THE phrase Zang Tuum Tumb was coined in 1912 by Italian futurist poet Filippo Marinetti as an onomatopoeic war cry. Trevor Horn adopted it to name his maverick label for records that “possessed the most direct impact”.
ZTT would become synonymous with the sound of 1980s power pop, a sort of Simon Cowell stable, with talent. And the track-listing on CD1 of this 30th anniversary double CD represents the golden age after MTV videos first attempted to kill the radio star. ZTT’s debut single was Frankie Goes To Hollywood’s famously banned Relax, which topped the charts in 1984 and signalled a radical departure for Horn.
Forget his work with Buggles and Dollar, ZTT represented a new kind of thrilling, shimmering and grandiose pop music. And on all the tracks it’s the mixing desk that takes centre stage, despite such luminary names as Tom Jones, Seal and Grace Jones. Music writer Simon Price hailed Trevor Horn as the man who invented the Eighties. This collection shows why.
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