1978–1981: White Souls in Black Suits and Thirst Newton had previously worked with members of
Cabaret Voltaire in a collective called The Studs and with
Ian Craig Marsh and
Martyn Ware in a band called
The Future. He formed the first line-up of Clock DVA in 1978 with Judd Turner (bass), David J. Hammond (guitar), Roger Quail (drums), and Charlie Collins (saxophone, clarinet) (born 26 September 1958,
Sheffield). Clock DVA was originally known for making a form of
experimental electronic music involving treated
tape loops and synthesizers such as the EMS Synthi E. Clock DVA became associated with
industrial music with the 1980 release of their
cassette album White Souls in Black Suits on
Throbbing Gristle's
Industrial Records. Paul Widger joined on guitar. The LP
Thirst, released on
Fetish Records, followed in 1981 to a favourable critical reaction, and reached the top of the
NME Indie Charts, by which time the band had combined
musique concrète techniques with standard rock instrumentation. "
4 Hours", the single from
Thirst, was later covered by former
Bauhaus bassist
David J on his 1985 solo EP
Blue Moods Turning Tail. The band split up in 1981, with the non-original members of the band—Quail, Collins, and Widger—going on to form The Box.
1982–1984: Advantage In 1982, Newton formed a new version of the band that included future
Siouxsie and the Banshees guitarist
John Valentine Carruthers and signed a deal with the major label
Polydor Records. The single "
High Holy Disco Mass" (which was released under the name
DVA) and the EP
Passions Still Aflame were released in 1982, preceding the release of the album
Advantage (with singles "
Resistance" and "
Breakdown") in 1983. Trouser Press characterized
Advantage as "their strongest, most powerful LP, a funky concoction of intense dance-powered bass/drums drive with splatters of feedback, angst-ridden vocals by Newton, tape interruptions and dollops of white-noise sax and trumpet." After a European tour in 1983, however, the band split acrimoniously. Adi Newton went on to form
The Anti-Group, or T.A.G.C. Newton began working on new material with
Brian Williams,
Graeme Revell (from
SPK), and
Paul Haslinger but continued problems with record labels eventually caused Newton and Clock DVA to take a long break from the music scene. In 1998, Czech record label
Nextera released a reissue of
Buried Dreams, sanctioned by Dean Dennis and Paul Browse but not by Newton.
2008–present: Reactivation Adi Newton reactivated Clock DVA, along with his creative partner Jane Radion Newton, in 2008. Since 2011, Clock DVA has performed at several electronic music festivals and venues throughout Europe with a new line-up consisting of Newton, Maurizio "TeZ" Martinucci, and Shara Vasilenko. In November 2011, a new Clock DVA track, "Phase IV", was featured on the Wroclaw Industrial Festival compilation album. In January 2012, German record label
Vinyl on Demand announced
Horology, a vinyl box set compilation of early (1978–1980) Clock DVA material. Later on, the demo recordings included in this box set, namely
Lomticks of Time,
2nd,
Sex Works Beyond Entanglement,
Deep Floor, and
Fragment, were reissued separately in early 2016. A historical overview exhibition of Clock DVA (photographs, video, and audio) took place at the Melkweg cultural centre, Amsterdam, Netherlands, in February/March 2012. In July 2013, a new Clock DVA album called
Post-Sign was released on Anterior Research. It was produced and composed by Adi Newton in 1994–95 as an instrumental companion album to
Sign, though it remained unreleased at that time due to problems with record labels. In July 2015, another vinyl box set of early material was released on Vinyl on Demand.
Horology 2 - Clockdva, The Future & Radiophonic Dvations features recordings made in the late 1977/1978 period by Adi Newton prior to and during the formative period of development of Clock DVA, including the original The Future recordings made by the trio of Adi Newton, Martyn Ware, and Ian Craig Marsh before The Future developed into
The Human League and Clock DVA. In September 2016, Clock DVA performed a series of live dates in the United States. In September 2025, Clock DVA joined the Industrial Nation 2025 tour in the US. ==Discography==