’80s Protest Songs

Posted: September 11, 2014 in Protest Songs
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What would the eighties have been without protest songs? Just as every decade prior, and since, the eighties were filled with protest songs. There were protest songs about nuclear war, oppressive regimes, gang violence, and anyone who was president at the time. The whole of 1982’s Combat Rock album from The Clash was pretty much a protest to all things wrong in the world. Besides the videos of the impending doom of a nuclear holocaust, the ones that readily come to mind had to do with anti-apartheid.

For all its faults, one good thing that came out of MTV was bringing awareness to causes outside my small world. Before being exposed to these videos, I wasn’t even aware of apartheid or Nelson Mandela. Musicians from all genres were getting involved. Artists such as Stevie Wonder, Peter Gabriel, The Specials, and the whole eclectic mix of musicians in Artists United Against Apartheid all participated in this effort and it was hard to not take notice.

One of the first references I have of Nelson Mandela, and apartheid, was the video “Nelson Mandela” by The Special A.K.A. The song was released in 1984 and became a hit around the world, except the U.S. where it didn’t chart. With its upbeat African rhythms and catchy beats it’s easy to see why this became a hit. Some say this song was focal in the anti-apartheid movement, largely due to its mass appeal.

 

Recorded under the name Artists United Against Apartheid, and led by Steven Van Zandt, the song “Sun City” brought together the likes of Bruce Springsteen, The Fat Boys, Bob Dylan, Ringo Starr, Lou Reed, Afrika Bambaataa, U2, George Clinton, Stiv Bators, Keith Richards, Hall & Oates, and Joey Ramone among many others. Released in 1985, the song was a pledge by these artists to not perform at this large resort town. The song is a fusion of hip hop, rock, and African beats. It peaked at #38 on the U.S. charts with only half of radio stations giving it airplay – the other half having issues with its anti-Reagan sentiments.

 

Then there is Peter Gabriel’s song “Biko,” a song about Steve Biko, a well-known anti-apartheid activist who was arrested and jailed in South Africa in 1977. He died in police custody a month later. Released in 1980, the single was off of Gabriel’s self-titled album. It reached #38 on the British charts but didn’t get much airplay in the U.S. until its promotional use for the 1987 film Cry Freedom.

 

 

Zero Le Creche: Fleeting Goth Icons

Posted: September 10, 2014 in Band Profiles, Goth, New Wave, Post-Punk
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Some of my favorite bands in the eighties were from the goth genre. Bands such as The Sisters of Mercy, The Mission, The Cure, Siouxsie & the Banshees, and T.S.O.L. These bands had heavy rotation on MTV and had plenty of airplay on college radio. This was a genre I thought I was well-versed in until recently when I decided to dive in and take another look and see what I had missed back in the goth heyday. Zero Le Creche is a band I stumbled upon while scouring the internet for “the best goth songs ever.” I kept seeing the single “Last Year’s Wife” on many best of lists and decided to seek them out.

It turns out that I couldn’t find much on this band, for good reason – they only released two singles. An English band formed in the early eighties, Zero Le Creche were just taking off when the lead singer, Andy Nkanza, left the band and inexplicably disappeared. They quickly got a new lead singer and released one more single in 1985 before disbanding. They were categorized as goth because there was no other genre that really fit. The band was said to bridge the gap between the Psychedelic Furs and Bauhaus. A record company cobbled together enough studio recordings to release an album in 2008, which pays tribute to how much interest there still is in the band. I plan on purchasing this album in the near future and I suggest you give it a listen. You won’t be disappointed.

“Last Year’s Wife” was the first single released by the band in 1984. With soaring vocals and a catchy guitar hook, it had me from the beginning. Considered one of the great goth classics of the eighties, it makes you wonder what else this short-lived band could have accomplished. I wasn’t able to track down any footage of the band and not sure if any exists.

 

The second (and last) single was 1985’s “Falling,” featuring a new lead singer sounding very much like Richard Butler. It’s another catchy tune with an irresistible chorus that matches anything put out by the Psychedelic Furs, the band which they are so often compared.

 

Taking Another Look at The Call

Posted: September 9, 2014 in Alternative, Band Profiles, Rock
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The Call was an American band that had mediocre chart success in the eighties. Their lyrics were politically charged and there was a passionate, anthem-like quality to their music. They were considered rock but there was definite new wave influences. The Call were critically acclaimed and admired by some of the biggest acts of the time but for whatever reason they were never able to achieve commercial success. Maybe it was because lead singer Michael Been just didn’t have the look that the MTV generation wanted. He was stout and scruffy and wasn’t the flashiest of front men, but he could sure belt out a song with as much emotional sincerity as the best of them.

They also had quite a long run, having been active from 1980 to 2000. Their biggest chart success was with the single “Let the Day Begin,” which reached No. 51 on the Billboard Charts in 1989. (Side note, this was Al Gore’s campaign song for his run in 2000). But it was their earlier material that made me a fan. Sadly, Michael Been died in 2010 at the age of 60. He was on tour as a soundman for his son’s band Black Rebel Motorcycle Club when he had a heart attack at a show in Hasselt, Belgium. I’ve always regretted not seeing them in concert, as I hear they were a pretty great live band.

One of my favorites from the group is “The Walls Came Down.” A song that combines biblical references with an anti-war message. The year was 1984, after all. It’s a pulsating, urgent song with plenty of Michael Been howls.

 

“Everywhere I Go” is a single off of the 1986 album Reconciled. It was no secret that Michael Been was deeply religious, and it’s on full display on this track. Another guitar and drum-driven tune with Been at his growling best. Listen closely and you can hear Jim Kerr of Simple Minds and Peter Gabriel on background vocals.

 

’80s Cold War Videos

Posted: September 9, 2014 in Cold War Videos, New Wave
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If you grew up in the eighties, you have to remember the reignited cold war between Russia and the U.S. There was the threat of mushroom clouds hanging over our heads and haunting our dreams. The boycott of the 1980 Moscow summer Olympics, and the movies of Russian invasions and nuclear war. Patrick Swayze leading a pack of high schoolers to defeat the Russians in “Red Dawn.” Matthew Broderick innocently accepting a game of global thermonuclear war in “WarGames.” And then there were the videos. It seems everyone and anyone that was recording in the eighties made a song about the nuclear holocaust. During the early to mid-eighties we were bombarded with videos from all genres about the end of the world. Some received more airplay than others, think Nena’s “99 Luftballons,” and Genenis’ “Land of Confusion.” But there were other videos that left a much more indelible impression on this teen’s psyche.

One of the oddest videos was Frankie Goes to Hollywood’s “Two Tribes.” The premise is simple, the leaders of the two biggest superpowers in the world duke it out before an audience made up of world representatives out for blood. The song only made it to No. 43 in the U.S. in 1984, not achieving the success of “Relax.” In my opinion, this is one of their best songs – full of frantic beats and prophetic overtones. Wait to the end of the video where the world actually explodes.

 

Ultravox’s “Dancing with Tears in My Eyes,” also from 1984, finds Midge Ure trying frantically to get home to his family before the result of a nuclear power plant meltdown takes effect. He makes it there in time to have one last dance and night with his love before the “coming storm.” Okay, not so much a song about nuclear war but nuclear power plant meltdowns were just as much a threat at the time.

 

Here’s another from 1984, Time Zone’s “World Destruction.” This one even got John Lydon of the Sex Pistols into the act. The band was headed by Afrika Bambaataa and rumor has it that Bambaataa was looking for someone crazy to collaborate with and Johnny Rotten certainly fit the bill. It’s an unlikely combination but somehow it works.

 

My Soundtrack of the ’80s

Posted: September 8, 2014 in General
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Ah, the eighties. The decade of big hair, videogames, teen cinema, fear of the mushroom cloud, and some of the most diverse music of any era. Being a teen in the eighties, sure I was caught up in the awful fashion (some of the most outrageous looks, in my opinion), and looked forward to every John Hughes movie, but it was the music that really made this period special. I was one of those kids who was glued to the TV on August 1, 1981 to watch the launch of MTV, and I was hooked! My sisters and I would watch for hours eagerly anticipating what Martha or Alan would play next. Growing up in the suburbs, the airwaves were flooded with top 40 hits. This was fine until I got a glimpse of the Split Enz, The Pretenders, David Bowie, The Specials, Kate Bush, etc. To be clear, the early years of MTV were pretty eclectic and there seemed no rhyme or reason to what they threw up on the screen, but it was the new wave and synth bands that grabbed my attention and never left.

As the decade wore on and videos became more mainstream, I rarely missed an episode of 120 Minutes to get my fill of alternative music. Bands like The Jesus and Mary Chain, Sonic Youth, R.E.M, The Smiths, The Cure, and Concrete Blonde filled my tape case. I thought I was pretty well-versed in the new wave, synth, and alternative genres until I recently started scouring the internet for lost and overlooked gems of the eighties. After having spent several nights and countless hours going down the rabbit hole that the internet can be, I found there was much to explore and discover about this decade I thought I knew so well. The intent of this blog is to be a place where I can share some of these overlooked songs, revisit some classics that deserve some renewed attention, and share news on current happenings from bands/artists from this unique period in time.

I hope you enjoy!

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