Dean left the band in May 1981 following their 'Art of Parties' tour, as his guitar work had become increasingly marginalised as they developed a more electronic sound.

Vivabeat (supported by Peter Gabriel) combined the influences of 70s British art-rock with the kind of lush technopop performed by David Bowie, Roxy Music and Sparks.

[4] The "House is Burning" song and video (also featuring Dean) appeared in Brian DePalma's movie Body Double.

[4] Dean formed Illustrated Man (1984) with Hugo Burnham (ex-Gang of Four), Roger Mason (Numan and others) and Australian singer/bassist Philip Foxman but their commercial success was limited.

More recently Robert has formed a group named 'Light of Day' with Isaac Moraga and their debut album Dimensions was completed in 2019 with UK/Europe/Latin America release expected in 2020.