It’s Immaterial can be classified firmly in the one-hit wonder category, thanks to Driving Away From Home (Jim’s Tune) hitting the Top 20 in 1986. It was hardly an overnight or sudden success for this Liverpool-based band as they had been kicking around since 1980, releasing a handful of flop singles on small labels and recording four sessions for John Peel at various times.
Hopes were high for the follow-up to the hit single, but despite it being a jaunty and big-sounding number which received a reasonable amount of airplay on BBC Radio 1, it barely scraped into the Top 75.
mp3 : It’s Immaterial – Ed’s Funky Diner
A three-minute pop gem. As lifted from the album Life’s Hard Then You Die, a record that at the time seemed a bit of a mess with all sorts of genres and pace of music to absorb but which has actually aged pretty well and offers much to enjoy and appreciate.
THE NEW VINYL VILLAIN 
Love this track and the lp it comes from. Got a signed 12” in a record shop that used to sell mystery bags of 8 12” for a fiver or something like that , a lot of dust but one or two diamonds
The recent 2xCD DLX RM of “Life’s Hard + Then You Die” was a wonder. A letter perfect case of being an ideal re-issue edition. It was after listening to the original CD about 15 years ago that I awoke to the fact that I needed everything that this band had released. You are right in that this mid 80s album had aged far more strongly than its contemporaries. That was especially impressive for an album made with a Yamaha DX7, the most dated digital synth ever made [at least in the wrong hands]. I recall seeing a trade ad for the DX7 featuring the band waxing eloquent on its merits. Merits, I must admit, that I certainly never saw! The band’s long lost third album [recorded following 1990’s “Song”] is set for a release this Summer on Pledge Music: https://www.pledgemusic.com/projects/itsimmaterial
My eldest (19) is a big fan of “Life’s Hard” – he assures me he’s been subjecting his Uni flatmates to it (along with some other “classics” that I take full responsibility for introducing him to).
I think Life’s Hard And Then You Die is a classic Liverpool album. It’s Immaterial had some of that 80s Post Punk magic about them – 3 of the members being from The Yachts. Even with Henry Priestman moving on to form The Christians prior to the release of their debut, It’s Immaterial still maintained a very high standard. Working with Callum Malcolm on the sophomore Song was an inspired match.