Thompson Twins - Side Kicks (30th anniversary)

Today (February 18th) marks the thirtieth anniversary of the release of Side Kicks, the second US release by the Thompson Twins. Over in the UK, it was released a month prior under the title of Quick Step and Side Kick.

This is another of my favorite albums from the early 80's. Click here for the complete review of this album.

Happy Birthday, Tom Bailey

Happy fifty-eighth birthday today (January 18) to British musician and composer Tom Bailey.

Born in Halifax, West Yorkshire, England, started out as a music teacher. In 1977, he formed the Thompson Twins which eventually settled in as a trio with Bailey (on vocals, guitar, bass and keyboards), his then girlfriend Alannah Currie (on percussion, saxophone and vocals) and Joe Leeway (percussion and vocals). Bailey and Currie eventually married.

Thompson Twins - Side Kicks

On January of 1983, the Thompson Twins released their third album Quick Step and Side Kick in the UK. Here in the US, the album came out on February 18th of that year under the simplified title of Side Kicks (their second release here). It went to number 2 on the UK charts and number 34 on the US Billboard Hot 200.

The US track listing is a bit different than the UK order; I'm going to review the tracks on the album in the order I know them (apologies to all my International readers).