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Tears For Fears
Listen to Tears For Fears:
It's difficult to figure how some great English singles from the late ‘70s and early ‘80s never reached the top 40. In case you were wondering why they don't appear in this book, "Tempted" by Squeeze stalled out at #49 while Elvis Costello's "Allison" never even charted. Neither did “I Confess” or “Save it for Later” by the English Beat. "Mad World", "Pale Shelter" and "Change" were all played like Muzak at dance clubs and on alternative radio, but despite their tuneful melodicism and tasteful production, Tears For Fears couldn't crack the top 40, either. It took English new wave bands a few years to settle down and sink in in America and by the time they did, there really was no such thing as “new wave” any longer. This wasn't so much because musical tastes changed as because the music itself had moved so far away from its punky roots that any connection became virtually unrecognizable. Claiming post-punk allegiance through the influence of credible bands such as Joy Division and the punk-approved primal scream theories of psychologist Arthur Janov, Tears For Fears were a third-generation (punk/new wave/post-new wave) band that maintained its dignity with the roots-conscious crowd. At the same time, the band’s bright and airy production techniques helped their depressing themes gain national exposure with audiences who could not care less about punk.
With the release of their second album, Songs From The Big Chair, Tears For Fears finally caught the public's ear with an attention to production details that left us little choice. As crisp, bright and crystal clear as recorded sound gets, "Everybody Wants to Rule the World" poured over the airwaves and immediately captivated the public's attention. Assisted by producer Chris Hughes, principal bandmembers Curt Smith and Roland Orzabel crafted a record of sonic richness that was instantly attractive. It boasted an undeniably (though superficially) infectious sound that was reminiscent of the days when pure pop music existed for no other reason than to make us feel good, and it climbed all the way to #1. On a roll, the band culled three other singles from the album, all of which reached the top 40 ("Shout", an ode to Janov's principles, reached #1 for three weeks, "Head Over Heels" reached #3 and "Mother's Talk" stopped at #27). Tears For Fears were 1985's flavor of the year, probably because people were willing to overlook the consistently depressing messages in their lyrics. Although their music was thematically limited, the recordings themselves were a fascinating blend of catchy hooks and sharp execution, but could this be so easily dismissed as middle-of-the-road pop?
As punk was gestating into new wave, Europe experienced a tidal wave of regional bands on independent labels, unlike anything previously known. England, Scotland, and Ireland were awash with groups of kids with no discernible musical abilities rehearsing original material in their council flats, while labels were recording and releasing their product faster than they could learn how to play their instruments. Some, like Joy Division/New Order, the Cure and Echo and the Bunnymen became influential and creative despite their instrumental shortcomings, while others were hardly a flash in the pan. This punk-inspired, British-based movement penetrated America, particularly New York, as an urban nightclub subculture that was separate from the traditional music scene of the time. Dance clubs from previous eras, such as the Electric Circus and the Peppermint Lounge, were active once again, along with scores of other, newer ones, and all featured live bands (usually after midnight) and Deejays who prided themselves on playing some of the most obscure records of the post-new wave era.
This mini-movement was itself splintered into various sub-sets. The most famous, common and easily dismissible of these were the 'haircut bands' (A Flock Of Seagulls, the Thompson Twins, Culture Club, Duran Duran) which became popular for their looks as much as for their sound. A spin-off sect of this was the “new romantics” (Ultravox, Spandau Ballet, Visage, Adam and the Ants), with their high blown theories of fashion over substance and a cliquey attitude that made nonbelievers feel thoroughly unwelcome and unworthy. Another subset was the synth-pop movement (Depeche Mode, Yazoo, Soft Cell, the Pet Shop Boys), whose bands usually featured an electronic keyboard player (or a bank of them) and a front person who sang over coolly scintillating (and simplistic) dance music. Usually, their material was inspired by American soul music but in place of burning passion was an icy detachment that lent their music an impenetrable gauze. Yet another popular subset was what my friends and I referred to as the "crybaby bands." Using their material solely as a means of personal catharsis, the crybaby bands (including the Cure, the Birthday Party and in particular, Joy Division and its stable of label mates on Manchester's Factory Records) wallowed in songs about self-pity, depression and suicide as though they were something worth celebrating.
Somewhere in the middle of this morass, Tears For Fears were created. Borrowing the synthesizer-laden sound and dual personality approach of the synth-pop movement, then dubbing psychologically confused lyrics onto their well-executed productions, Roland Orzabel and Curt Smith created a more palatable form of stylistic depression. Although doom and gloom were ubiquitous in their work, Tears For Fears incorporated production values that always enlivened the proceedings. As humorless as a band could be, they seemed to rely on the production stage to kick their mournful butts into gear- which leads me to believe that the truly pleasant sound of "Everybody Wants To Rule The World" was really a happy accident. With such a bright and bouncy riff reverberating throughout the song, it's easy to disregard the sourpuss sentiments of the lyrics. From the beginning, it was impossible to deny Tears For Fears' attention to detail, but "Everybody Wants To Rule The World" has a sound that instantly asserts itself. To be honest, the record is great more for how it sounds than for what it says, which is all well and good, but it raises a significant question; is it really rock and roll? By deliberately throwing their passion on ice and displaying a morbid obsession with their own psyches as well as a detachment from anybody else's, Tears For Fears disregards entirely the communal connection that defines some of the best rock and roll. Furthermore, the "shoe-gazing" stance (an expression derived from the post-new-wave English bands’ tendencies to stand around on stage in a sulky pose) of Tears For Fears and their ilk (China Crisis, Jesus and Mary Chain, Lloyd Cole and the Commotions) doesn't invite interaction at all except perhaps to stare at your own shoes as well. While most of these bands were commercially dense, Tears For Fears had a full palette of melodies and sounds to lure us in. Although lyrically self-obsessed, they created aurally wondrous ear candy that overrode the flimsy limitations of their dime-store analytical lyrics. In 1985, this is what America was looking for, and from an ocean of struggling post-new wave English bands, Tears For Fears were among the first to significantly crack the American market. They did this just in time, too, because the English music scene was about to subdivide itself to death. By 1987, English music had spread itself so thin that it dissipated.
 
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