Song of the Day: 'Come So Far' by Tom Bailey

Pretty impressed with the first single from the ex-Thompson Twins singer's debut solo album. (It really could be 1984 again.) Let's hope more people show up when he performs at Forest Hills (opening for the B-52s and Culture Club) on Saturday than they did in Charleston! 

From the new album ...

Order HERE.

He's also playing a solo show at the Iridium -- where I once saw Jane Wieldin solo. But the ticket prices are a little higher than I'd like to pay ... maybe I can't get past that $10 Royal Oak Music Theatre show!

Music Box: Thompson Twins

As musically lost in the '80s as I am, even this Howard Jones wannabe can admit what's aged well (The Pretenders' debut) versus what hasn't (KajaGooGoo's "White Feathers"). So when my friend Greg asked me if I wanted an extra copy of the reissue of "Into the Gap" by the Thompson Twins he'd wound up with, I wasn't entirely sure it was worth the shelf space in my humble Chelsea abode. In the end, he sent it -- along with a bunch of other goodies -- as part of a birthday package, so while lying in bed with Mikey this weekend I decided to pop it in my stereo and give it a listen. Now can I tell you what a pleasant surprise it was? I'm sure you remember the great singles "Hold Me Now" and "Doctor! Doctor!," but equally good were the peppy "You Take Me Up," and "Day After Day," plus the Middle Eastern-tinged "The Gap," and ballads "Storm on the Sea" and "Who Can Stop the Rain."

I don't know if it's just so ingrained in my mind -- I think I saw them in concert a half-dozen times back when, including an early 1983 show at Royal Oak Music Theatre and at Mesa Amphitheatre the following year when we met Tom Bailey and nearly fainted! -- but it plays like a veritable greatest hits, yet doesn't even include a number of their biggest songs like "In the Name of Love," "Lies," "Love on Your Side," "King for a Day" or "Lay Your Hands on Me." So impressed was I that I think I'm gonna shell out 40 bucks for the "Quick Step and Sidekick" (aka "Sidekicks") and "Here's to Future Days" reissues. I think it's safe to say this is music that will last a lifetime (mine, at least), even if it leaves my Limahl blond-on-top, dark-on-the-bottom roots showing ...

"You Take Me Up," the third single from "Into the Gap," just missed the U.S. Top 40.

The Thompson Twins performed their mega hit "Hold Me Now" on July 13, 1985, at Live Aid in Philadelphia, then follow it up with a cover of the Beatles' "Revolution." You might recognize the chick singing backing vocals who wasn't "takin' off shit today because you might hold it again" her "10 years from now" ...

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