6. Young Marble GiantsColossal Youth

There was an amazing ballroom in Hammersmith where I saw Young Marble Giants with my partner, and then I went all over the place watching them. I loved the simplicity. That’s so hard to achieve. They were the single most important influence on what we did. The difference between Blancmange doing tupperware and tape loops was seeing Young Marble Giants. I used to pester them with cassettes of what we were doing. In fact, we never got to support them but when we ended up doing a few gigs in our own right and had some success, Young Marble Giants had split up and Weekend – Philip [Moxham] and Alison [Statton]’s band – ended up supporting us. That was a strange feeling. I’d always imagined me having the opportunity to do something to support them. Wonderful tracks, beautiful lyrics, just absolutely straight to the point straightaway.