80's Music Junkies: Thompson Twins

The Thompson Twins were an English New Wave/pop band normally associated with the 1980s. The band formed in April 1977, and disbanded in May 1993. Massively popular in the mid-1980s, the band scored a string of hits in the UK, broke into the USA and Canada and enjoyed huge popularity around the globe. Total worldwide record sales are estimated at 50 million. The band was named after the two bumbling detectives in Hergé's comic strip, The Adventures of Tintin.

They broke into the UK Singles Chart and the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart at the beginning of 1983 with "Lies" and "Love On Your Side". Further singles from their third album Quick Step And Side Kick (called simply Side Kicks in the U.S.) followed with "We Are Detective" and "Watching". Bailey's flame-red hair and bright ponytail and Currie's wasp-swatting style at the xylophone swiftly becoming endearing images of an exciting new act. Bailey primarily wrote the music (with significant enough input from Leeway that he received co-authorship credit on all tracks), and Currie contributed most (if not all) of the lyrics. Leeway was also responsible for the band's exciting live visuals.

At the end of 1983, a single "Hold Me Now" was released. An extremely simple love song with gentle guitar lines, it marked a clear break from the Thompson Twins' previously hard-edged electronic sound. "Hold Me Now" relied almost wholly on an emotive piano, some clever percussion from Currie, and heartfelt vocals from Bailey. It hit the top three and remains one of the more timeless singles from an era and decade which tends to date a little more easily than others.

Four equally mature singles followed into 1984: the pop hit "Doctor! Doctor!"; the quirky "You Take Me Up" (at number two, their biggest UK hit); the haunting "Sister of Mercy"; and "The Gap" with its Middle Eastern rhythms (this was not released in the UK). The corresponding album, Into The Gap, was one of the bestsellers of the year, selling five million units worldwide and topping the British album charts. The album sold more copies than many of their contemporary's offerings, including Duran Duran's Seven and the Ragged Tiger, Eurythmics' Touch and Culture Club's Colour by Numbers.

Following up on the surprise success of the "Love on Your Side" single, the reconstituted Thompson Twins quickly regrouped to create an album to capitalize on their new, more direct sound. Quick Step & Side Kick is the Thompson Twins' most fully realized work, with a trio of dance-rock classics -- "Love Lies Bleeding," "Love on Your Side," and the big U.S. chart hit "Lies" -- that all hew close to the synth-bass-and-Latin-percussion groove of "In the Name of Love." Interestingly, however, the trio also branches out to explore a variety of sonic moods, most of them considerably darker than their cartoonish new look, lead singer Tom Bailey now sported a waist-length red ponytail, and percussionist Alannah Currie had a mohawk and no eyebrows -- would suggest. The highlights of these were the simply gorgeous, ghostly ballad "If You Were Here" and yet another elegy for the late Judy Garland, the bitter "Judy Do." Although the follow-up Into the Gap was an even bigger chart success, Quick Step & Side Kick is the better, more consistent album. The somewhat delayed U.S. release of Quick Step & Side Kick shortened the nonsensical title to Side Kicks and scrambled the running order to some ill effect, pulling all of the dance-oriented material on side one and all of the more atmospheric, experimental songs on side two. This version of the album was eventually supplanted by a CD release that retained the title and superior sequencing of the original U.K. issue.

This is the Greatest Mixes Album 1988 of Thompson Twins.

Thompson Twins' atmospheric and moody 1984 album Into the Gap was their commercial breakthrough in the United States, and remains a classic as far as '80s new wave pop is concerned. Nearly every song on this set differed from the others, with each track taking the listener on a different musical journey. The song that cemented Thompson Twins as a presence on American Top 40 radio was their earnest ballad (and biggest hit) "Hold Me Now," which years later still sounded as fresh and innocent as when it was first released. The album yielded a couple of other hits, including the feel-good, percussion- and harmonica-heavy "You Take Me Up" and the mysterious, melodramatic "Doctor! Doctor!" "The Gap," the album's final single (and a definite standout), heavily leans toward Middle Eastern influences (as does "Doctor! Doctor!") and ranks as the album's most unstoppable (and unusual) dance cut. Other tracks, including "Sister of Mercy" and "No Peace for the Wicked," rank almost as high as the singles. Thompson Twins were quiet visionaries, blending intelligent lyrics, Eastern sensibilities, and new wave pop to create a wholly unique and unforgettable listening experience and an album that ranks as one of the '80s' most unique.

Set is the second album recorded by English pop group Thompson Twins. Released in February 1982, it was the second album they recorded for their own "T Records" imprint on the Fame/EMI label.

Compared to the first album, A Product of ... (Participation), Set featured a more polished sound thanks to producer Steve Lillywhite, and it was received positively by the British music press. Keeping true to form with their shifting lineup, Thompson Twins had now swelled to seven members, adding Matthew Seligman on bass guitar to free up Tom Bailey for full frontman duties and keyboards. Former sax player Jane Shorter was replaced by Alannah Currie, who was Bailey's girlfriend at the time (they remained partnered until 2004). Oddly, three of the songs featured on Set do not feature Bailey on lead vocals at all, but rather are sung by Joe Leeway. While not an official member of the band, Thomas Dolby was also on hand to lend additional keyboards to three of the tracks.

While the album was given praise in the press, the band found itself on the verge of yet another personnel change. The album track "In the Name of Love" was written by Bailey simply as album filler, but it wound up being such a strong track that it was chosen as the lead-off single from the album. While not a notable presence in the pop charts, the single was released in the United States as a club single, and from there it went straight to number one on Billboard Magazine's dance charts, where it remained unseated for five weeks (from May 22 to June 19, 1982).

The success of the track opened many doors for the band, who suddenly had the potential to be more than just an underground sensation. Together with the band's manager, John Hade, Tom Bailey reinvented the band as a trio, keeping Alannah Currie and Joe Leeway while firing the others.

Set was also released in the United States on the Arista label as In The Name Of Love, which saw three of the album's tracks replaced by two songs from the band's first album, A Product of ... (Participation).

Here's To Future Days (itself making the top twenty) spawned the track: "King For a Day", which made the US top ten, but only reaching number 22 in the UK. Other singles included the anti-drug message "Don't Mess With Doctor Dream" and a cover of The Beatles' 1968 hit "Revolution". The Thompson Twins made headlines when they performed at the American-end of Live Aid and were joined onstage by the fresh-faced Madonna, who was in only her second year of fame. The UK leg of the album's support tour had to be cancelled because of Bailey's breakdown (fans with tickets received a free live album as compensation) and the album itself was delayed by many months, causing the band to lose momentum. Despite this, the latter half of 1985 saw sell out tours for the band in the USA and Japan.

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