DO YOU REMEMBER?

There are some bands that are easy to categorize by genre, or even sub-genre – perhaps never more so than the early 80s. If you weren’t defined as “synth rock” or “new wave,” you were probably exploring “adult contemporary” or “pomp rock.” But for one particular band, Tears For Fears, definitions don’t come easy. They might have fallen into any of the aforementioned categories, or, perhaps they simply created their own. One thing is for certain; their original sound and songwriting skills made them on of the most successful and popular bands to emerge from the era.

The relationship between the two founders, Roland Orzabel and Curt Smith, was forged in childhood by their similar circumstances. Both were desperate to escape their broken and bitter family homes and both had turned to music to provide solace. They originally lent their talents to a ska band called Graduate, but soon decided to create a new group that would draw from their shared musical influences such as Peter Gabriel, Brian Eno and Talking Heads. They grabbed a few more musicians to round out the group and the result was Tears For Fears. Signed to Phonogram Records in 1981, they released The Hurting in 1983, and the result was a number of hits, most notably “Mad World” which went all the way to #3 on the British charts. The album would stay on the charts for 65 weeks, where it reached #1 in England and the Top-20 in various other countries.

Although these successes were impressive for a new band, 1985 would be the year that Tears For Fears really broke through, becoming internationally famous. The album Songs From the Big Chair was an impressive undertaking, with their usual synth-laden sound now accentuated by acoustic piano and plenty of guitars. And the effort paid off with a pair of chart-smashing #1 hits, “Shout,” with its machine-like pulsing chorus and “Everybody Wants to Rule the World” an ethereal, driving shuffle. Another track, “Head Over Heels” would chart at #3. Combined with the significant exposure provided by regular rotation videos on the newly emerging MTV, Tears For Fears were soon legitimate stars and proved themselves a force to be reckoned with.