BBC Sessions 85-87

A stunning mix of Northern Soul, machine-like beats, electroclash, slogans and agitpop, Age of Chance were one of the most exciting groups to emerge during the C86 era. They certainly didn’t sound like anybody else, that’s for sure. An uncompromising live act, Age of Chance were frantic and frenetic – and they even dallied with the mainstream via their version of Prince’s Kiss. Janglepop this is not.

Now, not before time, their three sessions for BBC Radio 1 are collected by Precious Recordings of London as part of the label’s ongoing series. And for good measure, they’ve included both sides of their first two incredible ground- breaking singles – Motorcity and Bible Of The Beats, both unavailable in any form for decades.

“That time was so exciting,” recalls frontman Steve Elvidge. “From the moment Peel played Motorcity the day after he received it, to working up Kiss specially for the second session. We all loved it and danced to it, but we wanted it to have our sound – the guitars, the hip-hop beats. I wished we’d recorded How The West Was Won on the first LP. It’s still one of the best things we’ve done.”

Guitarist Neil Howson described the progression of the BBC recordings, saying: “In the first session we’d focussed on a percussive and rhythmic sound, and into the second, we’d developed a broader scope, added open chords, harmonics and dynamic breaks. That informed From Now On, This Will Be Your God, which we wrote for C86; we wanted to experiment and try something more extreme than just a pop song. “The best example of that is How The West Was Won, which is almost cinematic. It feels like an echoing, symphonic wall of sound.”