New Musik were a late '70s / early '80s new wave band, the brainchild of producer/singer/songwriter Tony Mansfield. It was the kind of British power pop that Nick Lowe, Elvis Costello and Squeeze were doing, but with the added gleam of the shiny synthesizer's array of new sounds. I loved their songs, and I was sure that the average Joe would eat them up and propel them into the charts. Sad to say that didn't really happen. Their debut single Straight Lines reached the lower '50s, while the biggest hit they had was with their second single Living By Numbers - it got to number 13 on the British charts. I love the intro on this tune - that strummy riff, the hand claps, the dreamy keys. It's a lovely little slab of melancholic pop. The song of theirs I like the most? Easy - Sanctuary - I love the melody, the trippy sucking sound on some of the vocals, the cool new wave key parts. The highest it got in the charts? Number 31. IMO, they were a band that deserved much greater success than they ever had. Tony Mansfield went on to do a lot of production work for bands. Naked Eyes, After The Fire, A-ha, the B-52's, Vicious Pink and a host of others all benefitted from the modern shine he gave them.
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