Lost in the ’80s: Gary Numan
Tuesday, November 18th, 2008 by John C. Hughes
Another example of a one-hit wonder in the States while huge in the U.K., paranoid android and Bowie Low cop artist Gary Numan can lay the blame for his lack of U.S. hits solely on his American label, Atco. After the tremendous success of the iconic New Wave single “Cars,” Atco probably thought it was the right choice to release Numan’s first huge overseas hit (with Tubeway Army) “Are ‘Friends’ Electric?” as the follow-up, even though it wasn’t featured on Numan’s then-current The Pleasure Principle LP. After all, “Are ‘Friends’” was a massive U.K. #1 single, so it only made sense to consolidate his successes to break Numan big in the States. Problem was, American radio, still in the thrall of the likes of Journey, Boston and Styx, was just not ready for “Are ‘Friends’” (and probably still aren’t), and the single topped out at #105, a pathetic showing for a Top Ten follow-up.
Meanwhile, over in the U.K., the downbeat, moody “Complex” (download) was chosen as The Pleasure Principle’s second single, a bewildering choice. Almost half the song is a somber, synth instrumental, while the second part is a ballad about disconnection and alienation (on a macro level, you could almost say both halves were ripped off from Low - one moody vocal side, another instrumental).
Numan nearly had carte blanche on the U.K. charts in the early ’80s, so shockingly enough, “Complex” was a Top Ten hit. However, to this day I can’t imagine why Numan’s record companies on both sides of the Atlantic chose to overlook the obvious choice for a second single, the groove-focused “Metal,” (download) with its insistent guitar-like synth riff and soaring chords. Its similarity to “Cars” wouldn’t have hurt its chances either. (more…)



It’s a shame The Lucy Show picked an awful sitcom to name themselves after, since the duo of Mark Bandola and Rob Vandeven had little in common with the strained comedy of an aging TV icon with a scotch-fueled voice and brassy henna rinse mugging with Sammy Davis Jr. This Lucy Show started out more in a Cure vein, creating darkly melodic pop on their debut album - that all changed when A&M Records dumped them.
It’s a shame that U.K. synthpop duo Soft Cell became the epitome of an ’80s one-hit wonder. While they charted with several singles overseas, “Tainted Love” was their sole American hit, despite releasing several excellent singles and albums. One of those unfairly ignored singles was actually the follow-up to “Tainted Love,” another Northern Soul remake called “What!”
There’s never been a musical trend that Cher has been afraid to jump upon. From watered down hippie-dippy love songs to disco to adult contemporary schlock, the Dark Lady has matched only maybe Bowie in appropriating the current musical climate for her own campy needs. And New Wave was no exception.
Starting out as a trio called the Strutters, singer/songwriter Mark Kjeldsen along with rhythm section Bobby Irwin and Ron François re-branded themselves as the Sinceros, trading in New Wave and melodic power pop. Epic Records took notice and signed the band in the late ’70s, but not before Irwin and François were tapped to play on Lene Lovich’s New Wave classic, Stateless. After this brief detour, the Sinceros released their debut, The Sound Of Sunbathing in 1979. A single, “Take Me To Your Leader,” got a little buzz in the U.K., and the band toured heavily there and in the States with a power-pop dream line-up co-featuring 20/20 and Paul Collins’ Beat.
It’s an old pop joke that winning the Grammy for Best New Artist is pretty much the kiss of death for long-term success. See the Starland Vocal Band, Milli Vanilli, and today’s featured combo, Australia’s Men at Work. While not the massive flameout some other Best New Artist winners were, Men at Work had a sadly truncated shelf life that no one really saw coming.
It may be the height of over-sharing to admit this, but Revenge of the Nerds was a movie that really spoke to me in high school. As a computer-loving, comic book-collecting, Dungeons & Dragons-playing sophomore, I certainly related to Lewis and Gilbert and their struggle and desire to fit in. Maybe I wasn’t as persecuted as they were, but I certainly felt a kinship for being teased for being smart and not athletic (not that I was any sort of genius, mind you). While the movie was meant to be another Animal House-style comedic romp, the background and weight given to the lead characters led to a few actually somewhat poignant moments.
Y’know, if you name your kid Herbert or Poindexter, you’re just setting that child up for a lifetime of teasing and ridicule. And if you name your band Kajagoogoo, well, you can expect a certain amount of critical derision.
What’s up, every bizzle? It’s Jizzle-ohn in the hizzouse with another Lost in the Izzle.
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