The Legendary Pink Dots

All Music Guide:

Formed in London in 1980, the Legendary Pink Dots moved to Amsterdam in the middle of the decade. Members throughout the band's career have been Edward Ka-Spel (vocals, keyboards) and Phil Knight (keyboards), also known as the Silver Man, with a shifting supporting cast over the years. The Dots' music is by turns melodic pop and exotic psychedelia, with classical influences, sampling, and relentlessly dark, violent, apocalyptic lyrics. After several releases for Mirrodot and Inphaze during the early '80s, the group signed to Play It Again Sam distribution for 1985's The Lovers, and released much of their best material (1990's Crushed Velvet Apocalypse, 1991's The Maria Dimension) on the label. Even as the Legendary Pink Dots neared their two-decade anniversary, the group continued to tour Europe and America quite consistently, appreciated by several generations of dark industrial/goth audiences (and documented by the 2000 live album Farewell, Milky Way). After releasing Your Children Placate You from Premature Graves in spring of 2006, the band embarked on their 25th anniversary tour.

Wikipedia:

The Legendary Pink Dots (LPD) are an Anglo-Dutch experimental rock band formed in London in August 1980. Although far outside the mainstream (in terms of their music and career path), LPD have released more than 40 albums, have a devoted worldwide following, and tour frequently.

Overview

The Legendary Pink Dots formed in August 1980 in London. In 1984 the band transplanted itself to Amsterdam which led to a shift in the original lineup, the original bassist Roland Callaway leaving at this time.

The core members of the group are vocalist/songwriter/keyboardist Edward Ka-Spel and keyboardist Phil Knight. Many others have passed through the group over the years. As of 2010 the group is composed of:

The story behind the band's name is a source of speculation because Edward has given multiple explanations behind its origins. The most plausible and common explanation traces back to the mysterious pink dots on certain keys of the band's main recording studio piano named "Osbert"; the dots that can be found at either end of the keys do not make any particular chord or scale pattern and the reason for them remains unknown to this day. The piano itself is still owned by one of the founding band members, April White, and can be found at her home recording studio in Chatteris, Cambridgeshire.

Their music touches on elements of neo-psychedelia, ambient music, electronic music, tape music, industrial, psych folk, synth-pop, post-punk, progressive, jazz, noise, pop, and goth rock, with a distinctly experimental/avant-garde bent; their sound has evolved over time and remains distinctive, making it difficult to place the group into a concise style or genre. The group's overall sound combined with Ka-Spel's distinct lyrics and singing have earned comparisons to Pink Floyd and Syd Barrett; the group also has links to the sounds of krautrock bands such as Can, Faust, Brainticket, Magma or Neu! (whose "Super" they covered on the 1999 tribute album "A Homage to NEU!"), as well, to some post-industrial`pioneers as Nurse With Wound and the neo-folk of Current 93. Edward Ka-Spel has said their musical influences range from the likes of Abba to Iannis Xenakis

Related bands

The Pink Dots also collaborated with Skinny Puppy's cEvin Key, forming a side project named The Tear Garden. Key also appears on the 1994 LPD album 9 Lives to Wonder. Others groups related to present and past Pink Dots members are Strange Attractor, Mimir and Minizza.

Ryan Moore, who provided drums on studio and live performances for the Legendary Pink Dots, departed to work on his own musical outlet, the Twilight Circus Dub Sound System. He has found notable success with Twilight Circus in the Reggae/Dub genre. He even wrote and produced new albums for grammy-award winning singer Michael Rose of Black Uhuru, and has worked with other notable Reggae figures such as Sly Dunbar, half of one of the most influential partnerships in reggae music, Sly & Robbie.

The Pink Dots have influenced a wide range of bands, such as The Dresden Dolls, the Death Party, MGMT, Electric Caves, Orbit Service, Skinny Puppy, Christus and the Cosmonaughts, The Circus of the Scars, Halbes Vakuum, Chanting Sheep, Golden Death Music, Un Festín Sagital, One for Jude, Hide n' Seek. and many others.

Raymond Steeg has also done live work, on the mixing desk for Hawkwind and Porcupine Tree, during the 1990s.

In a private interview in 1987, the band stated that they had been influenced strongly by The Residents and Tuxedomoon.

Recurring themes

There are a number of concepts and words that recur in Pink Dots lyrics, many of which also appear in Edward Ka-Spel's solo works. Some of these include: