Transcript
Speaker: Hey, Josh, it's fellow Toys R Us kid Derek Clark here. I would have to go for I Melt With You by Modern English from the album After the Snow from 1982.
Speaker: So thank you so much, Derek. I really appreciate that. Derek and I worked at Toys R Us long, long, long, long time ago. And we we had a lot of fun back then. um it was ah we We got to set up the the Phantom Menace toys at Toys R Us. So that was that's how long ago this is going back.
Speaker: So welcome to That TV Sound. My name is Josh and we are here today to talk about um memories from the from the most awesome ah music period ever, which was the 80s and we got some stuff from the ninety s as well. But really love my old music and um I've got my special guest Tyler with me here today. Hey Josh.
Speaker: So glad to have you here and so glad to be able to talk music. You know, what my first, you know, I always have like an opening question. Oh, yes, I do. I am familiar with the opening questions.
Speaker: So sometimes you like them. Sometimes they're good. ah Sometimes they're just weird. This one's a bit of an odd one. Hat or no hat? In that year? Yeah. Yeah. and in In that time period.
Speaker: Oh. Were you hat guy? Did you love a good hat? No, I would say no to the hats because that would be to Boy George. You know what I mean? And everybody would say like, do you think you're Boy George? like, okay, no, no. So no hat, no hat.
Speaker: I loved hats. Okay. So hats and me go right back to like, I'm three years old. I, I, you know, I've always had hats, loved hats. And because some of my favorite artists were like big hat people like, um, Steve strange and or boy George and hats were just huge. And so I always wanted to wear a cool hat.
Speaker: Did I always pull it off? No. But did I try really hard? Yes. um Some of my my classic early 80s hats were, um one you know, those Greek fisherman caps?
Speaker: Sure. Yeah. So I had one of those, but of course it was too small. I have a big head, but I still wore it. I wore it on the back of my head so that, you know, my blonde hair could be sticking out the front. And I think my other hat was a beret. At some point I did the beret thing.
Speaker: That makes sense. Right. But it was one of those things too, where it's like, well, do I want great hair or do I want a hat, a great hat to complete my outfit? The answer is yes to both. Right. Because you never know when a music magazine is going to stop you on the street and say, Hey,
Speaker: Can I take you picture? Yeah. Where did you get your hat? Yeah. yeah Is that your real hair? Because, you know, do you remember ID Magazine? And it it was always full of just snaps of awesome people in in England on the streets. And here's their outfit. Where'd you get your stuff? Oh, I got it at, you know, a thrift store around the corner. And, you know, this was from my grandfather. And I was like, I always wanted that. I wanted somebody to stop me.
Speaker: Yeah, somebody to stopped me on Granville Street and said, wow, that's a great outfit. Where did you get that hat? And what about those boots? Those boots are amazing. And then after that, they just deck you one. Totally. Because it's not a real magazine.
Speaker: That's hilarious. It's the Kokanee Inquirer. Exactly. Based in Surrey. Yeah, that's better. yeah All right. We're going to kick off with our theme song. Let's go.
Speaker: You're listening to That TV Sound with your host, Josh Downing, a Gen X for Life podcast.
Speaker: So, of course, I always have to wear a hat now because of the baldness. Right? I hear So, yeah, so I really am and truly a hat guy. I started to go through my ball caps and started tossing some out because I'm like, holy crap, I have a ball cap hoarding issue.
Speaker: ah it It can pile up quite quickly. Well, the problem is I'll get one that i love. And then I will wear that one specifically until it's just shreds.
Speaker: Yeah. i have this And then I have to, then have to break in a new one and I'm like, ah, this is painful. And I start trying them on. I'm like, no, no, too small. No, too weird. Lucy, more hats.
Speaker: Cause they don't have the hair option anymore. So it has to be, has to be the hat option. Okay. Listeners. It's all about the music. No, sometimes it's about the clothing. Sometimes about the hats. Sometimes the shoes. We'll get to shoes one day.
Speaker: but um Yeah, people love to like point out the shoes. It's like, where'd you get weird boots? I'm like, yeah, okay, turn around you know in school. Yeah. Right.
Speaker: Yeah. I had some weird shoes too. Very weird shoes. And of course that always, you know, caused caused a cause of disruption. Cause there's buckles on them. Everybody. yeah Yes.
Speaker: Or they're, you know, two different colors or I wore weird socks. Yes. Whatever. turn around. Walk away. I'm here for an education.
Speaker: Exactly. And my bleached blonde hair is also here for the education. We're back. We're back to 1982. And I know you're like, wow, we were we just left 1982. But we're back because it's random.
Speaker: So we want the choice, right? Yeah. Yeah. I know. the I wish the years were random. That would be cool. But no, the yeah the selection for the the topic we're going to talk about. And it just worked out that, you know, um Derek, you know, picked a song from 82. That worked out really well.
Speaker: And um so, yeah, so we're back in 1982. So we can't talk about Dexy's Midnight Runners or. Did you say can't? No. Yes, we can. Because he already did. he did. He already did. Wait, you mean when we talked about 82?
Speaker: Yeah. Oh, OK. Yeah. goes on any kid did i Did I mention how much that song reminds me of butter that tastes like paint? What? No. butter that tastes like paint my parents were having their kitchen renovated that summer and when that single came out i would come home and play it every day after school and the house reeked of paint and the butter in the fridge tasted like paint for months so i always associate a dexies with paint tasting butter anyway you heard it here folks
Speaker: Wow. Okay. so Speaking of random. Yeah, yeah. that's how ah That's how memories are made, right? Yep. Yep. we we That's just... I don't know. That's just weird. Okay. So you know what else, too, though? i What I want to sort of also talk about today. We recently saw a live show.
Speaker: Yes. Amazing live show. Yes. We had to drive ah like 14 light years to get to this live show because it was in Niagara Falls on the Canadian side, of course.
Speaker: And not in Toronto. No. And the lineup was, it was a stellar lineup. Like it was Alison Moyet. It was um Soft Cell.
Speaker: And it was the Human League. I thought you were talking about the stunning lineup to get shirts. That was also that's a huge lineup. It was huge. That was a moneymaker for them that night. You know, I'm telling you.
Speaker: and it was the last night and I was joking. Well, maybe everything will be on clearance. No. No, no, because look at everybody's lined up. If there was nobody, they'd probably be like, oh, we're having a big sale. But no, seriously, all these 60 year old guys and ladies lining up to squeeze themselves into an extra large.
Speaker: That they were trying on right in the line. They were right there. Now I didn't because I'm not that brave. There's no shame. But the guy who sold us the T-shirts, he was really awesome.
Speaker: Oh, he was. i like got a story. you know i don't know if he was a roadie or if he's like XANR or something, but it's just like, okay, he's somebody. And if there wasn't such a long lineup, because he was chatty. He had incredible stories. Yeah. know No, he was he was really awesome.
Speaker: It was British, so it's like you don't just live in Niagara Falls. like you're something No, no, no. no they They imported him specifically to sell t-shirts because he's that good.
Speaker: yeah No, seriously, he was such an awesome guy and assured me that an extra large would be fine for me. And i'm like, okay. Yes, because he's a good salesperson. right I hope that came across right. sorry Yes. No, I get it. No, I totally get it.
Speaker: Yeah, yeah. I know what you're saying. um Yeah. So what a great show. What what was a highlight for you? To be honest, I loved when Phil pointed out how he didn't name Polygram, but a Polygram Records Canada was so instrumental in getting them you know heard over here. And he specifically referenced all the extra singles and EPs that came out here and just the extra attention that the label gave.
Speaker: but you know and unique exclusive singles and it's true like living in canada we had everything everything came out on seven inch and 12 inch and it was you know back when the you know 12 inch for the price of a seven inch you know i had everything and i was so grateful you know and that's when polygram canada was on fire you know like half my collection was all polygram releases because they had so many labels you know so the early 80s was huge for them here you know of course labels are with other you know labels in other countries but
Speaker: for Polygram, you know, it was a dream job, I'm sure, you know, if you were there at the time. I reached out to Alwyn, who worked at Polygram at that time, just to let him know, hey, you know, Phil mentioned this, and he said he didn't work with Human League, but he did work with Soft Cell. I'm like, what a cool job, you know?
Speaker: Anyway. Seriously, that is so cool. I would say that was my highlight, and i would also say the sound. because these electronic shows now sound in incredible. you know it's It's crystal clear and like no matter how loud it is or how clear it is, I still feel like you could hear a pin drop. You know what i mean? It sounds strange, but it's just the sound is phenomenal. And to start it off with sound of the crowd,
Speaker: was so exciting because i knew they were playing it i didn't know it was at the start of the set yeah know and and what else surprised me uh being boiled that surprised me and yeah there was one other one oh shoot sorry you got me on the spot here what was it there was another like early track It was... it wasn't um it wasn' an Empire, but what was it? No, no, it was... um oh I've got it right here. I've got it. I've got it. It is ah What is it? Seriously. It was from Dare.
Speaker: Oh, it was Seconds. That's what it was. Seconds. Not an early track, but like a killer track. yeah Seriously. I was so excited about that. Yeah, that was amazing. song, but so amazing and so excited that they played that, right? Yeah, and the clubs here used to play Seconds, which was really cool. you know So yeah, that was, yeah. And Alison Moyet, who, you know, I'm not a fan of, but i certainly appreciated Yaz. She's incredible live. Yeah. You know great performer, great talent, you know, and you and I were talking about how crystal clear Mark Allman's voice is. Yes. It's like, you know, I'm not going to look up how old he is, but it's just like, no he can go from like holding a note forever to just and talking a second later, you know, and it's just like, how do you have that range? You know, it just...
Speaker: crystal clear you know and i'm you know we saw him last year which is great yes absolutely never here you know so it was a treat to see him so what was the highlight the whole thing a fun event we got to get away you know what i mean um we got to go to denny's yeah so really there's nothing to complain about but i guess it sounds like there's not one specific moment i could say but i was completely impressed with the sound across all three acts. Yeah.
Speaker: And, you know, we're so lucky that these people are still touring here. Like everybody tours back in the UK. Right. But like, we're so blessed with what we do get, you know, and I was saying at the time, all these shows that keep getting booked in Niagara Falls is a drag, you know, I missed out on things that I would normally go to.
Speaker: because it's like you know it's a bit of a hassle especially it is yeah but yeah you know it is it is you know we're old come on we're old we're tired but this one was definitely worth it because it's been what did they say 18 years since yeah no it can't be 18. no it's been 18. 11.
Speaker: no it's it's been eighteen were at eleven Let's take some calls. we We saw that. We had to take some calls. Yeah. Yeah. it was ah it was ah It was a while ago, but it wasn't forever ago. But it was, I can see the Fun Boy 3 on your floor back there.
Speaker: Can you really? yeah Yeah. Oh my God. That is crazy. i know. because it's It's blurry and far away, but. That is so funny. the story of but The story about that why I've got Fun Boy 3 sitting on my floor is this influencer on Instagram was like, look at this cool door handle that you can get at at Ikea and you can stick it to the wall and put records in it. And i'm like, I want records on my wall.
Speaker: So rushed to Ikea. And because normally when when influencers say something at Ikea, It's gone in three seconds. Yeah. So we got there and one of the colors was actually already sold out, but they're just these, they look like a taco.
Speaker: It's a kid's door, like a drawer handle for like a dresser. i get it And you just stick it to your wall. And it's, so it's like a little taco on your wall. And then you just put an album in and i'm like, Oh my goodness. So I had them in there, but it was so hot that day. Everything dropped off the wall. So I had to go and risk. risk So you what?
Speaker: That was going to be my next question. Did they fall off? if Well, I didn't really want to hear the answer. No, nothing was damaged. They just fell to the the shelf below. So they were okay. But yeah, it's really cool. I'm going to re-stick them on, but it's it's a great idea. It's really cool. So there you go. I'm pressing that on.
Speaker: The influencer failed to mention that part. Yes. Well, and yeah, because they were just using 3M sticks and I'm like, like the sticky picture hooks and that's what I used. But it decided it wasn't going to stick. It was a hot, hot, humid day. So probably not it's not as hot wherever they are, I guess. Yeah.
Speaker: Yeah. so I'm sorry, Josh, what was your highlight? No, sorry. okay well my my big highlight was sound of the crowd like you i did not expect i'm like i will be thrilled if i hear sound of the crowd tonight that was my first human league song it i remember it clearly i was at the love affair i heard it come up the thing and i'm like i've just gone to music heaven and uh I kept bugging everybody all night. Like, who was that? Who was that? And finally somebody said, oh, it's it's humanly like, just shut up, kid.
Speaker: And so I immediately went to Phantasmagoria on Granville Street. And shelled out every single penny I had to get the single of The Sound of the Crowd. And I took it home and um i my brain exploded. So hearing it live, because i i they didn't play it the last time they were they were in Toronto. Oh, I think they did.
Speaker: Did they? Yeah, I think so. i think so, yeah. I don't remember that. No, I'm pretty sure they did. Because, and forgive me, there's always that a little bit of cringe because I'm not sure how they're going to handle the...
Speaker: the yelling part, you know what I mean? yeah Because i don I don't want to criticize at all, right? But yeah, I'm pretty confident yeah that they're okay until they get to the end. I'm like, ooh, ouch. um There's so many other ways to do it. i'm like, okay. Anyway, not criticizing. um But yeah, I think they did because i remember I remember standing there thinking, oh, here we go, here we go. Is it going to be all right? you know so Maybe they played it later. It was maybe like an encore song or something. Yeah, they didn't open with it, that's for sure. No, no, no, no. I'm trying to remember what they were touring when we saw them that time. Maybe, oh, maybe, oh, oh, oh, sorry. um Not not an Octopus.
Speaker: No, no, the the the album wasn't released here. it but It's the Night People and Sky. Yeah, yeah, yeah. yeah Never Let Me Go and all that stuff.
Speaker: All strong singles. I'm surprised they didn't play at all. but Secrets? Romantic? No. No. no Not romantic. Romantic's too old.
Speaker: Oh, it's earlier? It's more recent than that? Yeah. It's it's like 2010. man Okay. Credo. Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. There you go. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. I remember that one. Yeah. Credo. March 2011. Okay. There you go So they would have toured around that time. Yeah.
Speaker: Yeah. So that's not something. And that was at like whatever RPM is called now or what was called before it was gone. Isn't it called blah, blahs now? Yeah. I think it's just, it's fresh go.
Speaker: ah Cheap groceries that aren't cheap. Yeah. So great show. Yeah. And to have the band start Sound of the Crowd without the the vocal was yeah a nice bonus too, right? Yeah. Yeah. The way they they introduced you know each instrument as people were coming on the stage. It was so cool.
Speaker: I had never seen Alison Moyet because I don't think she hit Canada a lot after she went solo. And it wasn't, I think there was ah a period where she just wasn't around and then she kind of showed up a little bit. And I, at that point was, it wasn't my thing. I, I loved Yazoo as I've probably, you know, repeatedly said on this, um, this podcast, but I was, i was never really a big lsmoa fan so i was really thrilled that she was just so amazing she was just yeah yeah her voice was just beautiful and she sang you know so my some of my favorite yazoo songs so it was it was worth it yeah because it was way more a retro set than her own solo stuff which was kind you know yeah but it was also really an electronic tour so
Speaker: know, it was I think it was very good of her to do that. I feel a little weird because her events aren't working together. So, you know, I was a little funny about these things. Right. But but yeah, no, it was it was it was fantastic. Yeah, it was a great show. And she she pleased the crowd like.
Speaker: The only time they got quiet was when she played one of her more recent songs and they were like, oh, I don't know that song. And then she went right back to Yazoo and everybody was like screaming and yelling and cheering. Yeah.
Speaker: And it takes a lot to get a bunch of, you know, 60 year olds up out of their seat. ah Let alone the 70 year olds. Right. Right. That was drunken crowd though. Seriously. Seriously. Those casino shows.
Speaker: Yeah. Well, thanks Falls View. It was a nice venue. yeah it It took forever to get to the venue through all it all of the the tunnels and the walkways and, you know, chambers and escalators.
Speaker: And then up and up and up. Yeah. like are they playing on their roofof you know And then, yeah, now you got to walk all the way around to get to your letters, right? But our seats were good. And we we got to see everybody and the sound was really clear. I'm always worried about those kind of ah venues that they're going to sound like hollow and tinny.
Speaker: Right. Because I think that other, the Rama that we went to, I think sounded a little flat. Right. I hate, like, I don't go there. Yeah, seriously. soon as they say that's where they're playing, I'm like, nope.
Speaker: Nope, I'm out. And the cult, if you're listening, please stop playing at Casino Ram. Yes, please, cult. Nothing personal, but just, you know, you're not getting my money only because of that.
Speaker: Yeah, that's that's not where you want to be. But, yeah, Fallsview, I know it it's a drive for us, but it was it was an adventure. Yeah. it was ah It was a solid adventure. so Yeah, it was fantastic. Thank you, Human League.
Speaker: Thank you, Allison. Thank you, Mark. It's always great to see Mark. The the cool thing about about Mark Almond and Soft Cell was that um when he opened for Simple Minds last year, Mm-hmm. He was just kind of parked on the stage. So he didn't have anything behind him. Right. he didn't really get to do. ah ah Yeah. Like he didn't get to have any lights or anything. But this show, he had a full screen behind him.
Speaker: Every single song was jam packed with these beautiful, bright, flashing, you know, video images. Yeah. Yeah. I always think it must be a lot of fun to put that stuff together before. Yeah.
Speaker: Yeah, totally. Probably gets left to the last second, but you know, totally. That'd be a lot of fun. Just type memorabilia and lots of neon colors. Yeah, exactly. And so always a great, always, he's such a, such an amazing artist and it's so good to see him out there doing this. so So yes, thank you all you amazing artists for still giving us such amazing memories all these years later.
Speaker: Yes. And they didn't say they wouldn't be back. So it's like, okay, all right, come on back. Maybe he'll celebrate his 85th birthday with us. so Maybe.
Speaker: Oh, I didn't send you this link. There's a video on YouTube right now where it's AI, of course, where it's like, here's Gary Neumann from this year, you know greeting Gary Neumann of this year. And then they sit towards each other, shake hands, and then like walk into a pub. And then the next one was Phil Oakey, who didn't even look like Phil. you know And the hair was really bad. The Garys were fine, but for some reason it was a disaster. And the Phil of today. And then they shake hands and walk towards the camera. i'm like, I can't watch this. I get the spirit of it, but I didn't send that to you. You may find it on your own, but I'm just like, oh, no, like I can't. yeah
Speaker: It's a little... i I probably saw it and it was like, i yeah yeah, move along. Okay. look at yeah i don't know. I think it's just made for the sake of being made, you know?
Speaker: Yeah, totally. It would be worse if it was a video of me. I'm like, i don't want to see that. yeah Totally. Okay. One other thing before we get back to our our singles for 82.
Speaker: um I was at Sonic Boom today. Oh yeah. Yeah. Such a treat. That place was a freaking madhouse. Was it?
Speaker: Even on a long weekend? Yeah. So busy. So busy. um If you don't know, Sonic Boom is, I would say it's probably one of the biggest um record shops in Toronto.
Speaker: yeah they've They've got like ah like a basement of everything. um They've got CDs now and and cassette tapes, used records, new records, just everything.
Speaker: And I thought, well, I haven't been there for a while. So we were we had to go downtown in the area. So I thought, well, I just need a few minutes to browse. Went through and I came home with this. i don't know if you can see it.
Speaker: Hang on a second here. Yeah. So this was the the reissue, the anniversary of telecon Mm-hmm. How many years again? Sorry. Oh, my God. 45. Like, I'm not even 45. Am I 45? I must be. Who So, it's it's beautiful. and the The sleeve arts are like photography from the...
Speaker: i'm from the TeleTour, which was just amazing. Oh, look at that. oh know So beautiful. So excited. And it has four songs on it. One, which was the unreleased track called Like a B Film, um which is amazing. It's beautiful. And then he did early versions of three other songs from that album. So love this album. So excited.
Speaker: Cost a fortune. Well, yeah. But you know what? I can't wait to drop the needle on that one and play that because it's, uh, it was an amazing album. What an unexpected find, right? Yeah.
Speaker: Well, yeah. Cause I, I looked at it online and I'm like, yeah, shipping is going to just kill me here. So it's an expensive album plus shipping. And I'm like, no, just can't do it.
Speaker: So I, uh, I, when I saw it, I was like, wow, no, this is, this is worth it. So, and there was an $85 version that came with a tour book and I'm like, oh
Speaker: I know it's 85 bucks. It's a lot of money. yeah Yeah. Wow. But then it's so funny. Cause we were talking about like, well, how much would albums have been back in the eighties? And they were like 15 to 20 bucks. Import albums were really expensive.
Speaker: And I assume it's the shipping, you know, or yeah there was like too many middlemen or something, but it's like, if you wanted an album that wasn't domestic, it was like, wow, that's a lot of money back then. You know?
Speaker: Totally. yeah, Yeah, really crazy. um But so glad I picked that up. And remember how like records would be, like let's say, maybe $5.99, $6.99 sale. Like they were like like, who's who's spending I don't get that. I remember the first album, I'm like, Yeah.
Speaker: what like this is crazy Yeah. I remember, I remember going into the Bay, of course, the Bay is 40% more expensive than any other retailer back then.
Speaker: And I think the, the, I wanted to pick up Vulevu from ABBA and it was so much money. I was like, so far my allowance will never get me there.
Speaker: That's okay. All you need was the, does your mother know seven inch? Well, i ended up buying the whole album, so i did I did save up some money. I must have done some extra lawn cutting or something.
Speaker: Maybe. Maybe you just stole it. Yeah. No, I would have done that. and that's always I was a goody-goody two-shoes back then, so there's no way.
Speaker: It's funny because Eaton's always had a decent record department. you know like It's funny, all those department stores were fairly decent. you know and I just remember the thing about Eaton's was when it came to like film soundtracks, they had great selection. I'm like, why is that? Unless they were trying to find like little funny niches. you know But it's just like,
Speaker: you know, when all the other stores didn't have, you know, like Jaws 2 soundtrack, Eaton's would, you know. that So bizarre. Best part about Eaton's is I could put it on my Eaton's card and then and then I could grab a tuna sandwich on the way out. Okay, but get me those shortbread cookies because they were really good. Right. The one with the ones with the chocolate chips.
Speaker: Yeah, that's so awesome. um Old Toronto is... Control of 99, sorry. Yeah, exactly. Old Toronto posted um an Eaton's card and said, like, did you have one? I'm like, oh, yeah, I did. i really did. That was my lunch.
Speaker: They didn't scan them. So every transaction went through. Yeah, yeah. Sign here. I didn't tell you this. When we were cleaning up my dad's locker, my dad passed earlier this year unexpectedly. When we were cleaning up my dad's locker, he had one of those credit card machines. No. Isn't that funny? What was he selling? yeah I felt like, what can i do with this? And you know, now that I think about it I think I just put it in a box for my aunt. I should ask her, like, what did you do with that credit card machine? don't know what to call it, but...
Speaker: you know Yeah, what were they called? um I don't know. what i worked at yeah go ahead When I worked at A&As, we would take checks and those credit cards. you know You'd have to slug it through that thing yeah and then call it in and then write down the code they gave you. you know And I would get so, I didn't do it very often, but a couple times where I would switch you know charge X with Visa. you know like Oh no, I'm going to get fired. Yep.
Speaker: Yep. You just broke the whole entire thing. Oh my God. Okay. So what was, but what, what, what, what would be your, your single? where If we're talking about a single 1982, what got? Oh,
Speaker: what have you got like in that year it'd be like, what's your single of every week? You know what I mean? Like, it's just, it's just nothing but like success for every artist. Right. Um, I think if I had to, that's a really tough one.
Speaker: think when it comes to a seven inch, I think I'm split between, Look of Love by ABC, because it's one of those perfect singles, perfect pop songs. yeah And Mystery Boy by Culture Club was a single in Japan.
Speaker: And that's an incredible track, too. And it's kind of like there's so many other good songs. It's like, how do I just sit with that? You know, I can tell you my favorite 12 inch, my favorite LP when you're ready. But um but yeah, I it it just it kicks out so many other people but i think i'd have to say it's look of love and mystery boy is a tie okay so look of love yeah all right and what was it sorry what was the second one mystery boy by mystery boy oh yeah culture club okay oh that's good that's good i like that i mean ah
Speaker: As I've said many, many times before, this was one of the biggest years for me and music. Oh, it's massive. Yeah, there was so much. And so I spent so much money on vinyl that year because that was just but that's what i did. I would cut people's hair in high school. That's how I got ah album money to buy my expensive imports.
Speaker: we were kind of lucky because like imports aside so much got released domestically you know what mean like we were pretty lucky you know depending on the label again but like a lot of stuff was domestic which really helped yeah you know because at least if the if the import was 8.99 and if the domestic was a match it's like well it's 4.99 you know the huge gap when you're a kid you know yeah totally the price of one But if you're a completist or a snob like me, it's like, nope, just the import, please. Thank you.
Speaker: Totally. You can keep that domestic garbage. Exactly. So funny. and And I'm trying to remember what I had already said last time because I don't want to re repeat, but it's it's so hard not to. But maybe um for single, wow, that's hard.
Speaker: Can I say Living on the Ceiling from Blamage? Isn't that funny? We were just talking about that before we started recording. I know. i just i That was one of those songs. it was a It was a club song and it was one of those songs that just I pushed people out of the way to get to the dance floor. Okay, but wait a minute. If you're talking about clubs, what about Let Me Go?
Speaker: See, that was that was the other song that I pushed people out of the way, right? Yeah, like Heaven 17's Let Me Go. And i I have both of those singles, right? because they were And they were played. And then you know I probably said this one before too, Situation from Yazoo. Mm-hmm.
Speaker: Right. glassy Huge, huge. Right. Just massive. And i just I could not I could not get enough of any of those. But then also like anything from ABC, like it doesn't matter what it was.
Speaker: There was like everybody was active and everybody's putting out great stuff, you know. yeah And the we were talking the night of the show, the situation went on for years. Like that was playing in the club for like 10 years, yeah you know.
Speaker: So that's quite something. And if there were clubs today, I'm sure they'd still be playing it.
Speaker: I'm sure they would. Totally. Everyone just dances to phone. totally iran just dances to their phone
Speaker: Yeah, it's it's sad and scary. yeah But let's let's not be sad and scared. um Let's talk about 12-inch. Oh, sorry. 12-inch? Yeah, we go ahead. what yeah Okay, that's another tough one, too, because, of course, the 12-inch is a staple you know well before 82, right? Yes. So but I've got two again.
Speaker: Sorry. Summertime by Funboy3. has an incredible breakdown. And Torch by Soft Cell is another classic 12-inch, where it's got another classic, i don't know what you'd call it, not toasting, not rambling, but marks going on you know for a few minutes on its own.
Speaker: And it's just both of those 12-inch are flawless. you know And the funny thing is, if summertime comes on in my car and it's not summertime, i turn it off. what like nope you gotta to wait you have to wait and then in the summer when it comes on and it's the 12 inch i'm just like oh just just percussion god for me yeah what about you oh 12 inch i probably already said them all because i i had so many oh ah In the name of love, 12 inch Thompson twins. Yeah. Yeah. great
Speaker: yeah It's so easy. That thing got remixed that year too. You know, even though we weren't really doing that quite yet, you know, there was a few extra 12 inch of that, which was cool.
Speaker: Yeah, for sure. Yeah, i I remember that was one of those ones, you know, because remember back in the the days, i don't know if you did this, but we would sometimes pass albums and singles around because somebody had it. I might not to have the money to buy it right now. koke can I borrow it? Yeah, sure. And we pass things around. And that was one of those ones. It was just everybody have their hands on it.
Speaker: who Because it was just so amazing. Yeah. North America got a different sleeve to the UK. So I was like, oh, all right, I'll buy the domestic one as well. Thank you.
Speaker: And it's still mint in package. Pretty much. Yeah, I'm sure. It's funny you should mention them because I think my favorite video of that year is actually Lies by Thompson Twins.
Speaker: only because i was so excited for them to be branching off yeah as a threesome and going forward. And you know even though that was had to do a lot with the record label,
Speaker: just sort of putting those three together and saying that seems to work, you know, and of course it did. So it was just, it was an exciting time to be a Twins fan and see that happen.
Speaker: You know, you come off a couple of rock albums, I say rock, i don't what to call it, like indie rock. um which were great. I love those albums. But now they're going to take on, you know, a current sound. And so for Lies, you know, I think that's my favorite video only because it was the start of something.
Speaker: Wow. I just feel bad for the other nine band members. One of them just put out an album like who know did a couple weeks ago. Yeah. Well, that's good. I don't feel so bad. They're all right. $85. I was going to get, yeah, seriously. And it doesn't come with the tour cards.
Speaker: So sad. did you have a favorite music video that year? You know, I'm trying to remember because there was so many videos too. Oh yeah. ah Yeah. Like what, what was it? I'm trying to remember. Yeah.
Speaker: Because that's that's really going back. Because we we did have we didn't have um very much video on TV yet. Because we didn't have much music yet.
Speaker: oh Oh, you didn't have local shows? or No, well we had one it was called Night Dreams. Okay. And they played just the weirdest stuff. like a lot of What are they called? The Residents?
Speaker: Oh, okay. Right? It was just really like fish heads. I saw that video way too many times. Yeah. So I don't remember seeing a lot of videos back then. I mean, I would see them sometimes in clubs if clubs had a big screen. But even that didn't didn't happen for a while yet.
Speaker: Yeah. So I'm going to have to say i i'm kind of drawing a blank on the video. And I never even thought about videos. that That's a great topic we could talk about in a future episode. Yeah, because videos were so funny back then because they were never about just straightforward, you know, act out the lyrics.
Speaker: Because I prefer just performance videos. but It would always be these like weird, ah like yeah surreal. I'm like, what what? What are we doing here? you know odd, you know.
Speaker: um It was a great year because ah the soundtrack to Party Party had Bananarama covering the Sex Pistols, No Feelings. It is fabulous. And I was so excited when they did that.
Speaker: And also, like, their drummer on the first few singles was from the Sex Pistols as well. So to have them sort of cover them was actually really cool as a fan. and like, wow, that's amazing, you know.
Speaker: But for album tracks that year, one's a pretty special one for me. Yeah. But also Hold Back the Rain, Duran Duran, you know. Oh, yeah. Yeah.
Speaker: Yeah. and And they were like the the the gold standard of video. Yeah. Right. So talk about video. It's like, OK, well, then there was them. you know they changed everything that hungry like the wolf was that the first one where they were always like really putting some money behind it yeah that's the one where they went on location and they made a film and it was it was mind-blowing everybody's like what the heck we were all just standing in front of some fake instruments them and the police like it wasn't a police fan but they yeah they seemed to have some money behind them too for videos
Speaker: Because they were so huge, right? Yeah. Yeah, they really, really were. and their their Their labels were probably like, yeah, we'll throw some money in this new thing. so Yeah, I remember i remember a lot of times I would see Culture Club, which was great to see because he was such a um like a fashion icon as well. like Boy George was just, this is what we did. And it's funny because we were talking earlier where you said something about, oh, people call you Boy George. And I'm like, I had that happen to me.
Speaker: Some guys drove by a car, in a car, and they said, hey, Boy George. Yeah, that's all anybody knows to say, right? Well, also, I did have like rags in my hair and a you know little hat on top of my head and some big baggy jeans held up with a rope. So I was kind of doing the Boy George thing. Oh, the rope belts. Oh, my gosh. I remembered that. Oh, my gosh. Rolling up your big baggy jeans.
Speaker: Yeah. And your giant dress shirts. Yeah. Yeah. there Half tucked the buttons done on, you know, wrong. Yeah. Your handcuffs and your bangles.
Speaker: Yes. I got kicked out of art class in grade 11 because my bangles were making too much noise.
Speaker: He's like, I'm sorry, you're so distracting. He's like, you'll have to take your jewelry off or you'll have to leave. so funny. That's like hairspray. Once again, your hair preventing another student's education.
Speaker: i had ah I had a teacher call out my hair as well. And he said, you know, I'm sorry, but your hair is just way too distracting. So funny. I'm like, yeah, well, that's how it is. Kids were so boring until that time. You know what mean? Totally.
Speaker: But it's funny too how at the same time we were all doing all this sort of crazy stuff with our hair that all of a all like the rocker kids, all a sudden their hair was starting to get bigger and bigger and bigger. Right? So it was it was almost like it was all happening to us all the same time, but just we all you know manifested it a little bit differently.
Speaker: Because it seems like like the the funk artists and the metal artists all were about makeup and mesh yeah and a thousand studded belts and, you know, and yeah, giant hair. And it's like, that's so funny because you're sort of just versions of the like post new romantic, you know, but they're all sort of really tacky version.
Speaker: Yeah, yeah, totally. I'm looking at you, Billy Idol. And in it all it all still came from the whole glam area, right? Mm-hmm. Which is so awesome. Yes, glam forever. Yes, yes, yes, yes.
Speaker: So awesome. Yes, yes, yes. All right. Well, you know what? This has been a great conversation. I'm always, I'm always worried that if we get a duplicate, we're going to run out of things to talk about, but we never do. We've got so much to talk about.
Speaker: The next year you draw is going to 82. I'll have to push that one aside if it's another 82. Sorry. It's just, I just can't do another 82. That's so funny. So hopefully we get a different year, something a lot more fun.
Speaker: um ah yeah, so yeah, So awesome. It was great to talk with you. I'm not going to do any quiz stuff because we had such a great conversation. Oh, okay. Yeah, so I'll save those. You're off the hook today. No questions. But who knows what's going to happen next time?
Speaker: Oh, God. Okay. Yeah. It'll be double the questions. And they're going to be really hard. I believe the answer is 1982, Josh. Yes, correct. Ding, ding, ding. It's always 1982. Awesome. important All right. We're going to wrap it up. and' say Don't forget, um social media, Gen X for Life podcast.
Speaker: And this is That TV Sound. And you can find us where you find your favorite podcasts. And don't forget to subscribe just so you can keep keep in touch.
Speaker: And I will take that bonk out at some point. So don't you worry. three That's ah okay. It happens. It's a technical. All right. Have a good one. We'll talk to you soon.
Speaker: Hey, you've been listening to That TV Sound with your host, Josh Downing. This podcast is produced and created by Josh Downing as part of the Gen X for Life Network. Look for more info on socials at the Gen X for Life podcast.
Speaker: That's Gen X number four, life underscore podcast.
