‘Different LENS’
Tom Bailey enjoys playing Thompson Twins songs with young band
There’s certainly an art in writing a pop song in three minutes and 15 seconds.
Tom Bailey had stepped away from it for a while — in fact, for nearly 25 years.
But he found out it was like riding a bike.
“I haven’t been taking it too easy over the years. I’ve made lots of music,” he says during a recent interview. “But the pop song, there’s a process. And it’s one that I haven’t done in a long time. As I worked on new pop songs, I was able to see it as an old friend that I hadn’t worked with in a long time. It’s been a pleasant experience.”
Bailey rose to fame in the 1980s as part of the legendary new wave band Thompson Twins.
He’s released his first new pop music in 25 years, “Science Fiction.”
The album is produced by Bailey himself, as well as Hal Ritson.
It was recorded in France, New Zealand and London.
He’s back on the road with Boy George and Culture.
“It’s a great lineup, and we have quite a few hits,” he says. “It’s amazing that our songs have resonated with people. It just goes to show the power of an enduring song. It’s a strange reality to be in.”
The Thompson Twins had huge hits on both sides of the Atlantic, with songs such as “Hold Me Now,” “Doctor! Doctor!,” “You Take Me Up” and “Love on Your Side,” providing the soundtrack for many people’s lives in the mid-’80s.
The band also enjoyed big success on the U.S. dance chart with “Lies,” “In the Name of Love,” “Hold Me Now” and “In the Name of Love ’88,” all reaching No. 1.
In 1985, the band played Live Aid at JFK Stadium in Philadelphia, where it was introduced by Madonna to a crowd of over 100,000 and an estimated global TV audience of 1.9 billion across 150 nations. They were later joined onstage during their performance by Madonna and Nile Rodgers.
Bailey is also touring with younger musicians in his band.
In fact, the band members weren’t alive during the band’s heyday.
“I get a vicarious thrill of touring with younger musicians,” he says. “The current band is all-female. I walk onstage with them, and I get excited because there is a youthfulness in the air. In many ways, I get an opportunity to look at the hits through a different lens with the band. They’ve never heard the songs and are taking a fresh look at it. So we’re taking the pop songs through a little bit of an evolution.”