New Age Steppers share rare archival films from 1981 on On-U Sound
On-U Sound share rarely seen New Age Steppers promotional films from 1981. Archival find of promo videos for “Radial Drill” and “Fade Away” being made widely available to celebrate the reissue of the New Age Steppers catalogue, out now.
Watch “Radial Drill”Watch “Fade Away”
Purchase New Age Steppers reissues
Both films are fascinating period pieces, made in 1981 to promote the debut New Age Steppers album which was the first release on the On-U Sound label, bearing the catalogue number ONULP1. “Radial Drill” features a young Adrian Sherwood and various members of his crew at the time demonstrating some radical dance moves to the avant-garde dub of the backing track. The high contrast filming style, over-saturated colours and long coats of the dancers are highly evocative of the London squat scene that the band and label emerged from.
The film made to accompany the New Age Steppers cover version of Junior Byles’ roots classic “Fade Away” is very different: artily shot scenes of a woman and child walking around a large garden and posing in the room of a house somewhat incongruous with the heaviness of the backing track. As an interesting aside, Sherwood credits the star of the “Fade Away” video, Eroica, with designing the On-U Sound logo!
A loose studio collective centred around the musical partnership of Adrian Sherwood and Ari Up from The Slits, New Age Steppers existed on and off from 1980 to 2012. Notable for bringing together musicians from the post-punk and reggae scenes together, their records feature contributions from members of The Pop Group, The Raincoats, Flying Lizards, Roots Radics, Aswad and Creation Rebel. – This reissue campaign features all their first 3 classic studio albums back on vinyl for the first time since original release in the early 80s – New Age Steppers, Action Battlefield and Foundation Steppers. – A first time vinyl pressing of the posthumous 2012 Love Foreveralbum, with sleeve by Vaughan Oliver collaborator Chris Bigg of v23. New sleeve notes for all LPs by Oli Warwick featuring interviews with Adrian Sherwood and other key players. A new LP of outtakes and rarities, Avant Gardening (in the On-U tradition of albums such as Return Of The Crocodile,Displaced Masters and Churchical Chant Of The Iyabinghi). – A 5CD + 32 page book boxset anthology of all their work for the On-U Sound label, Stepping Into A New Age.
New Age Steppers launched the On-U label as the first artist to release both a single and album on the label, and it’s fitting to have these brilliant records back out in the world as the label celebrates its 40th anniversary in 2021. About On-U Sound On-U Sound is an iconic independent label with a treasure trove of remarkable music, and sits in a unique position historically as a junction point between the heavy influence of Jamaican music on UK culture and the development of disparate sounds such as post-punk, hip-hop, industrial, jungle, dubstep and beyond. The label emerged from a fertile UK DIY scene that birthed contemporary imprints such as Rough Trade, 4AD and Factory. Since 1981, with label boss and producer Adrian Sherwood at the helm, On-U Sound has released over 100 albums and singles and launched the careers of countless artists. As a producer, Adrian has worked with The Slits, Cabaret Voltaire, Nine Inch Nails, Ministry, The Fall, Sinead O’Connor and more. His remix credits include Depeche Mode, Afrika Bambaataa, Blur, Primal Scream, Air and Peaking Lights.
Key On-U Sound artists include Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry, Tackhead, Dub Syndicate, African Head Charge, New Age Steppers, Singers & Players and Bim Sherman. Adrian continues to be in-demand for his unique sonic vision as a producer and he tours globally with his unique live mixing/DJ hybrid sets. There is also a major project underway to reissue and reappraise the amazing back catalogue of classic records that have been released on the imprint, with represses of classics sides, retrospective compilations such as the Sherwood At The Controls volumes and Science Fiction Dancehall Classics, rare cuts from the vaults, all complimented by critically acclaimed new productions with Pinch, Nissennenmondai, Roots Manuva and Lee “Scratch” Perry.
The label recently scored their first Billboard number 1 with Heavy Rain, a dub album co-produced by Perry and Sherwood and featuring guest musicians including Brian Eno, which hit the top of the US reggae charts on release.
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