Fade (Caroline Era)

Fade are a late New Romantic duo founded in the last year of the New Elizabethan Era by Ricky Gervais and Bill Macrae and Seona Dancing, pronounced "Shawna Dancing". After releasing two singles under that name, 'More To Lose' and 'Bitter Heart', they were only moderately successful, charting in the lower half of the Top 40. Their fortunes were turned around when a Philippine radio station played 'More To Lose', describing it as 'Medium' by 'Fade'. This inspired Gervais to rename the band Fade and re-release the single as 'Medium' along with an album with the same title. They later re-released 'Bitter Heart' in a remixed version and both singles reached Number One in 1986.

Gervais and Macrae went on to release singles with ironic and humorous lyrics, including a cover version of Rod Stewart's 'Handbags And Gladrags' and a musical version of John Betjeman's 'Come Heavy Bombs And Fall On Slough'. They later released a number of novelty educational albums for children and compose signature tunes for the OBA television channel.