Mecano

Mecano are really one of new wave's obscure treasures. Hailing from Holland, and with only a few recordings and some live appearances in the late 70s and the early 80s, Mecano are considered today one of new wave's most original and rare bands, whereas the existing copies of their vinyl records are sold at high prices as collectors' items. 

 

After releasing a punk debut single in 1978 for the Dutch indie No fun label ('Face Cover Face / Fools'), Mecano founding member and frontman/leader Dirk Polak found himself moving away from the rapidly forming punk scene of the time and looking forward to explore new territory, inspired by his Marxist background and his tendency to create romantic lyrics. With Ton Lebbink as a drummer, they set out seeking members –which was easy, as Lebbink knew people and bands at the scene. Soon the lineup was completed with the brothers Tejo and Cor Bolten and Pieter Kooyman. 

 

Debuting live in 1979 and after a long period of composing and rehearsing in late 1979-1980, the band entered studio and an output of vinyls was the result: the 7'' 'Escape the Human Myth / History Landmarked' and the band's first two 12''s, 'Untitled' and 'Subtitled', all released by the Dutch Torso label. In the meantime, the band's eccentric blend of new wave, social lyrics and romanticism began to leave its mark, and their touring increased, along with the demand for more copies of their work. 

 

Hence, in 1981, Torso released 'Entitled' in the United States in collaboration with a local indie label. In the same year, another 7'' reaches the public: 'Robespierre Re-Marx / Room for Two', demonstrating the band's fevered political stance, always in perfect match with beautiful melodies and amazing results. 'Retitled' is a full length re-release of the material included in the previous vinyls from the Divine label. It was released in the spring of 1983 in France, given the band's growing popularity in that country, a fact Dirk Polak confirmed in subsequent retrospective interviews. It was an overall introduction of the band's material to an expanding crowd, and at the same time a summary of some of their greatest songs. Of course, not all of the songs made it, so Divine made another 7'' available as an accompanying single for the vinyl. It was the "synthesized" version of "Robespierre Re-Marx" with the atmospheric, eerie "History Landmarked" as b-side. 

 

Mecano's fate was not to last long. In 1982 the band suffers the first split. They return in 1983 without Pieter Kooyman and Lebbink and record their next studio album, 'Autoportrait', which features Kooyman in two songs. So Mecano became part of history. 

 

A double disc collection from the Greek Lazy Dog label in 1996 and increased interest in the band's rare back catalogue led Dirk Polak to release the band's ultimate collection of material in 2002, the 'Half Inch Universe Years', through the Mutanjasz label. Since then, Polak has been on a tour of retrospective interviews and appearances, amazed at the extent of Mecano's cult status among admirers of the early scene. This is a group that followed its own obsessions and innovations and created music from the heart, sincere, atmospheric, sociopolitical and romantic, always convincing, always excellent. [SOURCE: LAST.FM]