… Read Full Bio ↴New Musik were a London based Synthpop group active from 1979 to 1982.
The lead singer and frontman was songwriter/producer Tony Mansfield, who was also a former member of the Nick Straker Band. New Musik first appeared on the BBC TV pop programme, Top Of The Pops in October 1979 with their debut hit single "Straight Lines" which received airplay on BBC Radio 1 from special guesting DJ Frank Zappa.
Their debut album "From A To B" (1980) reached the Top 40 in the UK Albums Chart and contained four UK chart hit singles; "Straight Lines", "Living By Numbers", "This World Of Water" and "Sanctuary". New Musik also topped the French singles chart with "On Islands" from this album.
Touring the UK in 1980, New Musik performed at both the Oxford and Cambridge Balls (with Elvis Costello) and at the Rotterdam New Pop festival in the Netherlands, and did a second UK tour in 1981.
Their second album, Anywhere (1981) reached #68 in the chart, but despite gaining international acclaim, neither of its singles "Luxury" or "While You Wait" charted in the UK.
In 1981 a compilation album, Sanctuary, was released in the U.S., consisting of four tracks from From A To B and eight from Anywhere. Previous to this release, there had also been a four song 10" vinyl Straight Lines released by CBS Records in the U.S. as part of their short-lived Epic "Nu-Disk" series, which had also included The Clash's Black Market Clash.
After the demise of GTO Records, New Musik released their third and final album, Warp (1982) which was more experimental. Oddly, it featured a synth version of The Beatles "All You Need Is Love", alongside an identically titled track of their own. Tracks such as "Hunting", "A Train On Twisted Tracks" and "Kingdoms For Horses" showed much promise, but without promotion and with limited record company support, the group disbanded shortly after.
Known for their originality and innovative approach to recording, New Musik specialised in catchy synth-pop with clever, often thought-provoking lyrical content. Tracks such as "Dead Fish (Don't Swim Home)" and "The Planet Doesn't Mind" highlighted environmental issues, still a minority interest in the early 1980s.
Several artists have covered tracks by New Musik, including Camouflage who did a version of "On Islands" in 1989.
Mansfield went on to achieve considerable success in the field of production for the likes of After The Fire, A-Ha, Aztec Camera, The B-52s, The Damned, Captain Sensible, Naked Eyes, Mari Wilson, Jean Paul Gaultier, Miguel Bose and Ana Torroja, some of his most successful projects.
From A To B and Anywhere were released on CD in 1994, and again in 2001, remastered and with bonus tracks. Warp was also released (with bonus tracks) on CD for the first time in 2001, in Japan. This remains its only CD release.
Hunting
New Musik Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Hunting, hunting
This is the hunting ground
Hunting, hunting
Sold out so go home
Nirvana on display
Hunting, hunting
Gives back to take away
Sold out so go home
No form of any kind
Hunting, hunting
There's no more left to find
Hunting, hunting
Sold out so go home
Survivors disappear
Hunting, hunting
So now the coast is clear
Hunting, hunting
Sold out so go home
The song "Hunting" by New Musik has a rather cryptic and intriguing meaning. The song appears to comment on the human tendency to always be chasing after something, hunting for something, and consequently becoming exhausted or causing destruction in the process. The line "bold hunters all fall down" suggests that even the most enthusiastic and daring hunters will eventually tire and "fall down" from their pursuit. The repeated phrase "sold out so go home" could be interpreted as a warning or plea to those who are chasing after something that has already been taken or claimed. The line "Nirvana on display" could be seen as a reference to the Buddhist concept of Nirvana, which is the ultimate goal of spiritual enlightenment, but here it is described as being "on display," suggesting that people are constantly searching for something that they believe will bring them happiness and satisfaction, but they never quite attain it.
Overall, the song seems to be a commentary on human nature and the cycle of chasing after something, feeling like one has achieved it, only to discover that it was not what they were really looking for. The repetitive use of the word "hunting" underscores this idea and creates a hypnotic effect, almost like the listener is being drawn into this cycle themselves.
Line by Line Meaning
Bold hunters all fall down
The people who are too greedy and obsessed with hunting eventually lose everything.
This is the hunting ground
The world is a place where everybody is trying to hunt something or the other.
Sold out so go home
Everything worth hunting for has been taken, so there's no point in continuing to look for it.
Nirvana on display
Even something as spiritually enlightening as Nirvana has been commercialized and put on display for profit.
Gives back to take away
One might gain something through hunting, but eventually it will be taken away.
No form of any kind
There is nothing left to hunt, neither physically nor spiritually.
There's no more left to find
The things people were looking for while hunting do not exist anymore.
Survivors disappear
The people who were able to survive in the hunting world are now gone.
So now the coast is clear
With no more survivors left, there's no competition left in the hunting world.
Sold out so go home
Even though there's no more competition, there's nothing left to hunt so one should move on.
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA/AMCOS
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