What a difference 30 years makes. Once were once immense annoyances in the vast wasteland of 1980s pop are now poses of memory of a simpler more dayglo and synth riddled time where everything sounded like it was boiled in a vat of Atari games.And really, who can whinge too much about a Fest where ABC headline one night and the B-52s headline another. I mean excuse me, but pretty damn cool, right? Welcome to Rewind!!
The 1980s were a nightmare decade for me, there was something about the bright lights big city years that had me burrowing away as fast as I could. By the end I had stopped writing about music and indeed had given up on the music scene entirely and backed into all the music I had skipped in my first 30 years. Quite a bit/ I was listening hard on jazz and getting a working knowledge of every Van Morrison and Bob Dylan album and searching out every single song Patsy Cline every recorded, spending $20 on an album to get one song. Kinda quaint now, right?
By the time I paid attention to modern music again, grunge was in full swing. The price I paid was to have never seen Nirvana or Biggie in person… or, for other reasons, Steve Harvey. Maybe I am just being difficult here, but why the hell has Steve Harley not made it Stateside in decades. He could certainly do some damage at BB Kings. Steve's is a depressing story, washed away by New Wave, he was wearing spandex and eyeliner three years after spokes and torn tees were all the rage.
Oh, Kim Wilde! A one hit wonder but "Kids In America" was pretty good… Heaven 17!!! Two of the Human League branched out! The Sugarhill Gang…
Indeed, if they added a name or two here and there, this would be a legitimately major little Fest they've got going on here, though, here's a question, how many 50 year olds are camping out at the wonderfully named Temple Island Meadows, Henley On The Thames. Still, they do things differently in England. I wonder if rock nyc's uber-B-52s fan Michael Malone is going!