Seona Dancing was an obscure English New Wave-New Romantic-Synth-Pop duo made up of Bill Macrae and Ricky Gervais. Yes, that Ricky Gervais. Despite how short lived they were, they left quite an impact on the '80s alternative New Wave scene...albeit only in one particular country.
Ricky (vocalist, songwriter) and Bill (keyboardist) were university mates when they got signed to London Records and released their first single, "More To Lose", in 1983. With its beautiful piano melody aping "Love Will Tear Us Apart", the song got some U.K. telly performances, but was a flop. Their next single, "Bitter Heart", released that same year, also failed to crack the Top 40 despite having a music video
. The band made a demo tape of sixteen songs, that to this day is still unreleased.
In 1985 in the Philippines, "More To Lose" became a well-loved track by countless angsty teenagers thanks to Manilla station DWRTFM. The song's true name and artist was hidden to prevent airplay on other FMs; it was labeled "Fade" by Medium. However, its true identity would be revealed on DWXB102 next year. The song became the moody, heartfelt anthem of the era across the country, playing at high school dances and clubs on repeat. The duo were completely unaware of these developments, ironically, as they had long since broken up.
Seona Dancing provides examples of:
- Early-Installment Weirdness: Yes, even for a band that only ever put out two singles; "More To Lose" and its B side "You're On My Side" were made with a combination of real instruments and synths, with real drums being used, whilst "Bitter Heart" and "Tell Her" were all synth with the drums replaced with a sequencer.
- Idol Singer: In Japan, the group was this, as they were plastered on the covers of the RIO magazine, dedicated to U.K. New Wave/synth-pop/electro pop acts featuring Bishōnen to lure in the Japanese teen girl fandom. Given that the 12 inchers were not released in Japan, only the 45s, this is rather odd.
- I Was Quite a Looker: Look at Ricky's image on his own page. Now look at the page image here.
- Mr. Fanservice: Ricky, of course. Just look at him! This actually helped the band become big in Japan, as he fit in well with many other Pretty Boy band members shown in RIO.
- No OSHA Compliance: The terribly dilapidated factory in the "Bitter Heart" video.
- Sincerest Form of Flattery: "Bitter Heart" is a New Order track with a baritone vocal.
- Sliding Scale of Idealism Versus Cynicism: Bitterly cynical. Out of their four officially released songs, only "Tell Her" has upbeat lyrics (about calling a girl to tell her you love her). "More To Lose" and "Bitter Heart" are forlorn odes to shattered relationships, while "You're On My Side" describes someone struggling to deal with being psychologically tortured by others.
