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Jason Maloney reviews
V o l u m e # 0 4 Week Commencing: 25th February 1985 Online Date: 24th February 2005
Songs From the Big Chair
Tears For Fears’ second album became one of the biggest sellers of the decade, spent some 80 weeks on the UK charts and spawned two US #1 hits in the shape of Shout and Everybody Wants To Rule The World. The former, also a Top 5 single in Britain, arguably got the band’s fortunes back on track after a difficult phase during which TFF struggled to follow the chart-topping success of March 1983’s debut set The Hurting and its trio of smash hits Mad World, Change and Pale Shelter.
Shout’s immediate predecessor Mother’s Talk (#14 in September 1984) had helped to set the scene for Songs From The Big Chair both sonically and conceptually, its video and B-side taking their cue from 70s TV Movie “Sybil” about a young woman with multiple personalities.
A tougher, tighter sound characterised the album, the mixture between the intense (The Working Hour, I Believe, Broken) and the irresistibly commercial (Everybody Wants To Rule The World, Head Or Heels) close to absolute perfection. Phil Collins’ No Jacket Required kept Songs From The Big Chair off the top spot in the UK, but their next album in 1989 would enter at #1. Drummer on that record’s first track, Woman In Chains? Phil Collins.
Building the Perfect Beast
Released in late 1984 Stateside, Henley’s second solo long-player included his finest ever song The Boys Of Summer (a #5 smash in America), another US Top 10 single (the caustic, uptempo All She Wants To Do Is Dance) and two other Billboard Top 40 hits (Not Enough Love In This World, covered by Cher in the 90s, and the magnificent Sunset Grill).
Its UK success was modest by comparison but respectable enough, reaching the Top 20 and going Silver in the process. Sunset Grill was issued as the UK follow-up rather than All She Wants To Do Is Dance, Geffen’s British arm clearly in the belief that the latter wasn’t for the UK market.
Night Time
The apocolytpic post-Punk troopers had cracked the Top 20 Albums chart with Firedances in 1983, but until February 1985’s epic Love Like Blood any meaningful Singles Top 40 action had eluded them.
Night Time was issued as the single continued to climb towards its #16 peak, and very nearly made the Top 10. One of the album’s songs returned to the spotlight in 1991 when Nirvana’s Come As You Are appeared to bear a striking similarity to Night Time’s closing track (and #46 flop single in early 1984) Eighties.
Page Content copyright © Jason Maloney, 2005.
Reviewer of movies, videogames and music since 1994. Aortic valve operation survivor from the same year. Running DVDfever.co.uk since 2000. Nobel Peace Prize winner 2021.