Thompson Twins

Thompson Twins were a British music group that formed in April 1977.^[3] Initially a new wave group, they switched to a more mainstream pop sound and achieved considerable popularity in the mid-1980s, scoring a string of hits in the United Kingdom, the United States, and around the globe. In 1993, they changed the name to Babble, to reflect their change in music from new wave to dub-influenced chill-out.

The band was named after the two bumbling detectives Thomson and Thompson in Hergé's comic strip The Adventures of Tintin.^[4] At various stages, the band had up to seven members, but their most known incarnation was as a trio between 1982 and 1986. They became a prominent act in the Second British Invasion, and in 1985, the band performed at Live Aid, where they were joined onstage by Madonna.^[4]

Career

Early days

In 1977, the original Thompson Twins line-up consisted of Tom Bailey (born 18 January 1956, Halifax, Yorkshire)^[5] on bass and vocals, Pete Dodd on guitar and vocals, John Roog on guitar, and Jon Podgorski (known as "Pod") on drums.^[1] Dodd and Roog first met when they were both 13 years old.

Arriving in London with very little money, they lived as squatters in Lillieshall Road, London. Future Thompson Twins member Alannah Currie (born 20 September 1957, Auckland, New Zealand) lived in another squat in the same street — which is how she met Bailey. It was in this ramshackle and run-down house that they found an illegal way of "borrowing" electricity from the house next door. Bailey described themselves (laughingly) as spongers back then, as they were living on very little and scavenging everything they could lay their hands on. He even said that the only instruments they had were bought, or had been stolen or borrowed. Dodd managed to get a council flat not far away. Their roadie at that time was John Hade, who lived in the same house, and who later became their manager.

As Podgorski had decided to stay in the north, the group auditioned for drummers at the Point Studio in Victoria, London. Andrew Edge joined them on drums for less than one year, and went on to join Savage Progress, who later toured with the Thompson Twins as their support act on the 1984 UK tour.^[6]

In 1980, the band (now consisting of Bailey, Dodd, Roog and drummer Chris Bell; who had replaced Edge the previous year) released their first single "Squares and Triangles" on their own Dirty Discs label. A follow-up single, "She's In Love With Mystery", was issued later that year.

Line-up changes

In 1981, the line-up became Bailey, Dodd, Roog, Bell and two new members: former band roadie Joe Leeway on congas and percussion, and Jane Shorter on saxophone. This line-up recorded the first Thompson Twins album A Product of ... (Participation), documented in the film, Listen to London (1981).^[7] Currie, who had been associated with the band for a few years, played and sang on the first album, but was not yet a full member.

After the first album, the band's line-up shifted yet again. Saxophonist Jane Shorter left and was replaced by Currie (who also played percussion), and bassist Matthew Seligman, a former member of The Soft Boys and The Fallout Club, joined;^[1] leaving Bailey to switch to keyboards; and with Leeway starting to handle vocals on some tracks.

The band signed to Arista Records and released the album Set.^[1] Thomas Dolby played some keyboards on Set and some live gigs, as Bailey had little experience with synthesizers before then. Set contained the single "In the Name of Love", sung and largely written by Bailey. It became a No. 1 dance club hit in the US,^[8] and an album entitled In the Name of Love (consisting mainly of tracks from Set, with two others from A Product Of... (Participation)) was released in the US to capitalize on the song's popularity. It entered the US Billboard 200.^[8]

Reduction to a trio

After the success of "In the Name of Love", Bailey, Currie and Leeway, wanting to pursue the single's different sound, toyed with the idea of starting a new band on the side, which they planned to call 'The Bermuda Triangle'.^[9] When "In The Name Of Love" (and the parent album Set) failed to make a substantial impact in the UK record charts, this plan was abandoned. However, at the same time, manager Hade convinced Bailey, Leeway and Currie to downsize the Thompson Twins to a core of the three in April 1982.^[9] Accordingly, the other four members of the band were notified that the band was breaking up; they were each paid £500 and were allowed to keep their instruments and equipment in exchange for an undertaking not to perform together under the name "Thompson Twins".

The remaining Thompson Twins, who had not in fact "broken up", decided to go abroad to free themselves of any UK influence, as well as to combine the songwriting for their first album as a trio with a long holiday. They first went to Egypt and then to the Bahamas where they recorded at Compass Point Studios in Nassau with the producer Alex Sadkin.

Bailey commented on the band's reduction to a trio in a 1983 interview: "When we reformed the band, we were making a statement. We weren't going to be a rock 'n' roll band, we weren't going to have a guitar. We were going to move on. You know, Lou Reed said whenever he played live he ended up going back to heroin music. There are old associations, associations we don't want because they don't reflect the way we feel today. ... Right now, technology is what's important, and that's what our music tries to reflect."^[10]

International success

The band broke into the UK Singles Chart and the US Billboard Hot 100 chart at the beginning of 1983 with "Lies" and "Love On Your Side", which became the band's first UK Top 10 single.^[4][8][11] They then released their third album, Quick Step and Side Kick (called simply Side Kicks in the US),^[8] which peaked at number 2 in the UK and was later certified platinum. Further singles followed with "We Are Detective" (another Top 10 UK hit) ^[12] and "Watching" (UK #33).^[4] All three bandmembers received songwriting credits, though the band publicly acknowledged Bailey as the songwriter, with Currie contributing lyrics and Leeway focusing on the stage show.^[13] During 1983, the band had the opening spot on The Police concert tour in the US.

"Hold Me Now", was released in late 1983. The song was an international chart success, peaking at No. 4 in their native UK ^[14] where it became the band's biggest seller earning a gold disc,^[15] and reached No. 3 in the US in the spring of 1984 becoming their biggest American hit.^[8] The band's new album, Into the Gap, was released in early 1984 and became one of the year's biggest sellers, selling five million copies worldwide. It topped the UK Albums Chart^[4] and was later certified double platinum there. Further hit singles from the album followed with "Doctor! Doctor!" (UK No. 3)^[16] and "You Take Me Up" (UK No. 2, their highest UK singles chart placing^[4] and which earned a silver disc).^[17] Other singles included a new version of the album track "Sister of Mercy" (UK No. 11), and "The Gap" (though this was not released in the UK). The band embarked on a world tour in support of the album, which had also made the US top ten.

A brand new single, "Lay Your Hands on Me", was released in the UK in late 1984 and reached No. 13 in the UK charts.^[4] Following this, the band parted company with their producer Alex Sadkin and opted to produce their new album, Here's To Future Days, by themselves in Paris. However, in March 1985, while promoting their new single "Roll Over" and the forthcoming album, Bailey collapsed in his London hotel room from nervous exhaustion. The "Roll Over" single was then cancelled at the last minute and the new album postponed. Though the band had chosen to produce themselves, the postponement caused them to rethink the project and producer Nile Rodgers was subsequently called in to rework the album with them. The album was eventually released in September 1985, reaching the UK Top 5 and US Top 20,^[8] though failed to come close to the success of Into The Gap. It was preceded by the single "Don't Mess With Doctor Dream" (UK No. 15)^[4] and followed by the single "King For A Day", which peaked at No. 22 in the UK,^[4] but reached No. 8 on the US chart.^[8] Other singles included a new US version of "Lay Your Hands On Me" (US No. 6),^[8] and an unsuccessful cover of The Beatles' 1968 hit "Revolution" which became the band's first single to fail to make the UK Top 40 in three years.

Prior to the album's release, the Thompson Twins performed on the American leg of Live Aid in July 1985 and were joined onstage by Madonna.^[4] The planned summer 1985 tour of the UK (and a headlining appearance at the Glastonbury Festival) had to be cancelled due to Bailey's health problems (fans with tickets received a free live album as compensation), though international dates were re-scheduled and the latter half of 1985 saw sell out tours for the band in the US and Japan.^[18] A second planned tour of the UK in 1985 was also scrapped due to the promoter declaring bankruptcy.

Final years

Leeway left the band in 1986, and the remaining duo of Bailey and Currie carried on making music for another seven years.^[1] The act's first release as a duo was the North America-only single "Nothing In Common", issued in July 1986. It peaked at a modest #54 US, #68 Canada.

1987 saw the release of Close to the Bone and the single "Get That Love", which climbed to No. 31 in the US^[8] but failed in the UK.^[1] "In the Name of Love" was given a new lease on life in 1988, after a remix by Shep Pettibone made the Top 50 in the UK.^[4] 1989 saw the release of another album, Big Trash, and a new recording contract with Warner Bros. Records.^[1] The single "Sugar Daddy" peaked at No. 28 in the US^[8] and would be their last brush with mainstream chart success.^[1] 1991's Queer would be the band's swansong, and was supported by various techno inspired singles under the moniker of Feedback Max (in the UK) to disguise the identity of the band to club DJs. The single "Come Inside" reached No. 7 in the US Dance Chart^[8] and No. 1 in the UK Dance Chart. However, once it was discovered that the Thompson Twins were behind the record, sales dropped and the album never had a UK release .

Prior to this, Bailey and Currie (who were now a couple) had their first child together in 1988,^[1] and in the following years they spent a lot of time writing material for other artists including the hit single "I Want That Man" for Debbie Harry in 1989. In 1990, Bailey and Currie contributed the song "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?" to the Cole Porter tribute album "Red Hot + Blue" produced by the Red Hot Organization. In 1991, Bailey and Currie were married in Las Vegas and the following year moved to New Zealand with their two children. In 1992, the Thompson Twins contributed the song "Play With Me" to the soundtrack of the Ralph Bakshi film Cool World; Bailey alone contributed a second track, "Industry and Seduction". The following year, the duo formally teamed up with engineer Keith Fernley and changed their band name to Babble. They released two albums, in 1993 and 1996.^[1]

The Thompson Twins declined to follow the examples of many of their contemporaries and reform to tie-in with a nostalgic rebirth of the 1980s, although Bailey, Currie and Leeway appeared together on the UK Channel 4 show Top Ten Electro Bands in 2001. The Thompson Twins were placed ninth.

Criticism

The British music press regularly criticised the Thompson Twins. The NME called them, "1984's most instantly kitsch mass program of monosodium glutamation of the brain". City Limits said they were "candy-floss art capitalists", whilst The Guardian dubbed them "The three haircuts".^[13]

After the Twins

Babble released two albums — The Stone (1993)^[1] and Ether (1996) — with songs featured in the films Coneheads and With Honors. Three quarters of a third album was recorded, but it remains unreleased.

In the mid-1990s, Currie gave up the music business to set up her own glass-casting studio in Auckland. After her sister died of Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease, Currie founded a group in New Zealand called Mothers Against Genetic-Engineering in Food and the Environment (also known as MADGE), which soon had thousands of members.^[13] Currie described this group as a "rapidly growing network of politically non-aligned women who are actively resisting the use of genetically-engineered material in our food and on our land". An advert for this group featuring a young woman with four breasts hooked up to a milking machine became famous after appearing on billboards across New Zealand.^[13] Bailey and Currie split up in 2003, and are now divorced. They both left New Zealand to live separately in Britain, but are still close friends. In 2011, Currie married Jimmy Cauty (formerly of The KLF) and as of then was a trained upholsterer known professionally as "Miss Pokeno".^[19]

In 1999, Bailey produced and played keyboards on the album Mix by the New Zealand band Stellar*, and won the Producer of the Year Award at the 2000 New Zealand Music Awards.^[20] He has also arranged soundtracks and has provided instrumental music for several films. He continues to make music under the moniker International Observer and has released the albums Seen (2001), All Played Out (2005), and Felt (2009).^[21] He also performs with the Holiwater group from India.^[22] He began performing live again as Thompson Twins' Tom Bailey in 2014 and has since toured the UK, North America and Japan. In 2016 he released his debut solo single, 'Come So Far'. Tom remarried artist Lauren Drescher, and he currently resides in France and London.

After leaving the Thompson Twins in 1986, Leeway briefly dabbled in acting and attempted a solo music career, though neither were successful. As of 2006, he resides in Los Angeles, California, and works in the field of hypnotherapy. He is on the staff at the Hypnosis Motivation Institute (HMI) in Tarzana, California, and is also a certified trainer in neuro-linguistic programming.

The earlier members went on to do other things:

• Dodd and Roog formed a band called Big View (with Edge on drums) and recorded a single called, "August Grass", which was released on Point Records (owned by Merton, the Thompson Twins publisher) in 1982.^[23] Dodd is now living back in Chesterfield working as a freelance journalist — and has released his own History of Rock album billed as Peter & the Wolves. Dodd still sees Podgorski on a regular basis.
• Roog lives in London and is in a senior position in Tower Hamlets Adult Services.
• Seligman worked for a law firm in London and has played in The Soft Boys reunions as well as releasing his own albums.^[24] He has moved to Sendai, Japan with his Japanese wife and their daughter and, in 2009, contributed to the new Thomas Dolby album. In 2012, he collaborated with Jan Linton on the CD "Sendai", a fundraiser for reconstruction after the March 11 Tōhoku earthquake.
• Bell moved from London to Bath, and played in or for Spear of Destiny, Gene Loves Jezebel and Hugh Cornwell.^[25] He also works as a landscape gardener.
• Booth is, reportedly, living in Shanghai and is the general manager of a music publishing company.
• Podgorski still lives in Chesterfield.
• Edge has a singing career with Drumsing, as well as being an English Conversation teacher in Linz, Austria.

Tom Bailey Solo Shows

Tom Bailey performed Thompson Twins songs live for the first time in 27 years on 17 August 2014 at Temple Island Meadows, Henley-On-Thames, Oxfordshire for the Rewind South festival.^[26]

In 2014, Tom Bailey also took part in the Retro Futura Tour in the USA, along with Howard Jones, Midge Ure, China Crisis and Katrina Leskanich (formerly of Katrina and the Waves).^[27]

Tom Bailey continues to tour internationally, under the moniker "Thompson Twins' Tom Bailey," performing in the UK and also in North America in 2016. ^[28]

In 2016, Thompson Twins' Tom Bailey received the Classic Pop Magazine 'Best Live Show' award.

Personnel

Members

Line-ups

Timeline

Discography

Thompson Twins albums

Original studio albums

• A Product of ... (Participation) (1981)
• Set (1982)
• Quick Step and Side Kick (1983) (a.k.a. Side Kicks in North America, Japan)
• Into the Gap (1984)
• Here's to Future Days (1985)
• Close to the Bone (1987)
• Big Trash (1989)
• Queer (1991)

Compilation albums

• In the Name of Love (U.S. only release compiling tracks from the first two albums) (1982)
• The Best of Thompson Twins: Greatest Mixes (1988)
• The Greatest Hits (1990)
• The Best of Thompson Twins (1991)
• The Collection (1993)
• Thompson Twins – Greatest Hits (1996)
• Singles Collection (Thompson Twins album)|Thompson Twins – Singles Collection (1996)
• The Best of Thompson Twins (1998)
• Master Hits (1999)
• Hold Me Now (2000)
• Platinum & Gold Collection (2003)
• The Greatest Hits (2003)
• 12 Inch Collection (2004)
• Love on Your Side - The Best of Thompson Twins (2007)
• Remixes & Rarites (2014)

Babble albums

• The Stone (1994)
• Ether (1996)^[29]

Bibliography

• The Thompson Twins – An Odd Couple (The Official Biography) by Rose Rouse. Virgin Books, 1985.
• Thompson Twin – An '80's Memoir by Michael White. Publisher: Little, Brown (4 May 2000).

See also

• List of number-one dance hits (United States)
• List of artists who reached number one on the U.S. Dance chart
• List of Second British Invasion artists

References