|
Tears For Fears
Tears for Fears are an English pop rock band formed in Bath, England, in 1981 by Roland Orzabal and Curt Smith. Founded after the dissolution of their first band, the mod-influenced Graduate, Tears for Fears were associated with the new wave synthesizer bands of the early 1980s, and attained international chart success. The band's debut album, ''The Hurting'' (1983), reached number one on the UK Albums Chart, and their first three hit singles – "Mad World", "Change", and "Pale Shelter" – all reached the top five in the UK Singles Chart. Part of the MTV-driven Second British Invasion of the US, their second album, ''Songs from the Big Chair'' (1985), reached number one on the US ''Billboard'' 200, achieving multi-platinum status in both the UK and the US. The album contained two ''Billboard'' Hot 100 number one hits: " Shout" and "Everybody Wants to Rule the World", both of which reached the top five in the UK with the latter winning the Brit Award for Best British Sing ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Curt Smith
Curt Smith (born 24 June 1961) is a British singer, songwriter, musician, record producer, and co-founding member of the pop rock band Tears for Fears along with childhood friend Roland Orzabal. Smith plays bass guitar, has co-written several of the band's songs, and sings lead vocals on the hits "Mad World", "Pale Shelter", "Change", " The Way You Are", "Everybody Wants to Rule the World", and "Advice for the Young at Heart". After his departure from Tears for Fears in 1991, Smith pursued a solo career and released his debut studio album, ''Soul on Board'', in 1993. In total, he has released five studio albums and one EP, and has also dabbled in acting. He rejoined Tears for Fears in 2000. Early life Smith grew up in Bath, Somerset in England, and lived on the Snow Hill council estate. He attended the Beechen Cliff School. Musical groups Graduate Smith met Roland Orzabal when both were teenagers. They first formed a band in their teens, and Smith taught himself to play bas ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fontana Records
Fontana Records is a record label that was started in the 1950s as a subsidiary of the Dutch Philips Records. The independent label distributor Fontana Distribution takes its name from the label. History Fontana started in the 1950s as a subsidiary of the Dutch Philips Records; when Philips restructured its music operations, it dropped Fontana in favor of Vertigo Records. Fontana's U.S. counterpart label was started in 1964 and distributed by Philips US subsidiary Mercury Records. The initial single release (F 1501) was a wild teen beat instrumental by famed British session drummer Bobby Graham, both sides featuring Jimmy Page on guitar. Among the hitmakers were Wayne Fontana & the Mindbenders (then later on their own, simply as the Mindbenders), the Troggs, the New Vaudeville Band, Manfred Mann, Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick & Tich, and Steam, all of whom had No. 1 hits on the label. Other successful Fontana artists included the Silkie, Nana Mouskouri, the Pretty Things, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pale Shelter
"Pale Shelter" is a song by the British band Tears for Fears. Written by Roland Orzabal and sung by bassist Curt Smith, it was originally the band's second single release in early 1982. The original version of the song, entitled "Pale Shelter (You Don't Give Me Love)", did not see chart success at the time of its original UK release. However, it did later become a top 20 hit in Canada and a top 75 hit when it was reissued in the UK in 1985. The generally better-known version was a re-recording from 1983. This version eventually became the third UK top 5 chart hit taken from Tears for Fears' debut LP '' The Hurting'' (1983), peaking at number 5. As with the previous two singles, the song also reached the top 40 in several other countries. Origin and production Along with "Suffer the Children", "Pale Shelter" was one of two demo songs that landed Tears for Fears their first record deal with Phonogram in 1981. The song began life as a sequence of two chords that Orzabal had be ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Change (Tears For Fears Song)
"Change" is a song by the United Kingdom, British band Tears for Fears. Written by Roland Orzabal and sung by bassist Curt Smith, it was the band's fourth single release. It would eventually become the second hit from their debut LP ''The Hurting'' (1983) and second UK Singles Chart, UK Top 5 chart hit, following the success of "Mad World". The song also gave Tears for Fears their first charting single in the United States when it cracked the Billboard Hot 100, ''Billboard'' Hot 100 in August 1983. "Change" was also a big international success, reaching the Top 40 in numerous countries. Meaning Song versions The 7" version of "Change" is the same mix of the song found on ''The Hurting'', but in a slightly edited form. An extended remix of the song is showcased as the lead track on the 12" single. While many copies of the 12" single use the 7" mix of the song as one of the B-sides, some feature an altogether different recording. Although uncredited on the singles themselves, this ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mad World
"Mad World" is a 1982 song by British band Tears for Fears. Written by Roland Orzabal and sung by bassist Curt Smith, it was the band's third single release and first chart hit, reaching number three on the UK Singles Chart in November 1982. Both "Mad World" and its B-side, "Ideas as Opiates", appeared on the band's debut LP ''The Hurting'' (1983). This single was also the band's first international success, reaching the Top 40 in several countries in 1982–83. "Mad World" has since been covered by various artists, including a 2001 version recorded by Michael Andrews and Gary Jules for the soundtrack of the film ''Donnie Darko''; a 2003 single release of the song reached number one in the UK for three consecutive weeks and won Orzabal his second Ivor Novello Award. A 2021 rendition of the song was included on Demi Lovato's album '' Dancing with the Devil... the Art of Starting Over''. The cover photo was taken at Round Pond in Kensington Gardens (London, England). Backgroun ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
UK Albums Chart
The Official Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales and (from March 2015) audio streaming in the United Kingdom. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the Official Charts Company (OCC) on Fridays (previously Sundays). It is broadcast on BBC Radio 1 (top 5) and found on the OCC website as a Top 100 or on UKChartsPlus as a Top 200, with positions continuing until all sales have been tracked in data only available to industry insiders. However, even though number 100 was classed as a hit album (as in the case of The Guinness Book of British Hit Albums) in the 1980s until January 1989, since the compilations were removed this definition was changed to Top 75 with follow-up books such as The Virgin Book of British Hit Albums book only including this data. As of 2021, the OCC still only tracks how many UK Top 75s album hits and how many weeks in Top 75 albums chart each artist has achieved. To qualify for the Offi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Hurting
''The Hurting'' is the debut studio album by British new wave band Tears for Fears, released on 7 March 1983. The album peaked at No. 1 on the UK Albums Chart in its second week of release, and was certified Gold by the BPI within three weeks of release. It reached Platinum status in January 1985. The album also entered the Top 40 in several other countries including Canada, Germany and Australia. ''The Hurting'' is a loose concept album focusing on themes of child abuse, psychological trauma and depression. Despite its dark subject matter, the album was a huge commercial success. It contains Tears for Fears' first three hit singles – "Mad World", "Change", and "Pale Shelter" – all of which reached the top five in the UK and the Top 40 internationally. It also contains a new version of the band's first single, " Suffer the Children", which had originally been released in 1981, while the album version of "Pale Shelter" is also a new recording. The album was remastered and r ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Synthesizer
A synthesizer (also spelled synthesiser) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis and frequency modulation synthesis. These sounds may be altered by components such as filters, which cut or boost frequencies; envelopes, which control articulation, or how notes begin and end; and low-frequency oscillators, which modulate parameters such as pitch, volume, or filter characteristics affecting timbre. Synthesizers are typically played with keyboards or controlled by sequencers, software or other instruments, and may be synchronized to other equipment via MIDI. Synthesizer-like instruments emerged in the United States in the mid-20th century with instruments such as the RCA Mark II Sound Synthesizer, RCA Mark II, which was controlled with Punched card, punch cards and used hundreds of vacuum tubes. The Moog synthesizer, d ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mod (subculture)
Mod, from the word modernist, is a subculture that began in London and spread throughout Great Britain and elsewhere, eventually influencing fashions and trends in other countries, and continues today on a smaller scale. Focused on music and fashion, the subculture has its roots in a small group of stylish London-based young men in the late 1950s who were termed ''modernists'' because they listened to modern jazz. Elements of the mod subculture include fashion (often tailor-made suits); music (including soul, rhythm and blues, ska and mainly jazz) and motor scooters (usually Lambretta or Vespa). In the mid-1960s, the subculture listened to power pop rock groups with mod following, such as the Who and Small Faces, after the peak Mod era. The original mod scene was associated with amphetamine-fuelled all-night jazz dancing at clubs. During the early to mid-1960s, as mod grew and spread throughout the UK, certain elements of the mod scene became engaged in well-publicised clashes ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Neon (British Band)
Neon were an English new wave band active in the early 1980s. All members went on to have successful careers in other bands, notably Naked Eyes and Tears for Fears. History The band were formed in 1979 in Bath, Somerset by Pete Byrne and Rob Fisher. They were then joined by Neil Taylor and Manny Elias, and then Curt Smith and Roland Orzabal as session musicians. The band's first single, "Making Waves"/"Me I See in You", was released in October 1980 on Byrne and Fisher's own label, 3D Music, followed by "Communication Without Sound"/"Remote Control" in July 1981 on Carrere UK. The band broke up in December 1981. After Neon After the split, Byrne and Fisher formed Naked Eyes and found success with "Always Something There to Remind Me" and " Promises, Promises". After Naked Eyes, Byrne moved to California and did session work for other artists, while Fisher did sessions in London and later formed the duo Climie Fisher, who had hits with "Love Changes (Everything)" and " Rise to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Graduate (band)
Graduate were an English new wave and mod revival musical group formed in 1978, in Bath, England. They were only mildly successful, and broke up by 1981. They are today best known as being the initial recording vehicle for future Tears for Fears members Roland Orzabal and Curt Smith, who found international fame in the 1980s and 1990s. Band history John Baker and Roland Orzabal were at school together and performed as the "Baker Brothers" in local pubs and clubs from 1977, when both were aged 16. The name Graduate came from the fact that they used to open shows with a cover of Simon and Garfunkel's "Mrs. Robinson", which was featured in the movie ''The Graduate''. They were introduced to drummer Andy Marsden by their first manager Colin Wyatt who ran a local musical youth group of which Marsden was a member. Buck was also found by Colin Wyatt playing piano at a local nightspot in Bath, and for a while they played with various bass players until Smith was offered the role. Orz ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ian Stanley
Ian Christopher Stanley (born 28 February 1957) is a British musician, songwriter and record producer. He was previously a member of the English band Tears for Fears for most of the 1980s, and played a key role in the making of their multi-platinum selling second studio album ''Songs from the Big Chair''. Biography Career After offering them free use of his recording facility, Stanley became a member of Tears for Fears, contributing on synthesizers, drum machines, organ, pianos and backing vocals on their first three albums. He also co-wrote (with Roland Orzabal) many of their songs from the period 1983–1985, and was a part of the production team during this era as the band worked with producer Chris Hughes at their studio, The Wool Hall, in Bath. He has appeared in several Tears for Fears music videos, including ''Change'' (in which he plays one of the two masked musicians), '' Mothers Talk'' (version 1 & 3), ''Shout'', ''Everybody Wants to Rule the World'', ''Head ove ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
