SET THE TONE - All Tied Up - Night Moves Club October ,1982, The Tube
Many bands are referred to as being ahead of their time... Scottish Fun / Funksters SET THE TONE were genuinely ahead of their time. It's unfortunate the wider general public was not ready for this explosive electro outfit from Glasgow. Active from 1982 to 1983 they left a legacy of a few singles and one album.
On Thursday 23 June 1983 my mate Dean and I made our first visit to Manchester's Hacienda club to see the band play live (promoting their Shiftin Air Affair album) this was to be the first of many Hacienda nights for me and my second live gig ... the first being Yazoo at Manchester's Palace theatre the previous November.
The Hacienda had been open for 12 months and was struggling, I was 17 years old.
On the night SET THE TONE played there were less than 20 people in attendance, despite this the band still gave it their all... I remember Evelyn from the band throwing out a skipping rope and encouraging the guy who caught it to join in the on-stage shenanigans.
20 people or not it was fuckin awesome. Check out the 12" b side to Dance Sucker "Let Loose" it's a proto-house banger dropped a full 5 years before House was to change the fortunes of The Hacienda forever.
Line up for this performance
Chris Morgan - Vocal
Evelyn Asiedu - Back vocal
Kenny Hyslop - Drums
Robert Patterson - Bass Guitar