Now thats what I call music

Cabaret Voltaire came from Sheffield, England.

Initially comprised of Stephen Mallinder, Richard H. Kirk and Chris Watson, the group was named after the Cabaret Voltaire, a nightclub in Zurich, Switzerland that was a center for the early Dada movement.

Their earliest performances were dada-influenced performance art, they later developed into one of the most prolific and important groups to blend pop with dance music, techno, dub house and experimental electronic music.

The band formed in Sheffield in 1973 and experimented widely with sound creation and processing, seemingly more interested in sound itself rather than song. They eventually turned to live performance - generally attracting hostility from Sheffield's working-class audiences. For a while Sheffield was the city I looked to for music, it was my Chicago (for the house types that I know visit here)

In 1978, Cabaret Voltaire signed to Rough Trade Records. With Rough Trade they released several highly acclaimed musically experimental singles and EPs, including Extended Play, Nag Nag Nag, Three Mantras and 3 Crepuscule Tracks, and albums such as The Voice of America in 1980 and the widely-hailed Red Mecca in 1981.

In 1983, coinciding with the departure of Watson (who went on to found The Hafler Trio with Andrew M. McKenzie before becoming a BBC sound engineer and then a soloist), Cabaret Voltaire decided consciously to turn in a more commercial direction, with the album The Crackdown on Virgin Records. This decision was rewarded with the album reaching No. 31 in the UK - over 60 places higher than their previous (and only) chart placing. In 1984, the singles "Sensoria" and "James Brown" from the album Micro Phonies (also on Virgin) charted on the independent music charts as well as getting heavy play in the underground dance scene.

In 1987, the band released Code, followed by the house-influenced Groovy, Laidback & Nasty in 1990. A series of completely instrumental works under the Cabaret Voltaire name were released on Instinct Records in 1993 and 1994, but appeared to be largely the product of Kirk. However, Mallinder was present and involved in these recordings even if his vocals were absent. The only album where Mallinder's involvement is questionable is 1994's The Conversation where Kirk is credited with all instruments, programming, arrangements and samples and Mallinder gets only a co-writing credit. The last CV release to feature Mallinder singing is the ethno-techno single, Colours in 1990.

In my world one of the most important bands ever! They were my Beatles, my Brian Wilson, my Bryds, my Velvet Underground.... that set the benchmarks by which I judged and assessed so much music - that wasn't guitar centric.

Naga Nag Nag is one of my top five singles of all time and Voice Of America one of my top five albums. For many years they dominated my listening and buying habits.

I heart Cabaret Voltaire to use the language of the young.

Nag Nag Nag as featured here is the type of track that should be on high rotate in the sets of the young electro punks/disco punks or whatever they call themselves movement that is popular with the indie kids of today.... to put it simply: it fucking rocks!