Underpass-John Foxx

[Geldregen365]

... da werden wieder alte Erinnerungen wach .... hach ...

[zomfod]

Underpants!!!!

[piranese]

Kann sich heute keiner (der nicht über 40 ist ;-)) mehr vorstellen was Ende der 70er / Anfang der 80er in der elektronischen Musik losging.

Musik muss von Maschinen gemacht werden! ;-)

[Zeitmann73]

Fantastic track. I've read on the website from Bad Lieutenant that a new remix and other interesting tracks are on a 5.1 cd at five-point-one.co.uk. With new remixes of Depeche Mode and The Pet Shop Boys too.

[lsdcow]

epic :)



[djmusicjac]

amazing, i totally love john foxx tunes, i sing to them all time, i love them

[THEBOXINGPOST]

When I was a student John Foxx was a techno god, and Gary Numan's no.1 influence. By the way, that underpants thing was never funny, not even in the 80's.

[cyberdyne11]

This is an absolutely epic track and such a fine example of eighties electro at its very best, such good times and a unrepeatable and exciting new era for music.LONG LIVE SYNTHS !!!.

[mikefkingstrutter]

i brought the 45 single of this of my mates big brother for 50p about thirty years ago

had to have it,brill song

[khorrumg]

Is that Eddie and Sunshine!...Yes his former cohorts. This is a great synthesizer sound.....the sound is very refreshing....except he sounds as if he is singing "UNDERPANTS"!!!!!

[venturidesign]

This song has a deeper meaning if you substitute Underpass with UNDERPANTS

[glasfurd31]

Did every sing Underpants? We did, up in Manchester.

[catski666]

Awesome!!

[randomkid21000]

it sounds ace

[foefproductions]

WE NEED MORE MUSIC LIKE THIS!! TODAY'S MUSIC IS SHITTY AND GAY!

Thumbs up if you agree.

[shazam1059]

and you gotta love it .....UNDERPANTS!!!!!! haw haw haw shazam1059

[urbanscubadiver1]

top 80s tune and yeah @cityboy4hero....kraftwerk did spurn this genre and a few others :-)

[ginginginsie]

See you there at the Roundhouse, I'm gonna be there to see God too!

[snifferdog]

Love the hook to this. And I'm glad I'm not the only one to hear "Underpants" :)

[Railcoach679]

John Foxx is God. Released 10.01.80 but still sounds so fresh and new.

[Franzko787]

The whole album has so much cinematic imagery like almost all of his songs/lrics. I thought this album could have been the basis for a thriller sci fi film. Something like Clockwork Orange meets Alien mmets a less campy Soylent Green in an industrial city wastescape.

I thought the same thing about Numan's Pleasure Principal and the album before that. Very dark but incredible.

[BuyBenco]

@Franzko787 Clockwork Orange

[axelusul]

Thanks Michael Barker, had this tune in my mind but had sort of forgotten about it as a kid at the time. But was a post John Fox-Ultravox fan, along with Kraftwek and Gary Numan. Great buzz re-discovering a good sound,,

[Axelator806]

Dieser Song hat mich zusammen mit San Diego (Eternal Afflict), Souls (Project Pitchfork) und Suicide Commando (no more) und Underpass (John Foxx) durch die 80er und die frühen 90er begleitet - einfach genial. Gänsehaut pur.

[boid731]

I remember hearing this on Radio1 when I was a kid. It still holds up. Absolutely great.

[oOHappiestGirlOo]

genial....................

[Dudeman233]

Ultrafox strings :D

[stuchka]

Great pure electro music, yes it is underpants, who wouldn't want to sing the praises of them?

[lewisner]

@stuchka I guess the chorus "Y Fronts" or Boxer Shorts" wouldn't have worked?

[cityboy4hero]

Some may mock but this track IMHO signalled the birth of this genre...and it hasn't dated one jot.

[lewisner]

@cityboy4hero "Autobahn" by Kraftwerk signalled the birth of a genre.

[hadewegemini]

die tuben-community kommentiert hier in meinem sinn, auch ich hab damals 'underpants' verstanden, aber ich war wenigstens deutscher.

was für eine geiiiiiiiiile decade, je weiter weg, desto hipper erscheint sie einem: WEIL SIE ES WAR!

[leeenfieldno4]

haha 30 years ago and its still underpants

[0200113963D]

This sound ... Utterly amazing !

[guttersnipe77]

I used to sing 'Underpants' to this song!!!

[cpdaddy7]

@guttersnipe77

yes, a great tradition it is forever "underpants"!

[bradmorris67]

We all did. It was a right-of-passage for me at 13!

[stinkybeads]

@guttersnipe77 lol me too! Still do :)

[OfficialGravitySlip]

Great song!! Retro synths- excellent.

[Bellaofthedarkness]

One of the best Songs ever!!!!!

[solestars]

this is just fab love it

[eeaxxx]

underpants

[solestars]

it does sound like he is saying underpants -good1 LOL

[LALOSERRxCORE]

lmao. (:

amazing song though. i agree with the underpants thing.

[TheJaking87]

This sounds like a song Gary Numan would perform.

[paulgwelch]

Newman cites Foxx and his former band Ultravox (he did three albums with Ultravox) as his major influence

[xxczerxx]

great song. Its kinda creepy. but one question(perhaps a silly one): whats it about?

[mjs2342]

In the beginning of the 80s there was a great fear for the nuclear war, especially in the english pop scene. Look at the cover from "Red skies over paradise" from Fisher Z, where you can see the explosion of a nuclear bomb.

For me who lived in this time and listened to this kind of music it's easy to decypher: he is telling the story of a survivor of the next big war, the last one, after which the civilisation is gone. "World war something" says it all.

Cheers.

[westpenninewoman]

John Foxx admitted to Underpass being influenced by the writer J B Ballard and his dystopian vision of the future known as Ballardian. Basically, concrete landscapes. People living in high rise blocks and networks of motorways taking over the countryside Also,. the breakdown of society and people basically not giving a sh*t for each other! How right Mr Ballard was!!

[folkinhell]

Absolutely! I am very impressed! One generations' 'dystopia' is the next generations' reality. (Sorry to be a pedant but it is J.G. Ballard; as in the Human League song '4JG')

[piedrada]

J. G. Ballard me thinks ...

[bikegirl2]

@westpenninewoman people never gave a shit about each other, people haven't changed fuck all, read about Victorian Manchester and then you will understand. its the same shit, different day!

[bikegirl2]

@westpenninewoman read about little Ireland in Manchester, you know shit about fuck!

[bikegirl2]

@westpenninewoman go set ur head on fire, this is the internet, if you cant handle abuse then you must be old and unable to cope with the internet..i pity you!

[bikegirl2]

@westpenninewoman yes im so upset..i expect you are the sort of person that likes to fuck small school girls! i take it that you make a living selling child porn on line!

[impatientp]

industrial cities... like most of the early synth stuff

[eduardo95]

very nice song

[metrohart1]

where can i buy his 80s music videos?

[asxtc]

Misty on the glass now,

Rusty on the door,

Here for years now,

Click, Click drone.

[westpenninewoman]

He was at the time!

[Cosafahrer]

Sehr gutes Lied, kenn ich aus meiner Jugend...

[mrshef666]

what a tune...this dude should be SO much bigger than what he is...way ahead of his time awesome!! laters!x

[WestLondonDroog]

Wasn't he in Ultravox circa '77?

[shedend76]

Yes mate - check out Rockwrok, Young Savage + 1st album. It's their best stuff in my view.

[xCheshirexCatx3]

he was in ultravox, i dunnoo when tho

[loganduke]

1980's architecture, space invaders, Synth rock, escapism, the anticipation of the future!, that never came... Run hide play in the underpass....

[CharlotteRoche]

Legend

[OnTheRazorsEdge]

RIP Ballard. :'(

[Whyisthisthat]

John Foxx looks very gaunt almost ghost like which adds to the music i guess

[DeathRockGirl81]

yes!!!! love it!

[Buffalow61]

TIMELESS

[ocyrus70]

1980, then a remix..

[greeksrock]

you that he was ahead of his time. What year was this released?

[silmalila]

This is music to perform water ballet at 3:00 a.m. to, looking up through the water at the stars, and thinking that you are cruising through space.

Or am I the only one who did that?

(laughing)

[Cougari72]

I agree with Katush! I dont understand why John Foxx did not share the same fame as Gary Numan?

[silmalila]

I actually got a diehard numanoid to change his views about mr. numan after turning him onto John, all these years after the fact.

Since John preceded Gary, the props should go to John.

I don't think he panted after fame in the same way others do.

There is something quite unique about John both as an artist and a person.

[kingkey65]

He simply didn't want to

[metakaos]

He was too ahead of his time. John Foxx made this kind of synth-heavy music when a guitar-driven punk sound was more in style, whereas Tubeway Army/Gary Numan followed trends more closely (and still does, imho). Numan has always been very open about his influences, though.

[birkenred]

Still mesmeric.

[abagail4me]

One of the most awesome electro- rock songs of the last 30 years.Certainly in the same league as early Eno and Kraftwerk.

[technojaa]

I can listen this 100 times again and it isn't boring

[technojaa]

he nows what he did

[TRISTANEUGENE]

perfect work

[OnTheRazorsEdge]

I would rather call this Ballardian than Futurist, because Futurists hate Pastists and I'd hate to have my head kicked in for loving such a great tune. D:

[Bhodisatvas]

someone mentioned the human league below...though mr foxx is indeed talented I would say the entire reproduction album by the league far surpasses john and was released 4 months prior...the album travelogue released 4 months after this track was even better than reproduction.Foxx a genius? maybe but the early human league had a much greater influence on electronic music of that era, forget the pop incarnation of the league...empire state human all the way :)

[OnTheRazorsEdge]

Travelouge > Reproduction?

I'm sorry, but I have always been of the opinion the earlier the better where the League are concerned.

*Dances to The Future*

[equinegal07]

i do really like this song. when i was younger me and my brothers used to say "underpants" instead of "underpass", lol

[Padulas]

click click dron

[siarung]

awful...UNDERPANTS!

[paulwady]

Actually in 1980 a gang of retrobates with monosynths actually did record a version called "Underpants".

The shame...

Saw him at the Ica gig last year. Genius. Shook his hand.

[westpenninewoman]

Jono was ahead of his time. A very visual musician

[sibbald]

is it just me...because of this song, whenever I go under an underpass I sing out 'Underpants' and chuckle slightly

[Thecityslicker]

No, you are not alone I've doing that for past 30 years as well

[mumpty]

Me too (blush)

[SurvivalHappi]

I think I might start :)

[cuddy62dj]

John un mito un periodo indimenticabile io sono quì......

[mrdee11091]

thanks for the post

[zecjet909]

apart from howard jones was five years after John Foxx and has all the talent of one of his veggie burgers

[silmalila]

Thank you, zecjet.

(Some people, huh?)

[kingofpunk1967]

Listen you lot Howard Jones started the WHOLE thing. Jones is the innovator!

[silmalila]

That is laughable.

John Foxx is the father of the synthpop genre, period.

If you knew what you were talking about, you would know that.

[kingofpunk1967]

Listen get your facts right, Howard Jones started the whole thing off & Nik Kershaw PERFECTED the synthpop genre. All hail Kershaw the KING OF ELECTRONIC MUSIC who handed the baton to Babylon Zoo

[kemicon]

I don't know if I'd call John Foxx synth pop, he was a lot more underground and weird. The Howard Jones guy is just trying to be funny, Howard Jones didn't hit the scene until 83. Kraftwerk, Fad Gadget, and Yellow Magic Orchestra had already been doing the sound for years. Even Berlin was out before Jones, and what about Giorgio Moroder?

[silmalila]

Hey - I am not trying to start a war here.

John was extremely innovative, and at the time that I became a fan of his, his music was worlds apart from anything that I had ever heard.

I am only saying that John was never given his due for the fantastic innovations that he was responsible for.

Since (I think) we are all here to appreciate his genius, lets just leave it at that.

Okay?

And the guy who made the comment about Howard Jones sounded serious to me.

Props where props are due.

[kemicon]

I'm just jumping on a chance to spout some next to useless knowledge. All for the sake of science. I was only guessing kingofpunk was joking because of his user name and calling out Nik Kershaw which is pretty random. He chose two of the most vanilla artists of the 80s which is really saying something.

[SurvivalHappi]

Human League: 1977

[maya232323]

oh yeah!!!!

[spelltill]

Mythic song... What else ?

[winteregon]

Good music forever!!!

[mickthegyp]

kraftwerk started messing with synths early 70s tubeway army(numan n co)were a punk band he then started experimenting.while foxx numan and the like were making music history the rest of the would be,s were dressing in frilly shirts and perming their hair

[LuxX63]

Nice video...re_edited!!!Are you able to left the things in theyr original settings or not?!!Jerks!!!!I hate the remastereds and re_editeds things for the new generations!!!!!!I'm a purist!Bye....

[friesencowboy65]

Hello Micaelbarker!

Thank you for giving me back a few moments of teenage-time! Nice song, good video! Best greetings!

[COGENTCOG]

Gary Numan was inspired by Foxx's work with early Ultravox! (by songs like Slow Motion to say one). He also tells this in the booklet of the 2008 expanded edition reissue of Replicas. Anyway I like Foxx, Numan and  The Skids too; I don't feel music like a football match...

[garsett]

Synthesizer revolutionary.

[nassierkhan]

UNDERPANTS!!!!!!!-I thought the Skids were better! Didn't he copy Gary Numan?? (Go on you electronic toasters put me right!)

[ladyloveselectro]

UNDERPANTS! LOL x-D too funny!

[COGENTCOG]

I've never understood why this guy has ever been less known than others (like Gary Numan to say one). He wrote so many good songs, with a very personal way of singing and is still touring now, still very creative nowadays, a thing that cannot be said for many of his more famous contemporaries.

[silmalila]

Way back when Metamatic 1st came to my attention, it quickly became my favourite LP.

I never saw a video, JF was virtually unknown

to Americans. ('Cept me: I was always listening to the BEST music.) I love the vid in B&W, because this album SOUNDED B&W to me.

Thanks for posting!

[Neptunekid]

Love this tune, one of the first records I ever bought with my paper round money....

[minniethe3rd]

Hey Neptune -I was going to say that.

[doctorwhonico]

Classic 'wave' tune!

[timberplod66]

underpants!!!!!!!!1

[Medazzalad]

Strange to see & hear futurist 'oldies' but a real soundgem!

[fckspa74]

LOVE IT!!!! it's a MASTERPIECE! classic! ;o)

[TRISTANEUGENE]

the perfect sound!

[tygerfeet]

looks superb in black and white.

[RabidVitamins]

Cold enough to increase my temperature...

Thanks for warming me up.

[jwalkerphd]

didn't the single picture sleeve show him gettin money from a cash point?

[okazunoma10]

no.1.only.1

[Ruffus67]

It's very new romatic, one of the first's

[ChesterPiniton]

Oooohh yes...I remember strutting down the Kings Road in '80 playing this one on me big casette player.All the freaks and punx there...man it reminds me of much better times...thx for posting!

[loganduke]

I would love to 'electro bop' to this on a dance floor.I think trax like this, n' early 80's bleach blondes, are the only things i would come out of club scene retirement for.

[westpenninewoman]

Surely, he's a natural blonde :)Try reading some J.G. Ballard and you'll find out what influenced his work

[loganduke]

I didn't mean John Foxx as an attractive blonde!! Ahhh Nine fellow 80's Chick Dude! I meant More like a Teresa Bazaar lookalike Ya know.

But yea i will check out J.G Ballard.

TA!!!!!

[westpenninewoman]

I wasn't suggesting you were :)

Try reading Concrete Island - the setting is exactly as Jono's set up this video - & High Rise has a similar theme - a creepy vision of the future

[loganduke]

Yea i know wot u mean now, i do like that kind of thing, one of my 1/2 finished novels is called the 'Forever House', n' it has that type of grim scenario, of the great disaster of 60's architecture n' how they got it so wrong. U could go on 4eva really about that 1.

Byeeeeeeeeee

[westpenninewoman]

Oh, a half finished novel how very avant garde - you shouldn't regard it as that because a novel or poetry is never finished anyway - you are an 'artist' your public must accept what you offer them & they must be grateful for it. I know my followers are :)

[westpenninewoman]

Love this video - very east German feel before the fall of the wall. Great metaphor 'Underpass'

[haieforest1]

should have made number 1. I brought this and watched it bomb in the charts in the UK. John Foxx will grow in stature and recognition for his music and art and will be universally recognised within the next ten / fifteen years

[forbindread]

is the foxxy one still alive.

[Selekio]

yep he is alive, he's teaching at my uni...im in his sound & design module!

[forbindread]

pass on my regards. a true legend.

[blokezed]

Superebish. 21Centuary.

[chinkogakusaizo]

Yeah his album Metamatic is techno classic.Even though I do like some of the tunes by later Ultravox with MidgeUre(He has writen some seriously good pop tunes and should be respected for all that BandAid stuff), I can't use the word=Cool=when it comes to describe the man himself but with JohnFoxx, I can.Shame though that he was bit too late on wearing black suits and ties to present his cool music but still he did look cool.

[Ravedaze]

here for yeeeeeeaaaaarrrrrs now click click drone. i first heard this when i was 10 my big sis bought the album back in 1980 and i still have it today its very scratched so i bought a copy on cd from amazon and i still love it to this day :0)

[brickbat44]

roxy music were first

[bogfud1967]

should have been played at Princess Di's funeral instead of that horrible Elton John thing.

[mrpeepants]

fukin funny that pal lol

[Katush12]

Thank you for this wonderful slice from the past. Extremely talented artist. Like a clap of thunder from above. An unforgetable moment in music history. Feel the same way about Numan's Are Friends Electric.

[RheingoldxxL]

but sounds so british! uhhh i love it!

[doctorwhonico]

Classic synth...

[iamthepig]

He was the first, but that tosser Numan beat him to it.

[dgloom]

Sorry m8, Kraftwerk were first. Numan & Tubeway Army started as a punk band to get into the charts, then went to synths cos it was they wanted to do all along.

[iamthepig]

I know Kraftwerk were first but not in the commercial new wave that came 3-4 years later. Numan was ok but treated his fans to dirge from 81 onwards.

[ashica888]

this is real music art john foxx made better music without ultravox and foxx is a better singer and writer

[Barsopen1970]

never understood why people use to like it ? ...but then your tatse's over in U.K are wired ( and Midge kicked his butt in Ultravox anyday)

[xxEGTxx]

i bought this in the 7"gate fold sleeve and " burning car " on picture disc. jills hanson's record shop Coventry - was served by the drummer out of the Specials.

[RheingoldxxL]

I lived in london in this time ... how i frozen up this on the river dont knowe!

[serenbunny]

brill just like the old days

will come back 2 this every day

[appler1abbits]

I first saw this when I was 10 in 1980 I think it was. It scared the crap out of me but I loved how alive that made me feel. I thought John Foxx looked like a scary old guy. Watching it now he just looks really young and good looking. Why did ya have to say the thing about underpants. I can't get it out of my head.

[geffel]

I loved this when I was 16 - I heard it on John Peel and rushed out to buy it. On vinyl!

[ANWL]

Brilliant, much better than the remix done in the 90's. I agree with all the rest here, that Foxx and Numan were class compared to all other poor imitations that were flouting themselves as electronic style musicians in the late 70's early 80's.

[micktheriff]

UNDERPANTS!!!! My brother used to piss himself laughing when this played!!! Thank god for youtube as I haven't seen this since I was 16...pure classic!!!

[IVORYJONES]

Clasicazo. No lo conocen muchos.

[FLORENT2222]

he looked like david sylvian !!  great song and great artist

[AshtrayHeartt]

Great song... but it still sounds like he is saying 'underpants!'

[goremode]

Lol! that is so funny xD