Steve Strange was on lead vocals; the French lyrics were spoken by Rusty Egan's then girlfriend Brigitte Arendt.

Initially considered to be released as a Billy Currie and Chris Payne single, the track eventually became part of the Visage project.

[10] While setting the track listing of the Visage album, Midge Ure suggested the use of the melody[12] and wrote the song's lyrics.

In 2014, Visage released "Fade to Grey (Orchestral)", a new version of the song re-recorded with a symphony orchestra.

The band also released an album, Orchestral, which featured several classic Visage songs rerecorded with the orchestra.

[12][15] On the finished track, the French vocal was performed by Brigitte Arendt, a young student from Luxembourg who was Rusty Egan's girlfriend at the time.

[16] On the single and album, the song is credited to Billy Currie, Chris Payne and Midge Ure.

[17] In his 2002 autobiography, Strange said it was not fair to credit the song to Ure, Currie and Payne only, since his input was significant and he was "the focal point of the group".

German metal band Atrocity released a version on their cover album Werk 80 II in 2008.