WHET Thompson Twins

The black guy eventually quit and then it was just the white couple.

Interesting story, did he really quit? Or was he forced out?

I seem to recall the two white ones got married and live or lived on a sheep farm in New Zealand, their homeland.

I saw them — well actually just the lead guy—perform two years ago in NYC. He opened a three band bill made up of Thompson Twins, B-52s, and Culture Club. He was terrific. Voice was strong. He had a smallband made up of young women. He sounded better than the two other acts.

R3 - Yes, they married and move to an New Zealand (she's from NZ) island and had some kids. Then they got divorced.

I saw them in 1983 at the Aragon Ballroom (Chicago) with The Reflex as the opening band. Standing room only (it's a ballroom - so no seats). It was awesome.

I wore a deconstructed jacket like he had on the cover of the album, a zebra print t-shirt, jeans and boots. My hair was parted on the side and shaved with different layers. One layer was pink and another was green.

Ahhh...very memorable night.

OMG! I saw them at the Aragon also! The opening band had some song called The Politics of Dancing.

Tom Bailey is gay and was a professor at a university. I don’t think he was ever married to Alannah

An old DL thread had a poster claiming to have met and hung out with them. He said the guys were cool but she was a cunt.

He not only married alannah he's remarried to another female.

R6 - HAHA - Yep - it was the band The Re-Flex.

I loved the scale of the show - not a massive stage with a lot of stuff to look at. But it was great that it was just 1200 people standing and watching.

That's cool you were at the same concert as me - they didn't play there again. It was 1983 wasn't it? Or maybe 84?

I graduated high school in 1982 and I can barely remember this group.

Were they really a top act? Or were they one of seemingly 1000 one-hit wonders of the 1980s?

I think it was spring '84. We took the El down from Evanston. The Aragon was just a block from the train. Is it still there?

This thread has inspired me to listen to their greatest hits.

One of them is a woman?

[quote]Were they really a top act? Or were they one of seemingly 1000 one-hit wonders of the 1980s?

Well, they had seven top 40 hits in the US, with three being in the top 10. Their highest charting single was "Hold Me Now", which peaked at number 3 in May of 1984. They were a pretty hot act from 1984 to 1986 with their videos being in heavy rotation on MTV.

One of my favorite songs that doesn't get played as much as some of their others is "If You Were Here". Most people would recognize it from the movie "16 Candles".

LOVED them. Remember their sound and hits from when I came out in college and first his the gay clubs in the early '80s. They always conjure good, exploring memories of mine from that coming-out era.

Lies, lies, lies, yeah.

i saw them live in KC in 1986. I just walked up the box office window and the girl said "my boyfriend couldn't make it and told me to give his ticket to the first good looking guy that walks up" so in I went at the outdoor venue and saw them and BERLIN . Great concert!

i would die to see The Reflex in person, you all are so lucky that you did!

R12/R6 - yes, it was. March or Early April 1984 - I was in the 8th grade.

Around fifteen years ago Alannah Currie started a group opposing the government's experiments with genetically engineering cows with human genes as a way to make cow's milk as digestible as human milk. Pearls were clutched when the billboard below went up in Auckland and Wellington.

Now she lives in London and upholsterers old chairs with stuffed human shapes wrapped around, and others have antique taxidermy involved. She's married to Jimmy Cauty from the KLF.

The rockumentary and concert movie 'Into the Gap' captures Thompson Twins peak fame during the 1984 US tour (right before their inevitable and rapid decline), Alannah's mini-meltdown on the tour bus "I've done three interviews today, it's just toooo much work!".

Tom produced Debbie Harry's comeback single I Want that Man. Debbie lived with Tom and Alannah in London while they recorded.

The first time I ever heard "Hold Me Now" was the also the first time I was ever in a gay bar (Buddies in Boston...the original one on Boylston St). Every time I hear it, I'm right back there again.

That was me R8 . I indeed met and hung out with them by the pool of a hotel in Ft. Lauderdale circa 1983-84 . And she was a cunt. When they first came out and got settled by the pool I recognized them,but I didnt play gushing fan (I was far too full of myself to care about celebrity) .I bought them a round of drinks then started chatting with them. The 2 guys were very cool,very friendly ,and she acted like I was bothering them . When the waiter came by I bought the 2 guys another round and totally acted like she didnt exist . I could tell she was pissed but I can out cunt the cuntiest . We chatted,I got up and sailed off ,never once acknowledging her again. I think I amused the 2 guys by freezing her out . Lord that seemed 100 years ago now !

LOL, well played, R26.

Yes, the Aragon Ballroom is still there! Haven't been there for years, of course. I can't remember the last show I saw there.

I saw them with Berlin opening in Columbus Ohio. I had front row seats. At one point, he came down from the stage and went by just touching hands with everyone reaching out towards him... he went by me and missed my hand, so I just pulled it back. He saw this, and in the middle of the song, stopped, put his tambourine under his arm, walked back to me, and shook my hand properly, looking me right in the eye and smiling. He then raced back to slap the other hands and back onto stage.

It's about the only time in my life I've ever felt that special... the only person in the audience to shake his hand. I was glowing for days.

King for a Day. Loved that song.

I did indeed go to see them live in 1986.

I liked them well enough but what I remember about that concert was OMD opened, and I loved their performance - AND both the guys from OMD had the biggest, most mouthwatering baskets. I mean, I was like 10 rows back and I could see VPL. Delicious.

I did like a wide span of TT's stuff - their earlier stuff is more experimental, and I loved this, which was pretty close to the end. I think they had more to say but they were kinda typecast by earlier hits, as so many 80s artists were, sadly.

they formed a techno group that backed up Traci Lords' badass album.

I saw them in 1984 during the opening season of the Riverbend Music Center outside Cincinnati. Berlin was the opening act. I really don't remember much about it, except I don't think the crowd was very large.

Saw them at Poplar Creek Outdoor Amphitheater, I don't recall the year.

I wore a shirt like the one at the link, a pair of black jeans that I had tailored to a slimmer line, and likely a pair of Docs, which I ordered direct from the UK.

R33- it must have been 1986, as OMD opened. Same tour as R30.

I saw Tom Bailey open for Culture Club several years ago, and he was fantastic.

Did anyone have the cassette version of Side Kicks that had all the great mixes on the B side of the cassette? There is an import CD of from Japan that has all the mixes that were on the cassette that Arista put out but be careful there is also a version of Quick Step and Side Kicks which is just the regular CD version without the cassette bonus tracks. You have to get the one from Japan.

I always associated them with Animotion - another girl/guy act that appeared had a couple of hits, and then disappeared forever,

Alannah Currie says of her work as an artist: “I build chairs as bodies to carry narratives and then often I very purposely destroy them. My work talks a lot about the struggle women have to escape the domestic. The facades we create. The complacency we despise. The rage we feel. And the thrill we get from the acts of violence we allow ourselves.”

Everything turned hip-hop-pop at the end of the 80s. Then grunge took over for about 7 years. The British invasion/New Wave electronic sound faded like a sweet dream.

Did Alannah have a thing with Tony Hadley of Spandau Ballet? I seem to remember a radio host discussing this, but can’t find a reference to confirm it.

I wanted Tony Hadley's thing, quite deeply.

Cos you got LOVE!

LOVE!

Love on your side