Early ’80s Synthpop Duo 50/50 Are Finally Releasing An Album

In 1979, two British musicians, singer David Cowles and producer/multi-instrumentalist Richard Haines, got together to form a synthpop duo called 50/50. At the time, both of them had demanding careers outside of music, and they weren't willing to devote themselves to the group full-time. Every week, though, they spent multiple nights writing songs together, and they built up quite a catalogue, more than 150 tracks, the vast majority of which were never released.

Cowles and Haines made a demo and sent it out to tons of publishers and A&R reps, most of which rejected them. In 1982, however, 50/50 found a deal with Bocu Music, ABBA's publishers. They released a grand total two singles: "Memories Linger" b/w "Just Can't Win" in 1982 and "Talk Too Much" b/w "I Saw The Future" in 1983. That was it: Four songs committed to vinyl. The songs didn't leave much of an impact, and the duo never made any headway in their career, so they called it quits in 1985. Now, all these years later, a 50/50 album is finally going to see the light of day.

You will not be surprised to learn that 50/50's upcoming archival album Memories Linger is getting a release through Light In The Attic, the reissue specialists who live to dig up undiscovered gems. The label got interested after a 2024 Record Collector article, and Cowles and Haines rekindled their friendship and got back into the studio to compile the record. It has 12 tracks, nine of which have never been released in any form.

The lead single from Memories Linger is the title track, which, to be clear, is one of the very few 50/50 tracks that has been released. (Another long-forgotten but previously released 50/50 song, " Just Can't Win ," showed up in a recent episode of The Shards , the ultra-tawdry early-'80s TV show from Ryan Murphy and Bret Easton Ellis.) I don't blame Light In The Attic for that choice. When you're putting out a lost old record, a title like "Memories Linger" is too perfect not to use. That's a layup. Also, the song is great! It's warm, bouncy, ultra-catchy blip-bloop music, and you'll probably like it if you have any room in your heart for stuff like OMD or early Depeche Mode. It sounds nostalgic for itself. Below, check out the song and an album trailer.

TRACKLIST: 01 "Memories Linger" 02 "Just Can't Win" 03 "Talk Too Much" 04 "When I Fall" * 05 "I Don't Want To Talk About It" * 06 "Falling In Love" * 07 "Cry On My Shoulder" * 08 "I'm Sorry I Left You" * 09 "Reasons" * 10 "Who Needs Money" * 11 "Facing The Storm" * 12 "I Don’t Need Love" * * previously unreleased

In the lead-up to the announcement, 50/50 posted some scans of their old rejection letters on Instagram.

Memories Linger is out 12/TK on Light In The Attic. Pre-order it here.

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