Is Vic There? – Department S (1980)

Description

Additional information about this, Department S vinyl art.

Department S – The Artist/s

Department S are a British post-punk/new wave band formed in 1980, who took their name from the 1960s TV series of the same name. They are best known for their debut single, “Is Vic There?”, which was originally released in December 1980 and reached No. 22 on the UK Singles Chart the following year. Their last album, When All Is Said and All Is Done, was released in 2016. Department S evolved from a previous punk/ska combo, Guns for Hire, fronted by Vaughn Toulouse and also featuring former Madness drummer John Hasler. Mike Herbage joined them on guitar and wrote Guns for Hire’s only single, “I’m Gonna Rough My Girlfriend’s Boyfriend Up Tonight”, released on the Korova record label. The group then became Department S with the addition of bassist Tony Lordan, drummer Stuart Mizon and keyboardist Eddie Roxy (born Anthony Edward Lloyd-Barnes), taking their name from the British spy-fi adventure television series Department S, produced by ITC Entertainment.

Is Vic There? – The Song

“Is Vic There?” is  a song by post-punk band Department S, first released by Demon Records on 29 December 1980.  It was their first single under the name Department S, after their debut single “I’m Gonna Rough My Girlfriend’s Boyfriend Up Tonight” under the name Guns for Hire. It was produced by former Mott the Hoople members Buffin and Overend Watts. The title is a quotation from a Monty Python sketch titled “Phone-In”, which closed the comedy troupe’s 1973 Matching Tie and Handkerchief album.

The Band Logo – The Shape

This record has been modelled into a ‘S’ taken from the bands logo.

Department S is a British spy-fi adventure series, produced by ITC Entertainment. It consists of 28 episodes which originally aired in 1969 and 1970. It stars Peter Wyngarde as author Jason King (later featured in spin-off series Jason King), Joel Fabiani as Stewart Sullivan, and Rosemary Nicols as computer expert Annabelle Hurst. These three are agents for a fictional special department (the “S” of the title) of Interpol. The head of the Department is Sir Curtis Seretse (Dennis Alaba Peters).

Monty Python (also collectively known as the Pythons)were a British comedy troupe formed in 1969 consisting of Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones, and Michael Palin. The group came to prominence for the sketch comedy series Monty Python’s Flying Circus, which aired on the BBC from 1969 to 1974. Their work then developed into a larger collection that included live shows, films, albums, books, and musicals; their influence on comedy has been compared to the Beatles’ influence on music. Their sketch show has been called “an important moment in the evolution of television comedy”.

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