Biography
Breathing Age was formed when my cousin Simon Champion (then Lawrence) approached me in 1981 to add some lyrics and vocal melodies to some electro pop instrumentals he had recorded at his flat in Worthing, England. This compilation presents the total recordings made by the duo over 1981-82, bar 1 song, ironically the self named 'Breathing Age', which did not survive due to cassette tape deterioration. These 15 recordings have been remastered from archived cassette tapes. There is no denying the quality of the recordings was rather poor, both at the time of recording, and after 30 years sitting in a storage box you will notice a fair bit of drop out and tape wear distortion, but having said that, this collection represents the cousins works quite well. The early demos were recorded by bouncing back and forth between two cassette recorders, mixing on the fly, and adding an extra track as we went. Basic, but for that, achieves a certain charm. On 'I feel betrayed' the drum machine was not available and I recorded drum tracks by using my voice. Yes, I really was a pioneer of beat boxing! Although courted by WEA records and Heath Levy Publishers, in late 1981, mainly on the singles 'Here we go (I can see the sea)' and 'Camera room', the first achieving Top 30 status in Germany for a brief spell, the sound and direction produced by Norman Hitchcock for the major label did not really represent what Simon and I were about, and it is the minimal electronic indie synth pop of the earlier demo recordings that highlight the influences of bands like Kraftwerk, OMD, Ultravox, Gary Numan and even Joy Division. Simon and I played a live set at a number of local gigs, but never toured intensively. The Breathing Age cassette was recorded in late 1982, at which time Simon had decided to move on to new pastures, but with his help the first 7 songs in this collection were recorded in Nick Stewart's back bedroom on a 4 track cassette recorder, with vocals and mixing completed at South Coast Recording in Worthing. The synth pop new wave period of the early 80's was an exciting time, and I am proud of the music we contributed. As 1982 came to a close I was to rejoin my pals in the band "All that's Fiction", and Breathing Age would become a thing of history.
Note; When you download the whole collection you will also receive a collection of bonus photographs that catalogue 'Breathing Age' during 1981-82.
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