Posts Tagged ‘1981’

The Church: Before “Under the Milky Way”

Posted: September 29, 2014 in Alternative, Band Profiles, New Wave, Post-Punk
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One of my favorite songs from the early ‘80s was “The Unguarded Moment” by The Church. I remember seeing the video on MTV and promptly getting my tape recorder ready in hopes that it would be shown again (that’s how we did things before VHS recorders). There wasn’t much to the video, just the band performing the song on a studio soundstage with very little visual effects. It didn’t matter though, the guitar intro alone was enough to grab my attention. I heard little more from the band until their US success in the late ‘80s. It wasn’t until recently that I decided to track down more of their earlier work to see what else I might have missed.

Most people were first introduced to The Church through their 1988 hit “Under the Milky Way,” off the album Starfish. It was an international hit and peaked at #26 on the US charts. But within their native Australia, the group had been churning out hits since 1981. Formed in Sydney in 1980, the band had an infectious post-punk, guitar-heavy psychedelic sound. The group released their first album, Of Skins and Heart, in 1981 to good commercial success. The album was later repackaged and released in the US in 1982 as The Church. Their second album, 1982’s The Blurred Crusade, performed well in Australia but wasn’t released in the US, as it was considered not radio-friendly enough for North American audiences. By the ‘90s their sound had gone more mainstream, bordering on progressive rock. They continue to tour and record and will release their 25th studio album, Further/Deeper, in late 2014.

“The Unguarded Moment” was the second single released from their debut album, Of Skins and Heart. It peaked at #22 on the Australian charts and led one Rolling Stone critic to describe it as The Church’s “1981 jangling gem.”

 

The song “Dropping Names” is from the band’s third album, 1983’s Seance, which found the group gravitating to more of an atmospheric sound.

 

Band Profile: Fischer-Z

Posted: September 21, 2014 in Band Profiles, New Wave
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I recently came across a blog comment about the band Fischer-Z, a British band from the early ‘80s that I had completely forgotten about. The comment immediately jogged my memory and I remembered seeing the video for their song “So Long” back in the early ‘80s. The song had a strong bass line, unusual vocals, and I recalled there was a film noir narrative to the video. I immediately went to Youtube to track it down and then decided to look up more music from the group. They had a sound very much in-step with other new wave artists at the time and I was surprised that it had taken me over thirty years to come across them again. It turns out that the group’s record company decided to forego releasing material in America in the ‘80s. Having virtually no airplay, it’s no wonder they escaped my memory.

Forming in 1976, Fischer-Z started out with an experimental progressive rock sound. By their debut album, World Salad, their sound had evolved into a mix of offbeat pop with a reggae influence. The album had modest chart success, peaking at #54 on the UK charts. Their second album, Going Deaf for a Living, released in 1980, had the band moving to more of a guitar-heavy, new wave sound. It proved to be a greater success and by their third album, 1981’s Red Skies Over Paradise, the group had dissolved with lead singer John Watts pursuing a solo career. Although being the only original member of the group, Watts recorded albums throughout the ’80s and ‘90s under the name Fischer-Z. John Watts’ version of Fischer-Z continues to tour to this day.

The group’s first video was for the single “So Long,’ off the album Going Deaf for a Living. It shows off Watts’ unique, high vocal register. It was their most successful single and still finds regular airplay on stations in Europe.

 

“Marliese” is a single off the album Red Skies over Paradise. It’s a high-energy tune with more of a rock edge. The video clip below finds Watts enthusiastically lip-synching to the track.

 

Classic Video: Split Enz

Posted: September 18, 2014 in Classic Videos, New Wave
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New Zealand’s Split Enz are partially responsible for my love of new wave music. Not only because the Finn brothers wrote some great songs but also because their videos were some of the first I recall from the early days of MTV. Known for their theatrical stage performances, they were a natural fit for the video age. “One Step Ahead” is a single from their sixth album, Waiata, released in 1981. With it’s penetrating bass line and carnival-like keyboards, it sounded unlike anything else at the time. Shown on MTV’s historic debut back on August 1, 1981, the video features keyboardist Eddie Raynor doing a pretty good “moonwalk” (albeit forward). You can catch it around the two minute mark.

 

Classic Video: Duran Duran

Posted: September 15, 2014 in Classic Videos, New Romantic, New Wave, Synthpop
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I recently went to see the Duran Duran concert film, Duran Duran: Unstaged. The film was released on September 10th, showing for one night only at over 300 theaters across the U.S. Directed by David Lynch, it captures the band in concert at the Mayan Theatre in Los Angeles in 2011. In light of this event, I’ve decided to highlight Duran Duran’s “Planet Earth” as the first in a series of classic videos.

“Planet Earth,” released in 1981, was the band’s first single and quickly became a hit in the UK and Australia. It was included on their self-titled album released later that year. This was the first collaboration with director Russell Mulcahy, who would go on to direct several more videos for the group. The band is costumed in full “New Romantic” frilly fashion. The video also features some of their club friends prancing around barefoot in some pretty outrageous outfits. This is one of my favorites from the group and still has heavy rotation on my playlists.

 

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