These techniques can be seen as an extension of the use of electronic sources of sound as musical instruments and percussion with found objects by composer Edgard Varèse. Front 242 was created in 1981 in Aarschot, near Brussels, Belgium by Daniel Bressanutti and Dirk Bergen, who wanted to create music and graphic design using emerging electronic tools. The first single, Principles, was released late in 1981. Although some members now claim that the name does not have a particular meaning, in an early '90s interview on Dutch TV, Daniel Bressanutti said that the '242' part comes from him swearing '242!' instead of 'damn!' when he was young. Also, the similarities to UN Security Council Resolution 242 have not been lost on those interested in the Arab-Israeli conflict. Perhaps more to the point, after the Second World War 242 Belgian citizens were condemned to death for collaboration with the German occupiers. Patrick Codenys and Jean-Luc De Meyer had separately formed a group called Under Viewer at about the same time, and the two duos joined together in 1982. Bressanutti, Codenys and De Meyer took turns on vocals at first, until they settled on De Meyer as the lead vocalist (early recordings with Bresanutti on vocals have recently been released). De Meyer came to write most of the lyrics. They decided not to use the regular waveform settings on their synthesizers, arguing that creating the waveform for each note was part of the creative process. Their next single, U-Men, was released in 1982, followed by the band's first album Geography that same year. These first releases were cited as influential to other artists in the genre; however, they were not strong and hard-hitting as the group's later efforts. In 1983, Dirk Bergen left the band to pursue graphic design, and Richard Jonckheere, referred to as Richard 23, joined as a backing vocalist and charismatic stage presence. Rising Popularity Front 242 became a popular musical group in Belgium. Their next album, No Comment, was the first to introduce the term "Electronic Body Music" in association with their sound. Front 242 signed with the Wax Trax! label in 1984, and started their first tour in the United States with Ministry. This tour led to the creation of Revolting Cocks by Richard 23, Luc Van Acker, Alain Jourgensen of Ministry and others. The 1985 album Backcatalogue collected material from the group's earlier years, but their international breakthrough did not occur until the release of Official Version in 1987, on the Red Rhino Europe label, followed by their "Official Warfare" tour in support of the album. The wildly popular 1988 "Headhunter" single (with a video by Anton Corbijn) and its accompanying album Front By Front would prove to be among the most commercially successful and enduring records in the entire history of industrial music and EBM. By this point, Front 242 had developed a style of strong backbeats, slices, samples, and ominous vocals. The band drew on militaristic samples, mock-evangelism, and television images, but without clearly defining a message. The band stated instead that they were merely presenting the world around them as it was. 1990s In the 1990s, the band went through many changes. Tyranny >For You<, released in 1991, had a much denser, multi-layered sound. Tyranny was also the first album they released under contract with a major corporate label, Sony/Epic, after the widespread popularity of "Front by Front". Sony/Epic also acquired the rights to the band's back catalog from Wax Trax! and issued re-released versions of the albums with new cover art and bonus tracks taken from singles and EPs. In 1992, Bressanutti returned to combining graphic arts with music, taking his lithographs on tour to three U.S. galleries. Bressanutti also composed a solo half-hour atmospheric recording called Art and Strategy (or The Art Corporation) to play during viewings of the lithographs, and released it in a limited edition of 1,000 CDs. This is the only known solo work from any of Front 242's members.