I want to smack the Thompson Twins.

[Riverman]

Sidekicks and earlier stuff is amazing. Sad to see the board taken over by Blink-182 fans.

[Sean]

I am just utterly amazed that Frau_Blucher has over 10,000 post. [:D] The TT are not one of my favorites but I've always enjoyed their music over the years, especially the first second and third album.

[SomebodySomewhere]

They can't all be timeless classics like "Doot-Doot."

With that said, their last few albums [i]were[/i] shit. I don't know what happened. They came up with 3 perfect pop songs in "Hold Me Now," "Lay Your Hands on Me" and "Nothing in Common" and then followed them up with 3 albums which contained a cumulative total of zero good songs. They should have just broken up when Leeway quit.

[Frank_Chickens]

[quote][i]Originally posted by djcraig[/i]
<br>What? You don't like the whiny vocals, the lame lyrics and the fact that every preppy, BMW driving douche bag thought they were the epitome of alternative cool with the Twin's "King For A Day" blasting out of their Blaupunkt?

[/quote]

Now there's no need for that at all. Oh wait, yes there is.

If pushed, the only track of theirs that is ok is 'Squares and Triangles'.

[Frau_Blucher]

[quote][i]Originally posted by Sean[/i]
<br>I am just utterly amazed that Frau_Blucher has over 10,000 post.
[/quote]
But it's only about 3000+ posts per identity, so nothing too crazy.

And people are right - if Freur stuck around too much after Doot-Doot (not including Underworld guise), I'd likely be lashing them as well. A band's gotta know its limitations.

[Seriousin]

While they were never able to touch the brilliance of Mr. Mister, I do sometimes enjoy the Thompson Twins.

[InvisibleMan]

was that black man the only negro in New Wave? Except of course for Billy Ocean [:p]

[Qbertqubes]

nope..there was floy joy, fine young cannibalsetc

[quote][i]Originally posted by InvisibleMan[/i]
<br>was that black man the only negro in New Wave? Except of course for Billy Ocean [:p]
[/quote]

[Screen 13]

Early Thompson Twins I viewed with only a small passing interest, as I have to admit that "In the Name of Love" was very catchy, but the point where it ended was at hearing "We Are Detective".

The worst was yet to come - their ultra crap cover version of The Beatles' "Revolution." There have been some great Beatles covers, but that one should be seen as an example of how NOT to do one. Here's to Future Days was certainly one of the death knells of "New Pop" in my opinion.

(On a side note, I just got the Fruer album, and yeah, they knew when to stop Doot Dooting. One good song and a bunch of mediocre posing.)

[Frank_Chickens]

[quote][i]Originally posted by Screen 13[/i]

The worst was yet to come - their ultra crap cover version of The Beatles' "Revolution." There have been some great Beatles covers, but that one should be seen as an example of how NOT to do one. Here's to Future Days was certainly one of the death knells of "New Pop" in my opinion.

(On a side note, I just got the Fruer album, and yeah, they knew when to stop Doot Dooting. One good song and a bunch of mediocre posing.)
[/quote]

Rumour has it that both the single and album were rushed out in order to help pay for Alannah Currie's heroin debt.

[WoodlandParkPunk]

Loved the TT and all the cheesiness that went along with them.

"You just pick a chord, go twang, and you've got music." ~ Sid Vicious

[Screen 13]

[quote][i]Originally posted by Frank_Chickens[/i]
<br>[quote][i]Originally posted by Screen 13[/i]

The worst was yet to come - their ultra crap cover version of The Beatles' "Revolution." There have been some great Beatles covers, but that one should be seen as an example of how NOT to do one. Here's to Future Days was certainly one of the death knells of "New Pop" in my opinion.

(On a side note, I just got the Fruer album, and yeah, they knew when to stop Doot Dooting. One good song and a bunch of mediocre posing.)
[/quote]

Rumour has it that both the single and album were rushed out in order to help pay for Alannah Currie's heroin debt.
[/quote]

Never heard that one, being only rumour.

Fact-wise, however, their 1985 was professionally trouble-ridden enough. A Late 1985 UK Tour was stopped, with a report in the October 19, 1985 Melody Maker stating about their promoter going into liquidation plus reporting about tickets not selling as well as expected (Promoter Paul Loasby claiming that only 55% were sold with reports from sellers backing that claim up very well after two shows were cancelled). Throw in the complaints about ill-advised places to play, inadequate advertising, and the band's claim that the promoter was in trouble already, and it was all a strong mess. This was following another round of cancellations in March 1985 after Tom Bailey needed to rest (the report said "due to Tom Bailey's collapse in March.").

My guess about the release of Future Days was that is had to be delivered, and possibly due more to contractual things than anything else - Sometimes first singles from albums in The UK were well in advance, but the gap (no pun intended) from "Lay Your Hands on Me" to Future Days was stretching things quite a bit to the point where I'm sure record company executives were putting some pressure. The hold backs included Bailey's illness; a change in producer from Alex Sadkin, who produced the highlight "Lay Your Hands on Me," to Nile Rogers after ditching a lot of what was recorded before; and a change in approach (Although I don't hear that much. It's possible that the Producer change was more calculated than that in my view). It's release in The UK may have been Top 5, but it took a strong downslide after about a month following the initial Top 20 showings, a major drop from Into the Gap's long run (Damn, I'm sounding like a CEO!). In short, they "Dropped the ball" on that album due to a long wait between releases, a very disappointing sound (even as a non-fan, I would say that it's not up to Into the Gap), a crap album cover (Always something that kills the momentum), cancelled UK tours, and a naturally dwindling fan base that was moving onto other bands and singers, with health reasons also extending the wait between releases as well as stopping a career-continuing tour of their home country.

In my opinion, the release of "Revolution" in the UK was seriously a last-ditch attempt to save the sinking ship which already saw "King for a Day" reach #22 in The UK after the middling performance of "Don't Mess With Doctor Dream," reaching only a Top 20 after a long wait from the strong Top 10 showing of "Lay Your Hands..." in The UK. As it was the song they played at Live Aid, it was a in practice a logical choice being both a song performed at a high profile event as well as a Beatles cover (I've heard worse that made stronger showings), but being such a poor cover, it did not do much.

At least there was some major success in The States to soften up the fall. "King for a Day" and "Lay Your Hands On Me" were both major hits.

Yeah, I know, thinking too much about a couple of crap releases, but when it's released in a time when a lot of New Wave releases were under performing for many different reasons beyond the natural drop of fans, a topic that can feature one of those albums, and some time on my hands (plus a lot of collected research...), I like to share some thoughts.

There's always time to do more research...

[Frank_Chickens]

Wow, an OCD (or should that be OTT?) response to my post. By any chance are you related to rain man?

[Screen 13]

I'd rather say it's OTT. I have been collecting some information through the years, and it's rare that I get to share it. I'm planning to start a Music Blog soon, and it's best to start warming up the writing style while I have the chance. Getting real information on the web beyond Wikipedia is a very hit and miss affair, and once I start something, I'd rather have something to both entertain and inform.

One-liner responses were never my style.

[q89747]

[quote][i]Originally posted by Screen 13[/i]
<br>Early Thompson Twins I viewed with only a small passing interest, as I have to admit that "In the Name of Love" was very catchy, but the point where it ended was at hearing "We Are Detective".
[/quote]
I quite like the instrumentation on 'ITNOL', particularly the guitar licks. Other than that don't much care for them. Having said that, I'm amazed that there's so much hatred for them here on the NWO-- I see plenty of posts here proclaiming love for bands that are just as bad or worse.