TEARS FOR FEARS are an English New Wave duo formed back in 1981 by ROLAND ORZABAL and CURT SMITH coming from the dissolution of their first band "GRADUATE" which was really MOD-Influenced. The band's name was inspired by a trauma-based psychotherapy called PRIMAL THERAPY developed by the American psychologist ARTHUR JANOV. In Janov's 1980 book entitled "Prisoners of Pain", he suggested "tears as a replacement for fears". When Orzabal and Smith finally met Janov in the mid-80s, they were disillusioned to find out that he had become quite the term "Hollywood" and wanted the band to write a musical.
TEARS FOR FEARS was first introduced here in MANILA by the early disco WXB102 format back in 1983 by playing "PALE SHELTER". This song was from the band's debut album "THE HURTING" which I'm featuring right now. During those times XB was still known as "Cute 102". It was then XB DJ "THE UNBEATABLE", known for that Legendary Manila New Wave Radio Show called "WAVE 180" on 89DMZ back in the 90s, who first played the song on air. YUP!! Andy Santillian aka. "The Unbeatable" was part of the very early XB DJs back then. Btw, I have already featured "WAVE180" here in my little blog "The Doctor Is In" before so just search it on my Label's list. According to "The Unbeatable, during one of his on-air shifts he saw a cassette tape lying around the booth which included the song "Pale Shelter" by Tears For PEARS. YUP!! You got it right guys!! It was spelled with a "P for PEARS" and not with an "F as FEARS". He immediately liked the song so he played it on air announcing the artist as TEARS FOR PEARS and not TEARS FOR FEARS? Well, of course nobody had heard of them back then so even though he was embarrassed he didn't sound that stupid okay. After a couple of days of playing it on air, people then started calling and asking about the song and "The Unbeatable" told them its "Pale Shelter" by Tears For Pears up until a good Samaritan told him that the artist was TEARS FOR FEARS and not TEARS FOR PEARS. Wheeew!! After having gotten over the embarrassment of sounding all-knowing on the radio airwaves but getting the name wrong he still continued playing the song. The requests never really stopped even with those discrepancies of information. THANKS Unbeatable for sharing this trivia for us to know!!
Since we were just talking about "Pale Shelter", then It's fitting for us to hear a special remix version of the song done my our friend from MixMinistry none other "THE MAYOR". YUP!! "The Mayor" was also a member of one of MANILA's Legendary New Wave Mobiles "MODE ZERO" which I have also featured here on my blog before. So to spice up this blogpost of mine I present you "The Mayor" of MixMinistry with "The Mayor's PALE SHELTER ANNEXED MIX" which he exclusively created on their MixMinistry site last year 2009. I uploaded it in a different music file share for you to listen to, but you can download it only on Mix Ministry site. THANKS Mayor!!
LISTEN TO THE MIX HERE:
DOWNLOAD the Mix on MixMinistry Site by clicking their Logo:
THE HURTING was released back in March 1983 and TEARS FOR FEARS achieved their first taste of success with their 3rd single entitled "MAD WORLD" which reached #3 in the U.K. back in 1982. For this album and their second album "SONGS FROM THE BIG CHAIR", IAN STANLEY (keyboard player/composer) and MANNY ELIAS (drummer) were considered as full band members, though Smith and Orzabal were still essentially the frontmen and public face of the band. Both IAN and MANNY were also popular for PINOY NEW WAVERS during those times. The album was produced by CHRIS HUGHES and ROSS CULLUM which showcased synthesizer-based songs with lyrics reflecting Orzabal's bitter childhood. I guess that's why it was called "The Hurting". Be sure to check all song titles because they really reflected bitterness I may say. This album may be considered as the band's only true concept album as references to emotional distress and primal scream therapy are found in nearly every song. There were rumors here in MANILA back then that both ROLAND and CURT were treated and confined in a Psychiatric Institution when the band was in hiatus. I wonder how true that was? The album itself was a big success and it stayed for 65 weeks in the UK Charts where it peaked at #1 and gained platinum status. It also reached the Top 20 in several other countries and yielded the international hit singles "Mad World", "Change", and a re-recorded version of "Pale Shelter. All three of these singles reached the Top 5 in the U.K. Here in MANILA, the MUSIC VIDEOS of both "MAD WORLD" and "CHANGE" became very popular and had massive exposure on Music Video Shows on Philippine television back then. YUP!! Even the dance steps of ROLAND ORZABAL on both music videos became popular too especially to all PINOY NEW WAVERS. Those were the good ol' days indeed KABAYAN!! Definitlely, the two most popular songs in the album here in the Philippines were "MAD WORLD" and "CHANGE" since almost all FM Radio Stations played them frequently. Since the album is very much available in the internet on different music formats so I decided not to upload it anymore here on my blog. All tracks on the album were played by WXB102 and also got airplay on both POWER105 DZBM and NU107 back in the 80s. Well, aside from the popular songs in the album I really like the songs "WATCH ME BLEED" and "START OF THE BREAKDOWN". Of course, that very enchanting child voice on "SUFFER THE CHILDREN" makes it also a personal favorite.
THE HURTING
TRACKLIST
1. "The Hurting"
2. "Mad World"
3. "Pale Shelter"
4. "Ideas as Opiates"
5. "Memories Fade"
6. "Suffer the Children"
7. "Watch Me Bleed"
8. "Change"
9. "The Prisoner"
10. "Start of the Breakdown"
Btw, if you are a keen observer, both Tracks #2 and #3 namely "MAD WORLD" and "PALE SHELTER" has no gap in between. YUP!! You cannot hear any space just after "Mad World" finishes and when "Pale Shelter" starts playing. This "No Gap" thing was carried down also to their greatest hits compilation entitled "TEARS ROLL DOWN (Greatest Hits 82-92)". It reminds me of the similarities on the CUTTING CREW album "BROADCAST" wherein there was also no gap between "ONE FOR THE MOCKING BIRD" and "I'VE BEEN IN LOVE BEFORE" which was also carried down on CUTTING CREW's greatest hits compilation "THE BEST OF CUTTING CREW". Interesting isn't it?
I guess that's it for todays blogpost guys!! I'll leave with the title track of the album. I also included the lyrics just in case you wanna sing a long with it too. THANKS for dropping by!!
LISTEN and SING-A-LONG to the title track
THE HURTING- TEARS FOR FEARS
Lyrics | Tears For Fears Lyrics | The Hurting Lyrics
This is THE HURTING!!
-DR. STIRRING RHOD
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