Intro
Hello, and welcome to New Wave Beat. I'm your host, Jason D'Orazio. Today, we're going to cover songs from 1984. It was a year where new wave songs continued to make strong showings in the charts, both by newly-minted musicians and also more established acts.
“99 red balloons get released into the sky, which the Americans and Soviets each perceive as an attack by the other side. The result: nuclear holocaust."
Cyndi Lauper - Girls Just Want To Have Fun
Let's start 1984 with Cyndi Lauper's Girls Just Want To Have Fun. Cyndi Lauper was the frontwoman for the oldies-inspired band Blue Angel before deciding to strike out on her own in 1984. Her debut album, She's So Unusual, was a big smash, and contained the hit Girls Just Want To Have Fun.
Originally a Mike Hazard song from 1979 about women's libidos, Lauper refashioned Girls Just Want To Have Fun as a feminist anthem. The rapid sliding synthesizer intro makes it quickly recognizable. Then a four-note keyboard riff forms the backbone of the sections before the verses.
Lauper has a distinct, endearing singing voice, influenced by her heavy Queens accent. The music and vocals in Girls are both full of vigor. The lyrics are straightforward - Lauper is asserting to her parents that she's a free spirit. And with that, girls like her want to have fun and be noticed. "I want to be the one to walk in the sun", Lauper proclaims. The video is as iconic as they come, garnering over half a billion views on YouTube. In it, Lauper's character rebels against her mom and dad, the latter played by wrestler Lou Albano. She then marshals her friends and they dance across three male-dominated realms in New York City. The video ends with the gang (and more) taking the party back to Lauper's house. Lauper has an irreverent fashion in the video, making it all the more distinctive. It's the quintissential feel-good video. Girls Just Want To Have Fun hit number two both in the US and as an export to the UK. After the She's So Unusual album, Lauper had a few more hits but, unfortunately, could not keep up fame-wise with the likes of contemporaries like Madonna. Lauper started to become more underground in the '90s, but kept on making records (and still does).
Thompson Twins - Hold Me Now
Next up is Hold Me Now by the Thompson Twins, who are actually a trio of unrelated individuals. Thompson Twins debuted in 1981 and had some British hits, but they were not well-known in United States until their fourth album Into The Gap, which contained Hold Me Now.
For Hold Me Now, the keyboard intro paired with soft drums is simple but memorable. The melody is also basic and not as ambitious as other tracks off Into The Gap. Nevertheless, Tom Bailey lays down a a warm, comfort-food bassline. Overall, the song's main strength is the emotional vocals (also by Bailey), which tug at the heartstrings. The falsetto backup vocals in the chorus by member Joe Leeway add some spice to the song. Hold Me Now is about a relationship that is on the rocks. Lines like "Look at our life now, tattered and torn" serve to assess the damage. Nevertheless, the singer wants to reconcile ("stay with me") and be comforted ("hold me now"). It's got a sad slant, but with a silver lining. The video for Hold Me Now is no Girls Just Want To Have Fun, as it's mostly the Thompson Twins performing in front of a blue backdrop. The biggest change is that the background turns red near the song's climax. There are split-screen effects in the video, giving it that MTV feel. Hold Me Now was good for a top-10 position in the UK but also the US. The Thompson Twins had some decent hits afterwards, including King For A Day, but stopped making albums in the mid-'90s as them and quite a few other new wavers hit the skids. Tom Bailey still tours today, playing Thompson Twins hits.
Matthew Wilder - Break My Stride
We've got to keep on moving to Matthew Wilder's Break My Stride. Wilder, a native New Yorker, was part of the folk rock duo Matthew and Peter in the early '70s and came back a decade later as a solo artist with a quite different synth-oriented, reggae-inflected sound. His debut album featured the three-minute '80s gem Break My Stride.
A bouncy, repetitive synth forms the basis of the song. An exclamatory, "Oh!" and a subsequent key change after the bridge is a testament to the '80s pop leanings of Break My Stride. Indeed, Wilder's singing is enthusiastic. Both the singing and melody have a bit of a reggae lilt. But the effervescent sonics are countered by the theme of the song: breaking up. The choruses are from the ex-girlfriend's point of view. She wants to put the relationship behind her fast, hence the line, "Ain't nothing going to break my stride, and I've got to keep on moving." But there's a cool switcheroo by song's end, as Wilder uses what his ex said as advice and tries to move on himself. So even though the song is born in relationship wreckage, it's inspirational, encouraging resilience and telling listeners that sometimes change is for the best. Wilder really wished to have a video for Break My Stride, but unfortunately it never materialized. Despite the lack of MTV love, Break My Stride was a top-10 hit in United States and Britain.
Wilder was truly a one-hit wonder, but taking a page from his own songbook he rebounded. Over a decade later, Wilder had success producing new wave-influenced band No Doubt's massive Tragic Kingdom album. Wilder even got nominated for a Grammy, Golden Globe, and Oscar for soundtrack work. As for Break My Stride itself, it has been heavily covered and sampled.
Depeche Mode - People Are People
People Are People is next, an an early classic by Depeche Mode. This British band started out in 1981 with a peppy synthpop sound that grew slowly darker throughout the early '80s. Their fourth album, Some Great Reward, lived up to its name and Depeche was awarded their first American hit in People Are People.
"I can't understand. What makes a man hate another man? Help me understand."
One of People Are People's hallmarks is the machine-sounding synths and sound effects, something that Depeche Mode was putting in their music in the early '80s, with industrial musicians later following suit. David Gahan sings a bit higher than his usual baritone, with Martin Gore providing backup as a good counterpoint. The lyrics are a general call against bigotry. The narrator is on the receiving end of someone's hate, even though the two people have never met before. There are some catchy one-liners in there addressing human decency, like "It just takes a while to travel from your head to your fist". The video for People Are People features the band reluctantly manning a warship while singing the lyrics. The band is dressed in black again, which in part made them favored by goth fans. The shots of Depeche are interspersed with black and white war footage. Depeche Mode is said to be embarrassed by this song. While it's not the darkest or most subtle song they have done, it has solid bones. People Are People was their first top-40 hit in the US charts (their biggest in the '80s), and an as-usual top-10 in the UK. To their credit, Depeche Mode peaked in the '90s at a time where many other new wave acts struggled mightily. And they got nominated to the Rock Hall of Fame to boot. They're still making new music and playing at arena - check it out!
Song Commentaries
Nena - 99 Luftballons
Let's end our look at 1984 with the end-times hit 99 Luftballons by Nena. Nena (the band) debuted in 1982, scoring several hits in DACH (Germany, Austria, Switzerland). Then two years later, Nena's 99 Luftballons almost topped of the US charts at #2, even with German lyrics. This is proof positive that new wave thrived on diverse song angles. Falco's Rock Me Amadeus was the only German-language song to perform better. Perhaps more on that song in another episode. Nena did release an English version of 99 Luftballons, but the German is usually preferred by music fans.
For the intro, Nena (the artist) sings over a slow synth. Then the song deliberately builds energy and tempo like an avalanche. Nena sings with good intensity and inflection. Also, the guitar and drums during the verses have a punk energy to them. Along with splashes of high-pitched organs, Luftballons reminds me of earlier new wave, like something Blondie would've recorded. The ending is eerie and matches the content - the song is a devastating critique of the Cold War between the Americans and Soviets that dominated post-World War II politics. The titular red balloons get released into the sky innocently, but each side perceives it as an attack by the other side. The result: assured destruction. There are some cool space references to UFOs and Star Trek's Captain Kirk. The video mostly consists of Nena and her band performing. There are also shots of Nena walking across the barren landscape with smoke bomb powder throughout. Yes, it's prosaic at first, but things get interesting quick about two thirds of the way through as nuclear bombs detonate. But credit to Nena - they're pretty calm during all this. Nena (band then artist) were prolific after 99 Luftballons, but would never kiss the US charts again. More about Nena here.
Outro
And that's a wrap on our 1984 retrospective. Please join me next week. This is Jason D'Orazio at New Wave Beat wishing you a great week, and talk to you later.
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