A Flock of Seagulls--I Ran (1982)

     The memories of the 80's and it's music seem to be indelibly stamped on the minds of those who lived through it in a way that no other decade of music ever will. That's isn't necessarily because the music was that much better (although there was great music made), but with the advent of MTV and it's rock and it's country offspring, the images that were connected  in a way never done before. By the 90's and beyond a generation of music listeners and TV watchers had  gotten used to it and videos became strictly promotional tools rather than a combination of that and cable entertainment.
     Because it was so new our minds become wedded (for better or worse) to the images regarding a song or artist. When one mentions Cindi Lauper, Thomas Dolby, Duran Duran, or Eurythmics you can certainly remember the song, but the image that comes with it cannot be untangled. More than a few artist might never had a hit in the states if it were not for those images which brings us to Mike Score's hair.
     In the early era of videos, very little was actually spent on making them, and the video to "I Ran" was one of the cheapest, with the band surrounding the one camera as it spun around taking pictures. However, one could not take your eyes off of Score's hair that seemingly sprouted wings on both sides while dipping over the front covering one eye (on re-watching this video, it occurs to me that it's isn't nearly a pronounced on this video than it would be later)
     For music fans who were still recovering from disco, it was a strange sight, and the music provided a backdrop that seemed odd as well. However it just seemed to be the right sound and look at the right time. "I Ran" went to number 9 that year and it's followups, "Space Age Love Song" (#30) and "Wishing (I Had a Photograph Of You) (#26) made 1982 a very successful year for the band.
     They reached the Hot 100 once more in 1984 and then vanished from sight. The song proved that just like dozens of other songs from the 1980's, a picture was worth at least a couple of hundred thousand in sales.

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The Fixx--One Thing Leads To Another (1983)

     The Fix began life as The Portraits in 1979. Founded by vocalist Cy Curnin and drummer Adam Woods, the brought in Rupert Greenall (keys), Tony McGrail (guitar) and Charlie Barret (bass) to round out the lineup. The band released a couple of singles that went nowhere at which point McGrail left and Jamie West-Oram in mid-1980. About that time they changed the name of the group to The Fix, and a few of their recordings were picked up by the BBC. This higher profile led to a major label contract with MCA who were concerned about the drug connotations of the band's name and an extra "X" was added on to the name.
     The band's first success here in the states came with the 1982 release, "Stand or Fall" off of the album, "Shuttered Room". However, the big hit came in 1983 with the song, "Saved By Zero", then "One Thing Leads To Another" later that year. It was the only song they released that reached the top 10 anywhere (#4 here, #1 in Canada). North America was where they found their biggest success reaching the top 20 as late as 1986 ("Secret Seperation").
     They still tour regularly here in the states and have recently released an album with their classic lineup. You can read more about the album an the group here: http://www.thefixx.com/

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Thomas Dolby--She Blinded Me With Science (1983)

     Am not sure why, but when I think of Thomas Dolby, Food Network personality Alton Brown comes to mind. It just be the mad scientist that both give off. Of course, in both cases, the men are somewhat quirky, but much more than what we see.
     In Dolby's case, he has shown a brilliance in technology that far exceeds his contributions as an artist, although those are quite significant. With little musical training, he taught himself guitar and later piano, when he discovered synthesizers. From that point on, he plunged head long into music and the studio side of music. As a teen, he worked in a studio as a technician, songwriter and engineer. You can hear his keyboards on recordings from Joan Armatrading, Foreigner, and Def Leppard.
     His first recording, "The Golden Age of Wireless" produced his only top ten hit in the US, "She Blinded Me With Science". The song, took off under the power of the video which highlighted Dolby and Dr. Magnus Pyke (who played the doctor). You can also hear producer "Mutt" Lange on the recording as well.
     He never appeared on the US top 40 again, but had another hit in the UK in 1984 with, "Hyperactive". He spent much of the rest of the 80's in the role of musician, but by the 1990's he began working more on business pursuits. The chances are that if you have had a cell phone over the last 10 years, the ringtone on your phone at some time or other had been developed by Dolby.

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Blondie--Heart of Glass (1979)

Chris Stein and Deborah Harry began working together in 1973. After shuffling of names and personal, they settled in as  Blondie by 1975. Through their regular gig at Max’s Kansas City, and CBGB, they helped lay the foundation that would lead the musical world out of disco. They had a total of four #1's before their break up in 1983, but reformed in 1999, has had another #1 in the UK, and just released an album of new material this past year.

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Adam Ant--Goody Two Shoes (1982)

     Stuart Leslie Goddard had changed his name to Adam Ant in 1977 and put together his own band called Adam and the Ants to explore his fascination with the punk rock movement that was in full swing in the UK at the time. Their debut release, "Dirk Wears White Socks" was a bit of a mix (and a sloppy one at that) of several different styles as they attempted to find a voice. That was pushed along by the meeting of Malcolm McLaren, who at the time was the manager of the Sex Pistols, who was asked to manage Ant's band. This he did, and introduced them to the Burundi sound, which the group perfected, then McLaren stole the band (and renamed them Bow Wow Wow) to back his new find, Annabella Lwin. 

     This began a race between Ant and McLaren to see who could get an album out first. Adam was able to gather a band together who quickly picked up on the new sound, recorded "Kings of the Wild Frontier", and got it released before Bow Wow Wow could. This propelled The Ants to the forefront of what was considered the "new wave" (in US) or "new romantic" (in the UK) movements.
Ant broke up the band in 1981 and went solo. This is where we pick up on him in the states, as "Goody Two Shoes" reached the top 20 in late 1982. Unfortunately, the album, "Friend or Foe" was the last great album Ant would release for years and although he was found on the charts several times over the next 20 years (including a top 20 song with, "Room at the Top" in 1990), he never truly picked up momentum.  If you like this song, I would suggest you pick up "Kings of the Wild Frontier" which has a sound which was truly one of a kind.

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