M

Known to the world as the new wave one-hit wonder M, <a href="spotify:artist:5UQO8IQ2YE4eRUrGtHygB8">Robin Scott</a> scored one of the first commercially successful electro-pop/dance singles with 1979's international number one smash "Pop Muzik." <a href="spotify:artist:5UQO8IQ2YE4eRUrGtHygB8">Scott</a> attended Croydon Art College in the late '60s, where his classmates included <a href="spotify:artist:4ihCM8I0fpWodgjo0mTlhZ">Malcolm McLaren</a>, and began performing topical folk songs in area clubs. This led to the release of an early LP, 1969's Woman from the Green Grass, on <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Head+Records%22">Head Records</a>. The label quickly went bankrupt, however, and <a href="spotify:artist:5UQO8IQ2YE4eRUrGtHygB8">Scott</a> worked on a variety of musical projects during the early '70s, hoping to break through. He eventually became manager and producer for the pub rock band <a href="spotify:artist:0fAbC8u4eIV4WsNx3wFyYV">Roogalator</a> and produced their "Cincinnati Fatback," one of the first singles released by the pioneering U.K. indie <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Stiff+Records%22">Stiff Records</a>. <a href="spotify:artist:5UQO8IQ2YE4eRUrGtHygB8">Scott</a>'s label, Do-It, also released the first <a href="spotify:artist:2DppeCnNtvrLfEobq9Pw5r">Adam & the Ants</a> LP, Dirk Wears White Sox. <a href="spotify:artist:5UQO8IQ2YE4eRUrGtHygB8">Scott</a> moved to Paris in 1978, where he produced the punk rock band <a href="spotify:artist:5O0RrEgz4NLCPLrDZiPggz">the Slits</a>, and a previously recorded single was issued under the name Comic Romance.

Around the same time, <a href="spotify:artist:5UQO8IQ2YE4eRUrGtHygB8">Scott</a> christened himself M and recorded the single "Moderne Man," which flopped. However, his next release, "Pop Muzik," was an instant classic; it featured support from <a href="spotify:artist:0fAbC8u4eIV4WsNx3wFyYV">Roogalator</a> bassist Julian Scott (<a href="spotify:artist:5UQO8IQ2YE4eRUrGtHygB8">Robin</a>'s brother), keyboardist <a href="spotify:artist:7EjJWbZz0wsaAAt5zN0DOL">Wally Badarou</a>, programmer John Lewis, and vocalist Brigit Novik (<a href="spotify:artist:5UQO8IQ2YE4eRUrGtHygB8">Scott</a>'s wife). Demand for an LP was met by New York-London-Paris-Munich, which added woodwind player Gary Barnacle and drummer Phil Gould to M's backing band. The follow-ups to "Pop Muzik," "Moonlight and Muzak" and "That's the Way the Money Goes," were minor hits in the U.K., although <a href="spotify:artist:5UQO8IQ2YE4eRUrGtHygB8">Scott</a> had seen the last of his singles chart successes in the U.S. The Official Secrets Act (1980) was less successful commercially, a trend continued on 1982's Famous Last Words (which <a href="spotify:artist:5UQO8IQ2YE4eRUrGtHygB8">Scott</a>'s U.K. label <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22MCA%22">MCA</a> refused to release). In the meantime, <a href="spotify:artist:5UQO8IQ2YE4eRUrGtHygB8">Scott</a> worked with <a href="spotify:artist:2JIf5JxI3ypOSfrfNIIMQE">Yellow Magic Orchestra</a> keyboardist and budding solo artist <a href="spotify:artist:1tcgfoMTT1szjUeaikxRjA">Ryuichi Sakamoto</a>. <a href="spotify:artist:5UQO8IQ2YE4eRUrGtHygB8">Scott</a> later dabbled in African music collaborations, especially Kenyan music, but most of the material languished in the vaults as <a href="spotify:artist:5UQO8IQ2YE4eRUrGtHygB8">Scott</a> faded from sight as a solo artist. Assorted reissues, as well as remix projects, followed through the 2000s and 2010s. ~ Steve Huey, Rovi