Virgins and Philistines by The Colourfield

Virgins and Philistines, the Colour Field's debut, arrived on Chrysalis in April 1985, and it's Terry Hall, late of the Specials and Fun Boy Three, going soft-focus and loving it. With Karl Shale and ex-Swinging Cats man Toby Lyons, all three Coventry natives working out of Manchester, he cut it at Strawberry Studios in Stockport with Hugh Jones and Jeremy Green producing, and borrowed Echo & the Bunnymen's Pete de Freitas on drums, plus clarinet from Ian Nelson.

The songs dip into 1960s and early 1970s pop, acoustic melodies and string arrangements, with Hall's deadpan croon floating over the top, and that very variety made it a hard sell. Nearly everything is original; the exceptions are a cover of the Roches' "The Hammond Song" and "Can't Get Enough of You Baby", first cut by ? & the Mysterians, the only track radio really took to. The record is often heard as a blueprint for the Lightning Seeds, whom Hall later wrote with.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.