The Passions – Sanctuary

Having hovered around the U.K. Top 100 with 1981's 30,000 Feet Over China LP, the Passions attempted one last stab at the indie market which had, so far, eluded them. Keeping the focus on the smooth guitar and mood melodies they'd adopted in place of the jangle-quirk that drove their earliest material, the band rebounded with an album that may have been commercially and critically overlooked, but actually allowed the band to shine.
Primarily known for their 1981 hit 'I’m In Love with a German Film Star', The Passions were much more than one song. Their third and final album, Sanctuary, shows further growth in the band’s development from stark post-punk to classy sophistication. The indie jingly jangly feel of the earlier albums had been replaced by fretless bass and more keyboards. Barbara Gogan had also found her vocal style, scaling down her delivery an octave or two and only occasionally ripping out with the indie-girl-scale bounding so beloved by the likes of Lene Lovich, Danielle Dax, and Terri Nunn. The first single from the album 'Jump for Joy' opens Sanctuary in a new direction, adding keyboards and dance-ability to compliment Barbara Gogan’s beautiful voice. Nevertheless, there's a seriousness here that is compelling, making their melodic synth-centric songs sound a bit alien, ethereal and yet, still dark and gloomy.
The Passions closed their last chapter with an album that has a shimmer that is very typical of the eighties. Even so, Sanctuary is still an enjoyable listen, if not particularly ground-breaking and perhaps a little too commercial.

The Passions - Thirty Thousand Feet Over China

Some members of the Passions had done time in London punk band called the Derelicts and their edgy debut album, Michael & Miranda, reflected that influence. The 1981 follow-up, Thirty Thousand Feet Over China, was a much more atmospheric outing, though still tainted with anger, deceit and suspicion. With a fuller Nigel Gray production the quartet sounds smoother and more melodic. The mix of evocative new wave stylings, Barbara Gogan's hypnotic vocals, and a left-of-centre lyrical outlook is actually perfect for this kind of new wave post-punk stuff. Lyrics are as sharp and offbeat as ever; check the clever, almost tongue-in-cheek "I'm in Love with a German Film Star." In all honesty you should probably file this album under "proto-dreampop". The aesthetic had yet to develop fully in years to come, but other than that it really isn't too far off. All of which makes Thirty Thousand Feet a winning proposition.

The Passions - Michael & Miranda

Based in Shepherds Bush, west London, The Passions' music was grounded mainly in Barbara Gogan's voice and Clive Timperley's delicate echoplex guitar work. Before forming in 1978, most of the group's members had played in other groups. Timperley was formerly with the 101ers, while drummer Richard Williams and singer/guitarist Barbara Gogan were in the punk rock outfit The Derelicts.

Espousing the same post-punk, gothic ethic that brought bands like Siouxsie & the Banshees to the forefront of the burgeoning dark wave genre, the Passions' 1980 debut, Michael & Miranda, suggested that they were at least on the same track. Off-kilter jangle out of step with the bass and drums defined the opening "Pedal Fury," placing the band firmly in quirk territory, a point that the Passions continued to reiterate across the rest of the set. Picking up the pace on "Love Song" or slowing it down across "Man on the Tube" and then doing both on "Obsession" (which puts Barbara Gogan's vocals so far away from the mic for the sake of atmosphere that it sounds like she's in another room) really didn't add much punch to the Passions' gloomy intent. It's easy to see their roots, they're glaring. But so they were for all the other bands rising at the time. Stilted and lean, the songs on Michael & Miranda just don't measure up against what the Passions would do a little later or against what their peers were doing at the time. Singles "Hunted" and "The Swimmer" were followed by their major charting song, "I'm in Love with a German Film Star"