the Square album in the song "Heart of the Sun", a line from which gave the album its title. Whilst still students the band regularly sold-out shows at the Marquee and Moonlight Club and released their debut single "Chenko" on the Cherry Red label in 1983. The record was a hit with radio and brought them to the attention of Seymour Stein, who signed the band to Sire in 1984. Soon after this, the band slimmed down to a duo, took on a more synthpop direction and re-signed direct to WEA, who released their second single "Saskatchewan" (a cover of the Buffy Sainte-Marie song), under the Sire imprint. The Circle and the Square (1985–1987) In August 1985 the duo had their first UK hit single, "Lean on Me (Ah-Li-Ayo)", a song which reached and stayed at number three in the UK top 40 for over a month. It also reached number 1 in five countries and the top 5 in a further 12 giving worldwide exposure to the band. It was promoted with an unusual video (nominated for Best Video at the Brit Awards 1985) in which a British Sign Language (BSL) interpreter provided a translation of the song's lyrics, which led to a feature on BBC Two's Newsweek programme. In 1986, the band released their debut album The Circle & the Square, mixing traditional musical styles – brass ensembles, choral music and chants – with modern rock and synthpop. Among the vocalists drafted in to create the multi-tracked backing vocals (or "Box Vox") is English actor Anthony Head. The album received praise for its "evocative lyrics" and "global political intelligence" and is notable for introducing 'ethnic rhythms' and elements of World Music into the 1980s pop milieu alongside established artists such as Paul Simon (Graceland, 1986) and Kate Bush (The Sensual World, 1989). It includes a re-worked version of the 1984 Buffy Sainte-Marie cover "Saskatchewan", as well as "Chenko", which was given a more sombre, stately treatment bringing chants to the fore and featuring Alexander Balanescu on violin. Toulson-Clarke and Close, however, found themselves at odds with their record company regarding what it perceived as a lack of mainstream appeal in their choice of material, despite the success of "Lean on Me" in the UK and Europe. Toulson-Clarke responded to WEA's request for something to appeal to American radio with the sardonic "For America", which lambasted what he saw