IT HAPPENED WHEN?

Peter Baker, of cult synth project Electronic Ensemble, tells Ian Shirley about the track that became an airplay hit in Europe

- Ian Shirley

I have a single by a band called the Electronic Ensemble – It Happened Then – with the flip being Theme From The Babylon Run. It’s on the Superstition label, on blue vinyl. It’s an amazing synth record and I note that there is a truly bonkers video for it on YouTube. Was this a hit single when it was released back in 1980?

Robert Styles via email 

Sadly, the Electronic Ensemble single It Happened Then/Theme From The Babylon Run (Superstition Records SR 002, £40) was not a hit. It was released in the UK in 1980 and was the second, and last, single issued by the Superstition label. The first was Routine/Power Supply by the Screen Idols (SR 001, £5). The man behind Electronic Ensemble was Piccadilly Radio DJ and broadcaster Peter Baker with sterling assistance from his good friend Dave Eager, who was also a DJ. It Happened Then later picked up considerable airplay on Radio Luxembourg, which resulted in it being licensed and released in France, Belgium, Germany and Italy.

The video you refer to was not shown at the time, but has had a new lease of life on YouTube after It Happened Then appeared on the 4CD Electrical Language compilation issued by Cherry Red in 2019. It Happened Then was actually re-released in 1983 under the name Russant – with another unreleased video mimed by two singers discovered by Dave Eager – with the track Synthamation on the flip (MACH 1 MAGIC 003, 1982, £20). There was also a second single by Russant, called Carry The Can/Carry The Can (MACH 1 MAGIC 005, 1983, £40), which did not sell well but is now sought by electronic collectors.