Biography

Fashion were founded in 1978 in Birmingham, England, originally as a post-punk band in the vein of Gang of Four or Magazine. The band originally consisted of singer/guitarist Luke James, bassist/keyboardist John Mulligan (simply known as Mulligan) and drummer Dik Davis. In 1979 the band signed to IRS Records and released their first album, Product Perfect. The album failed to chart and mainly received airplay on college radio.

By late 1981, the band had almost completely changed in terms of musical direction, and had now become a part of the new romantic movement. Original singer Luke James had been replaced by De Harris, and bassist Marlon Recchi joined the band. In April 1982, the band released their most successful album, Fabrique. The album, produced by Zeus B. Held, reached #10 on the UK charts and featured the hit singles Love Shadow and Move On. Two other minor singles, StreetPlayer (Mechanik) and Something in Your Picture were also released from the album.

In late 1982, De Harris left the band and was subsequently replaced by singer/guitarist Troy Tate (formerly of The Teardrop Explodes). However, Tate did not last long in the band and was replaced on vocals by guitarist Alan Darby in early 1983. With Darby now as frontman, the band went back into the studio with Zeus B. Held and released their final album, Twilight Of Idols, in February 1984. The album spawned three singles, Eye Talk, Dreaming and You In The Night, with only Eye Talk becoming a hit. By the end of 1984, the band had broken up.