Repost: Culture Club

This is my repost of the post originally appearing June 8, 2011.

The 1980s were an era of colorful, quirky music qroups. Early in the decade, MTV went on the air, initiating the era of music videos, and exposing American culture to the quirky musical subculture called New Wave. New Wave dated to the late 1970s, with the emergence, in the wake of punk, of arty, quirky musical acts like the Talking Heads, Devo, Elvis Costello, Nick Lowe, and Blondie. But its comibation with the new media of MTV in the early '80s exposed it on a large scale to the American public, and turned it from a oddball subculture, into mainstream culture. And America ate it up.

A large number of the groups given exposure by MTV came from Britain, and thus, in 1982-83, was initiated what was called the Second British Invasion... the first being the 1964-65 invasion of British musical groups like the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, the Animals, Hermans Hermits, and the like. The Second British invasion of 1982-83 was similarly a cultural and musical invasion and included the likes of very popular multi-hit acts like Duran Duran, the Police, Culture Club, Eurythmics, and the Human League and lesser lights such as ska revivalist Madness, catchy celtic tinged popsters Dexys Midnight Runners, and synth virtuoso Thomas Dolby.

Culture club was one of the more memorable groups to come out of this invasion. Emerging out of the Bowie-inspired theatrical New Romantic subculture, Culture Club was an easily recgnizable presence during the early '80s, due in large part to their gender bending lead signer, Boy George.




The very first big hit for Culure Club in the U.S. was 1982's "Do You Really Want to Hurt Me," which really hit big the following year. I still remember vividly watching this video, and just being amazed at this andogynous character singing this remarkably catchy tune. This was also around the time I started getting into music videos, itself still a new medium, and it was also when I really started getting into music in a big way. It was my early teens, and my sense of being an adolescent was growing strong. This new, shiny quirky catchy music just captured my imagination.

Culture Club would have many more hits in the '80s, all this catchy soulful pop punctuated by Boy George's rather rather appealing smooth voice. Among them, "Karma Chamelion," below, which is another wondeful example of the music video medium, and the optimistic catchy popishness of the New Romantic/New Wave era.

Repost: Kink's "Come Dancing"

Here's a re-post of a previous post, which is also sort-of a follow up to my last post on the great musical year of 1983. One of the biggest happenings of 1983 was the "Second British Invasion" of bands, which I have written about frequently on this blog.  This was the era of Culture Club, Duran Duran, Eurythmics, and so many others. One of the more interesting occurrences of the Second British Invasion was the re-emergence of the great '60s band, The Kinks, on American airwaves with their wonderful song "Come Dancing." This post was originally presented on November 9, 2011.

 

The Kinks first became well known during the first British Invasion of music groups during the 1964-1965 era, with hits such as "You Really Got Me," and "All Day and All of the Night," and "Tired of Waiting for You."  In 1970, they again hit on both sides of the Atlantic, with "Lola."  Although the Kinks continued to make music, and continued their popularity in the U.K., they largely disappeared from the U.S. charts during the '70s.

Then in 1983, after an absence of many years, the Kinks joined in the Second British Invasion of the U.S. music charts, and had a big hit with a wonderful song called "Come Dancing." "Come Dancing" was a sentimental gem of a song which tenderly recalled times past. According to Wikipedia:

 

 The song is a nostalgic look back at childhood memories of its writer: the Kinks' frontman Ray Davies, remembering his older sister going on dates to the local Palais dance hall where big bands would play. The lyrics tell how the Palais has been demolished and his sister now has her own daughters who are going on dates.

"Come Dancing" is a tribute to Davies' sister Rene who bought him his first guitar, with the song's lyrics affording Davies' sister a happy life denied her in reality. Living in Canada with her (reportedly abusive) husband, the 31-year-old Rene was visiting her parental home in Fortis Green at the time of Ray Davies' thirteenth birthday — 21 June 1957 — on which she surprised him with a gift of the Spanish guitar he'd tried to persuade his parents to buy him. On the evening of the same day, Rene — who had a weak heart as a result of a childhood bout of rheumatic fever — suffered a fatal heart attack while dancing at the Lyceum ballroom.

Its a sweet song, and a great song for a comeback by the Kinks onto the American airwaves.

Flashbacks to 1983

Surfing the net this past week, I came across some items about that monumental year in pop music, 1983. That year has always been a favorite of mine, and considering the happenings occurring in the music scene that year, it has claim to being one of the most eventful years in rock and pop history. It was, after all, the year of Thriller, of the Second British Invasion, and the year when MTV surged forward as a cutting edge music medium.

This article in the Toledo Free Press gives us a flashback to a memory from that era regarding one of the most popular groups of the decade The Police, and their great 1983 album, Synchronicity:

At 17, I was at the zenith of my love for record collecting, 

but I would walk past the new releases to check the torn-out 

Billboard pages tacked over the singles bin. I had been raised 

on country-western music; other than my mom’s Beatles LPs, I 

did not know much about pop. During a swim party at a friend’s 

in the spring of 1979, I heard the slashing guitars and 

hysterical pleadings of “Roxanne,” and I never again settled 

for steel guitars and Nashville slickness. I followed 

The Police through their exponentially successful rise of 

“Message in a Bottle,” “Don’t Stand So Close to Me” and 

“Every Little Thing She Does is Magic.” 

When “Every Breath You Take” exploded in the summer of 1983, I 

followed its chart progress like a sports fan rooting for a 

team’s pennant chase. I still remember the numbers: A debut at 

No. 36, a jump to No. 24, a leap to No. 12, a move to No. 5, 

then an eight-week run at No. 1 that, as a longtime fan 

of the band, made me feel as triumphant as if I had 

written the song myself.

No song dominates the memory like a summer song, and to                          this day, hearing the pistol-shot opening of “Every Breath                         You Take” takes me back to the summer of 1983.

The '80s blog Rediscover the '80s, had a post recently about another 1983 group and album, Huey Lewis and The News' Sports. Here's some memories from that post:

Once I was able to save up and buy my own music 

in the mid-late 80s, I remember acquiring Sports on 

cassette. I loved it. I also remember it still being one I 

listened to in the car when I first learned how to drive in 

the early 90s. It's one of those albums that I never used 

the fast forward button on (maybe rewind.)  . . .

The music blog All Music encapsulates the spirit of 1983 this way:

If any year captured the heady rush of the early '80s, it was 1983, 

the year Michael Jackson's Thriller became a phenomenon and, not 

coincidentally, the year of MTV's prime. The cable network debuted two 

years earlier but '83 was when music videos took over, popping up on 

cable channels and network TV, and along with videos came a glorious 

period of hit singles by one-hit wonders, new invaders from 

Britain, and veterans who now mastered synths and drum machines, 

the latter inexplicably led by grizzled, hairy blues-rockers ZZ Top and 

the visionary jazz-fusion keyboardist Herbie Hancock. Underneath all 

this televised glitz were some major debuts: the first albums from 

Madonna, Metallica, R.E.M., and Hüsker Dü, and the first singles from 

the Smiths and Run-D.M.C. And there were the mammoth hits -- yes, 

Thriller, but also Def Leppard's Pyromania and the Police's Synchronicity, 

all giving us more than enough reason to love 1983.

Here's one of my own fave memories from 1983:

'80s Bowie

David Bowie burst forth in 1983 with a new, more mainstream image. Whereas a great deal of his '70s work conveyed an alienated and searching demeanor, his '80s material had a more positive, yet still individualistic and arty, vibe.

In 1983, Bowie rode the wave of New Wave/New Romantic mus
ic which then dominated MTV, and which served as one of the main contributors to the new media of music video. His music, as intelligent and quirky as ever, had a new energy. For example, here is his video for "China Girl" from his 1983 Let's Dance album.

Bowie joined the great Second British Invasion which was at that time crashing onto American airwaves. And his fellow British musicians of that period were often Bowies own admirers, who has grown up on, and were inspired by Bowie in his earlier '70s incarnations. Bowie was the topic of the cover story of the July 18, 1983 issue of Time  magazine ("David Bowie Rockets Onward."), which had the following observations:

"At 36,  the oldest fresh force in rock, this new Bowie seems to share few 

qualities with the old Ziggy, the polymorphous camp extravaganza, the most gilded

lily of rock's gaudiest age. What binds these identities together is a gift that is

cerebral and carnal, frequently danceable and always entertaining. His former

crony Lou Reed has sung about it. Deep down inside, Bowie has

a rock-'n'-roll heart. . .

. . . Musically however, Bowie always seems to know what time it is; no need

for verification. His new material is unabashedly commercial, melodically

aliterative and lyrically smart at the same time. Bowie made some

of the most adventurous rock of the past decade.  When it did not work,

it sounded trendy and tuned out. But when it did hit, which was most of the time, it

laid down rules and set new marks for others to follow. Bowie kept the cutting edge

keen. There are few punks or New Wavers or art rockers or New Dancers

dancing to New Music who do not owe him an abiding debt. Every one from

Gary Numan to Talking Heads and Culture Club ought to make a

deep bow in his direction.

Bowie, ever quirky and multifaceted, dabbled in various art forms... music, video, film, theatre. Early in the decade, he performed as the title character in a production of The Elephant Man.  And above, his 1984 hit song "Blue Jean," featured on his 1984 album  Tonight, also was featured in a short film called Jazzin For Blue Jean. The video for the song features a clip from the film.

In 1985 Bowie performed a duet with Mick Jagger, of the '60s sould classic "Dancing in the Streets."

And  in 1986, Bowie perfomed in the fantasy film Labyrinth, produced by Star Wars'  own George Lucas, and featuring creatures created by The Muppets' inventor Jim Henson.

At the conclusion of the decade, Bowie found himself at his most mainstream, a situation which would lead to the criticism by many that he was not as creative as he had been in the seminal years of the 1970s. Nevertheless, the flip side of that is that Bowie was probably never as influential or as respected as he was in the 1980s, as the wave of new musicians cited him as a major influence, and the increasingly theatrical and multi-media nature of '80s music followed in his footsteps.

David Bowie's Changes

David Bowie, the seminal musician who played such a role in '70s and '80s music, has emerged from years of inactivity with an interesting new song and video. On January 8, 2013, Bowie's 66th birthday, he released "Where Are We Now" an unusual and penetrating contemplation of things past and present.

 

Its a moody and brooding song, seemingly filled with nostalgia.  The imagery and lyrics evoke Bowie's time in Berlin during the late '70s, a time when he produced, together with producer Brian Eno, a trilogy or searching and innovative albums. "A man lost in time. . . walking the dead," he sings.

 

Frankly, moodiness included, I cant help but feel that the song captures some of my own feelings of wistfullness and thoughtfullness I sometimes find myself feeling recently.

This served a good time for me to finally complete a post on Bowie I had been long planning... which Im actually going to divide into two posts.

The 1980s could not have been what they were without Bowie, as his influence spread heavily among the New Wave/New Romantic groups which dominated the MTV video scene, and the Second British Invasion of the early '80s.

 

Bowie has been known as a chameleon of sorts, working his way through various artistic personas. His big breakthrough came with the his character "Ziggy Stardust," an androgynous space traveler turned rock star which who was also the title character of the concept album, The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars (1972).

 

 

 

 Over the course of the '70s, Bowie went through various stages, from the Ziggy-dominated glam era of the early '70s, to a more cool and icy era of the Thin White Duke, to the late '70s Berlin era of cutting edge music. His characters all had in common a sense of alienation, separateness, and individualism. At one point, he starred as the title character of the Nicholas Roeg film, The Man Who Fell To Earth (1976), about an space alien disaffected and separate from the world around him.

 

Bowie's visually stunning image, as shown in the above '70s video for "Life On Mars?" influenced many an artsy rock kid, many of whom dominate the MTV era with colorful and creative videos, and quirky music. Boy George, Annie Lennox, Duran Duran, all drew inspiration from Bowie.

 

 

Bowie himself became a major part of the Second British Invasion of 1983, with that year's Lets Dance album, and a hopeful, upbeat and vibrant new image. . . one which was perfectly in tune with the hopefulness and energy of the '80s. That positive spirit is shown in the catchy song and video, "Modern Love" from the Lets Dance album.

 

 

 

 

More on Bowie in the '80s in my next post....

 

Re-Post: Do They Know Its Christmas

 

 

The following post contains material from two previous posts which originally appeared in December of 2011. I re-post them together here. There is a running theme between the two portions, which is the charity and hope which is part of the season. I dedicate this post to the community of Newtown, Connecticut, and to all those who have dealt with tragedy in recent times.
 

In 1984, a group of primarily British and Irish musicians united to collect fund for famine relief in Africa. A project initiated by musicians Bob Geldof and Midge Ure, they called themselves Band Aid, and they released a memorable Christmas single called "Do They Know Its Christmas." Band Aid was literally a "whos who" of the '80s British music scene, and included, among others, such names as Boy George, Sting, George Michael, Phil Collins, David Bowie and members of Bananarama, Duran Duran, and U2.
 

"Do They Know Its Christmas" went on to become a major holiday song in 1984, and a wonderful memory of that year. It also ultimately led to additional efforts at famine relief, such as USA for Africa and the enormous Live Aid concert in 1985.

Heres one of the groups which took part in Band Aid and Live Aid, U2, doing a great '80s Christmas Song: "(Christmas) Baby Please Come Home," off of the '80s charity album "A Very Special Christmas."

Eurythmics- Who's That Girl

Still with the Eurythmics...

I always thought that Annie Lennox had a wonderful, expressive voice that could be so many things depending on the song: lighthearted, soulful, intense, etc.  

Here's a Eurythmics song and video that showcase both Lennox's voice, and the striking visual imagery the group was known for back in the '80s. 

The year: 1983.

Eurythmics: Sweet Dreams

One of the most truly vibrant and creative music groups of the '80s was the synth pop duo Eurythmics.  I've decided to dedicate a series of posts to this great '80s musical act.

Eurythmics crashed onto the shores of America in 1983 as part of the Second British Invasion of music, adding their visually and musically bracing style to the colorful lineup of musical acts which were then breaking through. This was a time when music videos were new and novel, and often featured a New Wave style of music which was often steeped in unconventionality and heavy in synthesizers. The Eurythmics were perfectly made for the era. 

Annie Lennox probably was the more distinct member of the duo, her arty theatrical style reflected the androgyny that often characterized the era. 

Eurythmic's breakthrough hit was 1983's "Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)", a catchy synth song with ominous lyrics which became gigantically popular on both sides of the Atlantic. The video for the song was very memorable . . . and well remembered by many of those who grew up in the era.

Limahl's Neverending Story (& New Single)

Heres a wonderful blast from the '80s past....

Limahl originally invaded the American pop charts as the lead singer of the British new wave group Kajagoogoo, who were part of the enormous Second British Invasion of music groups in 1983. Their big hit was "Too Shy." Limahl later had a solo hit with the enchanting theme to the movie, The Neverending Story.  

Turn around
Look at what you see...
In her face
The mirror of your dreams...


Make believe I'm everywhere
Given in the light
Written on the pages 
Is the answer to a never ending story...
Ah...


Reach the stars
Fly a fantasy...
Dream a dream
And what you see will be...

Thanks to my fellow '80s retro blogger Rediscover the '80s I've discovered that Limahl is putting out a great new '80s style single celebrating the year of the Second British music invasion, 1983. The song is also called "1983", and starts by declaring that the singer want 'to go back in time." Back in time to the '80s. 


Rediscover the '80s has a good deal of material on it, including an audio clip of an excellent interview with the artist himself with a full clip of the song. In the interview, Limahl does a great job of expressing how much he loves the era of the '80s, and how exciting it was to be a part of the music scene back then.


Here's Kajagoogoo... back in their heyday of the '80s!

Update:


I have had the pleasure of receiving a post from Kai Lofthus, a professional and guru in the area of media, music and marketing, one of whose recent projects is the new Limahl single "1983" reported above. I checked out his site, which includes the much material on the new Limahl single and its inspiration.


He also left me a link to the great interview with Limahl, originally on XM Sirius radios "the Morning Jolt" with Larry Flick. Here's the link:


http://soundcloud.com/digmusic/limahl-on-sirius-xms-the

Another Update:


WOW!! Limahl himself has mentioned this blog on Twitter. 


http://twitter.com/limahl1


Thank you, Limahl !!  And we're with you 100% on bringing back that great era, the '80s!!

Hungry Like The Wolf

Here's the adventurous music video for Duran Duran's big 1983 hit "Hungry Like The Wolf."  

This was a breakthrough hit for Duran Duran, a band which exploded onto popularity in America as part of the Second British Invasion, and which would go on to score a large number of more hits during the '80s.


This week has been devoted to the Second British Invasion of music groups which exploded onto the American music scene in 1983. My previous posts on the subject are below. I encourage checking them out:


Repost: MTV and the Second British Invasion Groups: Culture Club


"Britain Rocks America- Again"


The Police


The Kinks: "Come Dancing"

Repost: Second British Invasion: Madness and Thomas Dolby

Repost: Second British Invasion: Madness and Thomas Dolby

This is a re-post of the June 23, 2011 post. I'm re-posting it as part of a week devoted to the Second British Invasion.


The Second British Invasion of 1983 is most often associated with its most popular acts, like Duran Duran, Culture Club, Eurythmics and the Police. But the launching of MTV brought exposure to a large number of quirky bands from both sides of the Atlantic. And the new art form of music videos generated a lot of creative, quirky and fun-loving masterpieces. Heres two such examples from the UK:

The Second British Invasion of the early '80s really did open the door for Americans to access a wide range of arty British musical culture which had not made it to the USA before. A lot of it was from the various subgenres which sprung up in the New Wave aftermath of punk in the '70s and early '80s. One example is the group Madness. Madness originated in the ska reveival which took place in Britain around 1978-79, but which didn't really obtain too much exposure in the United States. Finally, in 1983, Madness joined the British Invasion to hit it big with the chipper, catchy song "Our House," a big hit in '83.  The writer Simon Reynolds, in his book, "Rip It Up and Start Again" compared this song to the Beatle's "Penny Lane."

The Second British Invasion also brought the quirky, creative synth-pop of Thomas Dolby. A good example of it is the sonf "She Blinded Me With Science," which actually became more of a hit in America than in the UK. And a big hit it was. The video is an excellent example of how creative and fun-loving video could be during the early '80s. It kind of reminds me of the Beatles films in the late '60s, with its quirky humor and smile-inducing imagery.

The Kinks- "Come Dancing"

The Kinks first became well known during the first British Invasion of music groups during the 1964-1965 era, with hits such as "You Really Got Me," and "All Day and All of the Night," and "Tired of Waiting for You."  In 1970, they again hit on both sides of the Atlantic, with "Lola."  Although the Kinks continued to make music, and continued their popularity in the U.K., they largely disappeared from the U.S. charts during the '70s.

Then in 1983, after an absence of many years, the Kinks joined in the Second British Invasion of the U.S. music charts, and had a big hit with a wonderful song called "Come Dancing." "Come Dancing" was a sentimental gem of a song which tenderly recalled times past. According to Wikipedia:

 The song is a nostalgic look back at childhood memories of its writer: the Kinks' frontman Ray Davies, remembering his older sister going on dates to the local Palais dance hall where big bands would play. The lyrics tell how the Palais has been demolished and his sister now has her own daughters who are going on dates.

"Come Dancing" is a tribute to Davies' sister Rene who bought him his first guitar, with the song's lyrics affording Davies' sister a happy life denied her in reality. Living in Canada with her (reportedly abusive) husband, the 31-year-old Rene was visiting her parental home in Fortis Green at the time of Ray Davies' thirteenth birthday — 21 June 1957 — on which she surprised him with a gift of the Spanish guitar he'd tried to persuade his parents to buy him. On the evening of the same day, Rene — who had a weak heart as a result of a childhood bout of rheumatic fever — suffered a fatal heart attack while dancing at the Lyceum ballroom.

Its a sweet song, and a great song for a comeback by the Kinks onto the American airwaves.

"Britain Rocks America- Again"

On January 23, 1984, Newsweek magazine featured a cover with Boy George and Annie Lennox, and a big article about the colorful wave of new British music groups which were invading America with help the help of the new cutting edge music channel, MTV. According to Newsweek:

"The British are coming -again. Twenty Years after the Beatles first appeared on 'The Ed Sullivan show,' conquering America. with their long hair, cheeky wit and pell mell rock and roll, a new wave of British bands is exciting a new generation of American fans."

Newsweek described the style of the new groups:

"Irony abounds. The mood is sardonic. Singers sometimes border on catatonic. And the look of the new  bands is something else again. Some of them sport clothes and haircuts that recall 'Brideshead Revisited.' Others evoke 'Blade Runner' or 'the Road warrior.' Still others recall Marlon Brando in 'The Wild One.' Lined up, they would form an improbable parade of ghouls, transvestites, bikers with spiked dog collars, mercenaries in battle fatigues, tie-dyed tramps and dapper young squires."

I think the description is a bit much, but it shows how mainstream culture viewed this colorful new, varied musical style, with its odd styles and quirky videos. But for many of us growing up at the time, its was all fun and exciting and new.

The article goes on to describe the American attraction to the new British musical invasion:

"America is welcoming the new wave with open arms -- and wallets. The extent of the new British beachhead was revealed on July 16, 1983, when 18 singles of British origin appeared in the American Top 40, eclipsing the previous record, set on June 19, 1965. Heading the list of last summer's top British groups was the Police. Close behind were other such familiar stars as David Bowie, the 37 year old godfather to many of the new British groups, and the Kinks, veterans of the first British invasion, enjoying their biggest hit in years. But the brightest names were Culture Club and Eurythmics - two new groups that continue to dominate American airwaves six months later. Culture Club is currently enjoying its fifth straight Top 40 single and Eurythmics has just released and striking new album, "Touch," that contains some of the strongest electronic pop yet. Meanwhile the bland but best selling Duran Duran, with its glamorous video clips, is preparing a North American tour that some insiders predict will be one of the top grosses of the spring season."

Repost: MTV and The Second British Invasion Groups: Culture Club

This is my repost of the June 8, 2011 post. I'm re-posting it as the beginning of a week of posts devoted to the Second British Invasion: the wave of British music groups which invaded American culture in 1982-83 with the help of MTV.

The 1980s were an era of colorful, quirky music qroups. Early in the decade, MTV went on the air, initiating the era of music videos, and exposing American culture to the quirky musical subculture called New Wave. New Wave dated to the late 1970s, with the emergence, in the wake of punk, of arty, quirky musical acts like the Talking Heads, Devo, Elvis Costello, Nick Lowe, and Blondie. But its comibation with the new media of MTV in the early '80s exposed it on a large scale to the American public, and turned it from a oddball subculture, into mainstream culture. And America ate it up.

A large number of the groups given exposure by MTV came from Britain, and thus, in 1982-83, was initiated what was called the Second British Invasion... the first being the 1964-65 invasion of British musical groups like the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, the Animals, Hermans Hermits, and the like. The Second British invasion of 1982-83 was similarly a cultural and musical invasion and included the likes of very popular multi-hit acts like Duran Duran, the Police, Culture Club, Eurythmics, and the Human League and lesser lights such as ska revivalist Madness, catchy celtic tinged popsters Dexys Midnight Runners, and synth virtuoso Thomas Dolby.

Culture club was one of the more memorable groups to come out of this invasion. Emerging out of the Bowie-inspired theatrical New Romantic subculture, Culture Club was an easily recgnizable presence during the early '80s, due in large part to their gender bending lead signer, Boy George.




The very first big hit for Culure Club in the U.S. was 1982's "Do You Really Want to Hurt Me," which really hit big the following year. I still remember vividly watching this video, and just being amazed at this andogynous character singing this remarkably catchy tune. This was also around the time I started getting into music videos, itself still a new medium, and it was also when I really started getting into music in a big way. It was my early teens, and my sense of being an adolescent was growing strong. This new, shiny quirky catchy music just captured my imagination.

Culture Club would have many more hits in the '80s, all this catchy soulful pop punctuated by Boy George's rather rather appealing smooth voice. Among them, "Karma Chamelion," below, which is another wondeful example of the music video medium, and the optimistic catchy popishness of the New Romantic/New Wave era.

Second British Invasion: Madness and Thomas Dolby

The Second British Invasion of 1983 is most often associated with its most popular acts, like Duran Duran, Culture Club, Eurythmics and the Police. But the launching of MTV brought exposure to a large number of quirky bands from both sides of the Atlantic. And the new art form of music videos generated a lot of creative, quirky and fun-loving masterpieces. Heres two such examples from the UK:



The Second British Invasion of the early '80s really did open the door for Americans to access a wide range of arty British musical culture which had not made it to the USA before. A lot of it was from the various subgenres which sprung up in the New Wave aftermath of punk in the '70s and early '80s. One example is the group Madness. Madness originated in the ska reveival which took place in Britain around 1978-79, but which didn't really obtain too much exposure in the United States. Finally, in 1983, Madness joined the British Invasion to hit it big with the chipper, catchy song "Our House," a big hit in '83.  The writer Simon Reynolds, in his book, "Rip It Up and Start Again" compared this song to the Beatle's "Penny Lane."




The Second British Invasion also brought the quirky, creative synth-pop of Thomas Dolby. A good example of it is the sonf "She Blinded Me With Science," which actually became more of a hit in America than in the UK. And a big hit it was. The video is an excellent example of how creative and fun-loving video could be during the early '80s. It kind of reminds me of the Beatles films in the late '60s, with its quirky humor and smile-inducing imagery.

MTV and The Second British Invasion Groups: Culture Club

The 1980s were an era of colorful, quirky music qroups. Early in the decade, MTV went on the air, initiating the era of music videos, and exposing American culture to the quirky musical subculture called New Wave. New Wave dated to the late 1970s, with the emergence, in the wake of punk, of arty, quirky musical acts like the Talking Heads, Devo, Elvis Costello, Nick Lowe, and Blondie. But its comibation with the new media of MTV in the early '80s exposed it on a large scale to the American public, and turned it from a oddball subculture, into mainstream culture. And America ate it up.

A large number of the groups given exposure by MTV came from Britain, and thus, in 1982-83, was initiated what was called the Second British Invasion... the first being the 1964-65 invasion of British musical groups like the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, the Animals, Hermans Hermits, and the like. The Second British invasion of 1982-83 was similarly a cultural and musical invasion and included the likes of very popular multi-hit acts like Duran Duran, the Police, Culture Club, Eurythmics, and the Human League and lesser lights such as ska revivalist Madness, catchy celtic tinged popsters Dexys Midnight Runners, and synth virtuoso Thomas Dolby.

Culture club was one of the more memorable groups to come out of this invasion. Emerging out of the Bowie-inspired theatrical New Romantic subculture, Culture Club was an easily recgnizable presence during the early '80s, due in large part to their gender bending lead signer, Boy George.




The very first big hit for Culure Club in the U.S. was 1982's "Do You Really Want to Hurt Me," which really hit big the following year. I still remember vividly watching this video, and just being amazed at this andogynous character singing this remarkably catchy tune. This was also around the time I started getting into music videos, itself still a new medium, and it was also when I really started getting into music in a big way. It was my early teens, and my sense of being an adolescent was growing strong. This new, shiny quirky catchy music just captured my imagination.

Culture Club would have many more hits in the '80s, all this catchy soulful pop punctuated by Boy George's rather rather appealing smooth voice. Among them, "Karma Chamelion," below, which is another wondeful example of the music video medium, and the optimistic catchy popishness of the New Romantic/New Wave era.