Held’s name might resonate for those who bought Fashion’s second LP in 1982. Not only an electro pioneer who helped turn Streetplayer (Mechanik) and Love Shadow into minor hits in the early 80s, Held was also a keyboard cog in the krautrock wheel of Birth Control.
This compilation is stitched together from solo LPs and work with other artists such as Gina X, confirming that, like Tomita and Kraftwerk, Held had his finger firmly on the developing electronic pulse between 1978 and 1981. These 18 tracks sound like a summit meeting between Bruce Haack and Air, with Nice Mover proving as good as anything the French duo ever produced. On The Road Again melds electronics with a glam stomp to make a hit for The Rockets in 1978, while Held does a great line in cover versions, adding vocoder Valium to Fool On The Hill and Drive My Car.
