Toxic Twins
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It was no surprise that the economically-strapped United Kingdom with its tribes of disenfranchised, rebellious youth was a cauldron boiling up lean, mean, angry, clever, even amusing tunes - many of which served as an antidote to the bogus bombast of '70s stadium rock and power ballads. But, flagrantly garbed in the outrageous style of the day, a passel of would-be pop idols were eager to hit the Top 10 any way they could. So they cranked out some catchphrase-y pop piffle that flashed like zircons and would eventually be relegated to the compilations of yesteryear.
Thus, we have the Thompson Twins, whose run lasted to the early '90s and who peaked when original focal point/singer/bassist Tom Bailey was joined by singer Alannah Currie, the striking dreadlocked blonde who often wore a ridiculous-looking black hat. With fashion-forward London as their headquarters, they put together a string of well-received synthesizer-driven singles that were fun at the time, ideal for the goofy dances of the day, and, in retrospect, are guilty pleasures: "In the Name of Love," "Doctor, Doctor," "Hold Me Now," etc.
Of all the Twins' better-known tracks, the most insufferable - then and now - has to be the 1983 smash "Lies." The sing-song melody, the whining chorus, the ticky-tack clockwork beat, the all-around artifice…Please, make it stop. Or, for the sake of research on Toxic Tuesday, start it up on the MOG Player. Or take a look at the promo video with its monolith-in-the-bedroom homage to Stanley Kubrick's watershed sci-fi film "2001: A Space Odyssey" - and only a hint of the dumb, arm-churning dance moves that marked the Twins onstage choreography. The bigger, the better? As lies go, not necessarily.
Comments (28)
The heads, the heads!!! Make it STOP!
Hee hee hee.
For some reason I didn't realize this song was Thompson Twins. It is annoyingly toxic, especially at the end when they repeat the chorus ad nauseum.
This calls for another chorus of "Make it stop! Make it stop!"
...at the time (3:15pm Tuesday in the pub, 1983), I didn't think this was that bad......then someone introduced me to the Sisters Of Mercy....
Ha! Thought you'd check in on this one, Neill. Your corrosion...
thank goodness a work related call forced me to remove my headphones before my brain completed the transition to foaming ooze. To think there was a time (albeit brief) when I would actually choose to put this on! Lord!
What was that old commercial slogan? Oh yeah. "Times change. Tastes change." Although I think it was used to sell a vile cigarette brand, it kinda fits here, no?
I always thought these guys were a poor-man's Human League.
Is this tough love?
Mike- Just seeing the title of your post I immediately thought the tune would be by Milli Vanilli. T Twins may be fairly toxic but pale in comparison to MV, who can only lip synch their toxicity. (How pitiful is that?!)
Trivial Note- You mentioned the great Stanley Kubrick. My Dad, may he RIP, went to grade school with him in the Bronx. Both had the same first name and first letter of their last name so they were frequently seated behind or next to each other. Wish I knew more about the great master director but all Dad told me was Kubrick was pretty quiet and a loner.
funoka- good call- and that is also pretty humiliating for the T Twins, too!
It's amazing what we were willing to listen to back in that day. I guess if it was on MTV, we couldn't get enough of it.
funoka: To say the least.
inrumford: To say the least.
Fasted: Been there - MOGged that. http://mog.com/Mike_the_Knife/blog/1276061
MusicRX: Yes indeed. But I must've hit my saturation point.
It is just so easy not to push that button. The shame of having liked their first few singles prevents me.
Jonh: Back to Blighty in one piece, I assume. Kewl. And quite brave to proclaim your shame. Unless it's all lies, lies, lies, whoa-oh...
Getting a tan standing in the English rain, my liege. I admit it - I thought it was in the name of love. Then I actually heard that weedy nasal whine passing as a voice.
Walrus gumboot!
I see you've made a donation tro the National Trust.
What else was I supposed to do when Mother Superior jumped the gun?
Well it's better than needing a fix, I guess.
If it ain't broke, why fix it?
I'm only lettingyou have the last word because this month I'm conserving bandwidth.
saw these guys play at a mall way back when.........did not like them then either
Jonh: You, sir, are a good citizen.
Rawk: A mall? How ideal!
I know, I should have picked up some Electric Youth perfume at the time
Ha! And some shoulder pads.
have to share this now that you said that. Was at Cub foods last night picking up some vegetables for dinner. Guy walks in fully in drag, and not that he needed it but he was rocking the shoulder pads to boot. I would say this gentleman stood around 6' 9" before the heels so you can imagine what those pads made his shoulders look like. To top everything off he had painted a cleveage line on his chest, something I had never seen before when it comes to a cross dresser....... ok, story time is done, carry on
And in San Fran, someone might have actually gone up and suggested that less is more with the cleavage. My hometown!