"Suicide was always about life. But we couldn't call it life so we called it Suicide because we wanted to recognize life

"I never heard anything avant-guarde, to me it was just New York City Blues"

Alan Vega quotes reproduced from fansite. The combo that is, was and will be reverred by any electropop wannabe for first setting up the keyboard+singer formula, Suicide was formed by composer Martin Rev and singer Alan Vega. The connection was established in the early seventies (1974) through Vega's own lower east side's art gallery, the Space, where he showcased 'light sculptures' and invited different bands to perform. When Reverrend B. visited and performed his art gallery, Vega hooked up with keyboardist Martin Rev to form 'the group' which would later evolve into Suicide.

A combination of Vega's haunted lyrics chanted in an obsessive rockabilly drawl and of Rev's repetitive synth rhythms, the music invented by the duo set them apart from all other NYC bands of the era - be it The New York Dolls in the early seventies or the no-wave scene of the end of that decade. By creating what countless following bands -from Soft Cell to Ministry- will baptise electro-pop, Suicide made history. Their debut LP -featuring the notorious hemorrhaging Suicide letterhead- best captured the peculiar mixture of Vega's arrogant songwriting and Rev's minimal repetitive take on elecronic music. Part of their legend also stems from their reputedly inflammatory performances that often entailed Vega attacking, provoking and arousing the audience, deriding it no matter what it be, punk, hippie or rock n roll.