"Welcome To The Pleasuredome" by Frankie Goes To Hollywood

I am feeling love and nostalgia today for the amazing opening track--actually a suite that occupies the entire first side of the original vinyl album--"Welcome To The Pleasuredome" from the album of the same name by Frankie Goes To Hollywood.

Super group Frankie Goes To Hollywood was a super sensation when they released their debut double album "Welcome To The Pleasuredome" in 1984. Before the album's release, they had caused quite a stir with their song "Relax" and subsequent S&M-themed video. And the iconic Frankie Say tee shirts became ubiquitous throughout the mid-80s. I worked at Tower Records when this record came out and still have my original Frankie Say Relax tee!

Inspired by the poem "Kubla Khan" by Samuel Taylor Coleridge, this opening track, complete with animal and jungle sound effects, comes in at a glorious 13:38, while the single version clocks in at a mere 4:20. Here is the full suite:

And if you can't get your fill in the thirteen minute version, check out this awesome FORTY minute remix!

The group reunited in 2004 for a Prince's Trust charity performance staged at London's Wembley Arena to mark the 25th anniversary in show business of producer Trevor Horn, who made his name overseeing hits by artists like the Buggles, Frankie Goes To Hollywood, Yes, and ABC. Lead singer Holly Johnson refused to participate so they held open auditions for a substitute lead singer. Fortunately for all FGTH fans, they found Ryan Molloy. Just listen to that powerful moment when we hear Molloy's voice for the first time, like a young Holly. Take a gander at the smokey eye make-up, the mirrored aviators, the Berber shrug, the beautiful mop of blond, and the toned torso. I don't miss Holly at all. Molloy's performance is inspired and masterful.

https://www.frankiesay.com/
https://www.facebook.com/fgth.official/
http://www.ryanmolloy.com/

Flashback: "Dance Hall Days" by Wang Chung

While shopping for a client at a kitchen and bath showroom yesterday, this 1984 song came on and I had to smile. I always forget how lovely "Dance Hall Days" by the band Wang Chung is: dance-y and upbeat but with a definite undercurrent of a kind of delicate, nostalgic melancholia.

Founding member of Wang Chung, Jack Hues told Eric Greenberg on the "Just My Show" podcast, "It begins quite innocent: 'take your baby by the hand,' and then the last verse with 'take your baby by the wrists, and in her mouth an amethyst,' it's all a bit more hallucinogenic in a way, how things that start off simple get complex.

My dad was a musician, and he had a band that played in an old-fashioned dance hall. I used to play with him in that band, so maybe there's sort of the nostalgia that's in the track. It's all quite real, actually, as far as experiences that I had when I was first starting out playing, and playing in public.

Musically, it's that sort of rhythm and that kind of shuffly beat. Technically it's sort of like 3 against 2 (laughs), but we're not gonna talk about all that. It's a particular feel that was sort of unusual at the time, I suppose."

Take your baby by the hand
And make her do a high hand stand
And take your baby by the heel
And do the next thing that you feel

We were so in phase
In our dance hall days
We were cool on craze
When I, you and everyone we knew
Could believe, do, and share in what was true

I said, “Dance hall days love”

Take your baby by the hair
And pull her close and there, there, there
And take your baby by the ears
And play upon her darkest fears

I said, “Dance hall days love”
Dance hall days
Dance hall days love

Take your baby by the wrist
And in her mouth an amethyst
And in her eye two sapphires blue
And you need her and she needs you

And you need her and she needs you
And you need her and she needs you
And you need her and she needs you
And you need her and she needs you

Oh, I said, “Dance hall days love”

Dance hall days love
Dance hall days
Dance hall days love
Dance hall days

And I am absolutely thrilled to have discovered that, just a few months ago, Wang Chung recorded an updated version of "Dance Hall Days" supported by the lush sounds of the Prague Philharmonic Orchestra. Please do give a listen and compare. And maybe it's just me, remembering my life and the texture of living in 1984, time passing, the subject of nostalgia in the song, and so many things gone or lost,...but this version is making me a little misty.

And in a final bit of synchronicity, Wang Chung will be in concert in a few days practically in my backyard here in Northern Calfornia.
http://www.wangchung.org/

Big Brother and The Monster

An Anniversary Of The Absurd

"Even the humblest, most industrious citizen is expected to be an ignorant fanatic whose prevailing moods are fear, hatred, adulation, and triumph, regardless of his own suffering. In other words the mentality appropriate to a state of war. And being at war, and therefore in danger, makes the handing-over of all power to a small caste seem the natural, unavoidable condition of survival...

To forget any fact that has become inconvenient, tell deliberate lies, and then draw the truth back from oblivion just so long as it's needed, all this is necessary to safeguard the infallibility of the Party."
--1984 BY GEORGE ORWELL, adapted by Michael Gene Sullivan

Currently listening to...

...the ethereal, otherworldy "Waves Become Wings" by This Mortal Coil from the classic debut album "It'll End In Tears" released in 1984. TMC was a kind of "super group" comprising members from many different bands who were all signed to the 4AD label. This song features Lisa Gerrard from Dead Can Dance (previously here, here, and here) on vocals and treated accordion.

http://www.4ad.com/artists/thismortalcoil
http://www.lisagerrard.com/
http://www.deadcandance.com/main/

Currently listening to...

... the historically relevant "Two Tribes" by then mega-super-band Frankie Goes To Hollywood.

They may be a footnote in the annals of 80s music now, but in 1984, Frankie Goes To Hollywood took the world by storm. Their song "Relax" was everywhere. And this song, "Two Tribes," was their next single. The video seems comical now, but for anyone not alive during that time period, I can't stress enough to you how immediate and frightening and imminent a war with Russia seemed. There was a palpable fear in the zeitgeist, floating in the air...a real and true possibility--no, a likelihood of two super powers going to war. The video by Godley and Creme features look-alike versions of Ronald Reagan and then-Soviet leader Konstantin Chernenko in a fighting ring, going hand to hand while the nations of the world watch. The song itself--and especially the 12" single remixes--features terrifyingly dispassionate samples from the series of twenty "Protect and Survive" public information films for British television, narrated by Patrick Allen.

It was on everyone's mind and the fear was in everyone's heart.

Then-President Ronald Reagan foolishly added to the cultural landscape of fear by making a careless remark during a microphone check before a speech. Although it was not broadcast, the clip was leaked.
He said with jocularity, "My fellow Americans, I'm pleased to tell you today that I've signed legislation that will outlaw Russia forever. We begin bombing in five minutes." Yuck yuck yuck... as we hear chuckles in the background.

According to Wikipedia, with cited sources, "...the Tokyo newspaper Yomiuri Shimbun reported in October 1984 that the Soviet Far East Army was placed on alert after word of the statement got out, and that the alert was not withdrawn until 30 minutes later. An unnamed aide to US Representative Michael Barnes (D-Md.) confirmed that the Pentagon was aware of the alert.[3]"

Jerry Harrison of The Talking Heads, Bootsy Collins of Parliament-Funkadelic, and Daniel Lazerus formed a one-off group called Bonzo Goes To Washington (a reference to Ronald Reagan's 1951 film "Bedtime For Bonzo" in which he shared billing with a chimp) to create a biting song only using the sample of Reagan's monumental gaffe which opens the track. Listen to it below.

Frankie are still around, minus vocalist Holly Johnson. They are now fronted by Ryan Molloy, who I must say does sound quite a lot like Johnson.
http://www.frankiesay.com/

Flashback: Eurythmics

Just take a look at this video and you will see why Annie Lennox is a legend. Just standing stock still on the stage, she has more presence and commands more attention than most pop stars will or ever could... she is mesmerizing, powerful, and compelling.

Here is Eurythmics performing "No Fear, No Hate, No Pain, (No Broken Hearts)" in 1984.

http://eurythmics.com

Currently listening to...

...the historically important "Smalltown Boy" by Bronski Beat, from their groundbreaking album "Age of Consent." It's fascinating sometimes what pops up on my playlist... this is a song I have not heard in a very long time (I guess my iTunes just passes on certain songs, playing them only once in a long while).

Released in 1984, "Smalltown Boy" became an anthem for LGBT rights during that time. It addresses issues of homophobia, societal and familial rejection, bullying, and physical and emotional abuse. Although I was not rejected by my own family, thankfully, I was the target of years of bullying and physical assaults, so this song occupied and still occupies a special place in my heart. I remember the first time I heard it: I was at the Greek Theater in Berkeley waiting for Simple Minds to perform. It really struck me, since I had never really heard a song about me or my own experiences. It was a powerful moment. Bronski Beat recognized me, and validated the pain and confusion.

Thematically, it reminds me so much of the song "Flawless (Go To The City)" by George Michael in which he urges gay men and women to get out of their small towns and go to the city where a better life awaits (previously here). Or at least a more tolerant life, one that is not filled with daily hatred and attacks. There is a very long history indeed of gay men and women leaving small towns and small-minded areas for metropolitan areas where they are accepted. Gay ghettoes arose in cities precisely because of their proximity to centers of culture, literature, and the arts. It's a sad, heartbreaking reality for many men and women but often one must leave one's place of creation because it has turned into a place of destruction. For one's own safety, both mentally and physically, sometimes the best option is to escape.

Musically, the song is from a 1980s genre known as "synthpop," a term meaning music that was created solely or primarily by synthesizers or electronic keyboards, which in turn grew out of a 1970s electronic sound from Europe and groups like Kraftwerk. Groups like Depeche Mode, A Flock of Seagulls, and The Human League were part of this 80s sound. But despite the fact that "disco" had died a painful death just a few years earlier, Bronski Beat combined the synthpop sound with serious dance beats and a male falsetto, which was a direct and deliberate tribute to gay disco acts singing in falsetto, particularly the legendary Sylvester.

The video for the song offers a tiny ray of hope in that it paints a picture not quite as bleak as the lyrics. Our narrator, lead singer Jimmy Sommerville, has friends (fellow band members Steve Bronski and Larry Steinbachek), and his mom is upset to see him leave home. At least that is more than what some terrified gay youth have when they are kicked out of their homes with nothing, thanks to fearful, ignorant, often self-righteous "Christian" families.

You leave in the morning
With everything you own
In a little black case
Alone on a platform
The wind and the rain
On a sad and lonely face

Mother will never understand
Why you had to leave
But the answers you seek
Will never be found at home
The love that you need
Will never be found at home

Run away, turn away, run away, turn away, run away.
Run away, turn away, run away, turn away, run away.

Pushed around and kicked around
Always a lonely boy
You were the one
That they'd talk about around town
As they put you down

And as hard as they would try
They'd hurt to make you cry
But you never cried to them
Just to your soul
No you never cried to them
Just to your soul

Run away, turn away, run away, turn away, run away.
Run away, turn away, run away, turn away, run away.

Cry, boy, cry...

You leave in the morning
With everything you own
In a little black case
Alone on a platform
The wind and the rain
On a sad and lonely face

BEAUTY: Photography--Danny Lyon

Photojournalist, author, and filmmaker Danny Lyon photographed the New York subway system through the 60s and 70s, capturing some amazing imagery. It is fascinating and disappointing to see the rise of defacing graffiti on the walls of the subway cars.

Danny Lyon's blog:
http://dektol.wordpress.com/

And here is your very own blogmaster, looking quite young, on the NY subway (covered in graffiti) in 1984.