CORPS AND EFFECTS

Brixton synthpop group, Hard Corps, split prematurely in the 80s, with much of their work coming out posthumously. They tell Ian Shirley how they made their best-loved single, Je Suis Passée

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I have a 12” record by a band called Hard Corps. It is called Je Suis Passée. The first side features an extended version whereas the flip-side has an instrumental and dub version. The catalogue number is Polydor HARDX 1 and the year of release is 1985. It sounds a lot like Kraftwerk, but with a female vocalist. What is is worth and can you shed any light on the recording? Daniel Green via email Hard Corps emerged out of Craze, who put out two excellent singles, Motions/Spartans (Cobra COB 3, 1979, £6) and Lucy/Living In The Past (Harvest 5205, 1980, £6). Spurred by their interest in electronic music, drummer Clive Pierce and bass player Hugh Ashton teamed up with engineer Rob Doran forming Hard Corps with French singer Regine Fetet. Electronic songs were the basis of their early live sets, attracting record company interest. The self-released Dirty/To Breathe (Hard Corps HC 1, 1984, £12) was picked up by the independent Survival label (SUR 12026, £12).

Then Polydor snapped them up and the Corps went into Genetic studios with Martin Rushent to record Je Suis Passée, released in 1985 on 7” (HARD 1, £8) and 12” (HARDA 1, £20). Plans for an album were scuppered by A&R musical chairs and second Polydor single To Breathe/ Metal And Flesh (HARD 2, 7”, £6/HARD 2 X, 12”, £18) was not promoted. Dropped by Polydor, the band released two more singles and compilation album