Gen X-er living in a time machine, high on nostalgia. Flashbacks is the debut album by Peach on a beach, a tribute to growing up in Dartmouth, NS during the 80s. Available on streaming and CD. Check out YouTube videos for "Beeping and Bleeping", "Pizza Corner", "Before Call Display", "Anticipation Street" and "Boogeyman Trail". Released on Feb. 16, "Rabbit Hole", is a tribute to alternative artists The Cure and Skinny Puppy. Official website: https://www.peachonabeach.ca/
With already a couple of catchy singles and epic videos under its belt, Duran Duran went on to top those with the sweeping ballad "Save a Prayer".
The dreamy synths immediately draw me in before the flute takes over.
Filmed among the pristine beaches and the ruins of Buddhist temples of Sri Lanka, the surreal video flows perfectly to the synth-pop gospel. Dancing children, crashing waves and five buddies on a trip.
But it wasn't all sunsets and one-night stands.
During the elephant clips, the intoxicated guitarist Andy Taylor apparently fell into water used as an animal latrine and ended up being hospitalized with dysentery. Save a prayer, indeed.
"White Wedding" by Billy Idol may not have been a 'punk' song in the purest sense.
But as a 13-year-old growing up in the safe confines of suburbia, this video is what defined the concept of "cool" to me in 1982.
A rare track we both liked, my brother and I used to emulate Billy Idol's iconic move of unwrapping his head scarf with improvised towels while singing along to the first verse.
"White Wedding" was a video with all the fixings: epic opening, ladies in leather, fist-shaking, growling, cult-like proceedings, great guitar solo, a motorcycle crashing through a church window, exploding toasters and screaming bordering on caterwauling. Who cares what the lyrics mean, "White Wedding" is all about the delivery.
These last four videos are deeply embedded in my psyche;
they were all released when I was between 13 and 15 years old.
"Pale Shelter" by Tears For Fears is one memorizing tune.
The acoustic guitar in the intro pleasantly strums along with the ubiquitous synths creates instant magic.
I was a young teen when the song hit our shores. And I was always captivated by its video.
Now it's massively nostalgic.
During the last chorus in the video, Roland and Curt are walking beside a school amid a shower of hundreds of paper airplanes being tossed out windows.
This scene always takes me back to Mr. McInness's aka Mister Magoo's Grade 7 English class at Prince Arthur Junior School when David Israel got caught for tossing a paper airplane out the window and whose name ended up on the blackboard's detention list as "David the Pilot".
Back to the video, I always wince when Roland gets the sharp end of a paper plane straight into his eye.
Those of us in junior high at the time will remember the playful decadence in this cutting edge video.
Some watched for the girls. Some watched for the boys. Some for both. We all came for the fantasy and breath-taking scenery.
What sometimes gets lost in the shuffle is that the fab five played the instruments and wrote the songs. "Rio" sports one of the catchiest bass lines of all time.
"Rio" hooks us in with the grandiose intro before giving way to a bouncy, maniacal John Taylor bass line and Andy Taylor's timely guitar riffs, setting up the iconic singalong chorus about the mystical Rio dancing on the sand. The song changes gears a few times, including an amazing sax climb before the last chorus. Back to Rio: does she really exist? Well, yes...as a metaphor. According to SongFacts, Duran Duran explained on the VH1 show True Spin that Rio is a metaphor for America, and the song expressed their desire to succeed there, which they of course did.
I'd always thought LeBon said "...evidently run you down... in the lyrics during the bridge : "Hey now (wow) look at that did he nearly run you down. Before Google we experienced dozens of similar examples. "Rio" is still a favourite at Duran concerts, and often during an extended version when Simon LeBon introduces band members to the audience. I was fortunate to have seen it played in the encore of their 2011 gig at Montreal's Bell Centre.
The iconic video for "Hungry Like the Wolf" came out in junior high, wooing North American teenage girls and boys alike with its exotic adventures and irresistible new wave sound.
I howl and I whine... about why these guys don't get the credit they deserve.
Duran Duran are kinda like the Stones in a way; they both don't often get a lot of respect in the industry. Mislabeled as a 'boy band' in the mid-80s, some people forget band members actually played their instruments. And wrote their songs.
Looking back, I think the critics were jealous because they were good looking guys who could play. Oh, snap.
"Hungry like the Wolf" was the gateway to the band, and to the new wave genre for many of us a little too young to notice the music trends unfolding in the late 70s.
Besides the grandiose chorus, "Hungry Like the Wolf" features the iconic "Do do do do do do do dodo dododo dodo" and an intriguing instrumental bridge.
A few years before "Rock Me Amadeus" topped the charts, Falco scored a hit with "Der Kommissar".
I think the first time I heard this Falco classic was at a junior high dance.
Not sure if it was the original version of "Der Kommissar" or the American knock-off by After The Fire, but I've always preferred Falco's.
Now about the video.
Somehow this low budget video is one of the best and worst at the same time.
But the cheese oozes with authority.
As nighttime clips from some sort of German version of Cops play in the background, our hero sings verses with a rap-like vocal and wears dark shades with confidence.
The video is all about Falco superimposed on a screen. He spends almost four minutes running, dancing, looking behind him at a video showing menacing police cars "chasing" him.
All while rapping a tale in German a story about running from the law.
Those of us in junior high will remember the playful decadence on display in this cutting edge video. What sometimes gets lost in the shuffle is that the fab five played the instruments and wrote the songs. "Rio" sports one of the catchiest bass lines of all time.
"Rio" hooks us in with the grandiose intro before giving way to a bouncy, maniacal John Taylor bass line and Andy Taylor's timely guitar riffs, setting up the iconic singalong chorus about the mystical Rio dancing on the sand. The song changes gears a few times, including an amazing sax climb before the last chorus. Back to Rio: does she really exist? Well, yes...as a metaphor. According to SongFacts, Duran Duran explained on the VH1 show True Spin that Rio is a metaphor for America, and the song expressed their desire to succeed there, which they of course did.
I'd always thought LeBon said "...evidently run you down... in the lyrics during the bridge : "Hey now (wow) look at that did he nearly run you down. Before Google we experienced dozens of similar examples. "Rio" is still a favourite at Duran concerts, and often during an extended version when Simon LeBon introduces band members to the audience. I was fortunate to have seen it played in the encore of their 2011 gig at Montreal's Bell Centre. Other favourites from 1982:
One of the first Brit invasion songs to catch my attention back in 1982, "Pale Shelter" by Tears For Fears is among the very best from this era. It seems ludicrous now that the single only peaked at #15 in Canada.
The song is completely memorizing: from the get go in the intro an acoustic guitar pleasantly strums along with the ubiquitous synths making a truly magical sound. I was always captivated by this video and the hundreds of paper airplanes tossed out the school windows, reminiscent of similar antics by David "The Pilot" in Mr. McInness's Grade 7 English class at Prince Arthur Junior School. I wonder if Hampton Court Palace staff will supply us with paper airplanes to toss in unison from the ramparts during the bridge when we see the band live in London this June. Or maybe we'll just have to bring our own? While Roland Orzabal sings most of the hits on the 1985's Songs From The Big Chair, Curt Smith's softer vocals are a better fit for this melancholic number. Fave lyric: "When all I want to be is, completely in command." If you enjoy this track then you'll love this live version from 1983:
The 2016 single "Secrets" by The Weeknd has introduced the Millenials to Tears For Fears and other 80s artists, as the song samples vocals from both "Pale Shelter" and "Talking in your Sleep" by the Romantics.
With a couple of catchy singles and epic videos under its belt, Duran Duran went on to top those with the sweeping ballad "Save a Prayer".
Filmed among the beaches and temples of Sri Lanka, the surreal video flows perfectly to the synth-pop gospel.
The dreamy synths immediately draw me in before the synth flute takes over. Dancing children, crashing waves and five buddies on tour.
It wasn't all sunsets and one-night stands: guitarist Andy Taylor apparently fell into water used as an animal latrine during the filming of the video and ended up being hospitalized with dysentery.
Fave lyric: "Some people call it a one night stand but we can call it paradise"
Once in a while during the 80s, a song from the previous decade would slip through."Gypsy" by Fleetwood Mac is one magical power pop song from a band rooted in the 70s.
Stevie's haunting vocals always brings on the chills and goosebumps. We can thank the perpetual tension between Stevie Nicks and Lindsay Buckingham, this one written back to when the duo were struggling musicians.
For me, this is Stevie's shining moment and Fleetwood Mac's best track: so polished yet so free. Lindsey's guitar work is subtle until his final solo tales over.
Those of us attending junior high at the time will always remember the playful decadence of the "Rio" video, shot while the band was on holiday in Antigua. But let's not forget the tune was a cracker, too. "Rio" sports a grand intro before giving way to a bouncy, maniacal John Taylor bass line and Andy Taylor's timely guitar riffs, setting up the iconic singalong chorus about the mystical Rio dancing on the sand. The song changes gears a few times, including an amazing sax climb before the last chorus. Back to Rio: does she really exist? Well, yes...as a metaphor. According to SongFacts, Duran Duran explained on the VH1 show True Spin that Rio is a metaphor for America, and the song expressed their desire to succeed there, which they of course did.
I'd always thought LeBon said "...evidently run you down... in the lyrics during the bridge : "Hey now (wow) look at that did he nearly run you down. Before Google we experienced dozens of similar examples. "Rio" is still a favourite at Duran concerts, and often during an extended version when Simon LeBon introduces band members to the audience. I was fortunate to have seen it played in the encore of their 2011 gig at Montreal's Bell Centre.
"Africa" by Toto is one of the best carryovers from the 70s: a timeless soul-stirring singalong anthem. The explosive, overblown chorus is irresistible and beckons your participation. Such a wonderful pop song from our childhood, bringing back memories of the neighbourhood kids spontaneously singing the lyrics in unison on weekends on our way home for supper.
"White Wedding" may not have been a 'punk' song in the purest sense, but it was the high-water mark for what constituted the concept of "cool" to me in 1982 as a 13-year-old growing up in the safe confines of suburbia.
A rare track we both liked, my brother and I used to emulate Billy Idol's iconic move of unwrapping his head scarf with improvised towels while singing along to the first verse.
"White Wedding" was an anthem of attitude with all the fixings: epic opening, ladies in leather, fist-shaking, growling, cult-like proceedings, great guitar solo, smashed windows, exploding toasters and screaming bordering on caterwauling. Who cares what the lyrics mean, "White Wedding" is all about the delivery.
I howl and I whine... about why these guys don't get the credit they deserve.
Duran Duran are kinda like the Stones in a way; they both don't often get a lot of respect in the industry. Mislabeled as a 'boy band' in the mid-80s, some people forget band members actually played their instruments. And wrote their songs.
Looking back, I think the critics were jealous because they were good looking guys who could play. Oh, snap.
"Hungry like the Wolf" was the gateway to the band, and to the new wave genre for many of us a little too young to notice the music trends unfolding in the late 70s.
The video came out in junior high, wooing North American teenage girls and boys alike, with their exotic and adventurous videos and irresistible new wave sound.
Besides the grandiose chorus, "Hungry Like the Wolf" features the iconic "Do do do do do do do dodo dododo dodo" and an intriguing instrumental bridge.
How good were these guys in the early 80s?
Between gallivanting halfway around the world to create the classic trio "Hungry like the Wolf", "Rio", and "Save A Prayer" just before their Mad Max phase ("New Moon on Monday", "Union of the Snake", "Wild Boys"), they were asked by their record label to come up with a single to keep up a presence on the charts. Well, they winged it with what looked like a fifty dollar budget for "Is There Something I Should Know" (inspired by the video game Q*bert?), just because they could.
For a brief period in the early 80s the most popular duo was neither Hall & Oates nor Wham. Synth melody mastermind Vince Clarke (a former and founding member of Depeche Mode) combined with the strong, soul-inspired vocals of Alison Moyet to form Yazoo (or Yaz in North America).
The result? "Situation" is nothing short of a cutting-edge electronic masterpiece. I seem to recall the intro, with Alison's iconic laugh, played during the intro to a music video program on the now defunct ASN channel from the early 80s (perhaps Katrina could verify that as well?).
Another Yazoo new wave classic just missing the top 100 list is "Don't Go":
"Back on the Chain Gang" by The Pretenders is like good home-cooking.
The tune will always take me back to road trips with my parents in the family station wagonwhere I sat in the back seat behind Dad, enjoying tunes like this while counting license plates en route to PEI.
Chrissie Hynde's smooth and soulful vocals perfectly complement those magical guitars.
How good is this song? Well, some chap named Morrissey has covered it:
Along with "Tainted Love" and "Don't You Want Me", cheesy, cinematic tracks like "The Look of Love" and "Poison Arrow" by ABC got me hooked on new wave music as an impressionable 13-year-old growing up in Dartmouth, NS. This was only the beginning: pristine pop from the UKstarted pouring in as an alternative to the prog rock scene that dominated the times. Released during the Pre-Boombox period,"Poison Arrow" was the first song I ever recordedusing the 'high-tech' method of placing a portable tape recorder with a blank cassette beside a clock radio playing C100 or CJCH. Of course the recording inevitably included part of the DJ intro and/or outro and sounded like crap, but at the time it was awesome. Anyone else remember making these first-generation mixed tapes full of blemishes with varying volumes?
A few years later I always got a kick from the electro funk of the "How to Be A Millionaire", but unfortunately, the amusing animated video is currently not available on YouTube due to some sort of copyright infringement. Not to be confused with the 12" single "How To Be A Zillionaire (Wall Street Mix)"...
Thoughts on future remixes: perhaps the current reference to Pounds and Dollars should be switched to Euros and Yuan? Or Bitcoin and Barter? Water and Seeds? Tune back in ten years to find out the answer...
In the same year that produced "Eye of the Tiger" and "Eye in the Sky", a group of Vancouver-based musicians gave us the mysterious and theatrical "Eyes of a Stranger". What a fantastic opening to lure us in before we get slapped with a riveting lyric. The guitar echo combined with a reggae percussion creates a unique blend of new wave that sounds like it could be a jam session between The Police and The Cure, plus a dash of inspiration fromthis classic. I'm quite sure I heard this track for the first time on CBC's Sunday morning Switchback hosted by Stan the Man... ...and speaking of Switchback; was it just me or did every episode seem to play "Come On Eileen" or "My Girl"...or perhaps it's my memory that's gone, gone, gone?
