Manufactured Romance | en

In the post punk fallout of 1978, four spiky haired teenagers under the guidance of the dubiously debonair Roy Pierson, come together as the group 4th Reich and make their debut at The Marquee supporting the UK Subs. During 1979 they support the UK Subs on their Stranglehold tour, appear in the film 'Punk Can Take It' and change their name to Manufactured Romance.

In 1980 they become a five piece with Bob Moore on lead guitar and sign to Fresh Records. Playing to full houses everywhere, they release Time Of My Life which breaks into the indie charts, headline the Fresh Festival at The Music Machine and record two songs, 'You' and 'Long Distance Love' for the compilation album Backstage Pass before the relationship with Fresh goes stale.

In 1982, Bob and Benny split from the band. Paul Cokayne fills the vacant drum stool and the band stay as a four piece for another year before Nina is sidelined with serious health problems. In 1983, with Nina restored to health, they emerge from their hibernation, record a clutch of new songs and wave goodbye to Manufactured Romance riding off into the sunset as Foreign Flags.

The legacy they left behind has been shoe boxes full of memories stored away in dusty attics with the occasional car boot thrown in for good measure, until now.

Last year a MySpace page set up by 2 bored former guitar heroes was overwhelmed by the response of old friends and fans. In response to the many requests to buy or download songs, dusty old tapes are being cleaned up and transferred to digital and negotiations are underway to re-master the original recordings.

Rumours of a reunion also persisted throughout the year but with Nina living in the USA it proved too difficult. A year later and things have moved on to the extent that Manufactured Romance. are once more heading out on the road, to boldly go where all old punks go, Rebellion. .