Head Over Heels

 It was somewhere around either the end of 2019 or the beginning of 2020 when I heard the one song that forever changed my life. I don't remember the exact date but, I’ll never forget the moment. I was headed home in an Uber and the 1985 song “Head Over Heels” by Tears for Fears started to play on the radio. I remember thinking this song sounds oddly familiar and pulling out my phone to Shazam the song to see who it was by and if I'd heard it before. Turns out I hadn't! I never knew that very moment would start a very long journey of blogging and writing about music from that era and even as far back as the 50s. I even have them to thank for meeting some of my closest friends. Most of which, have inspired me to take my writing and love for music to the next level. 

Tears for Fears also got me into bands and musicians such as Paul Simon, Simon & Garfunkel, Adam & The Ants, Oleta Adams, Puscifer, King Crimson, Steven Wilson, Radiohead, Sixpence None the Richer whom I've met, The Korgis, and since first hearing that song about five or six years ago I haven't worked or hardly done anything without it since that moment. That song is just absolutely iconic and just absolute sheer perfection from that genius piano riff which, I recently learned was done by a fellow from Bristol by the name of Andrew “Andy” Cresswell-Davis to that sexy bass line done by none other than Curt Smith. Andy was part of The Korgis believe it or not Along with an earlier band both he and James “Jim” Warren the current lead singer of The Korgis were part of which, was known as “Stackridge.” Stackridge ended up calling it quits around the early 2000s. Andy also toured with Tears for Fears in the 1990s, when they released their third album, “The Seeds of Love.” 

The piano riff done by Andy mixed with Curt’s bass playing, Ian Stanley’s keyboard playing, and Roland’s vocals just created the perfect song, and one that has lived in my head since I first heard it nearly five to six years ago. It wasn't until 2022 when my life began to drastically change that I began to understand the depth and the power of their lyrics. During that time, their debut album “The Hurting” became like a band-aid for all that I was suffering through that year and is what inspired me to go see them in June of that year, as well as, slowly becoming my favorite album they've written alongside their seventh album known as “The Tipping Point.” We diehard TFF fans nicknamed album seven as “The Healing” because, of the story of loss and healing it tells. Seeing them live is what made me into the fan, writer, and collector I am today. That was the exact moment I decided I needed to know what inspired them to write the songs they do and why.  They took things that they were feeling at the time and made them hits like “Shout”, “Everybody Wants the Rule the World”, “Woman in Chains”, and even “Mad World”, which was used in the film “Donnie Darko” then recreated by Gary Jules and Michael Andrews. They didn't just make hits they made songs that were relatable and could be used by dozens of others to describe what they're feeling as well. 

I can almost guarantee that when they started back in the late 70s as a mod pop band called “Graduate” they never could've imagined that their music would have the profound impact and the depth that it does today. They truly aren't you're average new wave band that's for sure which, is why they've been around for over 40 years and sound just as good if not better than they did when they first started. Even a 9-year split wasn't enough to keep childhood friends Roland Orzabal and Curt Smith apart or from doing what they’re absolutely destined to and have since all those years ago playing at Moles back in their hometown of Bath alongside current  Korgi John Baker, Steve Buck, and Andy Marsden. 

Thanks, boys for giving my writing purpose and my life meaning! Here’s to another 40 years!