Thompson Twins - Original Album Classics (2012)

A box set from Arista featuring the Thompson Twins' second through sixth studio albums as they were originally released in the UK (in other words, there's no disc of the US release, In The Name Of Love). Budget-priced so no bonus tracks. And because I haven't posted this picture on the blog recently, here's the original twins from the Tintin cartoon series (that's Thomson on the left and Thompson on the right):

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SET (1982)
11 tracks, 42 minutes

Peak on the US Billboard Top 200 chart: (not released in the US)

U.S. charted singles:	Pop	Dance
In the Name of Love	109	1

After starting strong with In The Name Of Love, this album quickly defaults into a quirkiness that sometimes works, but mostly doesn't - the comparison to Talking Heads below is spot on and I also hear a few attempts to jump on the same train as Malcolm McLaren acts of the time. Steve Lillywhite's production style is evident. That said, I still dig In The Name Of Love, Bouncing, The Rowe, and Fool's Gold. The rest is harmless enough except for the penultimate track, Crazy Dog, which is to be avoided.

Smash Hits, March 18, 1982, p. 27

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QUICK STEP & SIDE KICK (1983)
10 tracks, 38 minutes

Album chart peaks:

• US Billboard 200: #34
• Billboard Rock: #39
• CashBox: #43
• Rolling Stone: #29

U.S. charted singles:	Pop	Dance
Lies	30	1
Love On Your Side	45	6

The group, now a trio, finally found their voice as a synth-pop-funk-dance band, heavy on the pop. In the US, this album was titled simply Side Kicks, and it's a tale of two album sides here: In general, I really dig side one (tracks 1- 5 on CD) while not as much for the quirkier songs that lead off side two. Still, once you accept the oddness, there's really no track you need to skip until you get to the end; just end your play after 9 tracks.

Should I have picked up this album in '83? Probably, but, to be fair, I really had no idea what I was doing in the spring of of 1983. I'd like to have a do-over on that junior year in high school, but that's a story for another time. (Wow, that took a dark turn rather quickly, huh?)

Track 3, If You Were Here, became popular through its use in the movie Sixteen Candles. For a full, definitive listing of that fantastic soundtrack, click here.

Smash Hits, March 3, 1983, p. 41

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INTO THE GAP (1984)
9 tracks, 43 minutes

Note: this release was originally purchased as a cassette tape, later replaced by this CD.

Album chart peaks:

• US Billboard 200: #10
• Billboard Rock: #10
• CashBox: #9
• Rolling Stone: #8

U.S. charted singles:	Pop	Dance	AC
Hold Me Now	3	1	8
Doctor! Doctor!	11	18	35
You Take Me Up	44
The Gap	69

Now we're to the reason I ordered this box set. As mentioned above, I had this one on cassette and that tape got quite a bit of playing time in my car during the spring of 1984, which was my senior year in high school. I wanted to get a CD copy and this box set was just a few dollars more than the single disc, so why not? Despite the error in the track listing on the album cover, Arista front-loaded the singles so side 1 of my "Qualitape" got quite a bit more playing time in my Pioneer deck than side 2.

I'm partial to the four singles listed above but I enjoyed all 9 tracks during today's spin. As a teen, I thought the album fell apart at the end (I just wanted the hits, I guess), but today I'm liking the subtlety of what was side 2 (tracks 6-9) much more than I did then. Overall, I like Into The Gap much better that Mr. Rimmer:

Smash Hits, February 16, 1984, p. 29

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HERE'S TO FUTURE DAYS (1985)
10 tracks, 43 minutes

Album chart peaks:

• US Billboard 200: #20
• CashBox: #27
• Rolling Stone: #15

U.S. charted singles:	Pop	Dance	AC
Lay Your Hands on Me	6	46	14
King for a Day	8		13

The 2008 deluxe CD edition of this album has previously appeared on the blog: Here's To Future Days. Yes, I played the CD included in this box set for three reasons: 1) for a synth band, this album contains some tasty guitar work courtesy of Nile Rodgers and Steve Stevens, 2) the goal of the The CD Project is to listen to all CDs in my collection (now cleverly dubbed "The Markives" by a faithful reader), and 3) it's a good album with "college daze" memories attached.

Speaking of Thompson Twins in 1985, you remember Madonna, Steve Stevens, and Nile Rodgers joining them onstage at Live Aid for a Beatles cover? I certainly didn't, but here it is:

Cocaine is a hell of a drug.

Smash Hits, September 11, 1985, p. 77

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CLOSE TO THE BONE (1987)
10 tracks, 42 minutes

Album chart peaks:

• US Billboard 200: #76
• CashBox: #61

U.S. charted singles:	Pop
Get That Love	31

This is my first exposure to this album - heck, I don't even remember the single by name even though I've heard before on a greatest hits compilation. So the trio has now become a husband-wife duo. This album is dark and, according to this Chicago Tribune article, it's very easy to see why: Currie's mother died on the same day the singer lost the baby she and Bailey were expecting. Heartbreaking.

On this initial spin, Bushbaby, Perfect Day, and Dancing In Your Shoes stand out to me. And I now remember Get That Love, which, as the below review points out, is the obvious pick for a single.

Billboard, April 11, 1987, p. 72

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Personal Memory Associated with these CDs: My first exposure to Thompson Twins was seeing the bizarre video for Lies on MTV. I might have like the song better if the video hadn't been so distracting, but that video's DIY ethic was prevalent on the network back then.

During the spring of my senior year in high school, two cassette tapes never left my car: The Romantics' In Heat and Thompson Twins' Into The Gap.  During lunch, my buddies Brett and Roy would pile into the Markmobile and we'd scramble off campus to grab something from a local fast food place before stopping by the convenience store to stock up on candy and gum for our afternoon classes.  Those cassettes usually blasted loudly as we rode around our small town like we were Ren and Willard in a VW bug riding around Bomont.

Here's To Future Days, was put on almost nightly after dinner in my college dorm room as I chewed the fat with buddies Larry and Jim, so I got quite a bit of play time. After listening each night, I usually hit the practice room or visited my new girlfriend. That girlfriend has been my wife for more than 30 years now, so my time spent with her paid off better than my time spent in a practice room.

I saw Tom Bailey in concert last year and he sang all the hits. Not only that, he came out to the lobby afterwards to hang out with fans - none of this $150 "VIP meet-and-greet ticket package" mess for Tom. Cool guy.

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Vintage TT Pinbacks from my collection.
I wore the one on the left to the aforementioned Tom Bailey show.

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Previously revisited for the blog:
Science Fiction (2018)
Greatest Hits (1996)
Big Trash (1989)
Here's To Future Days (1985)

Thompson Twins - Big Trash (1989)

Saw this in the $2 clearance bin not long after I saw Tom Bailey perform last year, so why not?

Billboard, October 14, 1989, p. 82

Unfortunately, this album wasn't the comeback that Billboard predicted - but that doesn't mean it's a bad album. Tom Bailey can write some hooks and while there are few tunes here that are terribly derivative, I enjoy it overall. Certainly more than Trouser Press, who writes

Intended as an amused comment on junk culture, Big Trash is an uninspired waste of time and plastic, a lame pairing of grade-school rhymes and bland music that is, at best, self-imitative.

Ouch. If you like the sound of a group, is "self-imitative" an insult? Robert Christgau goes the other direction: "No one cares, but this is their best by miles. B+" I fall somewhere in between - I won't pull out this CD often, but I certainly won't mind when a song from the album turns up while I'm listening to files in shuffle mode.

Peak on the US Billboard 200 chart: 143

Tracks: I dig the lead track and lead single, Sugar Daddy, which was the group's seventh and final Top 40 appearance, peaking at #28. Also fun are Queen Of The USA (with Deborah Harry), TV On, Salvador Dali's Car, Dirty Summer's Day, and Wild.

Personal Memory Associated with this CD: None, as it's a recent pick up. I completely missed this album in the fall of 1989 as that's the time I was getting married and starting my career. I don't recall hearing "Sugar Daddy" on the radio and MTV was in its headbanger phase by that time so I pretty much stopped watching.

Previously revisited for the blog:
Science Fiction (2018)
Greatest Hits (1996)
Here's To Future Days (1985)

Tom Bailey - Science Fiction (2018)

Earlier this year, I saw former Thompson Twins front man Tom Bailey as the opening act for Culture Club and the next week received this CD, Bailey's first solo album, in the mail. I had pre-ordered one of the many options over at PledgeMusic, a limited edition that was signed by Bailey and included a bonus disc of remixes, titled Science Fantasy (FWIW, mine is numbered "0211" if you're keeping track).

Even though it (understandably) sounds like a Thompson Twins album, this is strictly a Bailey solo effort - he wrote, produced, played all instruments, and sang all lead vocals. No complaints here as Bailey can write hooks, is still in good voice, and this albums plays as if it could have been released in the mid-'80s. Simply put, if you liked Into The Gap and/or Here's To Future Days, you should buy yourself a copy.

Peak on the US Billboard Top 200 chart: Did not chart

Tracks: I like all ten tracks - no skipping. Today, my top picks include Science Fiction, What Kind Of World (the "single"), If You Need Someone, heck, even the pseudo-sea chantey Ship Of Fools.

I can't muster much enthusiasm for the 38 minute remix disc (Science Fantasy), however. The best of the 8 remixes is easily If You Need Someone (Tom's Radio Mix). My least favorites are the "International Observer Dub" Mixes of Shooting Star and Science Fiction.

Personal Memory Associated with this CD: see above. And while the album is quite good, Bailey only included What Kind Of World in his setlist when I saw him. To his credit, he stuck to playing Thompson Twins greatest hits and we were happy, including the two ladies in front of me who drunkenly danced and sang Hold Me Now at the top of their lungs. (Normally, that kind of thing would bother me, but these women seemed so genuinely elated that I couldn't hold their behavior against them. They probably don't remember it, anyway.)

Previously revisited for the blog:
Greatest Hits (1996)
Here's To Future Days (1985)

Thompson Twins - Here's To Future Days (1985)

UK Import

Note: the CD I listened to was the 2008 reissue with all sorts of bonus tracks over two discs.

As I've written before, I listened to a dubbed cassette copy of this album quite often during the fall of 1985, almost nightly for months. But that was passive listening, with this album more or less playing in the background as I sat around and talked with college friends. As such, it was never really on my radar as an old album that needed to be replaced on CD. I didn't listen to it that much anyway, right? And besides, I already had the good songs from the album on the group's greatest hits package. The disc sat on my Amazon Wish List for almost 5 years because I never felt the need to pick it up.

Earlier this year, I needed to add something to my Amazon order to bump the total up to $25 to get the free shipping, so I just picked this at random from the Wish List. It arrived, was slipped into the truck's CD player and I immediately wished I had purchased this earlier. It sounds cliché, but reconnecting with these songs was like reconnecting with old friends. Today is the first time it's left my truck since it got here, and when I'm done writing this post, it will probably return there.

To be honest, I'm surprised the album had that effect on me since it is an uneven affair, at best. Still, there's something about Nile Rodgers' tight production and rhythm guitar along with Steve Stevens' lead guitar that set this apart from earlier TT synthpop releases. Not that it would matter much to me anyway, as I'm awash in nostalgia as soon as I hit the play button. Great liner notes to boot.

Press of the time:

• Rolling Stone: "crammed full of relentless melodies, singalong choruses, swooning synths, percussive exotica and the sort of hooks that should be baited with Excedrin."
• CashBox: "Tight production and nice synth and vocal colorings"
• Smash Hits (5 out of 10): "A major disappointment"
• Stereo Review: "Disappointing."
• Robert Christgau (C+): "I'd pay money not to hum these tunes."

Album chart peaks:

• US Billboard 200: #20
• CashBox CD: #19
• Rolling Stone: #15

Tracks:  The album had two US top ten hits with Lay Your Hands On Me (#6) and King For A Day (#8). That's good stuff for sure, but my favorite track could be the odd ballad You Killed The Clown. With a title like that, it has every right to be a stinker, but it turns out to be reminiscent of If You Were Here. Of the 11 original album tracks, the only one I want to skip is Emperor's Clothes (Part 1). Thankfully, part 2 was not included. I'm not crazy about the cover of The Beatles' Revolution, but the band (and Stevens) sound like they're having fun and that's infectious.

The bonus tracks, for me anyways, are mostly unnecessary. Being a child of the '80s, I normally loves me some 12" remixes, but the remixes here don't amount to much more than instrumental versions of the original tracks (would be great for karaoke if ya need it), the exceptions being the Breakaway remix titled Desert Dancers and a remix of Roll Over titled Rollunder. There are 18 b-sides and remixes included here, stretching the original 43 minute album to 154 minutes. Great for a true TT fanatic/completist, but I don't include myself in that group. I'll be happy ripping only the original album to the iTunes.

Personal Memory Associated with this CD:  See above.

Previously revisited for the blog:
Greatest Hits (1996)

Thompson Twins - Greatest Hits (1996)

GREATEST HITS FORTNIGHT (FEBRUARY 6-19, 2012)

Given my confessed love for '80s synthpop, I'm sure many of you are surprised that I have only a greatest hits compilation for this group; you were expecting that I had their entire '80s catalog on CD. I had cassette copies of 1984's Into The Gap and 1985's Here's To Future Days and those were mixed bags at best, so I bought this CD instead of replacing those albums. I think Tom Bailey has a very distinctive voice and the production is good (bump that up from "good" to "great" when you talk about their recordings with Nile Rodgers). The songwriting is a little uneven, with the band trying to adopt world music styles which really didn't have much place in British synthpop. To be honest, I quickly lost interest in the band after 1985 so I'm not familiar with any of their music after that time, but I still enjoy their early '80s stuff. Fortunately, 13 of the 16 tracks here are from the years 1982-85. Overall, a better-than-average compilation from a mostly forgotten band.

Peak on the US Billboard Top 200 chart: Did not chart

Tracks: The first song by Thompson Twins I remember hearing was Lies when the bizarre video came on MTV. I'm not much of a fan of that song, so I'm surprised that I stuck with group. My favs here are In The Name Of Love, If You Were Here, Love On Your Side, Hold Me Now, Doctor Doctor, Lay Your Hands On Me, and King For A Day. I usually skip We Are Dectective, The Gap, and the final three tracks.

Song	Year	US	UK
In The Name Of Love	1982	-	-
Lies	1982	30	67
We Are Detective	1982	-	7
If You Were Here	1983	-	-
Love On Your Side	1983	45	9
Hold Me Now	1984	3	4
Doctor! Doctor!	1984	11	3
You Take Me Up	1984	44	2
The Gap	1984	69	-
Sister of Mercy	1984	-	11
Don't Mess With Doctor Dream	1985	-	15
Lay Your Hands On Me	1985	6	13
King For A Day	1985	8	22
Nothing In Common	1986	54	-
Get That Love	1987	31	66
Long Goodbye	1987	-	89

Personal Memory Associated with this CD: Any child of the '80s associates If You Were Here with the final scene of Sixteen Candles and hearing it today makes me want to pull out my Sixteen Candles DVD for a viewing. That's a great song and John Hughes knew how to use it.

Songs from Here's To Future Days always take me back to my dorm room in Berry Hall during my sophomore year in college. Somehow I talked my parents into paying the extra $100/month so I could have a private room that year. That was the group's best album and I'd probably buy a CD copy if I saw it cheap in a used bin.

The band is named after bumbling detective characters from the Tintin comic strip/books (below). I've been a fan of Tintin ever since my parents bought me the book The Shooting Star on a trip to the UK in 1973.