I know these guys get made fun of a lot. I think their sound is great — for electronica, it’s rich and layered and I think innovative. I love the songs on this record — “A Flock of Seagulls.” Here is a version of “I Ran” that is not on You Tube (the one there is all messed up).
But let’s compare and contrast for a second. The Moody Blues are inviting you to ride their seesaw. The song admits a level of wanting to transcend all the madness but, alas, we’re on the ride and if you want to be with those guys you have to get on board. And heck, how bad can it be? Men that can put their voices into harmony like that have something extra going for them.
When we arrive in the 1980s, love is about alienation — “I ran / I ran so far away / couldn’t get away.” In “Space Age Love Song,” romance has taken over, though a fleeting spell. It’s the space age and all, and life is about falling in love, though notably, just for a little while. There is a cleanliness to the emotions, as if nobody wants to go too deep. There’s also a sense that the alienation is being turned into a sense of individuality, which is too delicate and precious to risk.
Given the choice of which trip to take, I’ll go for the seesaw ride any day.
OMG!! I LOVE THIS!! yeah, lead singer looks like a character from my favorite show Star Trek Voyager…
but hey dont you love the way they dance!!
you make interesting points EFC and PW readers… I cant comment … too many crosses on me brain ….
except that falling in love is old school and thats what maybe the 80s music was tyring to say (ala morrissey, 80s british invasion nueuvo romantic satires.? ) okay bye….
i promsied retreat this weekend,…..?
I can honestly say I never thought I would ever see this song/video posted on Planetwaves and I have listened to it A LOT in my life….love it. One of my favorite 80s songs, for sure.
When I hear this song, yes, it does scream romance and as I’ve gotten older (I’m 36) I don’t get particularly sappy and teary about these things as much as when I was listening to it in the 80s….. There is so much more to relationships than that-but there is also a lot of reverence in my heart for the moments of *Magic*, when they slip and slide their way into our hearts and you know you are the recipient of Grace.
Bring it! This heart is WIDE open…….
aloha folks….Victoria
laura m.
Thank you!!!!!
Even the retro ed-sullivan spot-light black’n'white film helps to heats things up.
I can’t remember EVER actually reminiscing about my childhood with good, pure, thankful emotion…….until now……this one does it.
Oh my and thanks again for that.
I might now just go looking for more of that soft soul-ful song on the you tube.
The hair in Space Age Love Song is a joke; that is, it’s part of the story. The band has been called “A Flock of Haircuts” and one of the lead guys was indeed a hair stylist, so what the hay, use what you’ve got. They are keeping the world safe for eccentric do’s.
Skipping back to Moody Blues, I find they do very little for me. It’s hard to get over the eewww-factor of the hair and mustaches and the kind of dorky head bopping. I’ve been trying to figure out why I have such a problem with their style. All I can come up with is that it has to do with my age and my exposure to and association with men that looked like that.
I was born in 1970, so Flock of Seagulls was definitely on my radar as a teen, but not in a sexual way. When I think of sexy 80s musicians, I think of Prince and David Bowie (who transitioned decades remarkably well). It’s interesting that both of them were so open to playing with gender. Strange things happened to masculinity in the 80s. It seems things got polarized. The manly-looking men–the ripped jocks–channeled their virility into their body (so homoerotic), making them seem, to me, rather sexless. But someone like Prince just channeled his virility into his music and being much more explicitly sexy than other pop artists. I think Bruce Springsteen would be a good example of a truly sexy man’s man in the 80s. Which is to say, he conformed to gender roles without become a cartoon of himself.
What really got me hot in the 80s, and still gets me to this day, were some of the Motown/Stax musicians from the 60s. There was enough nostalgia for that era, that you could occasionally catch them on PBS programs in the 80s. For my money, Otis Redding was the king of sexy. In fact, I got flushed just watching this YouTube video of him:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dael4sb42nI&feature=related
his hair is just stellar though. it would be perfect if he had one of those signature V-shaped guitars to go with it that hard rock & metal bands often used. take your pick here: http://bit.ly/93Zcff
A Flock of Seagulls were a synth-pop band, nowhere near electronic. Pink Floyd and a lot of 70s rock bands used synths heavily but that doesn’t make them electronic either. Electronic is an underground genre (very underground) and often gets heavily confused with electronic pop or dance-pop music (not to be confused with Techno) which steals it’s raw spirit-driven creativity, waters it down to the lowest common denominator cheese fluff by stripping away any deep, introspective, emotional, hypnotic & creative elements making it compatible with the mainstream level of consciousness, and makes sure to put an image on it of someone who can be marketed as a “star”. There’s always exceptions but that’s the general situation. This does not apply to 80s synth-pop b/c it came before Electronica
What?!? Who’d make fun of the Flock of Seagulls? They are sooooo danceable & fun to listen to. I can imagine myself as a granny dancing to this and all the other fun music from the late 70′s and early 80′s. I’m a big Pistols and Ramones fan too.
i always thought this band caught most of its flack for the lead singer’s hairdo. it’s so… badger’s-ass-meets-”i’ll fly away.”
but i’ve always loved “i ran” — great tune about getting scared of what you desire. i just find the videos a bit pretentious.
Yep. I’d say you’ve summed it up.
(And these guys are pretty, but not sexy. No earth here.)
I want to add that I do appreciate what you’re saying though, Eric.
I was born in ’71 and explored most music from the 70′s and 80′s quite deeply (big music fan). Both “tones” your describing here resonate with me strongly, but I definitely gravitate towards the 80′s stuff a little more, for whatever reason(s). Those melting guitars, layered sounds with a hint of melancholy, but just enough optimism….man, i don’t what was in the water or air (the stars??) in ’56-’59, but those people born then are gifted musically.