Biography
The Passions came together as a post-punk outfit in 1978, built around guitarist and vocalist Barbara Gogan, bassist Claire Bidwell, drummer Richard Williams, vocalist Mitch Barker, and guitarist Clive Temperley. Before that year most of the musicians had already logged time in other bands, most prominently Temperley as a former member of the 101'ers and Williams as part of the Derelicts, the group that preceded Prag Vec. The band made its first appearance on record in March 1979 with the Soho single “Needles and Pins,” an effort that secured them a deal with Fiction, the same label that housed the Cure. Roughly twelve months elapsed before their debut album, Michael and Miranda, reached stores; in the interim the group cut one more single and taped two sessions at the BBC. Their strongest commercial showing arrived in the winter of 1981 when “I’m in Love With a German Film Star” climbed to number 25 on the U.K. pop chart. By the time that single appeared, Bidwell and Barker had already left—Bidwell joining the Wall—and David Agar had assumed bass duties. August 1981 brought the second album, 30,000 Feet Over China, a hybrid collection that paired several earlier A-sides with fresh tracks. Temperley departed before year’s end and was succeeded by Kevin Armstrong, previously of Local Heroes; keyboardist Jeff Smith, whose résumé included work with Lene Lovich, also joined at this stage. Two further singles preceded the September 1982 release of Sanctuary, after which the band split. Gogan resurfaced in 1998 with the album Made on Earth, recorded alongside experimentalist Hector Zazou.
Albums
