MUSIC
China Crisis. P H O T O : R OY SHUTTLEWORTH
Legacy Lines After more than 40 years, China Crisis is still fully enjoying the ride. BY B R I A N BA K E R
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lthough ‘80s synth pop icons China Crisis never broke out in America, they were one of the hottest new wave commodities to emerge from the Liverpool scene. The group earned gold records and charted 10 hit singles in Great Britain and a number of other countries, including their lone top 10 smash, “Wishful Thinking,” in 1983. With keyboardist/vocalist Gary Daly and guitarist/vocalist Eddie Lundon as the band’s only constants, China Crisis notched several impressive accomplishments. Two of the biggest were enticing Steely Dan guitarist Walter Becker to produce their third and fifth
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albums (an honor, considering Steely Dan was one of China Crisis’ avowed influences, along with David Bowie, Brian Eno and Talking Heads) and sharing stages with the likes of Tom Verlaine, Haircut 100 and Simple Minds. While China Crisis only has seven studio albums to date along with some gaps in their history – five years between 1989’s Diary of a Hollow Horse and 1994’s Warped by Success, and then another 21 years before their last recorded effort, 2015’s Autumn in the Neighbourhood – don’t make the mistake of thinking that the band’s current U.S. tour represents a comeback of some sort. The band has rarely been
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off the road for too long, as evidenced by the five live albums that have been available over the years, plus they’ve remained on the industry’s radar with no fewer than five retrospective collections over the past three decades. Co-founder Daly has a spectacularly sunny perspective on China Crisis’ long run, preferring to look at its legacy rather than its history. “The music never dies,” he tells CityBeat from his Liverpool home. “A lot of bands will continue and there will only be one original member and sometimes not even that, and that just tells you the music lives forever. The people who make it don’t, but if you get lucky, your
song gets sung forever.” Daly is fairly certain that China Crisis’ upcoming show at Ludlow Garage is the band’s Cincinnati debut (“I’d remember that name, Cincinnati...people in Europe talk about Cincinnati as a music city.”). He’s certain that fans and firsttimers alike will find something to love in the band’s presentation. “It might be, ‘What the hell? What do they even look like now?’” Daly says. “But I think people will be pleasantly surprised when they get to see us in Cincinnati because the music is as spritely and vibrant as it was 40 years ago when we started making it.” “Technology has helped with that
