Beat Boy is the third and final album by the British pop group Visage

Visage

Visage are a British New Wave rock band. Formed in 1978, the band became closely linked to the burgeoning New Romantic fashion movement of the early 1980s, and are best known for their 1980 hit "Fade to Grey".-New Wave years :...

. It was recorded at Trident Studios between 1982 and 1983 and released on Polydor Records

Polydor Records

Polydor is a record label owned by Universal Music Group, headquartered in the United Kingdom.-Beginnings:Polydor was originally an independent branch of the Deutsche Grammophon Gesellschaft. Its name was first used as an export label in 1924, the British and German branches of the Gramophone...

 in September 1984 (delayed by contractual problems the band were having at that time). It reached #79 on the UK album chart.

History

The album was recorded and released after Steve Strange

Steve Strange

Steve Strange , is a Welsh pop singer, best known as the lead singer and frontman of the 1980s pop group Visage...

 decided to make Visage a live band instead of being solely a studio-based project, a decision that left him working only with drummer Rusty Egan

Rusty Egan

Rusty Egan was the drummer for the British new wave band, The Rich Kids. They were founded by former Sex Pistol, Glen Matlock, bass guitarist and backing vocals, occasional lead vocals; with Steve New guitarist and backing vocals, occasional lead vocals; and fronted by Midge Ure guitarist, lead...

 and a trio of newer musicians. Whilst the first two Visage albums had a typical synthpop/post-punk feel, Beat Boy attempted to mix the synthetic sound with American styled rock

Rock music

Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...

. However, neither the singles or the album itself had the impact hoped for, and effectively marked the end of Visage as a recording act.

The cassette version of the album featured remixes of the album's original tracks, with a total running time of over 50 minutes. This included an extra track, the instrumental "Reprise" (a reprise

Reprise

Reprise is a fundamental device in the history of art. In literature, a reprise consists of the rewriting of another work; in music, a reprise is the repetition or reiteration of the opening material later in a composition as occurs in the recapitulation of sonata form, though—originally in the...

 of the track "Questions").

Originally only released on vinyl and cassette, Beat Boy was finally released on Compact Disc for the first time in February 2009 by Cherry Red Records, and featured the same tracklisting as the original vinyl album with four extra tracks (see below).

Personnel

Visage members at the time of the album's recording were:

• Steve Strange
  Steve Strange
  Steve Strange , is a Welsh pop singer, best known as the lead singer and frontman of the 1980s pop group Visage...
  
   - vocals
• Andy Barnett - guitar
• Steve Barnacle - bass
• Gary Barnacle
  Gary Barnacle
  Gary Barnacle is a saxophonist/flautist, brass instrument arranger, composer and producer, primarily noted for session work, live work Gary Barnacle (born 1959, Dover, England) is a saxophonist/flautist, brass instrument arranger, composer and producer, primarily noted for session work, live work...
  
   - saxophone
• Rusty Egan
  Rusty Egan
  Rusty Egan was the drummer for the British new wave band, The Rich Kids. They were founded by former Sex Pistol, Glen Matlock, bass guitarist and backing vocals, occasional lead vocals; with Steve New guitarist and backing vocals, occasional lead vocals; and fronted by Midge Ure guitarist, lead...
  
   - drums, electronic percussion

Guest musicians:

• Billy Currie
  Billy Currie
  Billy Currie is an English violist, violinist, pianist, keyboardist, and songwriter...
  
   - keyboards
• Dave Formula
  Dave Formula
  Dave Formula, , is an English keyboardist and film-soundtrack composer from Manchester, who played with the post-punk band Magazine, and New Romantic ensemble Visage during the end of the 1970s and the beginning of the 1980s and in the "world music" band The Angel Brothers.-Early Years and St...
  
   - keyboards
• Marsha Raven - backing vocals
• Karen Ramsey - backing vocals
• Rose Patterson - backing vocals

Track listing

All songs composed by S. Barnacle/Egan

Rusty Egan

Rusty Egan was the drummer for the British new wave band, The Rich Kids. They were founded by former Sex Pistol, Glen Matlock, bass guitarist and backing vocals, occasional lead vocals; with Steve New guitarist and backing vocals, occasional lead vocals; and fronted by Midge Ure guitarist, lead...

/Strange

Steve Strange

Steve Strange , is a Welsh pop singer, best known as the lead singer and frontman of the 1980s pop group Visage...

 unless otherwise noted.

1. "Beat Boy" (Barnacle/Barnett/Egan/Formula
   Dave Formula
   Dave Formula, , is an English keyboardist and film-soundtrack composer from Manchester, who played with the post-punk band Magazine, and New Romantic ensemble Visage during the end of the 1970s and the beginning of the 1980s and in the "world music" band The Angel Brothers.-Early Years and St...
   
   /Strange) – 6:46
2. "Casualty" (Barnacle/Barnett/Egan/Strange) – 5:28
3. "Questions" – 6:11
4. "Only the Good (Die Young)" (Barnacle/Barnett/Currie
   Billy Currie
   Billy Currie is an English violist, violinist, pianist, keyboardist, and songwriter...
   
   /Egan/Formula/Strange) – 5:58
5. "Can You Hear Me" – 6:29
6. "The Promise" (Barnacle/Barnett/Egan/Strange) – 3:59
7. "Love Glove" – 4:45
8. "Yesterday's Shadow" – 6:29

Bonus tracks on 2009 CD re-release

9. "Beat Boy (Dance Mix)" – 7:19
10. "Love Glove (Long Version)" – 6:38
11. "She's a Machine" (G. Barnacle
    Gary Barnacle
    Gary Barnacle is a saxophonist/flautist, brass instrument arranger, composer and producer, primarily noted for session work, live work Gary Barnacle (born 1959, Dover, England) is a saxophonist/flautist, brass instrument arranger, composer and producer, primarily noted for session work, live work...
    
    /Barnacle/Barnett/Egan/Strange) – 4:54
12. "Der Amboss" (Currie/Egan/Formula/Strange/Ure
    Midge Ure
    James "Midge" Ure, OBE is a Scottish guitarist, singer, keyboard player, and songwriter...
    
    ) – 5:39

Remixed cassette version

1. "Beat Boy" - 7:15
2. "Casualty (Dance Mix)" - 5:58
3. "Questions (Dance Mix)" - 7:06
4. "Only The Good (Die Young)" - 5:30
5. "Can You Hear Me" - 6:26
6. "The Promise (Dance Mix)" - 4:08
7. "Love Glove" - 5:40
8. "Yesterday's Shadow" - 6:30
9. "Reprise" - 2:35†

† an instrumental reprise of the intro section to the Dance Mix of "Questions".

Singles: UK chart positions

1. Love Glove – 4:00 (Aug. 1984), #54
2. Beat Boy – 3:30 (Oct. 1984), did not chart