Icons of the ‘80s Discuss New Wave Origins Ahead of Totally Tubular Festival

The Totally Tubular Festival is coming to Riverbend on Saturday, July 27, and some of the biggest acts of the ‘80s will be transporting you back in time on an excellent adventure . The festival is like a time-traveling pop music DeLorean to the beginning of big hair, bright colors, MTV and a new era for pop music and pop culture.

The creators and voices behind some of the biggest hits of the ‘80s featured at the festival, including Thomas Dolby, behind otherworldly hits like “She Blinded Me with Science;” Tom Bailey of Thompson Twins and Ivan Doroschuk from Men Without Hats, spoke with CityBeat ahead of the tour kickoff. These ‘80s heavy hitters discuss ushering in something altogether new, the decade’s distinct style, the origin of new wave, the significance of MTV, the camaraderie between the groups, staying creative and much more.

The three icons of pop music represent more memorable moments in pop culture than you can count, from Thompson Twins’ “If You Were Here” playing over the quintessential Sixteen Candles scene of Molly Ringwald lit by candlelight, or Men Without Hats’ “Safety Dance” acting as a hilarious plot point in the 1996 Pauly Shore cult comedy Biodome and Dolby’s unique keyboard work on more hit records than likely most are aware of.

In addition to those three pillars of ‘80s pop, the tour features Modern English, Wang Chung, Tommy Tutone, Bow Wow Wow and The Plimsouls to round out a bill worthy of any ‘80s mixtape.

Fans can immerse themselves in an era that represents a new generation with a new sound. Every group on the tour sounded vastly different than what had dominated the airwaves just a couple of years before.

The decade’s new sound was labeled “new wave” and lived up to its name, but it didn’t come out of nowhere — before new wave, there was punk.

“My feeling was that punk opened the door for so many of us; it was suddenly saying you didn’t have to be some kind of distant and amazingly wealthy musician to be able to connect with an audience,” Bailey told CityBeat . “Anyone could certainly feel that they could jump up on a stage and have a go.”

Doroschuk agrees that punk music helped create the new wave genre.

“We shared the same bin in the back of the record stores back then,” he said. “New wave bands and punk bands shared stages because nobody else in town would have us. It was a lot of the DIY philosophy that connected us and a lot of philosophy and politics were the same.”

Dolby says of his experience during the cultural shift , “I was in London for punk rock and prior to that as a teenager listening to Yes and Genesis, Soft Machine with my friends, you know, and Pink Floyd. We were shocked at first when punk hit the scene but before long, we were spiking our hair and wearing shredded trousers and I was going out to see the Sex Pistols and The Clash and sort of pogoing around with the rest of them and it was a great burst of energy. But to me, musically, it had limited appeal.

“I think when the bands with the energy of punk started doing more sophisticated music, it was more stimulating,” Dolby said. “It broadened out so it wasn’t that sort of three chords thrash and scream vocals; it became more musical, but it was, really, very different than the corporate rock in the ‘70s.”

Bailey says the initial punk movement had passed by the time Thompson Twins started but says “it had mutated into something called ‘the new wave.’”

Punk music made its impact and musicians took cues from the movement and branched out to form a new sound.

The growing use of electronic instruments in the late ‘70s and into the beginning of the ‘80s created new sounds and textures and, in turn, a new style of music that built off what came before. The dancing drive of disco and the accessibility of traditional pop music mixed with the freedom and attitude of punk helped create a new sound for a new decade.

“The other thing that was happening at the same time was a move, instead of just guitar and drums being the sound of it, I think electronics were starting to play their part,” Dolby said. “I was of the generation that were influenced by so-called krautrock, Tangerine Dream and Kraftwerk and so on, but certainly when (David) Bowie and (Brian) Eno went to Berlin and Bowie started making chart pop records, which were all electronics, that was very inspiring.”

Thompson Twins shrank from a seven-piece band to three members quickly after Bailey’s initial success experimenting with a synth and drum machine during production for the band's second album (1982’s Set ). Doroschuk quit his Cramps-inspired guitar-based band and started Men Without Hats with synthesizer and disco beats as the central sound in 1980.

“I guess technology was one of the big triggers because suddenly I could afford a polyphonic synthesizer, which I’d always wanted but it was only for these rock gods who could afford things like that and suddenly it became affordable, and at the same time, drum machines came along,” Bailey said. “My very early experiments with using drum machines and synthesizers connected big time, so not only was it of interest creatively but in terms of the band doing well. The writing’s on the wall from that point on.”

Dolby says the new technology available made making music affordable and achievable. “Machines, drum machines and synthesizers and stuff, you could turn them up in your back room or your garage and make records and they sounded great, and they sounded new and fresh and different.”

In addition to a new attitude in pop music and textures from electronic instruments, the image of the new decade was just as distinctive and impactful.

“There was kind of a new creative period in the late ‘70s, beginning of the ‘80s,” Doroschuk said. “The video was new; MTV was there. So, there were new hairdos, new clothes; everything was kind of new. It was a new creative moment in the arts, in general.”

The Thompson Twins represented the visual change of the new creative moment as much or more than most with their vertically ascending hairdos and colorful, flowing high-fashion wardrobe.

Bailey says the Thompson Twins’ diverse lineup led to a new freedom of expression. “There was a change in fashion for music because suddenly pop music sounded different from before. Visually also, it’s amazing, this is the kind of stuff that’s never planned — it’s just a question of one thing leading to another but the fact that we weren’t four white guys with guitars, suddenly we were male, female, Black and white and using synthesizers. It kind of broke the assumed stereotype of what a pop group could be.”

Image became as potent a message as ever with the help of the new cultural landmark, MTV, which first aired in 1981 and featured a rotation of music videos driving musical taste and cultural trends.

“I think music starts to get quite formulaic,” Dolby said. “So when that happens, it’s sort of ripe for an upset and I think that MTV was really that upset because MTV had such a potent effect on viewers and listeners that it actually affected their buying and consuming habits and the record companies and radio stations had to sit up and take notice of that.”

Men Without Hats’ breakout hit video for “Safety Dance” received its fair share of rotation on MTV after coming out in 1984. “MTV was a big part in the band,” Doroschuk said. “I went from being totally unknown to being recognized everywhere I went. Being on MTV back in those days — they only had like 10 videos, so we were getting super heavy rotation — definitely played into the success of the band, for sure.”

Another possibility for the changing styles may be the still-new MTV’s lack of structure. “It didn’t really have a programming formula, so that meant that quirky musicians were able to get ahold of this music video format and make it their own,” Dolby said. “By that, I mean Peter Gabriel, Talking Heads, Kate Bush, Laurie Anderson, people like that who instead of just relying on the record company to outsource it to some independent producer, they would actually get involved in the storyboarding and the direction of the videos themselves and use it as a form of expression. So, the range of music and ideas available on MTV was very wide and people were staying home on Saturday night to watch MTV instead of going out to the club or a gig.”

Doroschuk says he compared being in a band to being on a hockey team competing for venues, press and the charts. “It was a competition but now, it’s like the people who are out there are out there because they love to do it. It’s super relaxed; there’s no pressure; the work’s been done; the work was done 40 years ago (laughs), so it’s time to enjoy ourselves and just bring it to the fans.”

Bailey, who was working on music just before our interview, tells CityBeat about his return to Thompson Twins music after a long break to focus on other projects like the new electronic music of his International Observer project. “I enjoyed it so much that I wondered what I’ve been doing wasting my time not doing this (laughs), but I’m being facetious because I did lots of interesting things in that intervening period but I’m very happy doing this again.”

There seems to be a real camaraderie between the musicians involved in the tour and even talk of collaboration. Dolby played on Set , the second Thompson Twins record, but Dolby and Bailey have never played on stage together. Both seem open to the idea for these shows. Additionally, all three mention there has been talk amongst the other bands about the possibility of mixing things up and doing guest spots throughout the tour.

Fans can get out to Riverbend on Saturday, July 27 to see for themselves and revisit favorite songs and memories of an era, while reconnecting with the artists who made it all possible.

The Totally Tubular Festival comes to Riverbend Music Center on July 27. More info: riverbend.org .

This story is featured in CityBeat's July 10 print edition.