Driven to Tears

Clockwise: The English Beat; The Police; Go West; Ultravox; and ABC.

For some reason, I had a desire to post about songs with the word "tear" in the title. This would be my own little twist on the recent series of Saturday night Torch Song posts. I went to iTunes, and typed in "t-e-a-r" and up popped the list. I picked out five songs, all well-loved by me. This will be my version of 80s-style Torch! Well, to be honest, my first entry was released in 1979 by The English Beat. The band was headed by Dave Wakeling and Ranking Roger, and had just released their first album, 'Just Can't Stop It'. The song was "Tears of A Clown", written by the great Stevie Wonder, Hank Cosby, and the great Smokey Robinson. The Beat put the song in their own ska style, making for a great of of the song.



You can purchase "Tears of a Clown" from iTunes and Amazon. Late in 1980, The Police released their third album, 'Zenyattà Mondatta'. The album was written and recorded while they were on tour for the second album, and later, all would express disappointment with it. I think it was still a good, strong album, and I just love the song "Driven To Tears". Tell me what you think.



You can purchase "Driven to Tears" from iTunes and Amazon. I went absolutely crazy for the band ABC when I heard their debut album, 'Lexicon of Love'. Of course, it began with a crush on Martin Frye, the driving creative force behind the band. The band made lush Pop songs that were a little bit Glam and a lot New Wave. In 1981, the album was released, and it had the fantastic song "Tears Are Not Enough".



You can purchase "Tears Are Not Enough" from iTunes and Amazon. Another one of my crushes from the 80s was Midge Ure. I was totally into him, and his music. As part of the band Ultravox, I couldn't get enough of the music. Their dense sound had an almost orchestral sound, with electric guitars involved. Watch the wonderful video from 1984 for "Dancing With Tears In My Eyes", off the 'Lament' album.



You can purchase "Dancing With Tears In My Eyes" from iTunes and Amazon. Singer Peter Cox and musician Richard Drummie were Go West, another of my favorite bands of the 80s. I just loved the sound of Cox's voice, and thought they made great music together. From the moment I heard "Don't Look Down" in 1985, I knew I was hooked. And seeing the video, featuring the very handsome bandmates, didn't hurt one bit. And in 1993, Go West released the album 'Aces and Kings - The Best of Go West', which featured the song "Tracks of My Tears", recorded for the collection. The song, written by Motown great William "Smokey" Robinson, Jr., Warren Moore, and Marvin Tarplin, made it to the music charts in several decades by different performers. It was a hit for The Miracles in the 1960s, Linda Ronstadt in the 1970s, a re-release by Smokey Robinson & the miracles in the 1980s, and for Go West in the 1990s. This is the video for Go West's rendition of "Tracks of My Tears".



You can purchase "Tracks of My Tears" from iTunes and Amazon. So, take care till the next teardrop falls...

The Next Teardrop Falls

Clockwise: The English Beat; The Police; Go West; Ultravox; and ABC.

For some reason, I had a desire to post about songs with the word "tear" in the title. This would be my own little twist on the recent series of Saturday night Torch Song posts. I went to iTunes, and typed in "t-e-a-r" and up popped the list. I picked out five songs, all well-loved by me. This will be my version of 80s-style Torch! Well, to be honest, my first entry was released in 1979 by The English Beat. The band was headed by Dave Wakeling and Ranking Roger, and had just released their first album, Just Can't Stop It. The song was Tears of A Clown, written by the great Stevie Wonder, Hank Cosby, and the great Smokey Robinson. The Beat put the song in their own ska style, making for a great of of the song. You can find it on iTunes and Amazon.



Late in 1980, The Police released their third album, Zenyattà Mondatta. The album was written and recorded while they were on tour for the second album, and later, all would express disappointment with it. I think it was still a good, strong album, and I just love the song Driven To Tears. Tell me what you think.



I went absolutely crazy for the band ABC when I heard their debut album, Lexicon of Love. Of course, it began with a crush on Martin Frye, the driving creative force behind the band. The band made lush Pop songs that were a little bit Glam and a lot New Wave. In 1981, the album was released, and it had the fantastic song Tears Are Not Enough.



Another one of my crushes from the 80s was Midge Ure. I was totally into him, and his music. As part of the band Ultravox, I couldn't get enough of the music. Their dense sound had an almost orchestral sound, with electric guitars involved. Watch the wonderful video from 1984 for Dancing With Tears In My Eyes, off the Lament album.



Singer Peter Cox and musician Richard Drummie were Go West, another of my favorite bands of the 80s. I just loved the sound of Cox's voice, and thought they made great music together. From the moment I heard Don't Look Down in 1985, I knew I was hooked. And seeing the video, with the very handsome bandmates, well, it didn't hurt one bit. And in 1993, the band released the album Aces and Kings - The Best of Go West, which featured the song Tracks of My Tears, specially recorded for the collection. The song, written by Motown great William "Smokey" Robinson, Jr., Warren Moore, and Marvin Tarplin, made it to the music charts in several decades by different performers. It was a hit for The Miracles in the 1960s, Linda Ronstadt in the 1970s, a re-release by Smokey Robinson & the miracles in the 1980s, and for Go West in the 1990s. The song continues to be covered by countless artists, including by American Idol contestant Adam Lambert, who sang it on the show in his time on Idol in 2009, and by Rod Stewart that same year. But here is the video for the cover by Go West.



So, take care till the next teardrop falls...

GLEE Redux • Hold On To Sixteen

Rachel stops by the school to pick up her homework, and runs into Quinn, who tells Rachel she plans to get MS. Corcoran fired, and announces when she tells everyone about it, she will get Beth back. Rachel argues with her, and asks her to think more about her daughter, and less about herself. Rachel meets up with Finn, who decides they need to get Sam back if they are to have a chance at Sectionals. Kurt is having a time as he thinks he and Rachel are both doomed to be baristas for life, not able to get into NYADA. Soon Warbler Sebastian comes up to flirt with Blaine, and to irk Kurt. He announces to Kurt he plans on stealing his man. Rachel and Fin find Sam dancing in a strip club as White Chocolate, as apparently all the seniors at Ohio and Kentucky are 18 at the beginning of the year. Rachel goes up to Sam, tips him a buck, and makes an appointment to talk after the show. Finn and Rachel ask him about coming back, but he needs to talk to his parents. They, of course, allow him to do it, despite the fact they will miss him greatly. Back in the chorus room, the kids are getting together. They fear they will not get the chance to perform, even though the competition is at McKinley High. Then Sam comes in, and is greeted by Santana with a list of barbs. They hug, and Sam sings his first song of the season. He brings a bit of country when he sings Toby Keith's Red Solo Cup.



The boys of New Directions are dancing, struggling to figure out what they will do. Quinn talks to Sam about resuming their relationship, but Sam wants nothing to do with it. Sam wants to add some sexy moves, from his time as White Chocolate. Tina and Mike have a fight when he asks about him applying to dance schools. He has already applied to Stanford, to the pre-med program. They fight. Sam finds Mercedes, and talks to her. Yes, he heard about her boyfriend, by he wants her back! Finn follows Blaine to the gym, and apologizes to him, saying his jealousy made him not treat him right. But he wants to win, and without Rachel around, Blaine is the most talented member. He hopes they can all work together. Tina goes to talk to Mr. Chang, and bring him a tape of Mike dancing in West Side Story. Of course, Mr. Chang wants nothing to do with any of it. As the New Directions get ready for competition, The Troubletones stop by and offer to work together once they win the competition. The New Directions are insulted, and Quinn smacks back at Ms. Corcoran,hinting she knows about her relationship with Puck. The first act of sectionals goes on. The Unitards are up, and they sing Buenos Aires from Evita, starring Patti LuPone.



They are good, and everyone is frightened. Rachel follows Quinn in the hallway. She tells Quinn to beware of telling about Ms. Corcoran, and doing something she might regret. Rachel knows what that is like. Quinn goes to Ms. Corcoran, and spills about her the plan to tell Principle Figgins about her relationship with Puck. Shelby tells her to enjoy her youth while The Troubletones are up next, and Santana and Mercedes sing a mash-up of Gloria Gaynor's I Will Survive.



and Destiny's Child's Survivor...



It is not surprising that the girls kill it on stage. It is time for the New Directions to take to the stage and Tina leads with The Jackson 5's ABC.



At the beginning of the song, Mr. Chang comes to see the performance. Mike sees him in the audience, and is overjoyed. The song ends, and the kids perform Janet Jackson's Control. It starts with Quinn talking about talking control of her life, directed at Ms. Corcoran.



And Finn follows that up taking the lead along side Blaine, Sam, Artie and Puck. They sing Michael Jackson's Man In The Mirror.



Of course, they get a standing ovation at the end of the performance, including from Mr. Chang. He actually smiled! Mike seems so proud. Puck gives Quinn a big hug, and Finn and Blaine fist-bump. Everyone is excited back in the chorus room. Mr. Chang tells Mike he must follow his dreams, and and he will support his son. Mike is so happy, but has missed the deadlines to apply to dance schools. But Tina already applied for him. Then it is time to find out the results. Third place goes to the Unitards. Second goes to the Troubletones, meaning the New Directions win!

Quinn sees Rachel in the Principal's office, and thanks her for stopping Quinn from making a big mistake. Quinn knows she doesn't want to grow up quite yet, and might want to apply to Yale Drama School. Rachel offers to help with the application. They are kinds friends, after all. Maybe she could help her with a few other things. Quinn goes to see Brittany, Santana, and Mercedes, to see if they will rejoin the New Directions. Mercedes isn't good with that idea, not ready to take a back seat again. But Quinn negotiates a deal, and soon the girls are singing with the kids in the chorus room. They join together on a joyous version of We are Young, originally performed by Fun featuring Janelle Monae.



Next week, Christmas will come early for the kids!

Woth Another Listen - ABC

ABC help to usher in the New Wave Era of music in 1981, utilizing highly theatrical videos and performances. They were part New Romantic and part Glam Rock, with bombast and costumes in abundance. They started out in 1980 with Martin Fry handling the vocals, Mark White on keyboards, Mark Lickley on bass, David Robinson on drums, and Stephen Singleton on saxophone. ABC produced 8 studio albums, one live collection, and 3 greatest hits collections. They were far more popular in the UK than the US, scoring twice as many Top 40 singles in the UK, 10 vs 5.




The look of the band changed almost as often people in it. Fry is the only member who managed to stick around, although David Palmer showed up in 1982 and is still with Fry today. While Tears Were Not Enough was the first single, it was the second that established them on the radio. Poison Arrow started getting radio play and the video was picked up by MTV and started rising in the charts.

ABC - Poison Arrow
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Following the time spent as New Romantics with their jaunty suits, by the time the third CD came around, ABC had moved to a more glittering and theatrical look, somewhere between glam and club. The video for Be Near Me is the epitome of the look, as you can see.

ABC-Be Near Me
Uploaded by adiis. - Music videos, artist interviews, concerts and more.

I'll be honest, ABC had fallen off my radar after 1987's Alphabet City, which didn't grab me. I loved the the lead single, When Smokey Sings, one of my favorites from the band.

ABC - When Smokey Sings
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ABC still tours today, and released a CD in 2008, a fact I was blissfully unaware of, so I have nothing to add. To catch up with ABC and Martin Fry, you can check in with the official website here.