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May 14, 2008
Bands Reunited
I think American Idol would be far more interesting if -- instead of mentoring and singing the songs by Neil Diamond, Mariah Carey and Dolly Parton -- Ryan Seacrest would say, "Ladies and Gentleman, tonight the contestants will receive words of wisdom and perform the nuanced hits of...The Thompson Twins!" I mean, how many more times do we have to hear Heart's "Alone" or all of the songs by Whitney Houston? A true test of someone's musical versatility is to reach outside the comfortable adult contemporary zone. Imagine hearing David Archuletta's rendition of Talk Talk's "Dum Dum Girl" or David Cook rocking out to Taco's "Puttin' on the Ritz" or Syesha Whatsername glammin' it up to Missing Person's "Mental Hopscotch." The lost bands of the '80's are a treasure trove of outrageous o-rings for the masses and sadly under-utilized.
Luckily some of these '80's bands are not always forgotten.
The Regeneration Tour is heading to the DC area this summer. It features a bevy of '80's bands who scored a handful of hits back in the day. Normally this would appeal to my inner cheese-geek, but when I checked out the fine print, I was disillusioned. It should be called "Belinda Carlisle & a Bunch of Lead Singers from '80's Groups."
Artists on this tour:
The Human League
ABC
Belinda Carlisle
Dead or Alive
Naked Eyes
A Flock of Seagulls
Sounds like fun, no?
A more accurate line-up would read:
The League
A
Belinda Carlisle
Dead
Naked
Of Seagulls
None of these groups feature the full band these days, or even one or two members of the original line-ups. LIES! I expect this deceit from Guns N' Roses, but from Naked Eyes, c'mon!
Naked Eyes was always a duo. The other half of that duo died a few years ago. :( That's like a Donnie & Marie tour without Donnie! Or worse, the Thompson Twins without Alannah!
VH1 had a great show on a few years ago called Bands Reunited. Some guy ran across continents trying to track down the original members of '80's bands to get them to agree to one more concert. He was usually successful, with groups like The Motels, Berlin, Kajagoogoo, Romeo Void, Frankie Goes to Hollywood, Klymaxx and A Flock of Seagulls participating despite all their internal issues. It was riveting television filled with the necessary drama. Sadly after two seasons, the show was not renewed. I guess, as a music network, VH1 felt Flavor of Love, I Love New York and The Surreal Life fit better within their mission statement? I dunno.
It would be great to see the original line-up of A Flock of Seagulls again. But if it's just the lead singer, Mike Score, performing under the branded name, I have no interest in seeing "them". He is a douche, as witnessed on Bands Reunited. I'm pretty sure if Kelsey Grammer and a Crate & Barrel ottoman had a child, it would look like him.
My interest in attending might be piqued if Dead or Alive (aka Dead aka Pete Burns) were on the bill in DC, but she is not. I want surprises!
Still, if I scored free tickets and a ride to the traffic nightmare known as Wolf Trap, I would consider getting my Chess King wear out of storage one more time, to show solidarity amongst my fellow kids in the hall.
Posted by durban bud at May 14, 2008 10:44 AM
Comments
What are we going to do with you boy? You have consistently REFUSED to be anywhere close to having a pulse on hot NEW music on the scene today. You don't even try. You just live your music world in the past it seems. We are not in the 80's anymore Mary. We are not in the 70's. It is HIGH time you flash forward to the present and talk about how great the Ting Tings are. My lecture is over now.
Posted by: brettcajun at May 14, 2008 03:29 PM
Hmm, I kinda miss WolfTrap. It was always fun to race for the prime lawn seats. All that pushing, shoving, and kicking...I don't think I ever hurt anyone?
and to BC, Really? What hot new music would you be speaking of???
Posted by: tonkamanor at May 14, 2008 04:10 PM
Brett -
I respectfully bow down to your wisdom on all things tennis (or maybe not as Big Tony seems to think you are past your prime) but I hafta disagree on the music thing.
While Green Day, Killers, Amy Winehouse and a few other current day artists are incredible and rise above the rabble, in my estimation they just don't measure up to stuff like Thompson Twins, New Order, Joy Division, Pretenders, the Clash etc. Now THAT was some music. God I sound like an old man...YIKES.
Hey how about the latest Justin Timberlake/Timbaland release...ya know the one with the 50ish blond woman singing backup...now THAT was really something huh? :)
Posted by: Boomer at May 14, 2008 04:14 PM
Ha!
Ha! I say!
The one time it pays to live in Herndon-ia.
Wolf Trap is all of 10 mins from my apartment, and I'm going against the normal DC traffic.
Ha!
Posted by: Leo at May 14, 2008 04:34 PM
As much as I initially cringed at going to the True Colors tour, the lineup was a lot of fun last year (except for Blondie). Erasure was a riot.
Good to hear about the incompleteness of this Regeneration tour though
Posted by: jimbo at May 14, 2008 05:40 PM
I'm holding out for a Go West reunion on one of these tours. They were like the poor man's Wham but had a couple of great singles.
And where's Corey Hart at these days?
Posted by: palochi at May 14, 2008 05:53 PM
wasn't your 1st concert flock of seagulls with your dad?
DB: Yes - the original Flock of Seagulls, along with The Fixx opened for The Police. Great first show.
Posted by: TOS at May 14, 2008 09:08 PM
I saw Human League right after Dare (their breakthrough album) came out. Boston was the first stop on their American tour. It was a pretty good show, but at that point, they were already League since the original Human League had split up when half of the band wanted to sell out and go pop. Before they hit the charts with songs like "Don't You Want Me, Baby," they were nobodies with songs like "Life Kills."
The Go-Go's (before they split up and Belinda Carlisle became a solo act) also sold out and went from being a punk band to a pop band, but I think they at least did it with the same personnel.
Personally, I'm holding out for a Talking Heads reunion tour.
Posted by: TED at May 14, 2008 09:59 PM
ahhh the Chess King days... i worked for them fore several years...to one advantage of gaining weight over the years... i had to get rid of those clothes... tee hee... have fun with brett this weekend!
Posted by: Kelly at May 15, 2008 08:36 AM
@TED: omg! a talking heads reunion tour! please God, please!
Posted by: hicky at May 15, 2008 11:49 AM
I agree on the Talking Heads reunion tour...I saw them in 1981 at University of Illinois and it was INCREDIBLE!
Posted by: Boomer at May 15, 2008 01:45 PM
Wait!
Where's Nik Kershaw?
Posted by: Mark at May 15, 2008 02:34 PM
But ... Where's Neil Sedaka?
Posted by: CraigF at May 15, 2008 02:38 PM
The only bands I'd be interested in seeing would be The Go-Go's and Frankie Goes to Hollywood.
Posted by: cb at May 15, 2008 03:24 PM
American Idol needs an all-Morrissey night. I loved Chess King. I totally wanted to be the next Alan Hunter.
Posted by: dumbek at May 15, 2008 09:39 PM
Nik Kershaw's still making music, believe it or not.
Posted by: Steve at May 15, 2008 10:17 PM
Oh, lawdy, yes! A Talking Heads tour! That would be great! I got the chance to see them live back in 79. I saw part of The Go-Go's in concert one New Years Eve back in 2002/03 in the Phoenix area.
Posted by: Lee at May 16, 2008 05:19 AM