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Modern English (Photo courtesy Clarion Call)
After having to recently cancel its summer North American 40th anniversary tour — a run that was to also feature a front-to-back performance of its breakthrough 1982 album After the Snow — legendary British band Modern English provides fans with a broadcast performance of the entire album from the Indigo at The 02 on Friday, Sept. 25 at 8:30pm ET in a show specially designated for North America!
OMD (Photo courtesy Tell All Your Friends)
Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark (OMD) recently announced a uniquely special You Me & OMD live show from London’s Indigo at The O2 on Oct. 24 — set to raise money and awareness for their crew, whose livelihoods have been so affected in the wake of the global Covid-19 pandemic.
Julie Budet of Yelle (Photo by Jerome Lobato)
France’s YELLE recently revealed the sweltering video for their song “J’Veux Un Chien” (“I Want a Dog”), the third single with a double-entendre.
Wanting a supportive partner (a dog) who respects one’s mind but also fulfills the dirtiest desires (not a dog!). The song is deep, dark and erotic. But yes, playful enough for your little cousin to sing. Brilliant. The music video, directed by Giant, is sophisticated yet simple, precise and powerful like the song.
Midge Ure (Photo courtesy the artist)
Midge Ure has launched his Backstage Lockdown Club! And Midge has scheduled his next livestream show for Patreon supporters on Saturday, Sept. 19.
The Backstage Lockdown Club gives the viewer exclusive, regular access to a series of intimate, musical events on a monthly subscription basis. Every month there will be at least one (for a minimum of 45 minutes) Club Event with the opportunity to make musical requests, Q+A sessions, acoustic songs, and just generally chat with Midge, all live from his Environment Studio.
The Damned (Photo courtesy Freeman Promotions)
In 1980 and 1981, The Damned went to Rockfield for a series of sessions that eventually became The Black Album, The Friday 13th EP, and Strawberries. Their time there produced some of The Damned’s greatest musical moments and memorable stories of horses, cows, vampires, rifles, and Lemmy.
In 2019, The Damned returned to Rockfield studios to record the first new music since 2018’s Top 10 Evil Spirits album. “Keep ‘Em Alive” is the first single from that effort.
The cover of “You!” by Peter Godwin (Photo courtesy the artist)
Singer-songwriter Peter Godwin is best known for his new wave hit “Images of Heaven,” which continues to fascinate listeners, as shown in its recent power ranking in a Facebook poll called the ’80s Synthpop Singles World Cup 2020. Only weeks ago, Peter released a new single — “You!” — and Johnson Somerset, a regular collaborator, remixed it for release a few days ago.
In the ’70s, Peter began his career in the glam rock outfit Metro, which gained even more notoriety when David Bowie covered the band’s song “Criminal World” on his album Let’s Dance. After Metro, Peter took off on a solo career, although he became a master tunesmith for a variety of other artists, ranging from German synthpoppers Camouflage to fellow Englishman Steve Winwood.
Parklife DC’s Mickey McCarter phoned Peter at home in Nice, France, where he dedicated part of a relaxing evening reminiscing about his career and looking forward to the future.
John Taylor performs with Duran Duran at MGM National Harbor on Dec. 31, 2016. (Photo by Mickey McCarter)
Pandemic lockdowns globally generated a surge of creativity from music artists seeking ways to connect with their fans in a time when people are urged to stay at home.
Of all the virtual concerts, listening parties, and chats, my favorite lockdown series by far has been a tutorial and interview combo by John Taylor of Duran Duran. On nearly a weekly cadence, John regales the viewer with tales of a favorite song and how it came together, with a focus on his bass playing, and then he interviews a friend and fellow artist in a program dubbed Stone Love Bass Odyssey.
On Wednesday, June 10, John walks us through “Some Like It Hot” by his side project Power Station, and then he chats with none other than fellow English rocker Billy Idol, on Duran Duran’s Instagram!
Erasure (Photo by Doron Gild)
Erasure recently announced a new album on BBC Radio 2’s The Zoe Ball Breakfast Show. The record is called The Neon, and it will be released on Aug. 21 by Mute.
The album is preceded by a new single, “Hey Now (Think I Got a Feeling),” which received its first play on the same show last week.
Limahl (Photo courtesy ReyBee Inc.)
In 1983, singer Limahl released an album with the band Kajagoogoo. It was titled White Feathers, and I probably don’t need to tell you much about it because the lead single “Too Shy” never went away. You can hear the smash hit everywhere! Soon after, Limahl cemented his place in our collective pop consciousness as a solo performer with the majestic “NeverEnding Story,” the title theme to the movie of the same name.
“NeverEnding Story” and “Too Shy” have withstood the test of time and even went through a rejuvenation in 2019 after being featured on hit television series Black Mirror (Episode: “Bandersnatch”), American Horror Story (Season Nine: “1984”), and Stranger Things (Season Three). Now, Limahl enters a pop culture renaissance with the release of “Still in Love,” his first new solo release in eight years, on June 5, 2020.
Parklife DC’s Mickey McCarter was very pleased to chat with Limahl, born Chris Hamill, about the new single and his landmark ’80s tunes in a recent phone call.
John Taylor performs with Duran Duran at MGM National Harbor on Dec. 31, 2016. (Photo by Mickey McCarter)
The great Nile Rodgers famously remixed “The Reflex” by Duran Duran — a song that sent the boys from Birmingham UK to No. 1 on the US Billboard Hot 100 in 1984.
Nile went on to work quite a bit with Duran Duran over the past several decades, of course, and bassist John Taylor is likely to explore that relationship in a chat for his Stone Love Bass Odyssey via Duran Duran’s Instagram on Wednesday, May 27.
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