Song of the Day: 'Doctor! Doctor!' by Thompson Twins

Today is the second-to-last day of my series of Songs That Peaked at No. 11 and I'm already feeling separation anxiety -- as a kid I entertained myself for hours on end by compiling lists ... but here goes it: Thompson Twins played an outsized role in my youth, a band I adored and saw in concert countless times, dating back to their show at Royal Oak Music Theatre in 1983 when I was 15.

Tom, Alannah and Joe were MTV superstars, although their flame didn't burn long. When all was said and done -- can you believe there were only two Twins by 1986?! -- they had just three U.S. Top 10 hits to their name. And shockingly, "Doctor! Doctor!" wasn't one of them. 

#ThrowbackThursday

Such a treat to have my Detroit-childhood best friend send me a cache of old photos this week, many of which I had never seen before. Kids today have every second of their lives forever documented -- for better or worse -- so it's truly a gift to have something like this fall in one's lap. Here I am, above, at age 15 visiting Mark back in Detroit. We caught the Thompson Twins at the Royal Oak Music Theatre on that trip.

10 bucks doesn't go as far as it used to!

With the picture provider on Sunset Boulevard in 1986

 Gillian Gilbert and Bernard Sumner with Stephen Morris just behind after New Order's concert at Mesa Amphitheatre in 1986, the same year and venue where I saw the Smiths.

I've written extensively about these two places in Old Town Tempe: Graffiti's is the bar/nightclub on Mill Avenue where my friend Chantal and I were when we got the news Andy Warhol had died.

And the after-hours restaurant Panic City was the subject of this RECENT POST.

These three are from when I went to Los Angeles for Mark's brother's wedding at the beginning of 1985. "The War Song" by Culture Club and "We Belong" by Pat Benatar ruled the airwaves, and Bartles & Jaymes ruled the refrigerators! 

At the Cure concert at Pine Knob in 1986

With JR / Set list HERE.

Kenny Walsh's 15 Minutes

And these last four are from Mark's first visit to Phoenix in the summer of 1979. 

Spiraling out of control with my sister, Jennifer

Attention whore

First visit to Big Surf, which I hear is closed this year for the first time. (I'm surprised Gov. Ducey didn't insist that it open for maximum infections.)

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!

Song of the Day: 'Lies' by Thompson Twins

If Trump and his aides will tell easily disproven falsehoods about crowd sizes and speeches, what else will they be willing to dissemble about? Read HERE.

Song of the Day: 'Lay Your Hands on Me' by Thompson Twins

 

Hard to believe, but "Lay Your Hands on Me" was the trio's biggest single in the U.S. after "Hold Me Now," charting even higher than "Lies," "Love on Your Side" and "Doctor! Doctor!"

Who Wore It Better?

Tickled to see my friend John's vintage Thompson Twins Chachi shirt on Facebook yesterday!

Song of the Day: 'Lies' by Thompson Twins

   Although I own virtually every one of these songs, I suddenly found myself on a CD shopping binge in bed last night. It's the two-disc reissues that get me -- I have the "Into the Gap" one and it's fabulous but "Side Kicks" (as I knew it) is my fave; plus the first three Kim Wilde reissues are chock full of stuff and figured these had to be good, too -- so I couldn't resist. The funny thing is that I already got notice that the entire order has shipped. I'm probably the first person to buy CDs in so long they jumped at the chance to get rid of them!

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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