The Danse Society

The Danse Society

The Danse Society is a gothic rock, new wave and post-punk group from Barnsley, United Kingdom. The band is active from 1980 to the present.

Formation and early line-up

The original line-up includes Steve Rawlings on vocals, Paul Nash on guitar, Lyndon Scarfe on keyboards, Tim Wright on bass and Paul Gilmartin on drums. Scarfe later leaves the group and is replaced by David Whitaker, who has previously played in Music for Pleasure, after the release of Heaven is Waiting.

Recordings and releases

In 1980, the band records and releases its first 7-inch single, Clock, on its own newly formed label, Society Records. Its first independent album, The Seduction, follows in 1982 on Society Records. The six-track album includes live favourites such as Godsend, Ambition and Danse Move, as well as In Heaven Everything is Fine.

The band also records several BBC Radio 1 sessions, including a released John Peel session featuring Woman's Own and We're So Happy. The single Somewhere reaches the top of the independent charts.

Heaven is Waiting and later work

Heaven is Waiting is the band’s best-known album. It is released by Arista in 1983 and includes the singles Wake Up and Heaven is Waiting. The album also features a cover of The Rolling Stones’ 2000 Light Years from Home, which is later issued as a 12-inch single and as a limited-edition double single. The band then releases two further Arista singles, Say it Again and Hold On.

In 1986, after releasing the final album Looking Through on Society Records, the band splits. Rawlings and the other members leave to form Johnny In The Clouds. Rawlings later appears in 1987 as Society with the single Saturn Girl and later continues music activity in America with Meridian Dream.

Reformation

At the end of 2009, former members Paul Nash, Paul Gilmartin and David Whitaker meet for the first time in 24 years and decide to reform the band, with Steve Rawlings initially also agreeing to return. Instrumental tracks are recorded over the next nine months. Rawlings briefly meets the band in the UK in October 2010 and records one vocal track before contact is lost. In January 2011, Maethelyiah, founder of Blooding Mask, joins and records vocals on all 13 tracks. The album Change of Skin is then refined and mixed, and released in 2011. Two official video clips are produced for Revelation and God Cry, and a video for Vatican is also planned.