ZANG TUMMM TUMB ARTICLES “the first draft of history”

PROPAGANDA TOUR FOR ARTLESS ZTT

PROPAGANDA (left), those Teutonic exponents of heroic electropop, begin their first British tour at the end of this month, as part of their Outside World Tour (In Various Stages) which started in America last month.

They’ll be spreading the gospel initially from Manchester Maxwell Hall on October 27, followed by Norwich University of East Anglia 29, Nottingham Rock City 30, Leeds University 31, Liverpool Royal Court November I, Glasgow Barrowland 2, Coventry Polytechnic 4, Birmingham Powerhouse 5, Leicester Polytechnic 6 and London Hammersmith Palais 7.

Addicts with money to burn will also be able to follow them around Portugal, Holland, Germany, Denmark, Italy, Switzerland and France later in the year.

Propaganda, who feature on ‘Zang Tumb Tuum Sampled’, out this week, made their live debut at ZTT’s The Value Of Entertainment London showcase gigs in May and scored Top Twenty placing with their first album ‘A Secret Wish’ in the summer.

Meanwhile, however, another ZTT act who were also promoted at the same showcase — Art Of Noise — have split from the Horn-Morley camp and release a single on their new label China on October 21.

Titled ‘Legs’, it will be distributed by Chrysalis and precedes a new album from the trio of Langan, Dudley and Jeczalik, who have also been working on individual projects.

While Art Of Noise announced this rather unexpected turn of events with a brief and cheery statement — ‘We are all terribly excited about singing to China and are really looking forward to playing there very soon’ — the response from ZTT was predictably verbose and pompous but also surprisingly acrimonious, if it can be taken at face value.

The ZTT statement explains how Art Of Noise were the ‘unit of communication’ involved in the early part of Horn and Morley’s eight year work entitled ‘The Raiding Of The 20th Century’ the main body of which ‘will emerge between late 1986 and 1990'.

But, gripes the overlong press-release, members of the group who ‘aided on the musical side of Horn and Morley’s swindling, mediating project have now decided that they are competent enough to pursue a conventional rock career’.

Accordingly, it continues, they have ‘jettisoned themselves out into the pop area where meaningless is a virtue’, and the three musicians have retained the name Art Of Noise as ‘the commercial success associated with it suits their brazen career-besotted attitude.

’Horn and Morley,’ it adds, ‘view their decision with resigned amusement.’

Informed of this latest outpouring from Basing Street, Art Of Noise’s JJ told Sounds: “I think we’re a good deal happier since we stopped working with ZTT. Let’s just say that there were personality clashes. ZTT’s press release is complete twaddle.”

The grandiose raiding of the 20th Century is, however, not to cease. The deadly duo are to be joined by one S J Lipson ‘for the purpose of record releases’ and the name of the group ‘for handling reasons’ will become Art And ACT, or alternately a.a.a.

Their first single ‘Life’s A Barrel Of Laughs’ will be recorded during November and December, its release to be accompanied by a pamphlet entitled ‘A Decent Way’.