S'funny about the music of the 80s. I guess to a lot of pundits some of the sounds from that decade are still deemed uncool... Not that I'm a member of that fraternity. Oh no, in 20-foot high flashing neon letters! | "ABC, Squeeze and Tears For Fears were all pop craftsmen who knew their way around a mean tune..." |
The 80s was the period that saw me leaving my teens and entering my twenties - and believe you me, I embraced it full-on with outstretched arms and the biggest grin this side of Marti Pellow! In particular the years '83 to '85, when I dee-jayed at a club called Bogarts in South Harrow to a clientele - made up of suburbanites and Soho trendies - dancing their espradrilles off to a soundtrack of funk, rock and rap and rubbing shoulders out on the dancefloor with the likes of The Style Council, Wham and Bananarama. Happy daze!
gold lame suit This week [October '03] Universal Music releases four DVDs featuring some of the key bands of the 80s: Best Ofs from ABC, Squeeze, Tears For Fears and Wet Wet Wet. Let me say, right here and now, that the last lot never did anything for me, but the other three were all pop craftsmen who knew their way around a mean tune.
ABC, fronted by the man in the gold lame suit - Martin Fry - served up a pop/ funk collision that was at its best on gems like Poison Arrow, The Look Of Love and the sublime Ocean Blue.  | Squeeze: masters of the south London vignette |
Meanwhile, Squeeze's vignettes of south London life are matters I've waxed lyrical about in this column before. Suffice to say that songs like Cool For Cats, Up The Junction and the awesome Tempted have, quite rightly, become modern classics. soaring pastiche Tears For Fears on the other hand, featuring Messrs Smith and Orzabal, were one of those bands whose records had a habit of growing on you: singles like Shout, Everybody Wants To Rule The World and the soaring Beatles pastiche Sowing The Seeds Of Love revealed a duo who were brimming with ideas and melody.
 | Tears For Fears: a tad pretentious? |
Watching these DVDs brought home to me how all these bands, in their own ways, embraced the new phenomenon of video. The ABC and Squeeze videos tend to have a humour running through them, while some of those early Tears For Fears efforts were, to put it mildly, a tad on the pretentious side and seem hilarious now! Check them out if you get a chance and watch those memories flood back... listen  hear ABC and 'Ocean Blue' from The Look of Love: The Very Best of ABC click here
(listen in Windows Media Player - need help?)
add your opinion
email me direct at:yourlondon@bbc.co.uk more music
the interview vault useful links
abc
squeeze
tears for fears
universal music
| 
Listen live
Click through amazing shots of London from high up in a helicopter!