A Mad Scientist With A Synthesizer?

I first witnessed the eccentric genius of Thomas Dolby when I saw the promo clip to his hit 'She Blinded Me With Science' back in lat '82. It was a appropriate precursor to what would pan out to be a career full of eccentricity, but equally innovation.

Dolby (born Thomas Robertson) came to a career in music via his initial obsession with computers and electronics. The professional name of Dolby was a nickname in reference to the patented British developed noise reduction technology for sound speakers. After honing is performance skills as a musician via busking in Paris and working as a sound technician for several London bands including the Members, Dolby then worked for a short time with Lene Lovich (penning her 1981 hit 'New Toy') and followed up with studio work for Foreigner, Joan Armatrading and Def Leppard. He also joined forces with another eccentric figure in the early 80s music scene, one Malcolm McLaren, on his conceptual 'Duck Rock' album.

Dolby then released his debut album 'The Golden Age Of Wireless' in 1982 and followed this up with 'Flat Earth' in 1984 (which yielded the hit 'Hyperactive'). His creative output remained at an almost frenzied level for the remainder of the 80s as producer, performer and composer. In 1988 he released the bizarrely titled (well not so bizarre for Dolby) 'Aliens Ate My Buick', featuring cover art-work reminiscent of a promo poster for a B-grade horror film of the 50s. The album sold poorly and realised only one minor hit in 'Airhead' (Oz #63, U.K. #53). I originally bought 'Airhead' on vinyl 45, then stumbled across the CD 'Aliens Ate My Buick' in a second hand shop. It was filed in the soundtracks section of the shop, presumably the cover art having something to do with its mistaken identity.



Dolby released another album flop with 1992's 'Astronauts & Heretics' then turned his attention back to his interest in high-tech innovation, founding the computer software firm of Headspace. Headspace has developed several 'virtual reality' educational products for young musicians and has even branched out to providing add-on technology for mobile phones. If you like 'Airhead' I can highly recommend Dolby's greatest hits collection 'Retrospectacle'.

The promo clip for 'Airhead' was suitably cutting edge. Check it out here:

For A Relaxing Stay Check-In To The...

'Halfway Hotel' was the one and only big hit for UK quartet Voyager (not to be confused with the similarly named Voyage who were a European disco group around the same time). 'Halfway Hotel' reached #33 on their home charts in 1979 but the song enjoyed a longer stay on the Australian charts, spending 24 weeks inside the top 100 and peaking at #15. The song was aided by a clever promo clip that featured several times on Countdown's playlist. The band did have a second hit (in a strictly technical sense only), with 'Judas' charting for 3 weeks in early 1980 (peak #93). Both tracks were lifted from the band's eponymous debut album.

Voyager's lineup consisted vocalist/keyboardist Paul French, guitarist Paul Hirsh, bassist Chris Hook and drummer John Marter, formerly with 70s outfit Mr. Big (1977 top 10 hit 'Romeo'). They released two more albums over the next two years but failed to achieve the five star success that 'Halfway Hotel' offered them. After touring in support of ELO during 1982 the lads went their separate ways. Marter continued his status as rock journeyman by joining the lineup of Marillion (1985 UK #2 'Kayleigh'). Guitarist Hirsh played on tours with artists such as Status Quo and Chris Rea. Singer Paul French took a different musical direction becoming a fulltime composer.

Following the release of a retrospective CD in 2004, the original lineup reunited for an album of original material in 2006 entitled 'Eyecontact'. They have their own presence in cyberspace as well with a website at: http://www.supergroups.biz/voyagerhome.htm - though it's primarily a promo page for their latest album. For a more detailed account of the intervening 25 years have a look at their MySpace page: http://www.myspace.com/voyageruk

For almost 20 years 'Halfway Hotel' was unavailable on CD format until it appeared on the BMG compilation 'Living In The 70s: Volume IV'. An acquaintance of mine Steve Scanes compiled the track list for this release and he told me that to obtain the release rights for the song, BMG had to send a North American rep to an old farmhouse in the Canadian countryside where the song's writer Paul French was residing at the time. But it was worth the effort for 'Halfway Hotel' is the quintessential 70s pop classic!

Check out the retro-cool promo clip for 'Halfway Hotel' here:

Irving Berlin Revisited

1983 was undoubtedly an exceptional year for pop music in general. I mean it had a lot to live up to following on from the brilliance of 1982. It was the year in which I moved to a new State and a new school, made new friends and tried new things. It was a memorable year for a lot of reasons, not least of which was the music.

One of the years highlights for me was a song called 'Puttin' On The Ritz' by an artist called Taco. At first I thought Taco was a very tasty Mexican dish, then I thought it was a group, but in actual fact Taco was the name of a man. Well, his first name to be precise, his full name being Taco Ockerse. Taco was born in Indonesia to Dutch parents in 1955 and eventually based his career in Germany - a virtual United Nations of the recording biz!

Given the dominance of the new wave and power pop sounds in 1983, and the emergence of rap as a strong musical force in its own right, Taco arguably took a risk in releasing 'Puttin' On The Ritz'. But let's face it the song had impeccable pedigree, penned by the legendary Irving Berlin and already having topped the hit parade (albeit 53 years earlier) for Harry Richman. But Taco took the brilliance that was at the heart of the tune and added an all new layer of contemporary nuance to it, and the song soared to the top of the chart menu reaching #4 in the U.S.

'Puttin On The Ritz' featured on Taco's album 'After Eight' which featured several other reworked classics of the 30s as well as some original compositions done in a similar style. The promo clip helped to sell the whole retro-package , with Taco attired in full 'Fred Astaire-esque' garb.

I purchased the song originally on 45 when it charted here in Australia in late '83 (#5), and later scored a few different versions on various CD compilations. The version available at this link seems to be an extended mix (compared to the others) and is taken from a Readers Digest box set circa mid 90s.

And check out Taco's style in this promo clip:

A Sleeping Talent Awoken

'Great Expectations' was the aptly titled 1992 debut album for British born songstress Tasmin Archer. For on the basis of her song 'Sleeping Satellite' the world was justified in thinking great things lay ahead for the then 19 year old. The song was a smash in the U.K. spending 2 weeks at #1, and made an impact on both the U.S. and Australian charts. Archer won a Brit Award in 1993 for Best British Breakthrough Act. But she could not duplicate her initial commercial success.

Her follow up album, 1994's 'Shipbuilding' was a curious choice of artistic direction as it was an album entirely of Elvis Costello covers - nothing against Elvis Costello, he is a damn fine artist - but the album failed to capitalise on the foundation laid by 'Great Expectations'.

Archer made the top 50 on her home singles charts on another five occasions but didn't score another top 50 album. Her most recent recording is 2006's 'On'.


I originally purchased 'Sleeping Satellite' on cassingle. Remember them? I obtained the song on a CD compilation a couple of years later and am very pleased to have a copy of the promo clip on a DVD compilation.

The promo clip is very cool and reminds me of a couple of other clips from around that time (actually a bit earlier), Michael Penn's 'No Myth' and R.E.M.'s 'Losing My Religion'.
Check it out here:

For A Good Time Call...

'867-5309 (Jenny)' was a smash hit in early '82 for Tommy Tutone. And if you're like me you probably thought at the time that Tommy Tutone was a guy not a group. But a group they were and '867-5309 (Jenny)' was their one and only big hit reaching #4 at home in the U.S. and #22 in Australia.

Even 20 years later '867-5309 (Jenny)' caused quite a stir but at the Brown University phone exchange rather than the charts. 867 just happened to be their new campus prefix, and when listeners of the Tommy Tutone hit decided to call the number, in a vain effort to speak to Jenny, the calls were directed to two students on campus. The chaos caused on phone exchanges at the time the song was a hit was far greater, so much so that many people in various parts of the U.S. who just happened to have that number, were forced to change their number due to the sheer volume of crank calls.

Tommy Tutone had just the right guitar driven pop sound for the time. Think Survivor, Rick Springfield, J. Geils Band, Greg Kihn Band. They formed in 1978 but after dialing the right number to reach the top 10 in 1982, Tommy Tutone hung up on chart success and disbanded for a time post 1984. They've reformed since with original vocalist Tommy Heath carrying on with a 1994 album release 'Nervous Love' and a hectic touring schedule.

The band have a really cool website worth checking out at: http://www.tutone.com/

Check out the YouTube video clip for the song here:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lqUPApCUt90

In keeping with the theme of phone numbers, British sextet City Boy scored a major hit in 1978 with '5.7.0.5' (U.K. #8, U.S. #27 and Oz #11). The vocals on the track were shared between regular lead vocalist Lol Mason (who handled the high pitch bits in the chorus) and drummer Roger Kent (who sang the verses). The band's line-up was also featured guitarist Mike Slamer, keyboardist Max Thomas, percussionist Steve Broughton and bassist Chris Dunn. City Boy's members had known each other since high school and had kept in touch and played music together throught the late 60s early 70s. In 1973 they took the name City Boy and three years later released the album 'Mark I'. '5.7.0.5.' came from their 1978 release 'Book Early'. It represented the high point in City Boy's career, and despite a move to the U.S. shortly after to further their success, the band folded around 1982.

Dial up this link to have a look at the promo clip for '5.7.0.5.':

Music Veterans

The early 80s saw a bounty of novelty songs released, many of which did very well on the charts, particularly in Australia. Joe Dolce's 'Shaddap You Face' was one of the biggest spending 8 weeks at #1 over the summer of 80/81. Another novelty hit in Australia during 1980 came from a curious music ensemble calling themselves The Veterans. Hailing from Belgium (although possibly with Dutch connections), The Veterans had released the song 'There Ain't No Age For Rock 'N' Roll' in 1979 on the European Shiva Productions label. I've no information on how it faired on their native Belgian charts but the song was released in 1980 in Australia on the Festival label and thanks to a quirky promo clip aired on the ABC's Countdown, and with Molly Meldrum's seal of approval, the song rocketed to #6 on the Australian singles charts mid year. My take on the song and the group is that its' Vaudeville takes on pop - and wins!

The only name I have come up with associated with the members of The Veterans is one Jimmy Norris. I can't tell you if he was the old guy that fronted the band or anything more about the group's lineup. If you know anything more please let me know. The Veterans released two more singles in their home market, 'I'm Jogging' and 'I'm A Disco Freak'. I haven't heard either but judging by the titles both were also novelty songs.

The following promo clip isn't the official one I recall appearing on an episode of Countdown, but it appears to be a TV promo appearance from the time. Anyway you'll see an eccentric group of performers presenting a quirky little song:

And thanks to YouTube user 'gnowangerup', here is the official promo video for The Veterans' 'There Ain't No Age For Rock 'N' Roll' - this particular clip was aired on a Countdown 'Summer Special', highlighting one hit wonders (from memory). Enjoy!

When In Rome...

The 80s featured as many, if not more, one hit wonders as any other decade in pop music history. Among the 80s one hit wonders alumni are the U.K. trio When In Rome. Clive Farrington, Andrew Mann and Michael Floreale had prior form in a Manchester band called Leisure which at one time also boasted vocalist Corinne Drewery who went on to front Swing Out Sister (1987 top 10 hit 'Breakout').

The lads released one album only as When In Rome with 1988's self titled effort. 'The Promise' promised big things for the trio reaching #11 in the U.S. but surprisingly failed to make an impact in their native U.K. (#58). It is a very 'American' sounding track and not unlike The Outfield (see earlier post) When In Rome presented more of a U.S. commercial image.

A second single 'Heaven Knows' (not to be mistaken for the Robert Plant song released around the same time) only scraped into Billboard's Top 100, reaching #95 in early '89. When In Rome then went the way of the Roman Empire (only far more swiftly) and disappeared from view. But they did leave one lasting monument in song.

'The Promise' came to public attention once more when it was featured on the soundtrack to the 2004 comedy 'Napoleon Dynamite'.

You can check out the promo clip on the following YouTube link: