I like to read autobiographies (most recently “Heart and Soul” by Carol Decker of T’Pau) and biographies. When I was listening to an episode of the Don’t You Forget About Me – The New Wave Music Podcast, during which they did a review of “Science Fiction” as well as “Transcendance” by Berlin, they mentioned how…
Tag: Berlin
Transcendance by Berlin – Contemporary New Wave at its Best
As I mentioned in my post about influential albums when I was trying to pick out just one new album (i.e. since about 2010) by artists that I like… Transcendance – Berlin. I nearly went with their other recent album Animal, but this one is much more powerful with clever lyrics. Didn’t blow me away…
Essential T’Pau, Essential Listening
I have done a number of posts that are book reviews related to music, a post talking about the albums have influenced me most, and there are those related to Frankie Goes To Hollywood and the book that I am writing about Frankie fans and Frankie’s music. But, to date, I have only done one…
“Liverpool” – A Tim’s Twitter Listening Party for One of the 80s Most Underrated Albums
On 4 June I took part (if that is the right word) in the #TimsTwitterListeningParty for Liverpool by Frankie Goes To Hollywood. This wasn’t my first Listening Party – having “been” to the ones for Welcome to the PleasureDome and Blast before. In fact, this wasn’t the first one for Liverpool, as there was a…
1980s Japanese Pop Magazines – First Impressions
As I discussed in a previous post – British/European/American Music in Japan – I am conducting some research about ‘Western’ music in Japan. This research began as I am working on a book related to Frankie Goes To Hollywood. Japan was one of the few countries outside of Europe that they toured. Japanese versions of…
British/European/American Music in Japan
From time to time you come across magazines and articles suggesting that a particular British/European/American (hereafter referred to as ‘Western’) act is big in Japan. Although, through my various trips to Japan, I’ve never really had the impression that (m)any Western acts were successful there, I also had no particular reason to question it. At…
Old Bands, New Music
As 2020 draws to a close, I am reflecting on the fact that there were new albums featuring all four of my favourite bands: Frankie Goes To Hollywood, Berlin, Pet Shop Boys and Roxette. The nature of these albums was very different and may point to future possibilities for at least some of them. As…
“Strings Attached” by Berlin – Not a greatest hits collection, a great new album in its own right
I have done a number of posts that are book reviews (some related to music – such as Pet Shop Boys: Literally and Pet Shop Boys versus America), a post talking about the albums have influenced me most, a post about seeing U2 in concert in Japan, hinted at how music comes into my novels,…
Influential Albums
I listen to music a lot. The first thing I do when getting my computer on, whether at home or at work, is to turn on iTunes and get music playing. I cannot work in silence. So when I was nominated on Facebook to post about my favourite/most influential 10 albums, I really struggled. In…