I met John Walters at the Barry Summer camp in Wales in the early 70's
(maybe 73). We started as a practice group a couple of nights a week justplaying through John's compositions initially and then later adding in Pete's and Chris's then mine and Andy's.
2. How was the final line-up arrived formed?
Process of elimination really. People would not show up regularly and we'd let them go. We always knew that everyone had to be committed (to the project not an institution). In the end the guitar slot was the last one to be sorted out. We had a guy who went off to Berklee and then Lawrence Juber who joined Wings. We just said screw it we won't have a guitarist anymore.
3. What was it like in the early days, playing live?
Very exhilarating. We felt like we were breaking new ground and
particularly when we started playing the pub circuit we were introducing some pretty new music to people who would not normally listen to stuff like that.
4. What was the best/worst places you visited?
For me there was a night in Aberdeen. The people were very nice but we
slept on the floor of this absolutely freezing cold office and I seem to remember some terrapins and someone throwing bits of dead terrapins onto a fireplace that was not lit. It was above a health food restaraunt and we thought we could hear rats scratching around all night.
5. How was the decision arrived at to choose those particular
songs for the EP?
It was a combination of the most popular songs of the time and the best recordings we had of them. We recorded every show and it came down to the performance and the technical quality of the recording.
6. Did anything else happen at this time?
I remember playing at the Swan Pub in Hammersmith and there was a bachelor party upstairs which somehow we got invited up to or maybe we weren't invited but we went up anyway. There were two Swedish strippers there who turned out to be more than strippers and the party turned into more of an orgy which was kind of intriguing. We had to keep running downstairs to play a set and racing back up to see who was doing what now.
7. Which awards did you win, and how did they improve Landscape?
We won the Vitavox live sound award which basically gave us our PA. That was life changing in that it allowed us to play out a lot more and our sound got dramatically better. then we won the Greater London Arts Association Award that really encouraged us to play out in London more. We started doing as many nights as we could. I recall that we were doing 6 nights a week a lot of the time.
8. Were there any merchandising?
We did a ton of T-shirts that were designed by Stina, Pete's then
girlfriend, now wife.
9. Did touring cause you any problems during the making of
Landscape LP?
No I think it made it better. We could road test the music. We were tired a lot but it was a pretty exhilarating time.
10. Did you make any TV appearances to back up the
LP'S, Landscape, Tearooms and Manhattan ?
For Landscape we did The Old Grey Whistle test and I think we did some
other things too but I can't remember what they were. For Tearooms we did pretty much everything, TOTP, I'm sure regional shows and most of the European shows.
11. Why did you change the jazz sound of the EP's?
After we put out Landscape on RCA and it sold less than the EPs that we did on our own label. I realized that RCA was not going to be able to promote an instrumental jazz/punk band (as some people referred to us). We were about to go in to record the next album and John and I had been messing around with computers for a while, I had the prototype of what was to become the Simmons SDS 5 electronic drum that I had been working on with Dave Simmons. John and I programmed a new instrumental song called Route Nationale into the computer. Over Christmas I sat down and wrote lyrics to the song and it became European Man. We recorded it and the label liked it.
Amazingly the whole band seemed to be interested in that direction. We knew we had stepped into a new kind of music that hadn't really existed before.
12. Did you tour to support it?
It was tough with the computers of the time. They would crash constantly and it took forty minutes to back up a single song onto cassette.
13. Did the TV appearances for the first LP increase sales?
I think our fanbase pretty much accounted for the sales of the first album.
RCA's performance was abysmal.
14. What did the critics and fans think of it?
I think the fans liked it. I never read reviews so I don't know what the critics thought of it.
15. Were you disappointed by the low level of sales?
I really was. I never wanted to sign with RCA in the first place. We really had a great thing going with our own label and think we would've done much better if we'd put it out on our own label. RCA has steadfastly refused to keep our records available over the years and in my estimation with respect to our back catalog represents everything bad that is ever said about major record labels.
16. What did you think caused that?
I don't think they had a clue how to promote something that was a bit out of the ordinary.
17. How would you have improved the LP?
I hate the way that record sounds. I think all the life was squeezed out of the band. That era of Landscape was about the live performance and the interaction of the players. I really don't think that comes through on that record.
18. What was your favourite track(s) on Landscape, and why?
I love Japan as a piece and it's probably one of the more successful
recordings. Overall the band played really well on the album I just don't like the very dead, lifeless recorded quality of it. I always liked Mechanical Bride just because it's so quirky. Truthfully I wouldn't change anything about the material I like all the music and the performances I just don't like the way it was recorded and produced.
19. Least favourite, and why? (yes, they're basic questions,
and after a while, they're going to become horribly
familiar; sorry)
No least favorites really.
20. How did you come up with the names for the tracks on all
the LP's?
With instrumentals it's what you want to call something. Usually you can see the connection: Japan is orientalish, Mechanical Bride is machine like and so on.
21. The guitar on The Electronic Bride...
There was no guitar on the album. Chris would use distortion on the Fender Rhodes and Pete likewise on the trombone.
22. Did you do any video's?
Not for that album but there are three from Tearooms (Einstein, Norman
Bates and European Man) and one from Landscape III ( So good so pure so kind)
23. How was it decided for Richard to be lead singer?
I think it was just a natural progression from me being the protagonist for writing lyrics and moving in that direction.
24. How did the musical change for Tearooms come about?
As I described it above.
25. Were you disappointed the response European Man received the second time around?
I can't remember what that was really. I was very very distraught about the fact that the Musicians Union blacked the video for Norman Bates because some idiot at RCA forgot to get the proper clearances. At the time we were very active in the MU and I talked to them about the fact that it would only hurt the band. They just didn't care. We had, I think, eleven showings of the video lined up for the week of release which I think with Pamela Stevenson having a starring role in it would have pushed the song way higher than it subsequently went. We lost all of those plays and I think to this day it hasn't been shown on British TV.
26. Be honest, Face Of The 80's was making fun of Kraftwerk and
The Model, wasn't it?
Not directly. We weren't that influenced by Kraftwerk. We had a huge
admiration for them but we always knew we were trying to do something
really different than they were. It was more a comment on the being famous for being famous sake thing that was starting to happen in the late seventies.
27. In that case then, what was it about?
As above.
28. Norman Bates as the 2nd single; 2 things: 1. WTH?!! 2. WHY?
RCA in a word. I love Norman Bates. It's my favorite track off the album and I didn't write it. I opposed that choice with all my heart and soul. In my mind it should have been European Man again or Shake the West Awake.
29. Why didn't you choose the far superior Face Of The 80's?
That would've been good too. I wrote that so it was a harder pick for me.
30. What was appearing on TOTP like?
It was cool. I'd been on it tons of times before though with Barbara
Dickson, The Buggles, Driver 64 (or whatever they were called) and several other artists. Plus I was down there every week with Spandau or something I'd produced. It was definitely a buzz to do it as an artist though.
31. Whose idea was it to stand still for the whole time?
I think it was our way of dealing with the fact that we weren't capable of doing anything cool in the dance dept so we tried to make a statement of being dorks or nerds or whatever the terminology would be.
32. Oh yes, Einstein; did you ever think it would go to
number 1?
I really did think it had the capability actually. I knew we had something there when we wrote it. I remember everyone at the label agonising over it though.
33. How did you come up with the ideas for the
videos of: 1. European Man. 2. Norman Bates.
Norman Bates was easy we just ripped off Psycho. European Man we tried to visually represent the song and stick to the formula of looking modern and having girls in it to distract from us.
34. New Religion is next logical step on from Landscape;
was this track recorded live?
Not completely no.
35. How did you come up with the superb idea and execution
for Tearooms track?
It started as three seperate pieces. I think mine and John's and Pete's. We were messing with it at my house one day and I think I suggested the name because it sounded like space lounge music.
36. The Doll's House; certainly different; care to explain?
That was Chris's name concept. We were doing dance classes at a place in Soho that may have been called that. I can't remember. I do know we jammed the basic idea in soundcheck and I believe Chris went away and developed it further. I think the basic riff was his too. I love that track. Chris was always the avant garde expert.
37. What was your favourite track(s) off Tearooms?
I like the album overall. I probably like Norman Bates and Doll's House personally but not as singles just as pieces of work.
38. Least favourite?
Funnily enough Face of the 80s. Mainly because there is too much of me in there and it's uncomfortable for me to listen to that.
39. What was the critics' and public response to Tearooms
and Einstein?
Like I said I don't read reviews but I do remember the response being
overwhelmingly great until we had the hit with Einstein and then the build em up knock em down thing started. I mean, we were the underdogs for so long and then it seemed like we had a few months of being press darlings and it was over.
40. Why didn't you tour to support Einstein?
We did do a lot of showcase things in clubs. The computer thing was really the problem.
41. How many of each did you sell (of Einstein and Tearooms) and did you make any money off it?
I don't know the numbers and no we didn't make any money from the album sales.
42. The lyrics were not included for this LP; have you got
the lyrics for the Tearooms track?
Somewhere I have yes.
43. 12"s. When it came to the extended versions, why did
Landscape royally mess up on them?
Example 1. Einstein. 7" B-side: New Religion;
12" B-side : Japan. Why didn't you do an extended version?
There is an extended 12" of Japan
Example 2. European Man. B-side The Electronic Bride, LP version.
12" B-side, exactly the same version. Why didn't you extend it?
Probably because RCA wouldn't pay for it.
44. How did your association with Hot Gossip come about?
I got a call from their management company. They also managed the band
Shock who I had produced some tracks for and I guess they liked the Spandau and Landscape stuff that I had done.
45. Your thoughts on the LP you did with them; what was your
reaction to the fate of it?
I loved the record. The problem was that like most people who wanted to work with me they wanted me to regurgitate something I had done before. I just don't do that. I approach every project as a unique thing. We kept them informed the whole time and they heard everything we did all the way to the mix and then the day after we delivered the mixes they freaked on us. I think with a few more years under my belt
I may have been able to have negotiated my way through that minefield but I was young and idealistic and the whole thing just blew up in my face. Ironically a copy of our abum got out and got an unbelievable review. That album not coming out was a very low spot for me.
46. Then came the release of Manhattan Boogie-Woogie.
Why didn't RCA release it over here? (yes, I'm one of the
12 in the UK to own a copy.
)
I think they did but they just didn't invest any time or money in it.
47. Was your mind, as well as the rest of the groups' mind
elsewhere during the making of it?
No not at all. We were all really excited about the record. I haven't
listened to it in years so I can't comment on how I feel about it now. We knew by then that RCA was not going to do that much for the band.
48. When You Leave Your Lover; I know this is a personal track,
written and sung at an emotional time; did you ever thought that
it could become a single, and a new direction for Landscape?
I suppose I was trying to move in that direction. I have always realized that to be a great artist you have to expose yourself . I never had an easy time doing that which in the end was why I preferred producing to being an artist. We were always a quirky tongue in cheek band and I'm not sure in retrospect that we ever could've done that more personal kind of thing effectively.
49. Was Eastern Girls written tongue in cheek?
Totally. 100%. Unfortunately I realized about halfway through recording it that there was the strong possibility that it would be taken seriously. Sadly our manager of the time heard the track, loved it, played it for RCA who also loved it and insisted on putting it out as a single. It got slammed particularly by one reviewer who totally looked at it as a serious comment. This was the week I really stopped reading reviews and the press about us in general. Even before the review I wanted to pull the track from the album and definitely never wanted it as a single. I saw the danger in
the song. I think I realized that we had either been too deadpan about the humor or just simply got it wrong.
50. What was your favourite/least favourite track(s) off the LP?
Eastern Girls was my least favorite. Again I believe that was one that I was most responsible for. I think I liked Manhattan Boogie Woogie the best but I haven't listened to the record since the early 80s. That's certainly the one I remember the most.
51. How did Landscape III come about?
Well it was obvious that Landscape was grinding to a halt. We couldn't tour because of the computer thing. Our management situation was never stable so we never had consistent career advice. There were a lot of internal differences and it was getting very hard to function. Andy John and myself were interested in pursuing a different direction.
52. So Good So Pure So Kind is a superb track; were you
upset at the response it got?
No in the respect that it got a great response. The record was leaping up the charts. Had there not been a change of MD at RCA that record would have been a hit for sure. The new MD came in. for whatever reason he just didn't like the band. The record was in the nineties and jumping about 30 places a week at the time. He called us in for a meeting and said that he was pulling the record or something to that effect. I had had enough by then.
Shortly after that we were able to get out of our deal with RCA.
53. The Fabulous Nutrinos was the next step on from
New Religion. I reckon at this rate you lot would
of written the likes of Firestarter about 2-3 years
before anybody else!
Thank you. We were delving into areas that would form the basis of a lot of new styles of music. Unfortuntely as a pioneer you're not always the ones who get to benefit from the trails you have blazed. We were incredibly idealistic about what we were doing. It really excited us going into uncharted territories. Apart from Peter Gabriel, John and I were the first people to go on a commercial record with samples (Kate Bush's Never Forever).
There were only a handful of people doing anything like what we were doing. I remember standing up at a Roland seminar out in Ealing and saying that the way we were making records with computers would be the way records would be made in the not too distant future. I think they were happy to hear that (because they were making the equipment) but I don't
think that anyone there really thought that it would ever happen to the extent it subsequently has.
54. And on You Know How To Hurt Me. Were you surprised on
the response you received for this weak pop song?
I can't comment on weak. I liked the song. The first time I met Matt
Pinfield from MTV US and now from the TV show Farmclub (in the US) he
mentioned that song to me and how much he had liked it at the time
55. How did the Richard James Burgess EP come about?
(yes, I'm one of the 4 people in the world who own this.
)
Actually in the States it sold a lot better than that. It was by no means a blockbuster but I did get two singles to go top five on the dance charts in the states. I was offered a deal by Capitol. At the time they had just done and were just doing a great job for Thomas Dolby and Duran Duran. I wanted to bring in an outside producer. They insisted I produce it myself since I had had a lot of success as a producer by then.
56. What was your favourite/least favourite track(s)
off it, and why?
I haven't listened to it since 84. I rarely go back and listen to my old work.
57. Was the EP, and The Fugitive 12" ever released to
the public, as my copies are stamped promo?
I don't think in England they were but they were in the States.
58. If it wasn't, why not?
Harsh commercial reality. If I had had more radio success on one of the singles it would have had the red carpet treatment. That's the reality of the music business.
59. And if it was, what was the reaction to it?
In dance circles in the States I got phenomenal reviews (apparently) and it charted as I mentioned. The whole club scene was not as fully formed then as it is now.
60. What did you do after your final connection with
Landscape ended?
I moved to NYC which I had been wanting to do for years. I had been
spending a lot more time there since 1980.
61. To the above, would it be possible to go through
it event by event?
I realized through all of this that I preferred the behind the scenes side of the music business more then the frontman artist part. I did get sick of the promotional tours and touring generally although at the time it was a lot of fun. It was a good time to move on and do something new. My production career was booming and I would've been foolish not to pursue that with all my energy.
62. What have you been doing recently? (yes, I saved
the old 'Where are they now?' till the end. At
least I had the decency to save it near the end.)
I currently own a label, booking agency and management company on the East Coat of the US. I am really doing an extension of what I have always done which is develop artist's careers. I have several bands signed to major US labels and I thoroughly enjoy what I am doing. I wrote a book called "The Art of Record Production," which has become required reading in music business courses in many universities. I lecture and give seminars on the subject and on the music business in general.
63. What does the future beckon for you?
Onwards and upwards. The internet is fascinating, I continue my long love of computers and at the same time have gone back to live music in the bands I represent. I like to go against the flow a little and will probably continue to do that. I'm always looking for things that challenge and stimulate me.
64. Any final words about Landscape, and to the
unknown public?
We had our shot and I'm happy that we were able to have the success we did. A twist here a turn there and things may have turned out better or worse. In retrospect I think I was incredibly lucky to have worked with such a strange bunch of intellectually and musically stimulating people.
Creatively we were always trying to push the envelope. We used to have a rule in the band that if anyone ever thought that something sounded reminiscent of something else they had heard we would reject it. On a good night there was no experience I've ever had that was more exhilarating than playing live with Landscape. During the live period our fans were incredibly loyal and enthusiastic not to mention diverse. I think it was close to a miracle that we ever got to have chart success with music that was as off the wall as it was and with a band that looked as odd as we did.
I was never bored with that band.
