Real name: Electronic Circus

Effective period / Period of releases: 1981

Members: Chris Payne (2), Penny Heathcote, Tim Vince, Mike Bunyard

The Electronic Circus was a British Synthpop band formed by former Gary Numan keyboard player Chris Payne. Payne had already co-written the Visage hit "Fade to Grey" and was collaborating with his former Numan bandmates in Dramatis, but The Electronic Circus was his solo project.

"Direct Lines" (a Payne composition) was their only release but failed to chart. Payne then decided to concentrate on Dramatis and recruited Paul Johnson Rogers to replace him, however success eluded the band and the following year (1982) they disbanded.

Payne reformed the band in 2015 under 'Electronic Circus' (dropping 'The') with Paul Johnson Rogers and Mike Stewart as instrumentalists and co-writers. They issued a completely new version of 'Direct Lines' in 2016.

Members
Chris Payne (piano), Penny Heathcote (vocals), Tim Vince (keyboards), Mike Bunyard (drums), Terry Driscoll (bass), Paul Johnson Rogers