Thompson Twins C/D

dud, in case u were wondering (or in case the "actual thompson twin" comes back)

He mis-spells his own band's name, so probably not actual.

I actually just bought 'Into The Gap' from a dollar bin today, just for Doctor! Doctor!, and the whole album is just as stellar.

'oh my cold italian heart' (lyrics by alannah, right?)

Howard Jones was a victim of exactly the same thing
It has to be said, though, that, even though I was a Howard Jones fan at the time, and even thought I have later become a fan of a band that was among Jones' most important musical influences (Genesis, that is), I still think the Thompson Twins records have held up better than the Jones ones.

Anyone see them circa 1981 when they used to hand out percussion to half of the audience for the encores? Stewart Osbourne to thread - you must have seen them at RUSU, they played there about 6 times that year!

It's wrong to say they arrived 'late'.... they were probably one of the original synthpop outfits.... they just bnever sold any records til about 1984.

I am not saying Thompson Twins were necessarily experts at that, but Paul McCartney certainly is.

Alannah's ghoulish mug scared the living shit out of me in that video!

Also, notice how much "Lies" sounds like War's "Low Rider"?

Yes, I saw them several times around that time Dr. C and as you say they were great fun live. My recollection 'though is that Mr Leeway and Ms Currie were always part of the band but that they trimmed down to a 3-piece after Love On Your Side reached the charts (on the back of an NME freebie several months after it was first released IIRC). I'm pretty sure that several of the songs on Quick Step And Sidekick dated back to the days of the extended line-up too.

Dud: the part of "Love On Your Side" where they follow the lyric "I played you all my favorite records..." with the hook from "In The Name of Love!" Even for '80s new-wavers, that was narcissistic.

i think i love these ppl

I loved them then. Now they just make me irritable for some reason.

Two of the ugliest musicians ever to step inside a studio.

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/53/176233967_f3f3c991c1.jpg

that's them right?

they all seem kind of attractive!

Alannah's cap looks like it's vomiting cabbage over her face.

who's the tall one there?

prolly some fan

also lol at alfred

The fan is hot, and looks a bit like Paul Rudd.

They are the XX.

Well, I still love them. Apparently they had sort of a critical following around their debut album, then reformed and became more pop oriented, which caused all critics to turn against them.

They got better though. I do own "A Product Of" and that album is pretty much quite forgettable. "Set" had "In The Name Of Love" and "Runaway" but was otherwise pretty much patchy too. Then, Bailey ditches most of his bandmates, changes the band into a synthpop band, and releases one of the best albums of the entire 80s in "Quick Step & Sidekick".

If You Were Here is great. Do they have any other ballads that are as good?

"Storm On The Sea" is very similar to "If You Were Here".

i'm with soto on this one, their physical appearance repulsed me back in the day

http://open.spotify.com/album/0jcUegqpKCfHQ8va6aWwv0

Reviving this thread because the TT appearance on the Whistle Test (in their original 7-piece line-up) hasn't been posted yet here - definitely makes you think up some "what could have been" scenarios

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c_TyQJbQ2po

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TuqpRwWCRZ0

Completely baffled by the comments on this thread

Two of the ugliest musicians ever to step inside a studio.

their physical appearance repulsed me back in the day

Ridiculous surely?

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-8rdlSWuG7FI/Vikh-rE6MvI/AAAAAAAAF2c/iyiAjVEznPk/w878-h494-no/9%2Blies-twin-towers.png

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-oFDeCkqsQe4/Vikh91l_oSI/AAAAAAAAF2Y/5TRff0gIWxY/w878-h494-no/7%2Blies-jumpers.png

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-Le4um-gtl-0/Vikh9tupO0I/AAAAAAAAF2I/7rRn9dpRPsM/w878-h494-no/6%2Blies-apples.png

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-dpafEPHLO-Q/Vikh9IhQWkI/AAAAAAAAF2U/n9GZEGBDjQ4/w878-h494-no/4%2Blies-debris.png

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-gxjduGaffkE/Vikh8CyWHsI/AAAAAAAAF1o/EpBX2TLFCdA/w878-h494-no/3%2Blies-smoke-leaves.png

well, that's clarified things a lot - thanks.

Ridiculous surely?

At the time, I was aware of how fashion had changed through centuries, and wished for "leaders" offering options away from the t-shirt/jeans, polo/khakis, or dress shirt/suit options that loomed. The Thompson Twins, Adam Ant, hell arguably Prince all dropped in the US in 1982, and I was 11 years old, and thinking that my noisy nylon parachute pants and Members only jacket would someday open out to all manner of options in how individuals expressed themselves.

Look at these guys. They're fit, young, their bone structure adheres to favored physiognomy:

https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/04/e8/9f/04e89f02ba2de17fbd64de25e2ffcb89.jpg

Then I was shunted off to a Jesuit HS (dress code: polo/khakis), and realized how Reagan-era "get mine" attitudes pervaded everything. I aspired to the grey Armani suit that would ensure a place in the gated communities, only to be disillusioned. I really think that 1979 to 83, years that transpired before I was a teen, were a magical moment, full of opportunity for alternate paths. I think that's why the era is still relentlessly mined for cultural signifiers, while others (both before and since) have been discarded as dead ends.

For 11 year old me, Thompson Twins represented a future utopian pan-gender/racial world in much the way that Prince did. They were beautiful.