They were great! I saw them in my time in Aus two times and later on in The Netherlands two times. I had a smile on my face the day after I saw them. I worked for two weeks in an ice cream parlor in Fitzroy/Melbourne. They asked me I fell in love because of my happy appearance. I did. I saw SPK live the day before and some days later on again, just around the corner of St. Kilda, where I lived. I actually took the metal percussion home with me. Anonymous neighbours starting to throw bricks over the fence, so it was a short lived DIY pleasure. Good times...good vibes!

I suppose that it may be the ever kleptomaniac Dom Guerrin but lol don't think so. He has a dull and laboured 'documentary' elsewhere on this site, with clumsy vox distortion, where he claims to have been the centre of SPK. Perhaps he did costume design at one stage. Maybe it really is a clean shaven Peel? Metal Dance was quite putrid, and followed the trend set by Cabaret Voltaire's equally putrid disco endeavours. However, SPK of that time did have a good disco hit a little later, Breathless. Also, a few very good recorded projects after that, and not disco.

I seriously doubt it.. I think the closest Peely ever got to a clean shave was back when his sideburns had a 3 inch gap at the end of his chin

Without doing an A-B comparison (although like yourself I've owned the 12" for a substantial amount of time) I'd say that all the backing tracks are pre-recorded (or likely "pre-sequenced" on Graeme's Fairlight), but Sinan's vocals actually sound slightly different from the record so possibly live, as well as the banging-on-metal solo parts.

@@ricardlupus Hi. I've just had another listen to Metal Dance with my Sennheiser HD650 headphones, and I'm certain nothing on this version is 'live'! The vocals sound the same to me, even the drums and 'solo' parts. I used to programme drum machines back in the day (Roland TR-707, Yamaha RX-5, Alesis SR-16 before buying synths). Nothing is played over the top of a pre-recorded track. To my ears and experience of this track, it's just too perfect and I'd say this is 100% a studio mix/recording of Metal Dance. There's not even any ambience like the following tracks have; you can hear how the session comes in after Metal Dance. Happy to hear other people's views on it though! Update: I've just tried to find something on the web and came across this link. Interestingly the other tracks say 'session' but Metal Dance has 'single' after it. peel.fandom.com/wiki/Peel_Early_Nov_1983

John Peel was a mixture of pre-recorded and live performed. It was created because of some outdated UK copyright law saying a specific amount of music on the radio has to be life. Though SPK used pre-recorded loops alot, theres a whole disc of just that for Live Shows during Leichenschrei in the VOD boxset

@@NearSilent Ok to me it sounds most similar to what's usually listed as the 'original 7inch' version so forgive me if there's a version of the 7min 12" track I can't find but... 0:56 - 1:03 on the 'original' for example has distinctly different 'breathing' sounds just after the vocal and a different drum fill (more of a thud-thud-thud than a roll) compared to the same part 1:00 - 1:06 here. Its either an alternate take of the vocals and whacking or those bits are live.

@@CunySark Hey, nice spot! I still stand by what I said that this isn't live 'at all'! It just appears to be another studio mix/arrangement. When I mentioned the 12'' vinyl in my original post I was primarily referring to the overall sound/mix of a studio version like the version found here also on YT: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/mb1_qbmmv5yspYU.html. Note the different intro and also the male vocal of 'cut' between 1:05 and 1:06. If that vocal part were in this YT video 'live' mix there would be some saying this was indeed live because of the extra vocal - but that's a studio version running for the same 4:48 length! In fact that post makes a comment to another mix being available, which is probably this one! I've also got a very different sounding 3:38 demo version with many different lyrics, and a 'live' version where it's glaringly obvious that the vocals, guitar, and additional percussion is live - raw and not perfect. Cheers

@@AaronHenderson258 What an idiotic statement. Everyone has a life otherwise sexobscura wouldn't be able to write that comment.

Sell-out is in some cases clear-cut, some not.

The songs on here are the few good ones they made in that era though. Also Metal Field was created during the time SPK wasnt pop, and outside of the vocals being more pop like its the exact same on here. The Auto Da Fe B-Side (Metal Field, Walking On Dead Steps, Heart That Breaks In No Time Or Place) could be considered Pop, but thats where the genius is, it was them trying to create the most cold and alienating pop music possible, which is what makes it Industrial again.

sell out to whom or what exactly?

Just because "Machine Age" is a pop sensible electronic dance record doesn't mean it sucks. Frankly, I think it's quite dense with quality tracks, even if it should probably have been a side project for Graeme and Sinan to avoid all the ire of the SPK diehards