Tears for Fears

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Tears for Fears
Curt Smith and Roland Orzabal
Background information
Origin Flag of England Bath, England
Genre(s) New Wave, Psychedelic Rock, Synthpop
Years active 1981 – present
Label(s) New Door, Gut, Phonogram,
Mercury, Universal
Website Tears for Fears.net
Members
Roland Orzabal
Curt Smith
Former members
Ian Stanley
Manny Elias
Peripheral members:
Oleta Adams
Chris Hughes
Nicky Holland
Alan Griffiths
Charlton Pettus

Tears for Fears (abbreviated TFF) are a popular English pop band formed in the early 1980s by Roland Orzabal and Curt Smith, which emerged after the dissolution of their first band, the mod-influenced Graduate. They were initially associated with new wave and the burgeoning wave of synthesiser bands of the early 1980s, but quickly branched out into mainstream chart success. Tears for Fears have sold more than 21 million albums worldwide.

Contents

[edit] Career

[edit] Formation

Orzabal and Smith met as teenagers in their home town of Bath, England. Their first professional stint came with the band Graduate, a Mod Revival/New Wave act drawing on the major influences of the time, including The Jam and Elvis Costello. In 1980, Graduate released an album, Acting My Age, which just missed the Top 100 in the UK though it performed well in Spain and in the Netherlands.

By 1981, Orzabal and Smith were becoming more influenced by artists such as the Talking Heads, Peter Gabriel and Brian Eno. They departed from Graduate and formed a band called History of Headaches, a moniker which was then changed to Tears for Fears. The plan was for Orzabal and Smith to form the nucleus of the group and bring in surrounding musicians to help them complete the picture.

Tears for Fears were signed to Phonogram Records, UK in 1981 by A&R manager Dave Bates. Their first single as Tears for Fears, "Suffer the Children" (produced by David Lord), was released on that label in November 1981, followed by the first edition of "Pale Shelter" (produced by Mike Howlett) in March 1982.

[edit] Derivation of band name

The band's name is derived from the Primal therapy treatment of the same name developed by Arthur Janov, which was made famous after John Lennon became Janov's patient. While undergoing primal therapy, a patient is encouraged to "re-experience" his early, dramatic emotional states (even perinatal ones), including screaming like an infant, hence the expression "tears for fears". Orzabal tried primal therapy in the early 1980s, although Smith never did, and neither returned to the treatment after that time.

In a 2004 interview with VH1 UK, Orzabal and Smith said that when they finally met Janov in the mid-80s, they were disillusioned to find that he had become quite "Hollywood" and wanted the band to write a musical about primal therapy.

[edit] Eras and Albums

[edit] The Hurting

Album cover of The Hurting (1983).
Album cover of The Hurting (1983).

The band's single "Mad World" hit the top 3 in the UK in November 1982. Their first album, The Hurting, was released in March 1983. For this LP (and the next), keyboard player and composer Ian Stanley and drummer Manny Elias were considered full members of the band, though Smith and Orzabal were still essentially the frontmen and public face of the band.

The album, produced by Chris Hughes and Ross Cullum, showcased synthesizer-based songs with lyrics reflecting Orzabal's bitter childhood and upbringing. The Hurting can be considered Tears for Fears' only true concept album, as references to emotional distress and primal therapy are found in nearly every song. The album itself had a lengthy chart run in the UK (where it reached no. 1) - also reaching the Top 40 in several countries, and yielded the international hit singles "Mad World", "Change" and a re-recorded version of "Pale Shelter" (all of which were top 5 in the UK).

Towards the end of 1983 the record company released a new, slightly more abstract single, "The Way You Are", to keep the band in the public eye while they worked on their second album. The single was a top 30 hit in the UK, but did not come close to matching the success of their three previous hits, despite a national concert tour in December of that year (captured on the "In My Mind's Eye" live video release). The single, which heavily featured sampling and programmed rhythms, led to a departure in Tears for Fears' musical approach. In the liner notes to their B-sides album "Saturnine, Martial and Lunatic" they wrote that "this was the point we realised we had to change direction", although the somewhat experimental style of the single continued to be reflected to some extent in their forthcoming B-sides.

[edit] Songs from the Big Chair

Album cover of Songs from the Big Chair (1985); with Roland Orzabal (left) and Curt Smith.
Album cover of Songs from the Big Chair (1985); with Roland Orzabal (left) and Curt Smith.

A change of direction was initially instigated as they began working with a new producer, Jeremy Green, on their new single "Mothers Talk" in early 1984, but the band were ultimately unhappy with the results and so producer Chris Hughes was brought back into the fold and the "Mothers Talk" single reproduced for release in August 1984. A distinct departure from their earlier works, the single became a top 20 hit in the UK, but it was the follow-up single "Shout" (released in the UK in November 1984) that was the real beginning of the band's golden age.

This top 5 hit paved the way for the long-awaited second album Songs from the Big Chair (released in February 1985), which entered the UK album chart at no.2 and remained in the upper reaches of the chart for the next 12 months. With this album, Orzabal and Smith lessened their preoccupation with pop psychology and turned their attention to wider themes, including the global politics of the Reagan-Thatcher era. They did away with the predominantly synth-pop feel of the first album, instead expanding into a more sophisticated sound that would become the band's stylistic hallmark. Anchored around the creative hub of producer Hughes, Stanley and Orzabal, the new Tears for Fears sound helped to propel Songs from the Big Chair into becoming one of the year's biggest global sellers and achieve quintuple-platinum sales status in the U.S. (where it remained the no.1 album for five weeks).

The album's success was in conjunction to the array of hit singles it yielded: "Mothers Talk" (the first to be released in the UK, but the last to be released in the US in a remixed form), "Shout" (#4 UK, #1 in the U.S., Canada, Germany, the Netherlands, Switzerland, etc., and a huge hit in other territories, in fact one of the biggest of the eighties), "Everybody Wants to Rule the World", (their biggest UK hit at #2 and another #1 in the U.S.), "Head Over Heels" (UK #12, US #3) and "I Believe (A Soulful Re-Recording)" (UK #23). Some territories even saw the release of limited edition 10" singles for these hits, in addition to the regular 7" and multiple 12" formats.

Following the album's release, the band went on a world tour that lasted most of the year. During this tour, Orzabal and Smith discovered an American female singer/pianist, Oleta Adams, who was performing in a Kansas City, Missouri hotel bar, with whom they invited to collaborate on their next album.

The album's title was inspired by the book and television mini-series Sybil, the chronicle of a woman with multiple personality disorder who sought refuge in her analyst's "big chair", Orzabal and Smith stating that they felt each of the album's songs had a distinctive personality of its own. The band also released a video collection/documentary entitled "Scenes From The Big Chair" the same year, while their first two earliest singles were re-released, both reaching the UK Top 75. In 1986, upon completion of the lengthy and exhausting Big Chair world tour, Manny Elias left the group.

Also in 1986, Orzabal and Stanley collaborated together on a side project named "Mancrab". They released one single, "Fish For Life", which was written for the soundtrack of the film "The Karate Kid, Part II". The track was written and produced by Orzabal and Stanley, and featuring vocals by US singer/dancer Eddie Thomas.

[edit] Live Aid controversy

Album cover of Everybody Wants to Run the World (1986).
Album cover of Everybody Wants to Run the World (1986).

In 1985, a controversy broke out in regard to the band's plan to participate in Bob Geldof's Live Aid charity event. Tears for Fears was originally scheduled to perform at JFK Stadium in Philadelphia; however, on the morning of the historic event, July 13, 1985, it was announced that Tears for Fears had pulled out of the show. The official reason given for their non-appearance was that two of their backing musicians had quit - guitarist Andrew Saunders and saxophonist Will Gregory, due to the expiration of their contract. Instead, in place of appearing the band pledged to donate proceeds from their world tour played in Tokyo, Sydney, London and New York.

In 1986, a slightly rewritten version of one of their biggest hits was recorded and released for the British fund-raising initiative Sport Aid, a splinter project of Band Aid in which people took part in running races of varying length and seriousness to raise more money for African projects. The slogan was "I Ran the World"; therefore Tears for Fears released "Everybody Wants To Run The World" (#5 in the UK). They were indirectly involved in the earlier Band Aid single "Do They Know It's Christmas?" of 1984 which featured a slowed down sample from their song "The Hurting" in the introduction.

[edit] The Seeds of Love

Album cover of The Seeds of Love (1989).
Album cover of The Seeds of Love (1989).

It was 1989 before the group released its third album, The Seeds of Love (on which Ian Stanley appeared for the last time as a TFF member), at a reported production cost of over a million pounds. The album was written largely by Orzabal along with keyboardist Nicky Holland, who had toured with the band on their global 1985 "Big Chair" tour. Moving from various studios and using various sets of producers, the band decided to take the reins themselves with assistance from engineer Dave Bascombe. Much of the material was recorded in jam-sessions and later edited down. The length of the production left the band with lumbering debt and a record-company eager to cash in on lost earnings. The album retained the band's epic sound while showing increasing influences ranging from jazz and blues to The Beatles, the last of which is extremely evident in the hit single "Sowing The Seeds of Love" - the first record ever played on Atlantic 252, the UK and Ireland Longwave Radio station. Another single was "Woman In Chains" (Top 30 hit in the UK, in France, Italy, Netherlands, Sweden, etc.), on which Phil Collins played drums and Oleta Adams — whom Orzabal would later guide to a successful solo career — shared vocals. The album was a worldwide success again, entering the UK album charts at no.1, and making the US top 10 (though charting lower there than its multi-platinum predecessor) and eventually going on to sell millions of copies worldwide. The band set out on an extensive "Seeds of Love" tour sponsored by Philips to start recovering the debt incurred. The show would be captured on the "Going to California" video as the singles "Advice For The Young At Heart" and "Famous Last Words" delivered some minor chart success.

A 64-page companion book, simply titled "Tears for Fears - The Seeds of Love", was released by Virgin Books in 1990 and offered extensive insight from Orzabal, Holland and Adams into the songwriting and production process for the album, as well as the musical scores for each track and rare promotional photographs from the era.

[edit] Breakup and solo careers

Album cover of Tears Roll Down (Greatest Hits 82-92) (1992).
Album cover of Tears Roll Down (Greatest Hits 82-92) (1992).

After The Seeds of Love, Orzabal and Smith had an extremely acrimonious falling out. Though only in their late twenties, the two had been in the musical spotlight for nearly a decade. Moreover, they were no longer the angst-ridden teenagers they had been when they first met. The split was blamed on Orzabal's intricate but frustrating approach to production and Smith's desire to slow down the pace of their work. As well, Smith had also been deeply affected by the breakdown of his marriage to Lynn Altman, whom he had met in his teens. The two launched thinly-veiled attacks on each other in the 1990s via their music. Orzabal kept the band name alive by releasing the 1992 hit single "Laid So Low (Tears Roll Down)" in order to promote the greatest hits collection Tears Roll Down (Greatest Hits 82-92) which featured every top 40 hit single to date apart from "The Way You Are" and the Sport Aid fundraiser.

Smith relocated to New York City and took several years to recover from the spotlight. In 1993 he recorded the album Soul on Board. Although Smith's loyal fans enjoyed the album, Smith has said on numerous occasions that he despised it and alleges that he only made it in order to fulfill his recording contract. The album was subsequently a commercial failure. In 1995 he met local songwriter and producer Charlton Pettus. The two formed a self-described "organic" partnership, writing simple, melody-based songs and recording them at home on vintage analogue equipment.

From 1996 to 1998 their band, Mayfield, performed occasional sets in clubs throughout Greenwich Village and SoHo including Brownie's, the Mercury Lounge, and CBGB. The band's name is actually a play on the name Curtis Mayfield (i.e.: "Curt is Mayfield"). As a live band, Mayfield performed with minimal production and no commercial obligations, and Smith's sense of musicianship was rekindled for the first time since his teenage years.

Eschewing major record labels, Smith formed his own label, Zerodisc, to release Mayfield's music, and was an early advocate of using the internet to share and distribute music outside the mainstream industry. The Mayfield album was released online in 1997, and released to stores in 1998. A second album, Aeroplane (released as Curt Smith rather than "Mayfield"), was released in 1999, showcasing the songs written during Mayfield's club days as well as new renditions of a couple of TFF classics. Smith also took on the management or co-management of several independent bands and musicians.

[edit] Second line-up and Elemental / Raoul & The Kings Of Spain

Album cover of Elemental (1993).
Album cover of Elemental (1993).

In 1993, Orzabal (still under the name Tears for Fears) released the album Elemental together with longtime collaborator Alan Griffiths and co-producer Tim Palmer. It yielded the international hit "Break It Down Again" (Top 20 in the UK, France, Italy, and the Netherlands) and was supported with a successful U.S. college tour, where "Break It Down Again" reached #25.

Despite being regarded by some faithful as "an album without Smith", many found the album to be an enjoyable blend of good songwriting and creative production. The album was top 5 in the UK and France, though it charted considerably lower in the US than the previous two studio albums. The singles "Cold", "Elemental" and "Goodnight Song" met with minor chart success in certain territories.

Album cover of Raoul and the Kings of Spain (1995).
Album cover of Raoul and the Kings of Spain (1995).

Orzabal, still working with Griffiths and Palmer, released another Tears for Fears album in 1995, Raoul and the Kings of Spain, a more contemplative work that delved into his own Spanish heritage and showed a new Latin musical influence (Raoul was originally the name Orzabal's parents wanted to give him, and is also the name of his own first son). Orzabal stated that it was not a concept album but that there was a theme, namely that of familial relationships. Although it continued Tears for Fears' legacy of outstanding songwriting, big production values, and varied influences, the album was not a commercial success by Tears for Fears standards, though minor chart success came via the single release of the title track (top 40 in the UK) and (to a lesser extent) the single "God's Mistake". Raoul And The Kings Of Spain also included a reunion with Oleta Adams who collaborated with Orzabal on the track "Me And My Big Ideas".

A worldwide tour, which included a frenzied welcome in Latin America, had the effect of straining Orzabal's energies rather than supporting them. The release of Raoul was delayed for nearly a year due to a last-minute label switch from Mercury to Epic, and the ensuing confusion (Mercury had already begun promotion) did not help the album's chances either. Although the tracklisting for the album had been changed at the record company's request, Sony did not extend Tears for Fears' contract.

In 1996 a B-sides collection, Saturnine Martial & Lunatic, was released on Mercury, which included B-sides and some rare tracks from the successful 1982-93 period. The liner notes by Orzabal and Hughes gave fans an insight into the songwriting process as well as a rare glimpse of self-deprecating humour regarding the tracks which they would rather forget.

[edit] Remastering

In 1999, Mercury Records released remastered editions of Tears for Fears' first three albums which included B-sides, remixes, and extended versions. Supervised by producer Chris Hughes it proved to be a meticulous effort bringing new clarity to the recordings. As with Saturnine, the liner notes provided rich background and new insights into the music to even longtime fans. The remasters also had the effect of establishing Tears for Fears as definitive artists, helping them to escape the dreaded "80s band" moniker.

The dizzying array of record company mergers and acquisitions in the late 1990s eventually placed Tears for Fears' back catalogue into the Universal fold.

After undertaking production work (and some songwriting) for Icelandic singer/songwriter Emiliana Torrini on her acclaimed 1999 album "Love In The Time Of Science", Orzabal reteamed with Griffiths and released the album Tomcats Screaming Outside, released on Eagle Records as a solo project under his own name. Whereas Tears for Fears' work had become guitar-based, Tomcats Screaming Outside showcased a predominantly electronic style and a darker approach. The album was released in April 2001 in the UK and Europe, but had the unfortunate coincidence to be released on September 11, 2001 in the US, the same day the United States experienced its worst-ever terrorist attack, and ultimately drew little notice outside the group's core fan base.

[edit] Reunion: Everybody Loves a Happy Ending

Album cover of Everybody Loves a Happy Ending (2004).
Album cover of Everybody Loves a Happy Ending (2004).
Curt Smith & Roland Orzabal (circa 2004).
Curt Smith & Roland Orzabal (circa 2004).

In 2000, routine paperwork obligations led to Orzabal and Smith's first conversation in almost a decade. The two patched up their differences and Orzabal flew to Smith's home in Los Angeles for what they assumed would be a hesitant attempt at songwriting.

The songwriting sessions, which included Charlton Pettus, went so well that fourteen songs were written and recorded in less than six months (by contrast, the drum track alone for "Badman's Song" on The Seeds of Love, an eight-song album, took six weeks to record).

The ensuing album, Everybody Loves a Happy Ending, is in many ways a natural successor to The Seeds of Love, featuring vibrant Beatles-esque melodies, solid songwriting, and turns of phrase, but the album also has a free spirit that Orzabal and Smith would have shunned in their earlier, more serious years. This spirit is largely the work of co-writer and producer Charlton Pettus, who succeeded at the formidable task of welding Orzabal's lush songwriting with the live energy of Smith's Mayfield shows. Indeed, one of the highest compliments paid to the album was one reviewer's comment that "John Lennon and Paul McCartney are alive and well."[citation needed]

The twelve-track album was scheduled for release on Arista Records in late 2003, but a change in management at Arista led to a last-minute label switch to New Door, a new offshoot of Universal, and delayed the release until September 14, 2004. Two successful U.S. tours followed. The 2004 tour included an unrehearsed guest appearance by Oleta Adams at the Kansas City show for a performance of "Woman in Chains".

Everybody Loves a Happy Ending was released in the UK and Europe in March 2005 on Gut Records, shortly after the comeback single "Closest Thing To Heaven" became the first Tears for Fears UK Top 40 hit in a decade. The promo video for the single was a colourful fantasy, featuring Hollywood actress Brittany Murphy riding in a hot air balloon. The European releases of the album contained all fourteen tracks written and recorded during the ELAHE sessions. A brief tour of larger UK venues followed in April. A performance at the Parc des Princes stadium in Paris, recorded in June 2005, was released on CD and DVD in France and Benelux, as Secret World Live in Paris in early 2006 and became an instant bestseller. The CD also contains one new studio song (recorded in the first line for an official European "best of", still unreleased), "Floating Down the River" and a Mayfield track, "What Are We Fighting For?". Later in the year, "Call Me Mellow/Everybody Loves A Happy Ending" was released in the UK as a double A-side single, though copies were difficult to find in high street stores.

In 2006, the classic Songs from the Big Chair album got the deluxe treatment with additional B-sides and rarities added, expanding even further from the 1999 remastered version. The release was presented with care and did not include the lyrics as the artists had intended with the original release, but came with a 24 page booklet including rare photographs and newly written liner notes. The two-disc set contained four sections, including one with the album taken from the original remasters from 1999. It also included the piano version of "The Working Hour" which had previously only been available as a rare promotional item, as well as numerous B-sides, and the 7" versions of the singles (including the aforementioned "The Way You Are" and the 1986 US remix of "Mothers Talk"). The last section showed the true 80s effect of five remixes, heavily reliant on sequencers, sampling and programming.

[edit] Impact and influence

[edit] Musical legacy

In the song "In Love With the 80s (Pink Tux to the Prom)", rock band Relient K pays tribute to Tears for Fears with a line in the chorus, "And my favorite band will always be Tears for Fears".

Their song Everybody Wants to Rule the World was the theme song for Dennis Miller's HBO show Dennis Miller Live and was featured in the 1985 comedy film Real Genius and in the opening titles for the 1992 British dramedy Peter's Friends starring Kenneth Branagh and Emma Thompson, as well as the 1997 comedy Romy and Michelle's High School Reunion starring Lisa Kudrow and Mira Sorvino.

A haunting cover of "Mad World" by Michael Andrews and Gary Jules was featured on the soundtrack to the cult film Donnie Darko and reached UK Number 1 spot for Christmas 2003. "Head Over Heels" was also used in the film. Despite chart-topping success in the USA, Tears for Fears themselves had yet to reach the top spot in their native country. This same cover of "Mad World" is also used in a trailer for the Xbox 360 game Gears of War and caused the song to become number one for a time on the iTunes music store.[1]

The success of the single also led to the re-emergence of the Tears Roll Down greatest hits album, which returned to the UK top ten and spent eight weeks in the album chart, a dozen years after its release. Criticism has sometimes been levelled at the band over the years for the release of numerous "greatest hits" collections, compilations, DVDs, and repackaged reissues of the same, although many of these are usually released by the record company without the band's involvement or blessing.

On Disturbed's first album, The Sickness they covered "Shout".

The song Pale Shelter is featured in the 2002 PlayStation 2 videogame Grand Theft Auto: Vice City as part of the New Wave radio station Wave 103.

In early 2004, Universal Music reprinted the first three albums for sale in the UK following the success of the Andrews/Jules cover.

Everybody Wants to Rule the World was covered by JamisonParker for the CD Punk Goes 80's.

Tears for Fears was not only influenced by psychology, but also by quantum physics. The band has a rare track entitled, Schrödinger's Cat, and there is a lyrical reference in God's Mistake to Einstein's famous quote, "God does not play dice."

Metalcore band Evergreen Terrace covered the song Mad World on their album Writer's Block.

Australian electro rock band Rogue Traders included the melody from 'Head over heels' in their 2006 hit 'In love again' which received heavy radio play in Australia in 2006 / 2007.

[edit] Discography

For more details about the discography, see Tears for Fears discography.

Studio Albums:


Singles: (single releases vary according to territory)

† though not formally released as Tears for Fears, this was the B-side to "Advice for the Young at Heart", remixed by Fluke and subsequently released on Tears for Fears official label.


Official compilations and Live-Albums:


Other compilations:

  • 1986 Everybody Wants to Mix the World (Remixes compilation released only in Argentina)
  • 1991 Flip (B-sides compilation only released in Japan)
  • 2000 The Millennium Collection: The Best of Tears for Fears
  • 2001 Classic Tears for Fears
  • 2001 The Working Hour: An Introduction to Tears for Fears
  • 2001 Shout: The Very Best of Tears for Fears (Only released in the US)
  • 2003 Tears for Fears: The Collection


Videos and DVDs:

  • 1983 The Videosingles (Mad World, Change, Pale Shelter)
  • 1984 In My Mind's Eye (Live at the London Hammersmith Odeon)
  • 1985 Scenes from the Big Chair
  • 1990 Sowing the Seeds (The Seeds of Love videosingles)
  • 1990 Going to California (Live from Santa Barbara)
  • 1992 Tears Roll Down (Greatest Hits 82-92)
  • 2006 Secret World (Live in Paris 2005, incl. DVD)


Other Videos and DVDs:

  • 1990 Tears for Fears: Live at Knebworth '90 (Change, Badman's Song, Everybody Wants to Rule the World)
  • 2003/5 Tears for Fears - 20th Century/Universal Masters (two minor video collections that include some post-1992 promos not available on the "Tears Roll Down" compilation)

[edit] See also

[edit] External links


v • d • e
Tears for Fears
Roland Orzabal · Curt Smith

Ian Stanley · Manny Elias

Discography

Studio albums: The Hurting · Songs from the Big Chair · The Seeds of Love · Elemental · Raoul and the Kings of Spain · Everybody Loves a Happy Ending

Compilations: Tears Roll Down (Greatest Hits 82-92) · Saturnine Martial & Lunatic

Live albums: Secret World

Singles: Suffer the Children · Pale Shelter (You Don't Give Me Love) · Mad World · Change · Pale Shelter · The Way You Are · Mothers Talk · Shout · Everybody Wants to Rule the World · Head Over Heels · I Believe (A Soulful Re-Recording) · Everybody Wants to Run the World · Sowing the Seeds of Love · Woman in Chains · Advice for the Young at Heart · Famous Last Words · Laid So Low (Tears Roll Down) · Break It Down Again · Cold · Goodnight Song · Elemental · Raoul and the Kings of Spain · Gods Mistake · Secrets · Falling Down · Closest Thing to Heaven · Everybody Loves a Happy Ending / Call Me Mellow · Secret World
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