CC were great songwriters. Difficult Shapes alone had :
Red Sails
Some People I Know to Lead Fantastic Leaves
You Never See It
Christian
African and White
They also didn’t seem to be natural performers – appearing to be crushingly shy.
I really like(d) CC, and yes, those first 3 albums are excellent… I saw them the week Difficult Shapes came out (supporting Simple Minds on the New Gold Dream tour if memory serves) and they were endearingly “ordinary” on stage… the sole bit of banter I remember went:
GARY (Singer): Who’s bought our new album?
LONE VOICE AT THE BACK: Me!
GARY: What’s your name, mate?
LVATB: Terry!
GARY: This next one’s for Terry, then…
I also remember them being runners-up in a BBC2 pop show’s (maybe Riverside) “best unsigned band” contest – the actual winners were “i” from Coventry, who I later saw live a few times, and they were great, but never even got as far as releasing an indie single…
Sophie and Peter Johnston. Crikey, I haven’t thought about them for a while.
I remember taping a couple of tracks from their Peel session in my freezing cold student room in Manchester in 1983.
“Television Satellite”. That was the only number of theirs I can remember. It wasn’t bad, I suppose.
Do commercial pop chart acts come up with anything this strange these days? Can’t imagine Timberlake, Beiber and their ilk being this weird and wonderful.
This came up when I did a review to “Songs From The Big Chair”. You are completely right, whatever you think of the era I don’t think it has ever been matched for imagination and boundary pushing
Until online forums suggested otherwise, I always assumed this is the sort of thing that helped give the 80’s music such a bad reputation. I file them in the same category as Tears For Fears and that’s not a good category to be in!
Hmmm … that reminds me. I saw Blancmange live once. They weren’t bad. It was at the grotty Fagins in Manchester in November 1981. The sort of club gig where you had to wait around for HOURS AND HOURS with nasty pints of lager until after pub closing time before the bands came on. Blancmange were supporting some Essex band called “Depeche Mode” or something. Whatever happened to them, eh?
Ooh that was the same tour where I popped my gig-going cherry. I was 15 and Blancmange played to about 20 of us (I wanted my money’s worth) – they were very good. And then Depeche Mode came on and stormed it.
I used to love The Big Dish. Reverend Killer is in my itunes ‘Paul’s Favourites’ playlist, which is my electronic version of John Peel’s wooden box of singles.
What a fab thread this is. Two of my favourite 80s bands get a mention (see The Big Dish just above) for probably the first time on the Afterword by someone other than me!
I still play Frazier Chorus a lot and the missus gets pretty fed up of me asking her how come they didn’t have half a dozen number ones, because their songs were far better than most of the stuff that was around at the time. My favourite, from the same album, is All The Air (which is also in my favourites playlist (again, see The Big Dish above), along with Typical. That gives them 2 287ths of my favourites, so 1/143.5 of my favourites are by Frazier Chorus. In fact, I bet they’re only beaten by The Beatles and Dylan. Will have to check on iTunes, because my ruddy iPod is back at Ipod Repairs being fixed again, after their first attempt didn’t work. Hurrumph!
Oh, I bought a big book of Swedish synth pop history in the book sale a couple of years ago, apparently there were a lot more of them than I knew at the time! 🙂 I could probably look up some obscure synth pop duos in it to post, but don’t worry, I won’t!
I chose A&F because they were more or less the “house band” at Radio Stockholm when it became the cool, young, urban local radio station in the early 80s – I think they pretty much owed their career to that station. And they would also record stuff especially for them; I remember that the traffic news (reporting on all forms of transport) would report so often that the Milan airport was closed because of fog that it became a running joke, and they asked A&F to write a tune called “Dimman i Milano” (“The Fog in Milan”)! Performed live on the air, IIRC.
I almost posted Ratata, but they weren’t a duo in the beginning (when they were at their most synth:y) and they had a very soulful streak, so I didn’t think they fitted the bill entirely (but I do like them a lot). I enjoyed how their music (and some solo stuff from Mauro Scocco) was used in the Swedish gay rom-com “Fyra år till” (“Four More Years”) some years ago.
Come on Locust! Don’t be coy. Of course we want to know about obscure Swedish synth duos! Your expert knowledge in this field will never get such a golden opportunity.
Mauro Scocco is a real perfectionist prince of Swedish pop and has written some marvellous songs.
Enjoyed that Swedish pop history lesson about the weather forecast.
OK, you asked for it…
Here’s Page, the boyfriend/girlfriend duo mostly known for being the starting point for Marina Schiptjenko‘s career in pop; later famous for being in the group BWO (Bodies Without Organs) – and owning an art gallery.
(“Dansande Man”/”Dancing Man”)
And searching for that video I found this one, by some Swedish 80s duo (apparently) called XL:
(“Sorg Flyg Bort”/”Grief Fly Away”)
And here’s Nasa from 1984 with their debut single “Paula”:
Great work, Locust, No obscure corner of Swedish pop left untouched!
That led me to this Swedish synth pop duo, So What, who tick all our boxes except feyness. The rather energetic singer is probably now working as a trainer for Friskis och Svettis.
And while we’re on the subject of 80s obscurities, I just stumbled across this: Frida from Abba after the breakup taking a new´direction. The album was quite OK.
Also bringing us nicely back to Ratata who had a huge hit in Sweden with this 1987 duet with Ms Lyngstad:
(Så Länge Vi Har Varann)
There’s an English version on YouTube that I hadn’t heard before, but it’s not as good as the “original” (well, they probably recorded both at the same time…but in Sweden this was the single/monster hit).
Oh, and by the way; that So What track was absolutely ghastly – definitely modeled on the sound of the horror that was Modern Talking.
Although I confess I have a soft spot for ONE of their many awful hits…”Brother Louie” is just as awful as the rest of their oevre…but, but, it has something…or maybe it’s just nostalgia for my teenage years!
No fey 80’s pop to add – horrible period – but I would make a single exception in Talk Talk. I’ve recently revisited a couple of their albums and I love it. A real rediscovery and, to my ears, it still sounds powerful, fresh and sits very comfortably in the teenies.
Which leads to my question. Am I right in thinking they used to be referred to as ‘the thinking mans’ Duran Duran? If so why? With apologies to their aficionados, Duran Duran were/are positively crap wheras Talk Talk were pretty adventurous.
Talk Talk were excellent and went from pop to neo prog in 4 years. A truly great band as well and I love every period they had. The song Talk Talk is my favourite.
Early Talk Talk isn’t a million miles from the early Synth pop Duran – plus their band names are quite similarly structured – and I think their record company hoped they might make more ‘It’s My Life’ type hits rather than exploratory, multi-layered prog-pop epics.
Who doesn’t like Talk Talk? – but I also have a soft spot for Duran – Rio is excellent and they were a darn good pop band rehashing Berlin Bowie, Iggy, Chic, Roxy, Bolan etc for the 80s pop kids – fantastic – especially compared to what ‘Pop’ threw up in the next decade that followed i.e, The Spice Girls banal advertising jingles pretending to be songs and Charsima-bypass survivors Westlife sitting on stools rehashing tired old ballads.
I was very keen about the one album by The Lover Speaks. Well worth a listen on the Tube. It included this song which became a megahit for Annie Lennox.
Those Trevor Horn productions from “The Dollar Album” (i.e. the singles Hand Held In Black & White, Mirror Mirror, Give Me Back My Heart and Videotheque) are all fantastic state-of-the-art high-gloss pop songs.
Fair play to Thereza Bazar though, she produced the rest of the album herself, and did a good job of replicating that sound – Give Me Some Kinda Magic (the 5th single from the album) is another great choon…
A trio by the time they recorded this, once Bill Nelson’s brother Ian (RIP) joined on sax. I did once try to get Cherry Red to issue their (unreleased at the time) album but too much legal paperwork. Perhaps I should try again.
The elephant in the room is surely the Tainted Love Hitmakers?
I wouldn’t dare post that track. Even if it was a serious global floorfiller back in the day.
The Northern Soul original by Gloria Jones from 1965 is superior.
I must say that my father, totally passive observer of most pop acts I subjected the household to, let out incredulous tuts and appalled shakesof the head to Marc Almond. Excell-ent.
A decade bookended by The Buggles’ Age Of Plastic and Electronic’s Getting Away With It which threw up such exotic confections as Soft Cell and The Associates – not a “horrible period” Chez Bot!
The “flamboyant/speccy one out front, silent bloke behind keyboards” was a fresh and streamlined presentation for TOTP, and paved the way for acceptance of the “Rakim is on the mic and Eric B is on the cuts” style MC/DJ pairings of 80s Hip Hop.
P.S. I miss the “real ale” rock snobbery of the time e.g. you go out and busk doing covers for a couple of years until you can afford a synthesiser, then you just plug it in and it writes all your songs for you. The “synth players aren’t proper musicians” idea was somewhat encouraged by those who clearly had keys painted different colours for different songs – very punk rock!
But who are the descendants of the “flamboyant/speccy one out front, silent bloke behind keyboards” approach? (Good summing up of a rather successful approach, Sewer.)
Actually that’s a good description of the This Town Ain’t Big Enough Hitmakers who also had a few 80s hits although seem to have spent most of the decade involved in film projects.
From Wiki
“The late 1980s and early 1990s saw the brothers concentrate on filmmaking, particularly an attempt to make a manga, Mai, The Psychic Girl, into a movie musical. Despite interest from Tim Burton and six years’ work on the project, the film has not yet gone into production. There currently is speculation that Tim Burton may once again take on the project and direct.”
The obvious example is Churches/Chvrches band. They have a lady singer – Cor! (allowed – see Yazoo/ Eurythmics), but rather spoil the formula by having a third member (I remember in the 80s thinking Depeche Mode must be rubbish because they needed four (four!) dudes plinking and plonking compared to one geezer in other synth combos) and allowing one of the silents to sing some of the songs, which puts me in mind of this old Mary Whitehouse Experience sketch:
Of course Neil Tennant wrote a right snotty letter to Q magazine when Ron & Russell suggested in an interview that the PSB’s might have been influenced by Sparks.
The Pet Shop Boys are and always were nothing short of fabulous (except for that Absolutely Fabulous single)
Do Goldfrapp qualify? Alison Goldfrapp makes a great frontwoman. The Keyboard Bloke* is so lacking in show-off skills that he doesn’t even appear on stage, but does the live mixing from the back of the audience while someone stands in for him on stage.
(*) Yes, I do know his name, but I bet 99% of Goldfrapp purchasers don’t.
If saw these two perform as well. This is my favourite. There’s a whole lot of 80s going on but there is a really good song buried in there, wanting to come out. I imagine Alison Goldfrapp making a better version.
Incidentally, I should mention that the disgracefully under-rated Banished to Beanyworld is one of my favourite 80s sci fi/horror/erotic/black comedy/musical/epics and is ripe for a revival. Not least for its synth-laden soundtrack.
Hugh Jorgan gives the performance of a lifetime as the hapless astronaut exiled to a planet where the normal laws of physics, chemistry and biology do not apply.
If you dared to call Annie Lennox fey, you’d probably get a good slapping. And Dave Stewart was more outgoing than the speccy blokes. But in some ways Eurythmics fit the model, particularly so in their early days.
We can’t forget D.A.F. They may not be fey, but they were an 80s synth. duo. I can’t post YouTube links at the moment. If I could I would post Der Mussolini or Sex Unter Wasser.
I once saw them at an all-nighter where they came on at about 3.00 am.
All was going swimmingly but, as a lot of people had gone home by then, when they tried to crowd-surf on a non-existent crowd things went rather pear-shaped. Ouch!
I have seen Frank Chickens live twice.
First time on one of the minor stages at Glasto (early ’80s, year forgotten but they were on either shortly before or soon after Robyn Hitchcock & The Egyptians) and much more recently at The Union Chapel where they headlined a Daylight Music 5th Anniversary Evening Special.
This was on one of the NME’s ’80s compilation tapes, “Mad Mix II”.
Wonderfully quirky track, Mike. I saw them live once in the 80s: supporting Hank Wangford. Not at all surprised that they’ve played a Daylight Music show. Their eccentric, Fringey, humorous approach would fit in very well there. They are as much a cabaret show as a band.
In 1984, this song made it onto Peel’s Festive Fifty.
Blue Canary
Kuzuko Hohki even had her own TV chat show for one season in which celebrity guests had to sing karaoke. On Channel 4 of course. Rather fun by the look of things. The audience are all completely hammered. I suspect it was broadcast late on Friday evening.
Again, probably not fey, but In 84 when they were having “radio hits” (i.e. not quite hits), they were a duo✔️ with a pretentious European-sounding name✔️ making synth pop✔️:
I suspect it was denied entry at Dover. There is absolutely no connection between the song and the strange woodpecker noise unless there is some salacious urban slang expression about woodpeckers and their holes that I do not know of.
100 comments and no-one (especially me) has mentioned The Associates Fey “Giving an impression of vague unworldliness or mystery” yep, 80’s yep, electronic definitely and Billy and Alan were a duo. Also for James Blast who compared them to Martians…….
Uncle Wheaty says
I was a big fan back in the day but haven’t played them in ages, thanks for the reminder.
Black Man Ray was always my favourite China Crisis song.
Dave Ross says
Those first 3 albums were bloody marvellous join me in some “African and White”? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ea0QFcfGTw
Uncle Wheaty says
That is the tune that turned me on to them.
Black Celebration says
CC were great songwriters. Difficult Shapes alone had :
Red Sails
Some People I Know to Lead Fantastic Leaves
You Never See It
Christian
African and White
They also didn’t seem to be natural performers – appearing to be crushingly shy.
metal mickey says
I really like(d) CC, and yes, those first 3 albums are excellent… I saw them the week Difficult Shapes came out (supporting Simple Minds on the New Gold Dream tour if memory serves) and they were endearingly “ordinary” on stage… the sole bit of banter I remember went:
GARY (Singer): Who’s bought our new album?
LONE VOICE AT THE BACK: Me!
GARY: What’s your name, mate?
LVATB: Terry!
GARY: This next one’s for Terry, then…
I also remember them being runners-up in a BBC2 pop show’s (maybe Riverside) “best unsigned band” contest – the actual winners were “i” from Coventry, who I later saw live a few times, and they were great, but never even got as far as releasing an indie single…
ip33 says
Perhaps a bit too poppy but still quite fey. But Peel was a fan so they get a thumbs up.
duco01 says
Sophie and Peter Johnston. Crikey, I haven’t thought about them for a while.
I remember taping a couple of tracks from their Peel session in my freezing cold student room in Manchester in 1983.
“Television Satellite”. That was the only number of theirs I can remember. It wasn’t bad, I suppose.
ip33 says
I still dig out their Peel session from time to time that I taped while living in a freezing bedsit in Worthing. Stands up pretty well I think.
Dave Ross says
New to me but fits the bill perfectly to these ears…..
Gary says
Do commercial pop chart acts come up with anything this strange these days? Can’t imagine Timberlake, Beiber and their ilk being this weird and wonderful.
Dave Ross says
This came up when I did a review to “Songs From The Big Chair”. You are completely right, whatever you think of the era I don’t think it has ever been matched for imagination and boundary pushing
johnw says
Until online forums suggested otherwise, I always assumed this is the sort of thing that helped give the 80’s music such a bad reputation. I file them in the same category as Tears For Fears and that’s not a good category to be in!
Dave Ross says
I have a free pass round here for 80’s tosh threads 🙂
Uncle Wheaty says
Hue and Cry had a couple of good tunes as well.
This was my favourite.
Uncle Wheaty says
And this was the other one.
Dave Ross says
What no “Labour Of Love”?
Sitheref2409 says
Pat Kane?
Obligatory post: http://capx.co/edward-snowden-winnie-mandela-ross-kemp-all-the-greats-have-been-rector-of-glasgow-university/
Kaisfatdad says
The magbificent Yazoo had fey moments.
Only you
But not much fey about 12 inch floorfiller remix of Situation.
Dave Ross says
Fits the bill KFD
Rigid Digit says
Does this one qualify?
From 1986: Furniture – Brilliant Mind
Dave Ross says
Absolutely qualifies………..
Mike_H says
Blancmange.
’80s electronic pop but not especially fey.
(Don’t Tell Me)
Their use of percussion was more interesting than most of their peers.
Dave Ross says
Saw Blancmange at the old Hammersmith Palais, great night out. This gets me every single time https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hmQJus5gKlQ
Waves
duco01 says
Hmmm … that reminds me. I saw Blancmange live once. They weren’t bad. It was at the grotty Fagins in Manchester in November 1981. The sort of club gig where you had to wait around for HOURS AND HOURS with nasty pints of lager until after pub closing time before the bands came on. Blancmange were supporting some Essex band called “Depeche Mode” or something. Whatever happened to them, eh?
Black Celebration says
Ooh that was the same tour where I popped my gig-going cherry. I was 15 and Blancmange played to about 20 of us (I wanted my money’s worth) – they were very good. And then Depeche Mode came on and stormed it.
Uncle Wheaty says
Tune!
BigJimBob says
This lot always remind me of Blancmange:
Kaisfatdad says
A bit late for the 80s, but only just. And it’s such a wonderful song I’m posting anyway.
Being Boring
The Swedish presenter here is certainly not being boring. She sounds as though she’s completely trousered.
Rigid Digit says
Vince Clarke was responsible for half of the electronic, other-wordly, 80s * – here’s one with Sheargal Farkey
Assembly – Never Never
* Midge Ure was responsible for the other half
Dave Ross says
Sheargal Farkey just made me lol
Uncle Wheaty says
More gay than fey but still bloody marvellous.
count jim moriarty says
Always preferred the Bjorn Again version meself…
Rigid Digit says
Maybe not strictly “fey”, but over-earnest and a bit navel-gazy.
Fiction Factory – Feels Like Heaven
Uncle Wheaty says
That reminds me of my University days.
I always link that tune with this…another overblown 1980s classic.
Uncle Mick says
Tune!!
Uncle Wheaty says
Another great one here. The Big Dish…Slide. An awesome piece of 1980s pop excellence.
Enjoy!
Paul Wad says
I used to love The Big Dish. Reverend Killer is in my itunes ‘Paul’s Favourites’ playlist, which is my electronic version of John Peel’s wooden box of singles.
chilli ray virus says
Trousers!
Black Celebration says
Bloody brilliant song that.
Milkybarnick says
Terrific record. Anyone heard the Manics cover of it? Faithful as you like, but very good all the same.
fentonsteve says
Yes, both of those Radio 2 80s CDs are in my wife’s car. I also like Seal’s take on Owner of a Lonely Heart and the Waterboys doing Purple Rain.
BigJimBob says
Frazier Chorus were trio, but they are fey and from the 80s. Plus this is in my top 50 of all time:
Paul Wad says
What a fab thread this is. Two of my favourite 80s bands get a mention (see The Big Dish just above) for probably the first time on the Afterword by someone other than me!
I still play Frazier Chorus a lot and the missus gets pretty fed up of me asking her how come they didn’t have half a dozen number ones, because their songs were far better than most of the stuff that was around at the time. My favourite, from the same album, is All The Air (which is also in my favourites playlist (again, see The Big Dish above), along with Typical. That gives them 2 287ths of my favourites, so 1/143.5 of my favourites are by Frazier Chorus. In fact, I bet they’re only beaten by The Beatles and Dylan. Will have to check on iTunes, because my ruddy iPod is back at Ipod Repairs being fixed again, after their first attempt didn’t work. Hurrumph!
BigJimBob says
This is great as well:
Uncle Wheaty says
The Bible were never fey, but they were another under discovered classic band of the era.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8lIPBFAiKyE
retropath2 says
All those sheets, their poor mothers…….
Locust says
Meanwhile, in Sweden:
Kaisfatdad says
Nice work Locust. I was beginning to wonder if there were any synth duos outside of the UK.
There was also Ratata of course.
A lot later, came the rather marvelous Junior Boys from Canada.
Locust says
Oh, I bought a big book of Swedish synth pop history in the book sale a couple of years ago, apparently there were a lot more of them than I knew at the time! 🙂 I could probably look up some obscure synth pop duos in it to post, but don’t worry, I won’t!
I chose A&F because they were more or less the “house band” at Radio Stockholm when it became the cool, young, urban local radio station in the early 80s – I think they pretty much owed their career to that station. And they would also record stuff especially for them; I remember that the traffic news (reporting on all forms of transport) would report so often that the Milan airport was closed because of fog that it became a running joke, and they asked A&F to write a tune called “Dimman i Milano” (“The Fog in Milan”)! Performed live on the air, IIRC.
I almost posted Ratata, but they weren’t a duo in the beginning (when they were at their most synth:y) and they had a very soulful streak, so I didn’t think they fitted the bill entirely (but I do like them a lot). I enjoyed how their music (and some solo stuff from Mauro Scocco) was used in the Swedish gay rom-com “Fyra år till” (“Four More Years”) some years ago.
Kaisfatdad says
Come on Locust! Don’t be coy. Of course we want to know about obscure Swedish synth duos! Your expert knowledge in this field will never get such a golden opportunity.
Mauro Scocco is a real perfectionist prince of Swedish pop and has written some marvellous songs.
Enjoyed that Swedish pop history lesson about the weather forecast.
Locust says
OK, you asked for it…
Here’s Page, the boyfriend/girlfriend duo mostly known for being the starting point for Marina Schiptjenko‘s career in pop; later famous for being in the group BWO (Bodies Without Organs) – and owning an art gallery.
(“Dansande Man”/”Dancing Man”)
And searching for that video I found this one, by some Swedish 80s duo (apparently) called XL:
(“Sorg Flyg Bort”/”Grief Fly Away”)
And here’s Nasa from 1984 with their debut single “Paula”:
Kaisfatdad says
Great work, Locust, No obscure corner of Swedish pop left untouched!
That led me to this Swedish synth pop duo, So What, who tick all our boxes except feyness. The rather energetic singer is probably now working as a trainer for Friskis och Svettis.
And while we’re on the subject of 80s obscurities, I just stumbled across this: Frida from Abba after the breakup taking a new´direction. The album was quite OK.
Locust says
Also bringing us nicely back to Ratata who had a huge hit in Sweden with this 1987 duet with Ms Lyngstad:
(Så Länge Vi Har Varann)
There’s an English version on YouTube that I hadn’t heard before, but it’s not as good as the “original” (well, they probably recorded both at the same time…but in Sweden this was the single/monster hit).
Kaisfatdad says
Brilliant! Thanks @Locust. You are taking us down some exciting, little-visited back alleys of Swedish pop.
Ratata and Abba! Now there’s one I wouldn’t have predicted.
Frida certainly seems to have been the more adventurous of the two ABBA girls as regards exploring new directions,
Locust says
Oh, and by the way; that So What track was absolutely ghastly – definitely modeled on the sound of the horror that was Modern Talking.
Although I confess I have a soft spot for ONE of their many awful hits…”Brother Louie” is just as awful as the rest of their oevre…but, but, it has something…or maybe it’s just nostalgia for my teenage years!
Jeez, not a good look!
attackdog says
No fey 80’s pop to add – horrible period – but I would make a single exception in Talk Talk. I’ve recently revisited a couple of their albums and I love it. A real rediscovery and, to my ears, it still sounds powerful, fresh and sits very comfortably in the teenies.
Which leads to my question. Am I right in thinking they used to be referred to as ‘the thinking mans’ Duran Duran? If so why? With apologies to their aficionados, Duran Duran were/are positively crap wheras Talk Talk were pretty adventurous.
So what is the basis for comparison?
Uncle Wheaty says
Duran Duran were a 1980s pop band that had a fickle pop following but they produced one classic album with Rio and one classic single with this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dDLiVwpv89s
So they were not crap.
Talk Talk were excellent and went from pop to neo prog in 4 years. A truly great band as well and I love every period they had. The song Talk Talk is my favourite.
The Good Doctor says
Early Talk Talk isn’t a million miles from the early Synth pop Duran – plus their band names are quite similarly structured – and I think their record company hoped they might make more ‘It’s My Life’ type hits rather than exploratory, multi-layered prog-pop epics.
Who doesn’t like Talk Talk? – but I also have a soft spot for Duran – Rio is excellent and they were a darn good pop band rehashing Berlin Bowie, Iggy, Chic, Roxy, Bolan etc for the 80s pop kids – fantastic – especially compared to what ‘Pop’ threw up in the next decade that followed i.e, The Spice Girls banal advertising jingles pretending to be songs and Charsima-bypass survivors Westlife sitting on stools rehashing tired old ballads.
..and they invented Yacht Rock!
Kaisfatdad says
I was very keen about the one album by The Lover Speaks. Well worth a listen on the Tube. It included this song which became a megahit for Annie Lennox.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xgwnXp1Zb4Q
Sniffity says
Do these two fit the definition, or are they banished to Beanyworld?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dqo1V-Pg4jk
metal mickey says
Those Trevor Horn productions from “The Dollar Album” (i.e. the singles Hand Held In Black & White, Mirror Mirror, Give Me Back My Heart and Videotheque) are all fantastic state-of-the-art high-gloss pop songs.
Fair play to Thereza Bazar though, she produced the rest of the album herself, and did a good job of replicating that sound – Give Me Some Kinda Magic (the 5th single from the album) is another great choon…
chilli ray virus says
I have very fond memories of this during my uni days.
fentonsteve says
A trio by the time they recorded this, once Bill Nelson’s brother Ian (RIP) joined on sax. I did once try to get Cherry Red to issue their (unreleased at the time) album but too much legal paperwork. Perhaps I should try again.
Fiat Lux – Secrets
Kaisfatdad says
The elephant in the room is surely the Tainted Love Hitmakers?
I wouldn’t dare post that track. Even if it was a serious global floorfiller back in the day.
The Northern Soul original by Gloria Jones from 1965 is superior.
And anyway this song is probably far, far feyer.
Say hello, wave goodbye
Black Celebration says
I must say that my father, totally passive observer of most pop acts I subjected the household to, let out incredulous tuts and appalled shakesof the head to Marc Almond. Excell-ent.
Black Celebration says
This was a one-off hit song from a fey 80s synth pop duo. The non-singer seemed to be a bit of a Chris Lowe wannabe.
https://youtu.be/i_e9A5xpjnA
Sewer Robot says
A decade bookended by The Buggles’ Age Of Plastic and Electronic’s Getting Away With It which threw up such exotic confections as Soft Cell and The Associates – not a “horrible period” Chez Bot!
The “flamboyant/speccy one out front, silent bloke behind keyboards” was a fresh and streamlined presentation for TOTP, and paved the way for acceptance of the “Rakim is on the mic and Eric B is on the cuts” style MC/DJ pairings of 80s Hip Hop.
Sewer Robot says
P.S. I miss the “real ale” rock snobbery of the time e.g. you go out and busk doing covers for a couple of years until you can afford a synthesiser, then you just plug it in and it writes all your songs for you. The “synth players aren’t proper musicians” idea was somewhat encouraged by those who clearly had keys painted different colours for different songs – very punk rock!
Kaisfatdad says
But who are the descendants of the “flamboyant/speccy one out front, silent bloke behind keyboards” approach? (Good summing up of a rather successful approach, Sewer.)
Actually that’s a good description of the This Town Ain’t Big Enough Hitmakers who also had a few 80s hits although seem to have spent most of the decade involved in film projects.
From Wiki
“The late 1980s and early 1990s saw the brothers concentrate on filmmaking, particularly an attempt to make a manga, Mai, The Psychic Girl, into a movie musical. Despite interest from Tim Burton and six years’ work on the project, the film has not yet gone into production. There currently is speculation that Tim Burton may once again take on the project and direct.”
Sewer Robot says
The obvious example is Churches/Chvrches band. They have a lady singer – Cor! (allowed – see Yazoo/ Eurythmics), but rather spoil the formula by having a third member (I remember in the 80s thinking Depeche Mode must be rubbish because they needed four (four!) dudes plinking and plonking compared to one geezer in other synth combos) and allowing one of the silents to sing some of the songs, which puts me in mind of this old Mary Whitehouse Experience sketch:
DogFacedBoy says
Of course Neil Tennant wrote a right snotty letter to Q magazine when Ron & Russell suggested in an interview that the PSB’s might have been influenced by Sparks.
The Pet Shop Boys are and always were nothing short of fabulous (except for that Absolutely Fabulous single)
fentonsteve says
Do Goldfrapp qualify? Alison Goldfrapp makes a great frontwoman. The Keyboard Bloke* is so lacking in show-off skills that he doesn’t even appear on stage, but does the live mixing from the back of the audience while someone stands in for him on stage.
(*) Yes, I do know his name, but I bet 99% of Goldfrapp purchasers don’t.
Black Type says
Meet all the criteria, but not the era. They’re out!
Black Celebration says
If saw these two perform as well. This is my favourite. There’s a whole lot of 80s going on but there is a really good song buried in there, wanting to come out. I imagine Alison Goldfrapp making a better version.
Milkybarnick says
Not quite sure if these were a duo officially or not (think not) but there’s two involved on this, so I’ll leave it here anyway.
Kaisfatdad says
Get him to the Greek! Even the Tobleronic Oceans Hitmaker jumped on the synth duo hit bandwagon in 1981.
And his was no disgrace.
Moose the Mooche says
That’s Declan Donnelly. And who’s the French rugby coach on the joanna?
jockblue says
Fey? Maybe.
Duo – Yes
80s – Yes
What’s not to like
Kaisfatdad says
Incidentally, I should mention that the disgracefully under-rated Banished to Beanyworld is one of my favourite 80s sci fi/horror/erotic/black comedy/musical/epics and is ripe for a revival. Not least for its synth-laden soundtrack.
Hugh Jorgan gives the performance of a lifetime as the hapless astronaut exiled to a planet where the normal laws of physics, chemistry and biology do not apply.
You will be in tears!
Kaisfatdad says
If you dared to call Annie Lennox fey, you’d probably get a good slapping. And Dave Stewart was more outgoing than the speccy blokes. But in some ways Eurythmics fit the model, particularly so in their early days.
(Other than Ms Fife, can a girl be fey?)
http://youtu.be/JrLH-N7yPBw
Black Type says
Tina is.
Kaisfatdad says
Is there a German word for fey?
If there is, I’m sure we can dig up some Krautrockers that will fit nicely here.
It’s a shame that there were four geezers in Kraftverk. Two too many. Then again, all four of them had all the charisma of a vacuum cleaner
Alias says
We can’t forget D.A.F. They may not be fey, but they were an 80s synth. duo. I can’t post YouTube links at the moment. If I could I would post Der Mussolini or Sex Unter Wasser.
Kaisfatdad says
Here you go!
Der Mussolini
80s, duo, synths….but these two ninja girls are anything but fey.
Frank Chickens
Kaisfatdad says
A bit later than the 80s but a duo with synths: Cobra Killer from Berlin.
Mund auf augen zu
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oZYfmI7o7is
I once saw them at an all-nighter where they came on at about 3.00 am.
All was going swimmingly but, as a lot of people had gone home by then, when they tried to crowd-surf on a non-existent crowd things went rather pear-shaped. Ouch!
Mike_H says
I have seen Frank Chickens live twice.
First time on one of the minor stages at Glasto (early ’80s, year forgotten but they were on either shortly before or soon after Robyn Hitchcock & The Egyptians) and much more recently at The Union Chapel where they headlined a Daylight Music 5th Anniversary Evening Special.
This was on one of the NME’s ’80s compilation tapes, “Mad Mix II”.
(Shellfish Bamboo)
Kaisfatdad says
Wonderfully quirky track, Mike. I saw them live once in the 80s: supporting Hank Wangford. Not at all surprised that they’ve played a Daylight Music show. Their eccentric, Fringey, humorous approach would fit in very well there. They are as much a cabaret show as a band.
In 1984, this song made it onto Peel’s Festive Fifty.
Blue Canary
Kuzuko Hohki even had her own TV chat show for one season in which celebrity guests had to sing karaoke. On Channel 4 of course. Rather fun by the look of things. The audience are all completely hammered. I suspect it was broadcast late on Friday evening.
Billy Bragg
Frank Sidebottom
Sewer Robot says
Again, probably not fey, but In 84 when they were having “radio hits” (i.e. not quite hits), they were a duo✔️ with a pretentious European-sounding name✔️ making synth pop✔️:
(Cabaret Voltaire – Sensoria
Kaisfatdad says
1978 (so a bit premature) and by a trio rather than a duo, but I still think the Human League’s Being Boiled deserves a mention here.
Modern Talking from Germany satisfy all the criterai and they were sehr gross im Europa..But were they any good?
Moose the Mooche says
Mullet + Keytar = No Sale.
Kaisfatdad says
Continuing my scrapings of the very bottom of the Europop barrel, here are Italian duo Baltimora with ( I must confess extremely catchy) Tarzan Boy.
And now another 80s Italian duo, Righiera, with a song I still like a lot: Vamos a la playa
Black Celebration says
I didn’t realise Baltimora was a duo.
In a mid 80s trip through continental Europe, this was everywhere. Strangely it failed to dent the UK charts.
https://youtu.be/2OOJmuX8FXc
Kaisfatdad says
I suspect it was denied entry at Dover. There is absolutely no connection between the song and the strange woodpecker noise unless there is some salacious urban slang expression about woodpeckers and their holes that I do not know of.
Kaisfatdad says
Happy Listening, Spotty Folk!
Uncle Mick says
Undecided as to the Feyishness of this one….
Kaisfatdad says
Here on the AW, I like to think we cherish the skills of extreme and arcane pop hairdressing.
This week we will not see a better example than Ian Richie of Miro Miroe’s Petrified Arabian Hedgehog Look from 1982’s David Essex Show.
Kaisfatdad says
Sorry! I’m going off piste and including trios now.
Miro Miroe was rather fun and they led me to this rather tongue-in-cheek Belgian combo: Telex.
Diskow Moskow
And here’s another band that has to be mentioned in this celebration of 80s synth sounds; Bronski Beat,
Smalltown Boy: what a stupendous song!
Kaisfatdad says
OMD might have a drummer and bass player, but they are duo really, aren’t they?
They’re not? OK, then,
Moose the Mooche says
I loved the Orch’, but I can’t tolerate Andy’s dancing any more. I’ve done enough of that for one life.
Sewer Robot says
This lot were once touted as the Irish Buggles. Oh great, a f**king mime!
(Minor Detail -Canvas Of Life)
Moose the Mooche says
Yes, a mime. A mime with dungarees and a beard at that.
All that traffic and none of them can knock the bastart down!
Black Celebration says
The first appearances of Howard Jones featured the well-liked “mental chains” dancer Jed – which made me think the act was a duo.
So I was disappointed when the follow up “What is Love?” didn’t feature Jed dancing while holding a heart – with a quizzical expression.
Sewer Robot says
Jed got sacked because his idea for Pearl In The Shell was to jizz in someone’s petrol tank..
Black Celebration says
Oh I see. We’re at gutter level now are we?
Hooray!
Kaisfatdad says
Never having seen chain dancer, Jed Hoile, at work, I found the clip.
Howard Jones went on to become very successful in the US and (completely useless fact of the day) is a devout Buddhist.
retropath2 says
Talking of fey duos, anyone have a thought about this current day fey duo? Milky Chance. I rather like
Dave Ross says
100 comments and no-one (especially me) has mentioned The Associates Fey “Giving an impression of vague unworldliness or mystery” yep, 80’s yep, electronic definitely and Billy and Alan were a duo. Also for James Blast who compared them to Martians…….
Kaisfatdad says
As I fear I may have to wait a while for a thread on 90s synth duos, I’m slipping in the wonderful Moloko’s Fun for me.
Magnificently wacky stuff.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6GtbrWCxQNU
Kaisfatdad says
The synth-voice duo is far from dead in 2016.
AlunaGeorhe have had 103 million views for this one!
And let’s not forget Quadron!
bricameron says
Tiger lily anyone? “Times are hard”