How a Forgotten 1982 Disco Gem Found Its Way Back

In October 2025, on an otherwise ordinary afternoon, the Le Maitre office received a phone call unlike any other. The caller asked to be connected to one of Le Maitre’s founding members: Mick McManus, Martin Blake, Harold Berlinski, or Rick Wilson; names he had stumbled across in an old 1982 issue of Music UK, in an article titled FirePower.

The article was a nostalgic wander down memory lane, capturing Le Maitre on the precipice of success: five years after its inception, five years after the invention of the innovative and patented Pyroflash system, and five years of gluing tiny mirrors onto mirror balls, just as the popularity of pyrotechnics had truly ignited, and the business was in full swing.

One can only imagine the glory days of working in the entertainment industry during the 1980s and 90s, though they are captured, ever so briefly, in this fascinating little time capsule:
https://www.muzines.co.uk/articles/firepower/5390

Buried deep within the article is a fleeting mention of a slightly rogue offshoot of Le Maitre Ltd: an independent music label created by Harold Berlinski called Le Maitre Music. Harold launched the label with his two daughters in mind, both successful performers in the entertainment world, hoping to channel their talents and industry connections into releasing music under their band name, Xclusiv. 

After what must have been quite a deep rabbit hole through the depths of the internet, our mystery caller was eager to know whether he had, in fact, resurfaced in 2025 at the very same Le Maitre Ltd featured in that 1982 article and whether there was any way to get in touch with the original founders: Harold, Martin, Mick, or Rick.

Sadly, all but one of the founders have now passed away. Rick Wilson, however, remains a silent part owner of the business and here the story takes another delightful turn. Rick just so happens to be married to one half of the double act Xclusiv, Maxine (now Wilson) still acting as Le Maitre’s Administrative Director, and just so happens to be brother-in-law to the other half of the duo, part owner and Managing Director of Le Maitre, Karen Cornacchia.

The caller could hardly believe his luck: not only had his search led him to exactly the right place, but he had also found himself speaking directly to the artists themselves, something he later admitted he had never quite expected to happen. With great humility, he introduced himself simply as a producer, the owner of a small record label, and an admirer of Fools Are Friendly, the original release by Xclusiv and Le Maitre Music.

It soon became known, this caller, was none other than Erol Alkan, who had become enchanted not just by the song itself, but by the eccentric story behind it: two Croydon sisters releasing  80’s cosmic pop bangers, on a family-run label, started as a side hustle from a pyrotechnics company that is still very much alive today. He was eager to bring Fools Are Friendly back to life on his label, Phantasy Records, after carefully remastering the original tapes (tapes which had been rediscovered in the attic) 

Fast forward to 10th April 2026, and Fools Are Friendly is no longer a forgotten gem, but back out in the world, where it belongs, on vinyl, in record shops, and on radio stations like NTS, garnering a new fan base of cult followers of the 80s cosmic disco pop scene. 

Released through Phantasy Records, Erol Alkan’s lovingly curated label, the release is available now via Bandcamp here: https://phantasysound.bandcamp.com/album/fools-are-friendly

Phantasy describes the record as “A faithful reissue of ‘Fools Are Friendly’ from Xclusiv, carefully re-mastered from the original tapes.”

Rough Trade calls it “a radio hit that never was,” which feels exactly right: a song that somehow slipped through time, only to return decades later sounding just as stylish, strange, and irresistible as ever.

And this, perhaps, is only the beginning. Fools Are Friendly is far from the only song Xclusiv recorded; the sisters enjoyed several releases during the 1980s, some of which charted and built them a loyal following at the time. If this reissue is anything to go by, there may yet be more waiting in the wings.