THE SYSTEMS - FIND IT IN YOUR EYES

FIND IT IN YOUR EYES

THE SYSTEM

SONGWRITER: THE SYSTEM

COUNTRY: U. S. A.

ALBUM: LOGIC

LABEL: ROMANTIC RECORDS

GENRE: SYNTH-POP

YEAR: 1983

The System is na American synth-pop duo that debuted in the 1980s, composed of vocalist-guitarist Mic Murphy and seasoned session keyboardist David Frank. The band was founded in 1982 in New York and backed up by Paul Pesco on electric guitar and Kris Khellow on keyboards and synthesizers. The group is sometimes referred to as being "emotio-electro" because of its hi-tech, synthesizer-driven sound, married with passionate vocals and sensitive lyrics.

David Frank and Mic Murphy met in the early 1980s while working for the soul-funk band Kleeer. Frank had gotten a break when Atlantic Records enlisted him as Kleeer's tour keyboardist. The band's road manager was Mic Murphy, and although Murphy was obviously aware of Frank's skills, Frank was unaware Murphy could sing. Later in New York City, David Frank was working on a session that evolved into a track called "It's Passion," which was to feature a pre-stardom Madonna on vocals. However, due to creative differences, Madonna bowed out. Frank then remembered Murphy and invited him to work on it. The results were so impressive that Mirage/Atlantic Records offered Murphy and Frank a recording deal of their own. Murphy came up with the band's name, and within weeks "It's Passion" was receiving massive radio airplay in New York. "It's Passion" became both a radio and club hit in New York. The interest sparked enough interest for Mirage to give David and Mic an advance for an album.

Music From Memory’s latest release in their 12” series focuses on the little known UK band The System. A project masterminded by Bob Lamb, a somewhat cult figure in Birmingham's music history; the short lived group released only one album ‘Logic' and a single in 1983 on the somewhat obscure French label ‘Romantic Records’. This distinctively forward thinking new wave/synth pop album met with poor distribution and with almost no promotion to speak of at the time and quickly dwindled into obscurity. The albums sense of technological exploration, outstanding production value coupled with the band’s gift of writing deeply emotive, yearning pop tunes, make it sound though perhaps more relevant today than many other far more successful albums of it's time.

Whilst the band and the album might have sunk into obscurity, the band were no novices to the music business. In fact the highly regarded producer Bob Lamb had played as a drummer throughout the late sixties and into the late seventies for a number of progressive rock bands. The last of which, The Steve Gibbons Band, found moderate success both at home and in US, even opening up for The Who on their world tours. Having travelled the world as a musician, in 1979 Lamb would set up a 4-track recording and mixing studio in his basement flat to focus on production. In this state of the art Birmingham studio he would work with Duran Duran on their earliest work as well as producing UB40's very first album. With this highly developed sense of production, it was here in Bob Lamb’s studio that the four members of The System set out to make a pop record very much driven by the new possibilities of technology and developments within studio recording.

With instrumental tracks ‘Vampirella’, sounding almost prophetic of Detroit techno tracks that would not be made until some 10 years later and ‘Pendy! You’re In Some Awful Danger’ a vaporous synth excursion and anthemic drum-heavy vocal track ‘Almost Grown’, this 12" also features the unreleased end of the night jam ‘Find It In Your Eyes’, a track which somehow never made it on to the original LP release. 

{verse 1}

Wanting, always looking

Searching for that door

Feeling, always hoping

Believing more and more

{chorus}

Will i find it in your eyes

Or will i go home empty-handed?

Will i see it in your smile

Or do i always end up stranded?

{verse 2}

Do i go on getting nowhere?

The world is low, the wind blows cold

Is there no one (is there no one?)

I can hold on? (i can hold on)

It is tough i’ve been told

{pre-chorus}

All the people and their places

The names and all their faces

What do they say?

They’re walking hand in hand

But do they understand

What games they play?

{instrumental}

{chorus}

Will i find it in your eyes

Or will i go home empty-handed?

Will i see it in your smile

Or do i always end up stranded?

{outro}

Will i find it in your eyes?

Will i find it in your eyes?

Will i find it in your eyes?

Will i find it in your eyes?

Will i find it in your eyes?