We interviewed Marc Collin, the creative force behind French group Nouvelle Vague, who along with a series of 80s acoustic tribute albums also released an installment in the popular Late Night Tales compilation series.
What was the most underrated of the 1980s New Wave bands and which was the worst successful band of that era?
‘Difficult to say … the sound for example should have been much bigger but also some bands like Section 25 (I got a live recording from 1984 and it’s acid house!) missed the success. I’m thinking also of Mecano, an incredible Dutch band. As for the worst, well what happened to Simple Minds, Human League, and The Cure after 1985?’

How many albums did you listen to in order to put together your tracklisting for Late Night Tales?
‘I didn’t listen to the tracks I selected. I put my selection together only by memory! I like to work only in a theoretical way. It was only when I was supposed to do the running order that I listened again to the tracks. And ultimately they didn’t keep my running order!’

If the mix could be summed up with one track off the compilation, which one would it be?‘Maybe Cibelle by Phoenix because there’s a lot of influences in this track – from experimental, to bossa, pop, jazz and so on’.

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