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Limerick City 1978...the anonymous cult group Date-Rippers began recording a trilogy of cassette albums in their living rooms , with punk attitude, white noise, shortwave radio sounds and stylophones. Amazingly, these chaotic , practically anti-songs received radio play and began selling locally. Indeed , the 1979 album contained among the first examples ever of "sampling" , with one track based on a loop of Gary Numan's "Cars" and another of Lene Lovich's "Lucky Number". Barry Warner now admits to an "involvement" with the Date-Rippers , who evolved into the more musical ( but still anonymous to this day) three piece Tripper Humane in 1980. All the music was synthesizer-based.
More home-recorded albums followed and sold well , as well as another name change to Ultimate Treason. Ultimate Treason ( which was basically a psuedonym for Warner's early solo work ) began recording properly in the studio in 1983 , releasing a further three full cassette albums , this time available nationwide , with national airplay and enormous press coverage.
They also contained embryonic versions of later singles "Real Man" , "Dancing Without You" ( which also contained a portion of Tripper Humane's "Discoland", so no point denying THAT involvement!!) and "Just A Floor"
Dublin City 1985.....after recording a session for RTE radio ,Barry Warner moved to Dublin to release his debut single and video "Real Man". The response to the single was staggering, with huge airplay for both the single and the video. The song reached number 29 in the Irish charts in December 1985. It's flip side "Losing Control" was also noteworthy for it's early hip hop flavour , with scratching turntables and 808 drum machines. Three more pioneering electronic singles followed..."Dancing Without You" ( which had the full-on rap b-side "Throwdown") , "What's Happenin" and "Just A Floor" , with
countless TV appearances and , reluctantly ,live shows with a full band. Incredibly, given the traditional musical climate in Ireland at the time, he never received even one bad review, though it's important to emphasize
that he was literally the only person in the country releasing commercial synthpop ( as opposed to the "arty" option).
There followed a bizarre vocal stint on some recordings by The Prunes ( formerly The Virgin Prunes) , and also a sold-out performance with them , with Warner doing vocals. No one saw that coming, but it was a sign that Barry had become tired of "making records I wouldn't buy myself" , as he said at the time.
Barry increasingly felt that he had compromised his work in order to receive airplay in Ireland , whose radio playlists were notoriously conservative. The fact is, though, his plan worked...mixing subversive lyrics with catchy tunes was hardly the crime he perceived it to be, and daytime radio play meant he'd avoided his music being relegated to the ghetto of late night specialist shows.
"Dancing Without You" was on the "Late Late Show" on the night it had it's largest viewing figures ever....the launch of the Irish National Lottery, and "Just A Floor" became a TV series theme tune!!!! But none of the records were released outside Ireland, which saw Warner's music "career" ( a word he avoided using ) reach a glass ceiling. There seemed nowhere else to go , particularly without any major backing.A half hearted remix album followed in 1988, with the new song "Hanging Around Forever" , but Warner was increasingly tired of going in circles ( and the Irish "biz" in general).
Warner teamed up with producer Pat Donne in 1990 to record a cover of David Bowie's "Sound And Vision" to great acclaim , under the name The Good, The Bad and The Bassline. Bowie wrote to Warner at the time to say how much he liked their version....the ultimate compliment. Needless to say, Bowie's approval garnered a lot of publicity , but Warner called it a day after completing the music video for "Sound And Vision", and there was a creative silence for 15 years, during which time he DJ-ed extensively.
ON JULY 29 2007 BARRY WARNER BEGAN RECORDING HIS FIRST NEW MATERIAL IN FIFTEEN YEARS. THE RESULTING FIVE SONGS ARE ON THE PLAYER.
THE NEW SESSIONS CONTINUE........
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