age of chance - story
well what to say. i was at leeds poly in 87 when aoc's attack on all things grey and grim was evident, this was when pre-house club fixated leeds just coming out of the goth era. just seeing the band in their day-glo cycle gear was fantastic.
i first approached neil h (guitarist) in jumbo records (when it was small shop in merrion centre) and asked regarding a mix of kiss which peelie had played a couple of nights previously - the mix included samples of james brown/bruce springsteen/prince's original kiss etc. to name but a few. neil said he'd sent a taped copy as the 12" wasn't going to get a release due to samples and/or the changing of their label from fon to virgin. the tape turned up along with a live set from beastie boys etc. following on i saw neil several times and got to know him , geoff t (bass), jan p (drums) and steven e (vocals) quite well. i constantly wore their logo tshirt in 87.
aoc were regulars at a nightclub called downbeat (run by a dj called mark) the first real hip-hop/underrground dance club in leeds, which was hosted in a variety of places. this club was also frequented by nightmares on wax/ unique 3 .. a real scene starter - wonderful.
then aoc released '1000 years of trouble' on virgin. to this day i regard this lp as a real turning point of my listening taste. prior to this i was predominantly an indie-guitar' fan. this lp fused hip-hop, samples, massive noise - a stunning 30+ minutes and wonderully packaged by the new sheffield design house designers republic, who ripped off this cover ad infinitumm for pop will eat itself - a band who lifted the aoc noise manifesto and repackaged it for the pop-kids massive!
as time passed and i got to know aoc i ended up going with them to their big gig at town and country in london. the highlight of their big '1000 years of trouble' tour. the gig was stunning, and for me personally a highlight due to the fact that at the post-gig party was also chris foreman aka chrissy boy from madness who i had idolised in my teenage years - so i swapped addresses with chris and commicated with a true pop-star hero.
as is well known steven left aoc shortly after this highlight, and started someting called mad love which i never heard anything by. aoc were joined by charlie h. i never met charlie. which, seeing as i saw the 'gang' just about every week in leeds was an indicator that he was a bit of an outsider.
the second album (mecca) was not really something that has memories other than geoff telling me outside leeds poly that he wasn't proud of it and then they were forced by virgin to go more pop. a slight hit with higher than heaven .. then aoc left/dropped by virgin.
next came 2 independant 12" singles with jan on vocals - first was called slow motion riot - an absolute stunner of a track - i remember chris lowe (pet shop boys) playing it on radio 1 - but the track was never picked up commercially - a real shame. second 12" 'she sells secrets ep' was an amazing fusion of techno and rock, and mad house piano riffs - sounded like a better version of curve - but then i am biased ;-)
and, that about wraps up my aoc story. they brought a lot of colour into leeds in 87 and to this day i regard them as a great band who just didn't quite make it. and i still have the tshirts !
;-)