Book Review: Sweet Dreams - The Story of the New Romantics

Sweet Dreams: The Story of the New Romantics provides an in-depth look at a decade-long period of the music and cultural scenes of Britain. Author Dylan Jones zooms in on the period from 1975 to 1985 and the second invasion of British music. This study goes from the heyday of punk to the peak of new-wave, through the birth of MTV and the culmination of Live-Aid.

Written in a style reminiscent of a documentary script, Jones presents the reader with an eye-witness account of this period by those who were key to it. Through interviews, the reader hears from the likes of David Bowie, Bryan Ferry, Adam Ant, Martin Fry, Malcolm McLaren, Sade, the members of bands like Culture Club, Duran Duran, the Eurythmics, Heaven 17, Spandau Ballet, and so many more.

For someone like me who is a music-nerd that came of age during this particular decade, this book is a fascinating read. Even if you think you know a lot about these artists and their albums, I can guarantee you will find a number of interesting nuggets of trivia within these pages. It might even inspire you to revisit some of your favorite music from this period.

David Bowie - Station To Station

A little less than two weeks ago (January 10th, 2016) all of us fans of music were saddened to hear of the passing of the legendary David Bowie. My Twitter feed was full of tributes to the 69 year old artist who had succumbed to cancer and moved on to the afterlife plane. Then again, he was always on another level entirely with his ever-changing, always-inspiring artistic talent. He will be greatly missed.

David Bowie - Scary Monsters (35th anniversary)

Today (September 12th) marks the thirty-fifth anniversary of Scary Monsters, the fourteenth studio album from David Bowie. It spent twenty-seven weeks total on the US Billboard Album chart, peaking at number 12.

For more on this album, click here.

For even more Bowie, click here.

David Bowie - Tonight

This month marks the thirtieth anniversary of Tonight, the sixteenth studio album from David Bowie. It went to number 8 in Austria, Germany, and Switzerland, number 4 in Australia, New Zealand and Sweden, number 3 in Norway, and number 1 in the Netherlands and the UK. Here in the US, it spent twenty-four weeks on the Billboard Album chart, peaking at number 11.

David Bowie - Let's Dance

After a few years break from recording (Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps) was released in the fall of 1980 - click here for that review), David Bowie returned to the studio to work on his fifteenth album. Today (April 14th) marks the thirtieth anniversary of the release of 1983‘s Let’s Dance.

Queen - Hot Space

Today (May 21st) marks the 30th anniversary of the tenth studio album by the British rock band Queen. Hot Space fused a number of different elements like pop, disco, R&B and dance into the musical mix, which was a bit of a turn-off to many of their fans who preferred their earlier, traditional rock sound.

The album went to number 22 on the US Billboard Hot 200, number 15 in Australia, number 7 in France, number 6 in Japan, number 5 in Germany, number 4 in their native UK and in Sweden, number 3 in Norway, and number 1 in Austria and the Netherlands. Six of the tracks were released as singles with varying degrees of success.

David Bowie - Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps)

Happy sixty-fifth birthday today (January 8th) to English musician, actor and producer David Bowie.

On September 12th of 1980, David Bowie released his fourteenth studio album Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps), his final album on the RCA label which he had been with since 1971. After trio of artistic releases, this album was developed with a more commercial approach which paid off quite well. The album went to number 1 in the UK, Australia and New Zealand, number 3 in Sweden, and number 4 in Switzerland. In the US, it reached number 12 on the Billboard Album chart.