In the early '80s, energised by hip hop and electro, New Order produced a string of acts for Factory under their short-lived studio moniker Be Music, the results of which were greeted with indifference on these shores. Quite why is hard to fathom since, as Twice As Nice attests, tracks like "Sakura" by Section 25 and "Motherland" by RFATP were taut, bewitching slices of robo-funk that still excite today. The other producers herein (Arthur Baker, Mark Kamins and Donald "Dojo" Johnson of A Certain Ratio) all had their moments, too.
Described recently as "the ultimate good-bad rock movie", this 1994 movie (along with the 10m-selling album) brought the liquid-hipped one to middle America, mutating his funk into warped guitar rock. The story? Bad boy with warring mixed-race parents, Prince takes it out on girlfriend Apollonia, till she whips her top off. Then everyone's happy, so they jam.
Barely six months after the demise of Theatre Of Hate, Kirk Brandon was braving it on stage in Manchester in March 1983 with a new band, name and repertoire. That his audience look mighty perplexed by SOD's brassier tribal goth-dub makes his fearless performance, caught here, even more compelling.
