Time Travel Back To The 1980s

Fancy going back to 1986? What would it be like if you did that? Keith A Pearson tries to answer that question in his best-selling book, The '86 Fix. Keith has written a whole bunch of novels. If this sounds like the sort of thing you might enjoy, why not hop over to the Dark Neon site and read the interview I did with Keith just this week...

Limahl interview - No Regrets…

Life, love, music, money, the 80s revival, the poetry of John Betjeman and growing up gay in Wigan. 

I first interviewed Limahl in 1983, the year in which, with the band, Kajagoogoo, he had a Number One hit with ‘Too Shy’, and Limahl himself quickly became one of the top teen magazine pinups.

Almost thirty years have passed since then and, during that time, many 80s stars have vanished without a trace. But not Limahl. A few weeks ago, he released a rather good single called ‘1983’ (available for Amazon UK and Amazon US), that celebrates that year in music. Later this month (March 18th) he’ll be performing in a star-studded charity concert in London’s Criterion Theatre.

I began by asking Limahl if had never felt the need to take a break from the music business. “Oh yes,” he said – and he told me about the day he decided he was going to quit – for good…

"I’d just done a solo album with Giorgio Moroder called ‘Colour All My Days’ and I felt that EMI had pissed all over it. My A&R guy left the record company and the new guy didn’t really care about me; and then I fell out with my manager and everything went tits up. So I went to America and got a record deal – and then Arista Records dropped me! I’d been working with a Clive Davis, the industry mogul - the guy who signed Whitney Houston. I recorded a song with the Dutch producers who’d worked with Mai Tai. But Clive Davis didn’t like the production. I was absolutely gutted. One day, at the studio, I heard him moaning about me on the phone. I should have just ignored it. But foolishly I didn’t – I went in and had a big confrontation."

“Maybe you are just difficult to work with?” I delicately suggest. Limahl laughs…

No, not at all. No, I’m very easy going. I think I’ve mastered the art of compromise. You have to. But the time came when I just needed a break.  I’d made enough money to chill out so I tottered around the world for a bit (as you do). I went to Vegas and Atlantic City. There was one night when I won and lost $25,000. I started with about $1,000 and I was sat at the high-rolling blackjack table. I was on a streak and I kept winning (see my last interview with Limahl for more on this expensive episode). But the casino won it all back in the end. 

In fact, Limahl spent four years “tottering around” the globe, spending his money in far-flung places ranging from Sydney and Hawaii to Los Angeles and New York. And then one day he bumped into some people who were starting a small record label. Limahl joined the team, intending to work mainly on the production side rather than as a performer.

I thought that’s cool, I don’t have to be in front of the camera all the time. I was really happy about that. But it never took off. I did it for about six or seven years. Then out of the blue I got a call for an agent offering me a gig in about 1997 and that’s when all the interest in the 80s started again – and I’ve never stopped working ever since.

Ah yes, the 80s. It’s a decade to which many of us have a strong attachment. In 1983, Limahl, with his boyish good looks and two-tone hair-do seemed to spring fully formed into the pop music scene. But the reality was rather different, he says.

I was working in music for five years before that all happened. The early 80s were special for me and I love the fact that so many people still remember the period and the music with so much affection. There’s something magical about looking back to an unobtainable time. And it’s not just nostalgia. There are also people who are discovering 80s music for the first time. It’s sometimes surreal for me to meet young guys who tell me about how much ‘Too Shy’ means to them. 

But it wasn’t just the music, was it? There was something about the early 80s that was just so much fun. The club scene, the dressing up…

Absolutely. I was totally into that. I remember walking past a gig at Hammersmith Odeon and there were all these weird looking people outside. They were all going into a Japan gig so immediately I became interested in Japan. I think I wanted to be trendy. Because I had never been popular at school. 

If I had false teeth, I’d have swallowed them when Limahl said that. Not popular? This was a guy who was one of the top pinups, a chap who was young, good-looking, charismatic, talented… and he wasn’t popular at school? Why the heck not?

Well, I was a little bit different, I suppose. I was probably a little bit camp. I was always the last guy who’d get picked for the football team. I was a bit of a loner. And when I discovered I was gay that made me feel even more isolated. 

In the past, Limahl has been rather reticent about discussing his private life. I wondered what had made him become more open in talking about his sexuality.

I was always out to my family and friends. But when Kajagoogoo hit the big time that wasn’t my agenda. I didn’t go into music to change the world’s attitude to gays. Jimmy Somerville wrote about it beautifully and eloquently in his song ‘Smalltown Boy’ which became a focal point for the gay community. I had nothing but respect for him. But I wasn’t politically minded. I just wanted to be a pop star and have some fun. Also, I think I’d also had it drummed into me that you hide it. Even Ian McKellan didn’t come out until he was 48. 

There’s definitely been a big change in public attitude since the 80s, hasn’t there. Has that made a difference too?

Oh, the climate has definitely improved. We now have gay politicians, we have gay characters in every soap. We still get stereotyped sometimes, but thankfully most people now realise that gay people are just normal. Not all gay people are screaming and mincing characters. But even so, there are battles ahead. If Christian fundamentalism was a problem years ago, now there’s the rise of Islam and their attitudes towards gays – it’s a different fight. If anything, it’s intensified. 

But getting back to what Limahl had said about his school days (you can read what he told me about his childhood in the Northern town of Wigan when we spoke back in the early 80s). I still couldn’t get a real grasp on why he was so unpopular.

Let me give you an example. I was expelled from one school, as I was a bit naughty – causing disruption in class. I was about 13 or 14 at the time. When I arrived at the new school, I remember some of the kids coming up to me and saying, “Oh, my god! You talk like such-and-such-a-body!” – and when I finally met this such-and-such-a-body, I was horrified. He was a gay guy who had quite a feminine mannerism and voice - and I realised that was how they saw me. That really knocked my confidence. It was horrible. And that’s when I became a bit of a loner, I escaped in my music. Kids are cruel. Or rather, I should say that they are honest – they say what they feel. And it hurts. When you go to a new school, it’s terrifying anyway. You just want to blend in and be accepted. I was very unhappy at school.

Limahl and Kajagoogoo parted ways quite early on. Then they recently you got back together again. But now it seems Limahl is working as a solo artist. So is that the end of his involvement with Kajagoogoo or are there plans to do more performances?

That’s all down to Nick (Nick Beggs – who took over as lead singer after the departure of Limahl). He’s gone off touring, performing with all kinds of people. And the rest of the guys don’t want to work without Nick, which is understandable. The door’s not closed but there are no plans to do anything at the moment. It’s gone very quiet after the reunion. I was disappointed but you have to accept it. Nick has bills to pay, just as we all have. And I can completely understand that. All I can say is,  I’m very proud of what we’ve done together.

Tell me about the charity gig you’re doing. What exactly will you be singing?

About four years ago, Mike Read the DJ, put an album together, using the poems of John Betjeman. Unfortunately I wasn’t involved in that album. I really didn’t know too much about John Betjeman. But I’ve become a fan and I’m grateful to Mike Read for that. The song I’m doing was recorded by Marc Almond on the album. It’s called ‘Narcissus’. 

You're a very different singer from Marc Almond, so presumably your version will sound quite different.

I’m comfortable in Marc’s vocal range. We are, of course, quite different performers. But then again, in some ways, we are quite similar. We are both from the 80s, we are both a bit flamboyant, we both wore a bit of lippy and mascara. What’s interesting is that my partner of eighteen years, Steve, is a big Marc Almond fan, and even he had never heard the song. It’s a real hidden gem. John Betjeman’s words are really quite eloquent. And he talks about being gay in the poem. The whole thing is fascinating and I’m thrilled to be doing it. 

The Stars Sing Betjeman is a one-off event at the Criterion Theatre, London, on March 18th, 2010. Information from the theatre here: http://www.criterion-theatre.co.uk/TheStarsSingBetjeman. All profits will go to the Diana Award. More information here: http://diana-award.org.uk/news-events/fantastic-entertainment-the-stars-sing-betjeman

And finally, for all the latest info on Limahl, be sure to visit his web site here: http://www.limahl.com/

Howard Jones Interview

If you are a fan of Howard Jones’s hits from the ’80s, his tour this April, will be an experience you won’t want to miss - because Howard will be performing his first two albums, ‘Human’s Lib’ and ‘Dream Into Action’, in their entirety.

Photo © Simon Fowler

On the tour, Howard be singing all his big hits including ‘New Song’, ‘What Is Love?’, ‘Like To Get To Know You Well’ and ‘Things Can Only Get Better’. While this has obvious attractions, I wondered why he’s decided not to play any new material…

“Simple,” he says, “It’s because the fans have always asked me to do this. There are a lot of those songs that I’ve never performed live before. They were studio creations and the technology wasn’t available to do it. But when we managed to license back the first five albums from Warner Brothers we were able to re-master them. And that gave us access to the original multi-tracks so we were able to sample the keyboards and do everything we needed to recreate those two albums in a way that we wouldn’t have been able to do at the time. That meant we could really reproduce the stuff properly.”

The technology must have changed a lot since you first recorded those albums. Do you do everything with a computer these days?

“Actually I started working with a Mac and sequencing software in 1985. But in the early days those weren’t available. So I had to use much more primitive technology. In fact , the reason that ‘New Song’ has that short sequence is because the Pro 1 synthesizer only had an eight note sequencer in it.

“These days, when I write songs I usually start with the piano. But it’s different if I’m doing an electronic album. Now you have access to any sound you want from your computer, so you really need to define clearly what you want to do. You have to limit yourself to a set of rules so you don’t get carried away. The next album I’m thinking of doing will be very electronic with no pianos in it at all. It will all be all synthesized sounds. And some of it will be quite analogue.”

Recently there’s been a bit of a resurgence of interest in the sounds of older type analogue synthesizers. In fact, John Foxx - another great innovator in the 80s  - has even done some concerts using analogue synths. I asked Howard if that’s what he plans to do too?

He laughed. “No,” he said, “Definitely not! I’m fed up of going out with old gear and having it break down every night. I can’t be doing with that any more. I need good, modern, reliable keyboards. But even so, I can still get analogue sounds. A lot of the sounds will have been sampled from my old analogue stuff. But the old gear’s too precious now so you don’t want it to be trashed by taking it on the road. Also we’ve tried to make it so we can carry our gear on a plane and set up in any part of the world without an articulated lorry to carry everything. And we need to be able to deliver a huge sound.”

Photo © Simon Fowler

In the 80s I was a pop music journalist. In fact, I first interviewed Howard back in 1985. With the resurgence of interest in 80s music, I’m now seeing that many of the people I interviewed almost thirty years ago are back on tour again: Duran Duran, Spandau Ballet, Adam Ant. In fact, just last week Limahl released a single called ‘1983’ all about 80s music. I asked Howard why he thought there was suddenly so much interest in the 80s? Is it just nostalgia or are people really rediscovering the music afresh?

“A bit of both, I think. People want to hear the music they grew up with. It’s all well and good to spend a couple of years making new records, but honestly, nobody is interested in new material. What people are interested in is going out to gigs and listening to music they know, but played live. On this tour I’ve commissioned videos for each song. I want to present everything with really high quality sound and great visuals.”

These days, when you want to listen to music you can just sit down at your computer and log onto a service like Spotify or Grooveshark. In the 80s the closest we had was the radio but then you had to hope that the DJ would play music you really wanted to hear. Now you can listen to whatever you want…

“You are absolutely right. There used to be a time when everyone knew what Number One was and everyone had an idea of what was in the Top Ten. Now nobody can be really bothered about that. You can get whatever music you want any time you want, and that makes it devalued. As a result, live performances become more valuable.”

Inevitably some people must be downloading your material illegally these days – they’re getting it for free instead of buying your albums. How do you feel about that?

“My view is that if people are making money out of it – web sites that charge people for illegal downloads of music, then I’d like to see that stopped. And I’d support any legislation to prevent it. But if people download tracks because they like you as an artist, I have no problem. Young people do not see it as stealing. They see it as just being fans of the music. So really it’s for artists to adapt to that new cultural shift. Young people think music is free the way that air is free. That’s not going to change. The thing is, people have to buy a ticket to go to a gig and you can make your living from that. You can’t digitise the experience of a live show.”

I was glancing through an interview I did with you in 1985. I asked you this: “Looking ahead to the future, what do you intend to do when your music is no longer popular? In more basic terms, what are you going to do when your fans start to go off you?” And you replied: “I’ve thought about that, and I realise that sooner or later it’s bound to happen. It happens with everyone, so I’ve set myself a time limit. At a certain stage, I’m going to give up, whatever happens.” Well, you haven’t! Did you change your mind?

“I didn’t follow up on that promise, did I? You see, when my deal with Warner Brothers ran out I started my own label and began producing and manufacturing my own records. And that became very exciting. Obviously you don’t have the same high profile – with millions of people following your every move. But you develop a relationship with the people who want to be associated with you and you cater for them. They’re still excited about what you do. Yes, it’s on a smaller scale – but it’s still great to do."

Over all those years since the 80s, how much time would you say you’ve spent producing and performing music and how much time have you spent doing other things?

“I’ve been doing music pretty much continuously. I’m always either touring or in the studio. Of course, I’ve done other things too. I started a vegetarian restaurant in New York at one time. I’m working with a Buddhist choir at the moment. I’m writing a lot of choral music. I love choral music and I’ve been practising Buddhist for about eighteen years. These days, probably about half my time is involved with Buddhism and the rest of it is spent with my work. Buddhism may not have a high profile in Britain but Buddhist philosophy is gradually seeping into the way people think: the idea of taking responsibility for your life and the idea that everything is connected.”

Once you’ve finished this tour, you’ll have performed all your most popular music from the 80s. What is there left for you to do next?

“My next new work, after this tour, will be based on a large show. The show will come first. The recorded version will follow on later. My thinking these days is to create live events that people will remember.”

Sounds good to me!

Photo © Fredrik Svensson

Howard Jones performs the entirety of his albums “Human’s Lib and “Dream Into Action” in the UK during April 2012. Ticket Hotline: 0844 477 2000, www.ticketweb.co.uk. Dates include O2 Academy Bristol (April 11), O2 Academy Sheffield (April 12), O2 Academy Liverpool (April 13), O2 Academy Birmingham (April 14), O2 Academy Newcastle (April 17), O2 ABC Glasgow (April 18), O2 Academy Bournemouth (April 20), O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire (April 21). More info: www.howardjones.com.