Beat Boy

Beat Boy is the third studio album by the British new wave band Visage. It was recorded at Trident Studios between 1982 and 1983 and released on Polydor Records in October 1984 (delayed by contractual problems the band were having at that time). Reaching No. 79 on the UK album chart, the album was poorly received by critics and would be the band's last studio album for almost thirty years.

Background

The album was recorded and released after lead singer Steve Strange decided to make Visage a live band instead of being solely a studio-based project, a decision that left him working only with drummer Rusty Egan and a trio of newer musicians. Billy Currie (the Ultravox keyboardist who had been part of Visage for their first two albums) left the band soon after recording commenced, though co-wrote and played on the track "Only The Good Die Young". Keyboardist Dave Formula, who co-wrote two tracks, also departed the band during this time.

Beat Boy was released on 22 October 1984 on vinyl and cassette by Polydor Records. The cassette version of the album featured remixes of the album's original tracks, with a total running time of over 50 minutes. This included an extra track, the instrumental "Reprise" (a reprise of the track "Questions").

Beat Boy was eventually released on CD for the first time in February 2009 by Cherry Red Records, and featured the same track list as the original vinyl album with four extra tracks (see below). The remixed version of the album (as featured on the original cassette) remains unreleased on CD.

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	^[1]
Smash Hits	^[2]

Beat Boy was poorly received by critics. In a scathing review of the album, Ian Cranna of Smash Hits characterised Strange and Egan as "two wafer-thin talents" and described the album as "a cross between all-purpose Euro-disco and Queen, with excruciatingly amateurish lyrics".^[2]

Though the band's first two studio albums peaked within the Top 20 and Top 10 respectively, each earning a Silver disc in the UK, Beat Boy peaked at number 79 and spent only two weeks on the album chart. Two singles were released from the album, "Love Glove" in August 1984 (UK No. 54) and "Beat Boy" in November 1984, which did not chart.^[3] The critical and commercial failure of the album effectively marked the end of Visage as a recording act for the next couple of decades.

Track listing

All tracks written by S. Barnacle, Rusty Egan and Steve Strange, except as noted.

Side A
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Beat Boy"	Barnacle, Barnett, Egan, Dave Formula, Strange	6:46
2.	"Casualty"	Barnacle, Barnett, Egan, Strange	5:28
3.	"Questions"		6:11
4.	"Only the Good (Die Young)"	Barnacle, Barnett, Billy Currie, Egan, Formula, Strange	5:58

Side B
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Can You Hear Me"		6:29
2.	"The Promise"	Barnacle, Barnett, Egan, Strange	3:59
3.	"Love Glove"		4:45
4.	"Yesterday's Shadow"		6:29

2009 reissue bonus tracks
No.	Title	Length
9.	"Beat Boy" (dance mix)	7:19
10.	"Love Glove" (long version)	6: 38
11.	"She's a Machine"	4:54
12.	"Der Amboss"	5:39

Remixed cassette version

Side A
No.	Title	Length
1.	"Beat Boy"	7:15
2.	"Casualty" (dance mix)	5:58
3.	"Questions" (dance mix)	7:06
4.	"Only The Good (Die Young)"	5:30

Side B
No.	Title	Length
1.	"Can You Hear Me"	6: 26
2.	"The Promise" (dance mix)	4:08
3.	"Love Glove"	5: 40
4.	"Yesterday's Shadow"	6:30
5.	"Reprise" (instrumental reprise of the intro section to the Dance Mix of "Questions")	2:35

Personnel

Visage

Steve Strange – lead vocals
Andy Barnett – guitar
Steve Barnacle – bass
Gary Barnacle – saxophone
Rusty Egan – drums, electronic drum

Additional personnel

Billy Currie – keyboards
Dave Formula – keyboards
Marsha Raven – backing vocals
Karen Ramsey – backing vocals
Rose Patterson – backing vocals

References

↑ LeRoy, Dan. "Beat Boy – Visage | Songs, Reviews, Credits, Awards | AllMusic". AllMusic. Retrieved December 22, 2014.
1 2 Cranna, Ian (25 October 1984). "Album Reviews (Visage – "Beat Boy")". Smash Hits. EMAP Metro. 6 (21): 21.
↑ "Visage | Artist | Official Charts". Official Charts. Retrieved December 22, 2014.

External links

Beat Boy at Discogs (list of releases)

Visage

Steve Strange Rusty Egan Midge Ure Billy Currie Dave Formula John McGeoch Barry Adamson Steve Barnacle Gary Barnacle Andy Barnett Sandrine Gouriou Rosie Harris Ross Tregenza Steven Young Lauren Duvall Robin Simon

Studio albums	Visage The Anvil Beat Boy Hearts and Knives Demons to Diamonds

Compilation albums	Visage (EP) Fade to Grey – The Singles Collection Master Series The Damned Don't Cry The Face – The Very Best of Visage

Live albums	Orchestral

Singles	"Tar" "Fade to Grey" "Mind of a Toy" "Visage" "The Damned Don't Cry" "Night Train" "Pleasure Boys" "Love Glove" "Beat Boy"

Videos	Visage

Related articles	Visage discography Ultravox Magazine

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