Art Of Noise was a cutting-edge, avant-garde British new wave group known for their groundbreaking use of sampling. AON was a supergroup of sorts, formed by music mogul Trevor Horn (Buggles, Yes), producer JJ Jeczalik, engineer Gary Langan, composer Anne Dudley, and promoter Paul Morley – all part of Horn’s production team. AON scored several top 40 hits in eleven countries between 1984 and 1989. The group’s name was inspired by the 1916 book The Art Of Noises by futurist Luigi Russolo.

When Horn and Buggles keyboardist Geoff Downes joined Yes for their 1980 album Drama, Downes' drum tech Jeczalik was fascinated by his Fairlight CMI synth/sampler. He persuaded Horn to get him one, then he and Langan loaded an unused beat from Yes drummer Alan White into it and looped it into a rough song. Horn then requested Dudley make it “slightly more melodic and pleasant sounding”. The end product became “Beatbox”. The track was used by Horn’s then-brand-new record label ZTT to secure a deal with Island Records. It was included on AON’s first release, the Into Battle With The Art Of Noise EP.

“Beatbox” topped the US Dance Chart and was a minor UK hit. That same year, AON’s debut album Who’s Afraid Of The Art Of Noise was released, preceded by one of several remixes of “Beatbox” re-titled as “Close (To The Edit)” which became a US Dance Chart #4 and top 10 UK hit. The band originally wanted to remain faceless, but after both “Beatbox” and “Close (To The Edit)” crossed over to the US R&B chart and the group won Best Black Act of 1984, it was revealed that the band members were all actually Caucasian.

A shortened version of “Moments In Love” became the act’s third charting single in the UK, also reaching the top 20 in Belgium and The Netherlands. Meanwhile, Jeczalik, Langan and Dudley had begun to view Horn and Morley as problematic and unnecessary. The tension came to a head when the three realized Horn had booked AON to perform, but ZTT had not extended their expired contract so they were not obligated to do so. At the last minute they walked out just before AON was to take the stage. Morley, without the three people who actually wrote and performed the group’s music, famously told the audience, “Last Monday when Anne, Gary and J.J. turned up for rehearsals we shot them.”

In October 1985, AON (now Jeczalik, Langan & Dudley) signed to China Records and released the moderately successful single “Legs”, followed in early 1986 by their sophomore album In Visible Silence. Its second single, a Grammy-winning remake of the 1959 instrumental hit “Peter Gunn” featuring the song’s original guitarist Duane Eddy reached the top 20 in Spain, Sweden, Norway and the UK. Another single, a remix of “Paranoimia” featuring the fictional Max Headroom character, became a top 40 pop hit in five countries including the US. By then, the band had added a live drummer, percussionist and three backing vocalists.

1987’s In No Sense? Nonsense!, involving only Jeczalik and Dudley, spawned one minor hit with its single “Dragnet”. Though less successful than previous efforts, even ex-member Morley would later call it an “ambient masterpiece”. It was followed by a collaboration with Tom Jones covering Prince’s “Kiss” that became an international smash, reaching the top 20 in ten countries overseas and peaking at #31 in the US. “Kiss” was also nominated for Best British Single at the Brit Awards. 1989’s Below The Waste scored the group a minor hit with “Yebo!” in only the UK and Spain. Dudley & Jeczalik officially ended AON in 1990.

China Records began releasing a number of AON compilations over the next several years, with 1991’s The FON Mixes spawning a moderate UK hit with “Instruments of Darkness” – briefly inspiring the reunion of Jeczalik, Langan & Dudley that would ultimately fail to produce new music. In 1997, Horn, Dudley and Morley formed Image Of A Group with director Lol Creme. However, when the album The Seduction of Claude Debussy was finished, Horn made an arrangement with a then-retired Jeczalik to use the Art of Noise name. Its single “Metaforce” featuring rapper Rakim was a minor UK hit in 1999. After several live performances, the band dissolved again.

In 2017, Jeczalik, Langan & Dudley performed as AON at the Liverpool Sound City festival. In 2018, the three performed In Visible Silence for the first time in 30 years in London.