Hm. From my entirely personal point of view, I'm not that interested in whether a group is radical or influential. Is late Scott Walker influential? Tilt's lodged in my soul, whether or no. As are those first three Ultravox albums and most particularly Systems Of Romance. I'm fascinated to read that K-Punk finds Foxx "icy" - I've always experienced his music as passionate, engaged (well, with the exception of Metamatic that is) and awash with desire. As the quiet man he assumed the role of the outsider, but in doing so he was able to express desire in much the same way as Kraftwerk did with the concept of the man-machine/robot. The role of the dream, the possibility of escape proferred by the imagination is what always fascinated me. To K-Punk's excellent list of references I'd add a dash of the English magical realism of Powell-Pressburger and the suburban paranoia of the TV series, Survivors.
I wonder whether he'll ever finish/publish his stories, the first of which I think was published with The Garden... One other thing, I wonder whether a band has ever done as radically different a version of a track as the two recordings of Hiroshima Mon Amour, the final track on Ha!-Ha!-Ha! and the 'b' side punk version of Rockwrock. Wouldn't be able to choose which one I prefer, both brilliant. One thing's for sure, it's heartbreaking hearing Midge Ure sing the vocal on a post '79 bootleg I snagged recently.
