H is for Human & Heaven

For those of you who are new to this blog we're part of an A-Z Blogging Challenge where each day of April (except Sundays) we write a post on a different letter of the alphabet and today we've got up to the letter H.   As this is an eighties blog the H has to be related to something from the 80s and I've chosen to talk about two musical groups - Human League and Heaven 17.

There is actually a connection between these two groups, you see Martyn Ware and Ian Marsh were the founding members of both groups - did you know that?   The story starts in Sheffield Martyn, Ian and a third person -  Glen Gregory - were all at school together.   They were all friends who dreamt of being pop stars as many of us do.

Martyn & Ian founded a group called The Future and invited Glen to join them as they needed a singer, unfortunately (or fortunately as musical history would discover) he was unavailable and so they then asked a singer by the name of Phil Oakley to join them.   The Future would become the Human League.

After a difference of opinion Martyn and Ian left the Human League and this time their third friend Glen was available to join them and Heaven 17 was formed.

I'm really glad that things happened that way because one of my favorite 80s songs is Temptation which was Heaven 17's most commercial success, however I also love Human League and find it hard to pick a favorite out of their songs - Don't You Want Me, Mirror Man, Fascination....the list just keeps on going.

What is your favorite Heaven 17 and/or Human League song?

G is for Gordon

I was trying to come up with an idea for the letter G and I didn't feel like writing about Go West or Ghostbusters and then it hit me - the two Gordons!   My favorite Gordon of the 80s was Gordon Shumway - do you know who he was?   Well if I called him Alf you'd remember him instantly as the loveable alien from the planet Melmac who ends up living with the Tanners after crash landing in their garage.   I've spoken about my love of Alf in a previous post so it's hardly surprising I should grab the chance to mention him again :D

Of course another Gordon was famous in the 80s and we all know who he was - Gordon Gekko!  I actually watched Wall Street on the plane to my new life in New Zealand and when I saw a rerun last year I couldn't believe the size of his mobile phone - LOL.

Gordon became a poster boy for 80s corporate villains - with his line - 'Greed, for lack of a better word, is good,' encompassed what a lot of people who did well in the heady days of the 80s.   Wealth was nothing to be ashamed of and nor was the concept of having it all.  

Of course we can't leave without mentioning another Gordon and it goes a little like this -

Flash A-ah

Saviour of the universe...

Yes I'm talking about Flash Gordon - to be honest I don't really remember much about the movie, but the song is one of those that is hard to get out of your head and another reason to celebrate Queen.

Happy reminiscing and hopefully I'll see you back here for the letter H.

F is for Freddy Krueger

Freddy Krueger really was the bogeyman of the 80s.   Imagine a person who could kill you in your dreams?   It was terrifying and I blame A Nightmare on Elm Street for an addiction to coffee as I attempted to stay away for weeks after watching the 1984 horror movie.   I should've known better than to watch it, but I went to the cinema with a friend and then I had my own little 'nightmare' which further consolidated my fears - read my A Nightmare on Elm Street review to find out more about that.

I'm not sure how many of the ensuing Nightmare movies I saw, certainly they didn't have the same impact as the original.   I'm not alone in being terrified of Freddy Krueger as even my hubby refused to go and see the remake with me (he claims he wasn't scared, but really?), there was no way I was going into a dark cinema by myself.

Freddy Krueger has become quite a cult figure and you can get all kinds of Freddy memorabilia these days including Freddy Krueger t-shirts like the one featured, Freddy Krueger dolls and more.

I like the Freddy Krueger costume for Halloween or 80s themed fancy dress parties, but if you wore a Freddy Krueger costume and came trick or treating at my house you would not get me answering the door!!!

Did Freddy Krueger keep you awake at night after watching the movie?   I'm actually thinking that I may have sneaked in to see it as I would only have been 15, so it could've been my own fault I was terrified - the price of youth :D

E is for E.T

As part of the A-Z Blogging Challenge I'm trying to work my way through the 80s one letter at a time and when it came to the letter E I just had to go with E.T.   Who didn't fall in love with that gorgeous little alien - 'ET call home' was a catch cry for a generation of kids.   The movie also introduced movie goers to Drew Barrymore - the cute girl that would grow  up to be a well respected actress, producer and director.

ET was an acronym (the 80s as a decade loved using acronyms) for extra-terrestial and was directed by Steven Spielberg who was responsible for many of the eighties hit movies such as Indiana Jones, Poltergeist, Gremlins, Back to the Future, The Color Purple and Empire of the Sun to name just a few.   He was also Drew Barrymore's godfather, but whether or not that helped her land the role of Gertie we'll never know.   What we do know is that she stole the show as Elliot's little (annoying) sister.

ET touched us all and I can still remember going to the movies with my best friend at the time and she was bawling her eyes out when ET got sick.   I think the reason it had a powerful effect on a number of people is that we all realized deep down that if we did discover an alien then a government task force would want to take it away for testing and keep everything a secret.

You can enjoy watching ET again one DVD, or even introduce it to younger members of your family.   The bond that develops between ET and Elliot is something that is special and makes ET a great family movie.

Did you enjoy watching ET when you were younger?

D is for Duran Duran

Okay so I can’t really do an A-Z challenge on an 80s blog without mentioning probably the most internationally successful New Romantic band – Duran Duran, but if you lived in the UK you believed that there were two huge New Romantic bands and you had to pick sides.   

The big two were Spandau Ballet and Duran Duran and I’m in the Spandau camp which was why when I emigrated ‘down under’ I had a huge shock as some of Spandau Ballet’s songs weren’t even heard of by many (gasp doesn’t really cover it).

I tried to explain to an Australian friend how Spandau and Duran Duran were just as big as each other in the UK during the 80s but he didn't get it until he watched an interview with Bob Geldof on the Live Aid DVD set.   The next day he saw me and was like - you know you were right with what you said about Spandau Ballet and Duran Duran.    I looked at him and thought 'I know I lived it, but why have you changed your tune'.   It turned out that Bob, being the sly dog that he is, asked Simon Le Bon (remember Duran Duran's lead singer) if Duran Duran would participate in Band Aid and when he hesitated to think about it he mentioned that Spandau Ballet had already said yes - Simon immediately said that Duran Duran would as well.   I don't know how true the story is, but my best friend when I was younger was a huge Duranie while I was a Spandau fan an d we tossed the pros and cons between 'our' groups constantly.

Back to Duran Duran they were huge and I can admit now that I’m in my 40s (haven’t the years flown by) that I liked their songs as well.   The line up was Simon Le Bon, Nick Rhodes, John Taylor, Roger Taylor and Andy Taylor and they were from Birmingham.   What I still find amazing is that they had three Taylors in the band and yet none of them were related - it must be a more common name in Birmingham than anywhere else!

In October 1980 as Spandau's first single was released they played in Birmingham and according to Gary Kemp's autobiography Duran Duran asked to play support - Spandau Ballet didn't have anyone playing support for them then so the answer was no.   A few months later in early 1981 Duran Duran's first single would be released and the rest is history.

Duran Duran's first single was Planet Earth and this cracked the UK's top twenty topping out at number 12, it was their 3rd single however that made every sit up and take notice - Girls on Film.   The single made number 5 in the charts, but then Duran Duran released the video.   The 80s saw the introduction of music video's being seen as just as important as the song and Duran Duran's Girls on Film video was scandalous and the sort of video that would have been played on the Playboy Channel back then.   The BBC quickly banned it which meant every young person saw it as censorship and wanted to know more about this band from Birmingham.

Duran Duran not only conquered the British youth, but ended up becoming the most internationally successful New Romantic band of the 80s.

I can’t think of a favourite Duran Duran song because as soon as I say Hungry Like  A Wolf then I’ll suddenly get Rio playing in my head  or Girls on Film, so I change my mind and what do you know I suddenly think of A View to a Kill or Is There Something I Should Know.

If you have a favourite Duran Duran song then leave it below.

C is for Culture Club

This is the third post in the A-Z Blogging Challenge and when I thought of something beginning with C the only thing that sprang to mind was Culture Club.   Now I've committed to writing about Culture Club, I can of course think of other things (isn't that always the way?)

Culture Club was formed in 1981 and was known mainly for it's far from shy lead singer - Boy George.   With hits that are hard to get out of your head like Karma Chameleon and Do You Really Want To Hurt Me, Culture Club released four albums during the 80s.

Culture Club's most successful album was their second one - Colour By Numbers.   This had one of my favorite Culture Club singles on it - Church of the Poison Mind.

Culture Club - A Short Bio

Boy George and Bassist Mickey Craig set out to form a group, next they joined forces with former Ant (from Adam and the Ants) Jon Moss. The final member of the group to join was their guitarist Roy Hay.

The name of the band was originally to be Sex Gang Children, however at Jon Moss' suggestion they changed it to Culture Club. The name would give them some flak as people thought it was extremely pretentious, but it was actually an inside joke on the different cultures inside the club.

• Boy George - transvestite Irish
• Mickey Craig - Jamaican-Briton
• Jon Moss - Jewish
• Roy Hay - Anglo-Saxon

The band signed with Virgin records in the UK and released their first album in 1982 - Kissing to be Clever. Their second album was Colour By Numbers and was released in 1983. The Band released a third album in 1984 titled Waking Up With the House on Fire which was not as successful. Their final album was 1986's From Luxury to Heartache.

During 1985 George started a battle with drug dependance, he was arrested in 1986 for possession of heroin and Culture Club's break up was officially confirmed in 1987.

Culture Club's Music

Culture Club were part of the New Romantic era of music where groups were kicking back against the punk movement and presenting themselves as the whole package. Musically and visually they wanted to ooze glamour and for people to notice them and even emulate them.

Culture Club's music seems to be a fusion of pop, reggae and even a little disco. Their songs contain a hook that gets the audience singing along and wanting more.

Kissing to be Clever - Culture Club

Editorial Reviews from Amazon.com

Against the cynical, post-punk backdrop of the early Thatcher and Reagan era, Culture Club's debut release Kissing to Be Clever was as refreshing as a scoop of gelato in a heatwave. These were the innocent days when Boy George could still declare he'd rather "have a cup of tea than sex," well before he hurtled to the brink of near self-destruction. Several of the cuts are still amazingly fresh and easily convey the winning charisma that transformed Boy George and his band into a pop icon. Songs like "I'll tumble 4 ya" and "Boy-Boy-I'm the Boy" seem tailor-made for the frontman's smooth-sliding tenor, while Mikey Craig's bass grooves pump with dance-til-you-drop Hi NRG. Although relatively brief (the original LP had one more cut than the CD release), the album stylistically hops like a Mexican jumping bean from disco funk to rhumba to reggae and contains obvious filler material. But the gender-bender flair perfected by Boy George announced a unique style that helped define the decade. --Thomas May

Kissing to Be Clever
Track Listings

1. White Boy [Dance Mix]

2. You Know I'm Not Crazy

3. I'll Tumble 4 Ya

4. Take Control

5. Love Twist - Captain Crucial, Culture Club

6. Boy Boy (I'm the Boy)

7. I'm Afraid of Me [Remix]

8. White Boys Can't Control It

9. Do You Really Want to Hurt Me

10. Love Is Cold [*]

11. Murder Rap Trap [*] - Captain Crucial, Culture Club

12. Time (Clock of the Heart) [*]

13. Romance Beyond the Alphabet [*]

[*] Bonus tracks not included on the original album

The first two singles off of Culture Club’s Kissing to be Clever album didn’t even dent the UK’s top 100. They were White Boy and I’m Afraid of Me. Their next three singles, however were a different story.

Do You Really Want to Hurt Me? (top ten hit around the world, reaching number 1 in 7 countries including the UK, Australia and Canada.

Time (Clock of the Heart) their second top ten single.

I’ll Tumble 4 Ya – this single was only released in the US and Canada and reached number 9 in both countries.

Colour by Numbers

Culture Club

Colour By Numbers
Culture Club continued their onslaught on the charts with their best album Colour by Numbers. The first single off of this album was Church of the Poison Mind which made the top ten on both sides of the Atlantic.

It was the second single off of Colour by Numbers which was to become the band's biggest hit - Karma Chameleon became a number 1 single on both sides of the Atlantic and around the world.

Victims was released in the UK and made it to number 3.

Miss me Blind was released in the US and made it to number 5.

The single It's a Miracle didn't quite break into the US top 10 settling for number 13, it was however, able to reach number 4 in the UK.

Track Listing

1. "Karma Chameleon" – 4:12
2. "It's a Miracle" – 3:25
3. "Black Money" – 5:19
4. "Changing Every Day" – 3:17
5. "That's the Way (I'm Only Trying to Help You)" – 2:45
6. "Church of the Poison Mind" – 3:30
7. "Miss Me Blind" – 4:30
8. "Mister Man" – 3:36
9. "Stormkeeper" – 2:46
10. "Victims" – 4:55
11. "Man-Shake" – 2:34 (2003 remastered CD bonus track)
12. "Mystery Boy" (Suntori Hot Whiskey Song) – 3:33 (2003 remastered CD bonus track)
13. "Melting Pot" – 4:31 (2003 remastered CD bonus track)
14. "Colour by Numbers" – 3:57 (2003 remastered CD bonus track)
15. "Romance Revisited" – 5:00 (2003 remastered CD bonus track)

Waking Up With the House on Fire - Culture Club

Culture Club’s third album was unable to reach the commercial success of Kissing to be Clever and Colour by Numbers.

The first single War Song made it to number 2 in the UK, but Culture Club were not able to break into the US top 10 again. War Song was only able to reach number 17 on Billboard.

The Medal Song was released in the UK and managed to scrape into the top 40.

Mistake No 3 was released in the US and only just managed to scrape into the Billboard’s Top 40.

Waking Up with the House on Fire
Track Listings

1. Dangerous Man

2. War Song

3. Unfortunate Thing

4. Crime Time

5. Mistake No. 3

6. Dive

7. Medal Song

8. Don't Talk About It

9. Mannequin

10. Hello, Goodbye

From Luxury to Heartache - Culture Club

Culture Clubs last album in the 80s was not a commercial success. Because of Boy George’s fight against drug addiction and his failing relationship with Jon Moss the album took a lot longer to produce than it was planned. Even Boy George’s notorious drug arrest in 1986 couldn’t help to sell the album and only two singles were ever released from it (only one in the US).

Move Away managed to get into the UK top ten and even peaked at number 12 in the Billboard Chart. God Thank You Woman only made it to number 31 in the UK.

From Luxury to Heartache heralded the end of Culture Club and this was officially confirmed the following year.

From Luxury To Heartache
Track Listings

1. "Move Away" – 4:21

2. "I Pray" – 4:00

3. "Work On Me Baby" – 4:06

4. "Gusto Blusto" – 4:40

5. "Heaven's Children" – 4:44

6. "God Thank You Woman" – 4:14

7. "Reasons" – 4:35

8. "Too Bad" – 4:36

9. "Come Clean" – 3:20

10. "Sexuality" – 5:28

What did you think of Culture Club?   I had a friend who actually wore a Boy George duster coat everywhere and even had her hair styled like his (I'd love to know what she looks like these days!).   Share your Culture Club memories and/or favorite song below.

B is for Bow Wow Wow

We’re still participating in the A-Z Blogging Challenge which means that today’s post is about the letter B.

After remembering Adam and the Ants yesterday it seemed only appropriate to talk about Bow Wow Wow today and not just because I love the song I Want Candy, but also because it was made up of Ants!

Right at the beginning of the 80s after Adam and the Ant’s first album – Dirk Wears White Sox – didn’t manage to crack the top ten on the charts Adam Ant turned to Malcolm McLaren who he knew from his punk days when McLaren was manager to the Sex Pistols.   Adam Ant got given styling advise that he used, but it came at a price – Malcolm McLaren ‘stole’ his Ants and formed Bow Wow Wow.

All that was needed now was a lead singer and that lead singer came in the form of an underage Annabella Lwin, in 1981 Bow Wow Wow released their first album and the controversy started straight away with Scotland Yard being called in when a 15 year old Annabella was posed naked on the album cover.

Three albums later and the band just fizzled out with no one really knowing why.   They have left us with some great material though and are credited by the likes of the Red Hot Chilli Peppers and No Doubt as being big influences.   I love their two most commercially successful singles – I Want Candy and Go Wild in the Country – what do you think?