[The Soup Nazi]

Originally Posted by Antagon

 

From the Mozipedia:

Monochrome Set, The, Arty and artful London post-punk group and one of Morrissey's favourite bands in the years directly before forming The Smiths. Significantly, The Monochrome Set released three singles on Rough Trade in 1979 which, as Johnny Marr has speculated, may have been a factor for Morrissey's preference for the label as a suitable home for The Smiths. Concrete evidence of his obsession with the group can be found in his correspondence with pen pal Robert Mackie circa 1980-1981. Morrissey sent Mackie a postcard of Clark Gable — in itself extremely weird bearing in mind that 20 years later he'd be living in a Hollywood home built by Gable — on the reverse of which he transcribed a verse from 'Ici Les Enfants', a track from their 1980 album Strange Boutique. In November 1980 he'd write to Mackie on the day he spent ₤3.99 on their follow-up album, Love Zombies, also sending him a photocopy of the album sleeve. 'It's a lovely record,' wrote Morrissey, 'but I feel I would enjoy it a lot more if I had a long mac. Actually, I have three.' He'd later chide in Mackie for not having heard the group: 'How can anyone go through life without the dear, cuddly Monochrome Set?'

The Monochrome Set formed out of Hornsey art school punks The B-Sides, an early vehicle for Stuart Goddard, soon to become Adam Ant. (In March 1981 Morrissey would also tell Mackie that 'Adam Ant bores the shit out of me'.) Led by enigmatic Anglo-Indian frontman Ganesh Seshadri, who wrote and performed under the pseudonym of Bid, The Monochrome Set's songs were witty, sexually provocative, intelectually playful and peppered with learned cinematic references from Mae West to Fritz Lang. Bid's lyrics, and the music of guitarist Lester Square, were comparable with Howard Devoto's Magazine in their respective archness and intricacy and as such were of obvious fascination to Morrissey. Consider the morbid affection of 1979's Rough Trade single 'Eine Symphonie Des Grauens': 'I'm dead and dank and rotten/My arms are wrapped in cotton/My corpse loves you, let's marry.' Or the similar black humour of Love Zombies' 'Apocalypso': 'All I desire is a Swiss bank account/Given an OBE and made a Count/Country estate with a resident staff/Acute angina and an epitaph.' It's also worth pointing out the sombre poise of Bid's vocals which may well have influenced Morrissey's early phrasing at the outset of The Smiths.

The Monochrome Set underwent various line-up and label changes during the early 80s, coming dangerously close to the UK singles chart with the crazed indie-gospel of 1985's 'Jacob's Ladder', but -peaking at number 81 - not close enough. They disbanded soon after only to re-form for a handful of albums in the 1990s. Those interested in assessing for themselves the group's stylistic influence upon Morrissey should refer to both the aforementioned Strange Boutique and Love Zombies as well as Volume, Contrast, Brilliance..., an anthology of early singles and radio sessions.

Of course, they've been active again since the past decade, and you can find a bunch of their stuff on Bandcamp. The first two albums have never sounded better (to these ears who never got to hear the original vinyl pressings, at least...).