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.

Sade - Diamond Life (30th anniversary)

Today (June 16th) marks the thirtieth anniversary of Diamond Life, the debut album from Sade. It was released on this date in the UK in 1984, and then it hit the US in early 1985. Once it arrive here, it stayed eighty-one weeks on the Billboard Album chart and peaked at number 5.

For my review, please click here.

Sade - Diamond Life

Last Spring, comedienne Wanda Sykes had a very short lived Saturday night show that combined talk and humorous sketches that aired on FOX. I think I was probably one of a dozen or so folks who actually watched it before it got cancelled. Anyway, one of ongoing things she was obsessed about was trying to get Sade to come on to the show. Sade had just released her sixth studio album, the first one in ten years, and Wanda was a huge fan.

Today, I want to look back at Sade’s debut album Diamond Life which was released in the UK on June 16th of 1984 and in the US in early 1985. And though the band is named after lead singer Sade Adu, it is really an English R&B band that combines elements of jazz, soul, funk and soft rock into a beautiful fusion of sound. The album was a slow starter that eventually made it into the top ten hit in a number of countries.