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Sound produced by artisans of audio experimentation such as the on again/off again band Art of Noise (AoN) can arise from the repeated playback of a starting vehicle, echoed footsteps, and a motorcycle roaring to life. Hey, the group wasn’t/isn't called “Art of Noise” for nothing, folks! What producer, creator, and ex-Buggles vocalist Trevor Horn and musicians Ann Dudley, Paul Morley, J.J. Jeczalik, and Gary Langan (Caucasians, all!) used were mere sounds, but in the hands of talented artists such as themselves and in the imaginative mind of those persons able to perceive the artistry within the chaos, the most discordant of noise was forged into music of the most unexpected kind.
Here's the kicker: Back when this group of White UK musicians concealed their faces at every opportunity and wore masks (but not gloves or anything else to conceal their racial identities), AoN was once voted as one of the best Black acts back in the day when musical genres were largely regarded as falling into racial categories. Sadly, there were "race records" in the past (on massive, 78 RPM vinyl and later issues), Rock and Roll and Soul/Blues music for blacks (as offered by Stax Records and Motown, among others), and there were the so-called "acceptable" versions recorded by song-butchers such as Pat Boone. The strict division by race continued well into the 80s, where even Michael Jackson and the Jacksons (formerly The Jackson Five) found themselves relegated to Philadelphia International Records, a "black music" subsidiary of CBS Records that existed at the time after they left Motown and Epic.
From Wikipedia:
Anne: When the group first started, we thought it would be a good idea to have an image that wasn't based around a fashion look. We thought it would encourage people to look at the music instead of the members of the band. It didn't last for long, though.
Gary: It really doesn't seem a lot different, actually; the responsibility a lot more different; it's probably more fun, more risk to it.
Anne: There's a very big risk in America because they think we're black; we were voted the second best new black act. We are wondering how we can quite cope with this.
Gary: There was at one point there came along an instrument that nobody had really used and we were lucky that we had one we could use. There are certain things you can do with it that you're not able to do with anything else. So it was a question of experimenting with that, and things really took off from there.
Anne: This is the famous Fairlight music computer, which you may have heard of.
Gary: Which plays an important part. I really think that the music is more important than the personality. The fashion around a personality seems to change a lot quicker than that around music.
— Gary Langan and Anne Dudley, BBC Breakfast Time interview
Below is the Art of Noise performing one of their variations of "Beat Box," the song that earned them consideration for a "best Black band" honor simply because of the song name and its bass-heavy sound. I kid you not.
-TechRider
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