Paul Haig - Les Disques Du Crepuscule

Les Disques Du Crepuscule

Haig subsequently teamed up with a Belgian independent record label Les Disques du Crépuscule, and in January 1982 made solo live debuts in Edinburgh and London. At this stage his solo material was not so very different from late-period Josef K classics such as "Heaven Sent", "Adoration" and "Heart of Song", albeit with a greater emphasis on stripped-down funk rhythms. According to the NME's Dave Hill, for the latter show at The Venue:

Rhythm of Life remained a mystery... Initially they seem like an artful re-arrangement of the Iggy-Oakey ice-box delivery, and the Bogart mail order catalogue, into a perfect cliché of the same. But how straight are their faces? I don't know, but Haig projects with the efficiency of a sly android, blonde, doleful and besuited, spooning each painstaking tune with an immaculate croon. All is calm and self-contained... Since Josef K split Haig has pursued several lines, yet the cool execution of this show is undeniable, elegant and curvaceous.

The following month Rhythm of Life took part in Crépuscule's first European tour, Dialogue North-South, which also included Durutti Column, The Names, Marine, Richard Jobson, Isabelle Antena and Tuxedomoon. Eschewing a live drummer in favour of a rhythm box, RoL gained plaudits for their versatile, snappy brand of funk minimalism, and five excerpts from these shows can be found on Crepuscule's souvenir compilation, Some Interesting Things You'll See On A Long Distance Flight.

Haig elected to relocate to Brussels in March, and there embarked on an intensive recording schedule at Little Big One studio. This yielded two self-produced singles, "Running Away" and "Justice", although the latter was destined to be shelved. However, after just four months Haig tired of continental living and returned home to Edinburgh. "Running Away", a cover of the Sly Stone classic, appeared in May on Les Disques Du Crépuscule subsidiary Operation Twilight and reached number 19 on the UK Independent Chart, its success unhampered by the simultaneous release of another version by The Raincoats.

The follow-up single, "Justice", was later cancelled after Les Disques Du Crépuscule signed a licensing deal with Island Records. 7-inch test pressings (TWI 100) survive, as does a separate 12" release on Les Disques Du Crépuscule/Interference featuring two mixes of the song "Blue For You", although this was intended as a DJ record rather than a full release. While in Brussels Haig also recorded the Swing in '82 set, partly at the instigation of Crépuscule's Michel Duval. Originally intended for release as a 10-inch EP, Swing in '82 saw Haig tackling six big band numbers Sinatra-style. In 1982 Haig said to Masterbag magazine:

After listening to lots of Frank Sinatra records I became aware of these fantastic old songs. I think the music and the lyrics are absolutely incredible - especially the lyrics. You just don't hear lyrics like that nowadays. They're just so emotional. It was a big challenge to try and sing them. The swing side starts with The Song is You, then All of You and Let's Face the Music and Dance. The dream side is Love Me Tender, The Way You Look Tonight and Send in the Clowns. I think the first side is around 1938, with songs by Cole Porter, Irving Berlin, people like that. The second side is slightly more modern. The basic instrumentation on side one is just drums, double bass and piano, with the addition of string synthesiser on side two. We had to try about three sets of musicians before we found these old session musicians that had been playing jazz all their lives. The piano player must have been 70 years old! The drummer was quite young, in his mid twenties, so it was quite a challenge for him to keep pace with these brilliant jazz musicians, as it was for me too. I'm sure they thought it was a joke. I remember I turned up at the studio the morning they arrived. They said, 'Are you the singer? The producer?' They looked at each other in disbelief. It could either be slammed or it could be looked upon as something brilliant. I tend to think that in England it's going to be laughed at, but I don't think that's justified because the musicianship is really, really good on it. If anyone slags it off then it must be for some other reason, but they can't fault the playing.

In fact this record too was shelved, and not released by Crepuscule until 1985, with five tracks only, Haig having finally vetoed "Send in the Clowns".

In July, almost a year after Josef K had split, yet with just one proper solo record to his name in "Running Away", Haig was labelled "the face and sound of 1982" by Paul Morley in a lead feature for the NME. Accordingly to Morley, Haig was the "enigmatic fourth man" in a New Pop quartet which also included Billy Mackenzie, Jim Kerr and Martin Fry, all of them potential pop saviours in a parallel universe where Morley deemed Dollar "the most avant-garde group in the world". Even by Morley's standards the statement was ludicrous, although he would validate it partially two years later by instructing ZTT signing Propaganda to cover "Sorry for Laughing" on their album A Secret Wish.