The Palace of Infinite Darkness

The complete 80’s March Violets plus 6 BBC Sessions and 2 CDs of unreleased rarities. Founder member Rosie Garland contributes notes in a 44-page illustrated booklet. The 85 tracks include all indie chart hits plus alt versions and unheard studio tracks. Features indie chart-toppers Snake Dance, Deep and Walk into the Sun 7” and extended versions.

The march violets came out of Leeds in the early 80’s, label-mates of Sisters of Mercy. Releasing six indie singles, they were a constant presence in the UK indie charts, hitting the top two with Snake Dance and Deep and no. 1 with Walk into The Sun. They never recorded an album – their '80's long-players, Natural History in the UK and Electric Shades in the USA, were compilations. Eventually they signed to a major label and were groomed for a USA breakthrough, performing in the 1987 Some Kind of Wonderful movie. However, they were asked to make too many compromises and split up.

Here is their entire 1980’s independent catalogue in both original and extended versions, together with six BBC Sessions – 23 tracks with 9 unreleased songs. Plus the set has two CDs of yet many more unreleased sessions, one from the early years 1982-84, and one covering 1985-87. The collection chronicles their development with lead singers Simon Denbigh, Rosie Garland and Cleo Murray, backed by bassist Lawrence Elliot and guitarist Tom Ashton.