I have a soft spot for the 80s, it was brilliant
IT’S about how diverse music was in the Eighties and what came out of different areas.
It’s about how we flew the flag for Britain. (Our music) was very prominent in the charts in America to the point that Billboard called it the British Invasion.
It’s about how great we used to be! Spandau Ballet – from left, Tony Hadley, John Keeble, Steve Norman, and brothers, Martin and Gary Kemp in 1985. Midge and Gary Kemp Kim Appleby, of Mel and Kim fame, is off on a TV road trip with Ultravox’s Midge Ure, to discover why the 80s produced so many hits. She spoke to about the industry – and how she doesn’t miss being a pop star I’VE done theatre and obviously I’ve done TV to promote whatever I was doing with my sister (Mel) or as a solo artist, but this was a whole new ball game. I really enjoyed it. I’d like to do more of it – it’s great being with a crew, lots of laughter, it’s not a lonely job. I THINK the question is, ‘Do I miss being out there?’. I’m always writing (music), I’m always involved in music. I’ve chaired the Ivor Novello contemporary panel, as well as sitting on the committee, so I never left music in that sense. Do I miss being a pop star? No, not really. I love music and I guess I will release (again), but it will be on a different level this time I think, it will just be an easy release, if that makes sense. The music never goes, it’s always there, it’s just where you want to take it. IT’S changed it hugely, for the good and the bad. The good is you no longer need a record label, you can self-release, you can also pick up and create a fan base very quickly.
But also I think that it has created this snacking generation that just snack on music, and get very bored of it quickly, so there’s no longevity anymore and that’s why things fly into the charts.
Everything is being diluted because there is no longevity apart from acts like Ed Sheeran, Coldplay, Adele, Sade – they still have that market that enjoys the physical – they want to know who produced it, they want to know who played on it, they want that physical thing.