced in the mid-1980s, but did not gain its place in the market until the early 1990s...
in 1996 with four tracks, containing both the normal and extended versions of both the title song, and "Stop/Start". The music video
Music video
A music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings...
for "Never Never", filmed at Upminster Windmill
Upminster Windmill
Upminster Windmill is a Grade II* listed smock mill located in Upminster in the London Borough of Havering, England. It was originally known as Abraham's Mill and was in Essex when built...
in the London Borough of Havering
London Borough of Havering
The London Borough of Havering is a London borough in North East London, England and forms part of Outer London. The principal town in Havering is Romford and the other main communities are Hornchurch, Upminster and Rainham. The borough is mainly characterised by suburban development with large...
, was featured on the first Now That's What I Call Music!
Now That's What I Call Music!
Now That's What I Call Music! is a series of various artists compilation albums released in the United Kingdom and Ireland by Polygram /EMI/Sony Music/Virgin Records ; spinoff series were later introduced in South Africa and many other countries worldwide, including the United States...
video in 1983, though it didn't feature on the corresponding compilation album.
Discography
- "Never NeverNever Never (The Assembly song)"Never Never" is the title of the only single released by the Vince Clarke project, The Assembly, in 1983.The song features Feargal Sharkey of The Undertones on vocals; Sharkey's performance on "Never Never" was a total departure from the punk sound of The Undertones. The song peaked at number four...
" - A side "Never Never", B side "Start-Stop" (instrumental) - 1983 - MuteMute RecordsMute is an independent record label based in the UK. It was founded in 1978 by Daniel Miller and featured several prominent musical acts on its roster such as Goldfrapp, Depeche Mode, Yazoo, Erasure and Fad Gadget.-Beginnings:...
TINY1 - #4 UKUK Singles ChartThe UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...