Information Society (band)

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This article is about the band. For the general concept it was named after, see information society.

Image:InSoc logo.jpgInformation Society (also known as InSoc) was a U.S. band from Minneapolis, Minnesota, primarily consisting of Kurt Harland (aka Kurt Valaquen), Paul Robb, and James Cassidy. Their breakout hit was 1988's "What's On Your Mind (Pure Energy)", a dance hit which included a sample of Mr. Spock (Leonard Nimoy) from Star Trek, saying "pure energy," and opened with a sample of Dr. McCoy (DeForest Kelley), also from Star Trek, saying, "It's worked so far, but we're not out yet!"

The band was formed in Minneapolis in the early 1980s, and they performed avant-garde electronic music with flourishes of hip-hop, dub, and electro. In 1983 they independently released two albums, The InSoc EP and Creatures Of Influence. Two years later they released Running, their first single, which became a hit popular in New York City Latin dance clubs and "put them on the map". The song, a 7-minute excursion into electro, was written and sung by Murat Konar, who left the band soon after. Their growing success led them from their native Minneapolis to NYC, and the ensuing revenues and contacts, as well as the addition of Amanda Kramer to the lineup, led them to record their proper debut album.

Their self-titled major release debut Information Society (1988) also had another hit, "Walking Away", and a cover of ABBA's "Lay All Your Love On Me". The disc was one of the few to use CD+G, which included digital graphics on the compact disc version in addition to the music. The audio samples from Star Trek were authorized for use on the album partially thanks to the efforts of Adam Nimoy, fan of the band and son of Star Trek's Leonard.

The second release, Hack (1990), wasn't as successful, but had small hits with "Think" and "How Long." Videos were produced for those two tracks, but only "Think" got video airplay, as the Adam Ant-directed spot for "How Long" was put aside as nobody involved was happy with it. Kurt was also the owner of the heavily-modified Road Warrior-inspired art car named "Vector" featured on the cover of Hack. The car sported a functioning ranging laser, among other unusual features. Vector was eventually given to a friend at Burning Man in the mid 1990s.

During this time the band released a couple of remixes under the name Think Tank.

The third release, Peace & Love, Inc. (1992), proved to be more powerful and critically acclaimed, although their label failed to do much to promote them. Their first single "Peace & Love Inc." reached #1 on the Billboard Dance Chart. A music video was produced for the track, but MTV declined to play it. The album is also notable for being perhaps the first album ever produced to contain a track of modem tones, which when played into a telephone connected to a computer resulted in a bonus text message from the band.

The fourth album, Don't Be Afraid (1997), written and performed by Kurt Harland alone and produced by Steven Seibold, is more industrial-driven. Harland's love of computer-related materials continued to be evident, as the album included a CD-ROM filled with bonus material, not yet a common occurrence in 1997. The disc included a selection of digital samples used in the album's production, miscellaneous works of art by InSoc fans, a program to generate the distinctive border graphics used on the album's cover, and the music video of "Peace and Love, Inc." There was also a carefully-orchestrated digital scavenger hunt culminating in the discovery of a bonus track called "White Roses". The scavenger hunt began with decoding a modem's signal recorded at the end of the audio CD, resulting in a text message from Kurt which pointed the way to a website where the search began. There is also a cover included of Gary Numan's "Are 'Friends' Electric".

A remix album, InSoc Recombinant was produced, featuring vocals to the band's earlier hits remixed by various artists. The vocals to songs pre-Don't Be Afraid were not the originals, they were new versions re-recorded by Kurt alone specifically for the remixers' use. Included on a bonus, unadvertised CD-ROM were digital copies of the band's entire released videography, including a higher-quality copy of the "Peace and Love, Inc." video than distributed with Don't Be Afraid.

Paul Robb's influences in earlier albums ranged more to the prototypal hip-hop and house music, and he was integral to the early operations of Tommy Boy Records.

Amanda left the group before the second album Hack (1990), Paul and James followed after Peace & Love, Inc. (1992), and Kurt was the only remaining member left to record Don't Be Afraid in 1997. During the course of the four albums and about a dozen remix singles from them, Information Society's sound went from more electronic pop music to a darker industrial type, though they will always be remembered for their first hit song and the cardboard guitars they wielded in its music video. In 2001, Greatest Hits: Strange Haircuts / Cardboard Guitars / and Computer Samples was released including all the hits from 1988 to 1992.

James Cassidy left the music business altogether and is currently a professor of Farm Sciences at Oregon State University in Corvallis, Oregon. Amanda Kramer has also been a member of the Golden Palominos and 10,000 Maniacs, and currently performs with the Psychedelic Furs. Paul Robb went on to release solo material under the Think Tank name and was half of Brother Sun Sister Moon. Robb is currently a composer for TV and film whose credits include Orgazmo, South Park, and Clio Award-winning commercials.

The group was featured in an episode of VH1's Bands Reunited in November of 2004. As broadcast, it appeared that Aamer Haleem (host of the show) got every member to agree to reuniting. However, Kurt had declined to appear in the planned concert, for reasons he later detailed in a post on the band's official website. The post also details his experiences behind the scenes of the production, and how they differ from the portrayals in the episode as broadcast.

Information Society currently has no plans to work on new material, although Harland, Cassidy, and Robb did come out of retirement for two well-received performances at a weekend music festival in New York on August 20-21, 2005.

Paul Robb and James Cassidy have since decided to reunite the band to record a new album. Kurt Harland will not be participating in the new line-up due to family and work obligations. Paul and James decided to move forward with new singer Christopher Antonand keyboardist Sonja Myers.

No details are available about the release date of the new album or tour dates.

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