With many of her early Liverpool compatriots on their way to worldwide fame and fortune, singer Jayne Casey formed Pink Military after the short-lived but seminal Big in Japan folded in 1978. Pink Military’s one album, recorded after two years and numerous lineup changes, is an eclectically derivative (yet amusing) hodgepodge that is neither stunningly original nor disgustingly clichéd.
After Pink Military ended, Casey joined up with bassist/keyboardist Ambrose Reynolds (a onetime member of Frankie Goes to Hollywood), adding a guitarist after the first album, and continued to evade commercial success as Pink Industry. Inhabiting and exploring an original world of sound and vision, Pink Industry sounded something like Siouxsie Sioux fronting Japan, using bits of guitar, bass, drums, electronics and found audio to weave a fascinating soft cushion for Casey’s plain vocals. As the trio progressed (Casey’s vocals on the later records are a big improvement), their efforts turned more towards alluringly textured layers of electronics, making the group’s end all the more regrettable.
Pink Industry, released during a surprising spurt of UK interest in the by-then-defunct band, is a fine condensation of the three albums that adds a pair of alternate versions, a remix of “What I Wouldn’t Give” and the otherwise unissued “Cruel Garden.”