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Joe Crow is a post-punk musician from Birmingham, England. He was a member of legendary Brum band The Prefects, and hung on long enough after the name-change to appear on a couple of early Nightingales singles. In 1981 Joe began his solo career and recorded a 2-song demo “Compulsion” and “Absent Friends”. Joe sent copies of the finished recordings to Cherry Red, who thanks to Lawrence of Felt, ended up releasing the single in 1982. An edited version of the single would later appear on the compilation “Pillows & Prayers” that collected songs which originated as 45s or EPs. Martin Gore of Depeche Mode subsequently covered “Compulsion” on his ‘Counterfeit’ EP in 1989 forever solidifying its status in the cannon of UK melancholic synth pop.