This clip was made in 1981 to promote the debut New Age Steppers album which was the first release on the On-U Sound label. New Age Steppers were a loose studio collective centred around the musical partnership of Adrian Sherwood and Ari Up from The Slits, New Age Steppers existed on and off from 1980 to 2012. They were notable for bringing together musicians from the post-punk and reggae scenes together, their records feature contributions from members of The Pop Group, The Raincoats, Flying Lizards, Roots Radics, Aswad and Creation Rebel.
The clip has been released to coincide with the reissue of their first 3 studio albums on vinyl for the first time since original release in the early 80s – New Age Steppers, Action Battlefield and Foundation Steppers. 2012’s Love Forever has been released on vinyl for the first time as well as a new LP of outtakes and rarities, Avant Gardening.
This what they have to say about the clip:
“The film made to accompany the New Age Steppers cover version of Junior Byles’ roots classic “Fade Away” is very different: artily shot scenes of a woman and child walking around a large garden and posing in the room of a house somewhat incongruous with the heaviness of the backing track. As an interesting aside, Sherwood credits the star of the “Fade Away” video, Eroica, with designing the On-U Sound logo!”
You can find the New Age Steppers reissues here.
