Tears for Fears

Tears for Fears
Tears for Fears
	File:TFF Band.jpg
Background information
Years active	1980–present
Members	Roland Orzabal; Curt Smith

Tears for Fears are a British pop band formed in the early 1980s by Roland Orzabal and Curt Smith, which emerged after the dissolution of their first band, the mod-influenced Graduate. They were initially associated with new wave and the New Romantic movements, but quickly branched out into mainstream chart success.

The duo's name is derived from the primal therapy treatment formed by Arthur Janov. During primal therapy, the patient is encouraged to cry, scream, and beat objects to express childhood, perinatal and prenatal feelings; hence the name "Tears for Fears."

Career

Formation

Orzabal and Smith's professional music career actually started with the band Graduate. In 1980 Graduate released an album called Acting My Age. Graduate's sound was a cross between Mod Revival and New Wave. Much of their sound was similar to that of The Jam and early Elvis Costello.

Acting My Age had some success in the UK (just missing the Top 100), in Spain and in Holland. Upon work on their second album, Orzabal and Smith left the group. Their reason for leaving the group was because they didn't want to be confined to a band. They formed a band called The History of Headaches which was quickly changed to Tears For Fears. The plan going forward would be that Orzabal and Smith would work in a "project" mode: In other words, Orzabal and Smith would form the nucleus and bring in surrounding musicians to help them complete the picture.

The Hurting and Songs from the Big Chair

Their first album The Hurting (1983) featured synthesizer-based songs whose lyrics reflected Orzabal's bitter growing-up experiences with his parents. Its singles were Mad World, Change and Pale Shelter, all of which were UK Top 5 hits and had some success all around the world, and the album itself charted at #1 in their native country. A previously unheard single called The Way You Are was released at the very end of 1983 to keep the band in the spotlight (minimally - it only made the Top 25) while they worked on the second album. For The Hurting, keyboardist and composer Ian Stanley and drummer Manny Elias were considered full members of the band.

Their next album, Songs from the Big Chair (1985), broke free from the new-wave mold, featuring instead a big sound that would become the band's stylistic hallmark. Orzabal had been encouraged by producer Chris Hughes to pick up his guitar as he was a gifted player but wasn't using the instrument enough. Orzabal also took over the lion's share of lead vocal duty from Smith, who ended up with a comparative bit-part role of playing bass guitar.

The album was a massive success on both sides of the Atlantic and yielded the hit singles Mothers Talk, Shout (#1 in the U.S. and a huge hit all around the world, perhaps one of the greatest of the eighties), Everybody Wants to Rule the World (the biggest UK hit at #2 and another #1 in the U.S.), Head Over Heels and I Believe. The album title was partly inspired by the 1976 U.S. TV mini-series Sybil and partly from a song written by Orzabal called The Big Chair (b-side to Shout), though this song was absent from the album itself. Following Songs From the Big Chair, Manny Elias would leave the group.

Live Aid controversy

During 1985, a controversy broke out in regards to the band's plan to participate in Bob Geldof's Live Aid charity event. Tears for Fears was originally scheduled to perform at JFK Stadium in Philadelphia, however on the morning of the historic event, July 13, 1985, it was announced that Tears for Fears had pulled out of the show. The official reason given for their non-appearance was that two of their backing musicians had quit - guitarist Andrew Saunte and saxophonist William Gregory. It was said that their contract expired. Instead, in place of appearing the band pledged to donate proceeds from their world tour played in Tokyo, Sydney, London and New York. However, six weeks later, it was revealed that the loss of the backing musicians was not the real reason for their non-appearance at Live Aid. The truth of the matter was that Orzabal questioned the practices of organizer Bob Geldof in raising money for famine relief in the first place. It was said that Geldof had actually pressured them into appearing by saying Tears for Fears would be 'responsible for the deaths of 'half a million Africans' if they did not perform. Smith responded back: "We both resented the way were made to feel guilty. Who is Bob Geldof to have the power to instill guilt? I mean telling us that we personally would be held responsible for half a million lives if we didn't play... He also hinted that we would get bad press. In my book that's blackmail," Curt fumed.

In 1986, a slightly rewritten version of one of their biggest hit was recorded and released for the British fundraising initiative Sport Aid, a splinter project of Band Aid in which people took part in running races of varying length and seriousness to raise more money for African projects. The slogan was "I Ran the World"; therefore Tears for Fears released Everybody Wants to Run the World (#5 in the UK). They were indirectly involved in the earlier Band Aid single Do They Know It's Christmas? of 1984 which featured a slowed down sample of Mad World in the introduction.

The Seeds of Love

It was 1989 before the group released its third album, The Seeds of Love, at a reported production cost of over a quarter of a million dollars. The album retained the band's epic sound while showing increasing influences ranging from jazz and blues to The Beatles, the last of which is extremely evident in the hit single Sowing the Seeds of Love. Another single was Woman in Chains (top 20 hit in France, Italy, Netherlands, etc.), on which Phil Collins played drums and Oleta Adams — whom Orzabal would guide to a successful solo career — shared vocals. The third single, Advice For The Young At Heart, was only the second single sung by Smith rather than Orzabal since he did so on all the releases from the debut album.

Breakup and solo careers

After The Seeds of Love, Orzabal and Smith had an extremely acrimonious falling out. Though only in their late twenties, the two had been in the musical spotlight for nearly a decade, and as individuals they were no longer the angst-ridden teenagers they had been when they met at 13. A break was almost inevitable. The split was ultimately blamed on Orzabal's intricate but frustrating approach to production and Smith's distaste for the pop music world. Smith had also been deeply affected by the breakdown of his marriage. The two spent much of the 1990s continuing to attack each other through the media and through their music. Orzabal kept the band name alive by releasing a single called Laid So Low (Tears Roll Down) and the Greatest Hits collection was also issued, featuring every single to date apart from The Way You Are and the Sport Aid fundraiser.

Smith relocated to New York City and took several years to recover from the spotlight. In 1993 he recorded a "Soul on Board." Although Smith's loyal fans enjoyed the album, Smith has said on numerous occasions that he despised it. In 1995 he met local songwriter and producer Charlton Pettus. The two formed a self-described "organic" partnership, writing simple, melody-based songs and recording them at home on vintage analog equipment.

From 1996 to 1998 their band, Mayfield, performed occasional sets in clubs throughout Greenwich Village and SoHo including Brownie's, the Mercury Lounge, and CBGB. As a live band, Mayfield performed with minimal production and no commercial obligations, and Smith's sense of musicianship was rekindled for the first time since his teenage years.

Eschewing major record labels, Smith formed his own label, Zerodisc, to release Mayfield's music, and was an early advocate of using the internet to share and distribute music outside the mainstream industry. A second album, Aeroplane, was released in 1998, showcasing the songs written during Mayfield's club days. Smith also took on the management or co-management of several independent bands and musicians.

Second line-up

In 1993, Orzabal recorded the album Elemental in collaboration with longtime co-collaborator Alan Griffiths, and released it under the Tears for Fears moniker. It yielded the hit "Break It Down Again" (Top 20 in UK, France, Italy, Netherlands) and was supported with a successful U.S. college tour, where "Break It Down Again" charted at #25.

Despite being regarded by some faithful as "an album without Smith," many found the album to be an enjoyable blend of good songwriting and creative sampling.

Orzabal and Griffiths released another Tears for Fears album in 1995, Raoul and the Kings of Spain, a more quiet and contemplative work that showed a new Latin musical influence (Raoul was originally the name Orzabal's parents wanted to give him, and is also the name of one of his children). Although it continued Tears for Fears' legacy of outstanding songwriting, big production values, and varied influences, creating an album around the theme of an exotic Spanish heritage excluded all but its main single, "God's Mistake," from any chance of commercial success. Raoul and the Kings of Spain also included a reunion with Oleta Adams who collaborates with Orzabal on Me and My Big Ideas.

A worldwide tour, which included a frenzied welcome in South and Latin America, had the effect of straining Orzabal's energies rather than supporting them. The release of Raoul was delayed for nearly a year due to a last-minute switch label from Mercury to Sony, and the ensuing confusion (Mercury had already begun promotion) did not help the album's chances either. Sony responded to the lack of commercial success by ending Tears for Fears' contract.

In 1996 a collection of TFF's impressive b-sides, Saturnine Martial and Lunatic, was released on Mercury. The liner notes gave fans an insight into the songwriting process as well as a rare glimpse of self-deprecating humour from TFF regarding the tracks which they would rather forget.

Remastering

In 1999, Mercury Records released remastered editions of Tears for Fears' first three albums which included b-sides, remixes, and extended versions. As with Saturnine, the liner notes provided rich background and new insights into the music to even longtime fans. The remasters also had the effect of establishing Tears for Fears as definitive artists, helping them to escape the dreaded "80's band" moniker.

The dizzying array of record company mergers and acquisitions in the late 1990s eventually placed Tears for Fears' back catalogue into the Universal fold.

After undertaking production work for Icelandic singer/songwriter Emiliana Torrini, Orzabal reteamed with Griffiths and recorded the album Tomcats Screaming Outside, released on Eagle Records as a solo project, under his own name. Where TFF's work had remained guitar-based, Tomcats Screaming Outside showcased a completely electronic style and a darker approach. As fate would have it, the album had the bad luck to be released on September 11, 2001, and drew little notice outside TFF's core fan base.

Reconciliation

In 2001, routine paperwork obligations led to Orzabal and Smith's first conversation in over a decade. The two patched up their differences and Orzabal flew to Smith's home in Los Angeles for what they assumed would be a hesitant attempt at songwriting.

The songwriting sessions, which included Charlton Pettus, went so well that fourteen songs were written and recorded in less than six months (by contrast, the drum track alone for "Badman's Song" on "The Seeds of Love," an eight-song album, took six weeks to record).

The ensuing album, Everybody Loves a Happy Ending, is in many ways what "The Seeds of Love" was meant to be. Like their earlier work, Everybody Loves a Happy Ending features Tears for Fears' hallmarks of vibrant Beatlesque melodies, solid songwriting, and turns of phrase, but the album also has a free spirit that Orzabal and Smith would have shunned in their earlier, more serious years. This spirit is largely the work of co-writer and producer Charlton Pettus, who succeeded at the formidable task of melding Orzabal's lush songwriting with the live energy of Smith's Mayfield shows.

Indeed, one of the highest compliments paid to the album was one reviewer's comment that "John Lennon and Paul McCartney are alive and well." The twelve-track album was scheduled for release on Arista Records in late 2003, but a label switch to New Door, a new offshoot of Universal, delayed the release until September 14, 2004. A successful U.S. tour followed.

Everybody Loves a Happy Ending was released in the UK and Europe in February 2005 on Gut Records. The UK release contained all fourteen tracks written and recorded during the ELAHE sessions. A tour of larger UK venues followed in April.

Musical legacy

In 2003 the legacy of Tears For Fears re-emerged with some surprise when a haunting piano cover of their debut hit "Mad World," performed by Michael Andrews and Gary Jules, reached the coveted UK Number 1 spot for Christmas 2003, due mainly to being featured on the soundtrack to the cult film Donnie Darko. Despite chart-topping success in the USA, Tears For Fears had yet to reach the top spot in their native country, and the cover marked "their" first Number 1. However, the coincidental timing of the Andrews/Jules single and the release of Tears for Fears' newest album, Everybody Loves a Happy Ending, prompted some critics to accuse the band of capitalizing on the single's success for profit, although TFF wrote and recorded their new album before Andrews and Jules had recorded theirs.

The success of the single also led to the re-emergence of the Greatest Hits album, which spent eight weeks in the UK album chart, a dozen years after its release. Criticism had been levelled at the band for the release, over the years, of numerous "greatest hits" collections, compilations, DVDs, and repackaged reissues of the same, at times without the band's knowledge.

To their credit, Universal Records reprinted the first three albums for sale in the UK in early 2004 following the success of the Andrews/Jules cover, and these sold in astonishing numbers.

Discography

Albums

The Hurting (1983 ; Mercury) #1 UK, #73 U.S., #21 NL
Songs from the Big Chair (1985 ; Mercury) #2 UK, #1 U.S., #1 in Germ., #2 NL
The Seeds of Love (1989 ; Fontana) #1 UK, #8 U.S., #2 NL
Tears Roll Down (Greatest Hits 82-92) (1992 ; Fontana) #2 UK, #53 U.S., #7 Germ., #15 NL
Elemental (1993 ; Mercury) #5 UK, #45 U.S., #26 Germ., #22 NL
Raoul and the Kings of Spain (1995 ; Epic) #41 UK, #79 U.S., #50 NL
Saturnine Martial & Lunatic (1996 ; Mercury)
Everybody Loves a Happy Ending (2004 ; New Door / 2005 ; Gut Records) #45 UK (2005 release), #46 U.S., #28 France (2005 release), #35 Germ. (2005 release)

Singles

The Mercury released singles all had the catalogue prefix IDEA, taken from the song "Ideas As Opiates", from The Hurting.

Suffer the Children (1981, IDEA1) / re-released in 1985 in the UK
Pale Shelter (You Don't Give Me Love) (1982, IDEA2) / re-released in 1985 in the UK
Mad World (1982, IDEA3) : #3 UK, #21 Germ. (in 1983), #2 South-Afr. (in 1983)
Change (1983, IDEA4) : #4 UK, #73 U.S., #14 Italy, #5 South-Afr.
Pale Shelter (1983, IDEA5) : #5 UK, #25 Germ.

The Way You Are (1983, IDEA6) : #24 UK

Mothers Talk (1984, IDEA7) : #14 UK, #27 U.S. (1986 release)
Shout (1984, IDEA8) : #4 UK, #1 U.S. (1985 release), #1 Australia, #6 Austria, #1 Canada, #21 France, #1 Germ., #2 Italy, #1 NL, #1 New-Zea., #5 Norway, #3 Poland, #2 South-Afr., #1 Switzerland (all 1985 release)
Everybody Wants to Rule the World (1985, IDEA9) : #2 UK, #1 U.S., #19 Austria, #18 France, #11 Germ., #12 Italy, #2 NL, #7 Poland, #14 South-Afr., #13 Switzerland
Head over Heels (1985, IDEA10) : #12 UK, #3 U.S., #6 Poland
I Believe (A Soulful Re-Recording) (1985, IDEA11) : #23 UK
Everybody Wants to Run the World (1986, RACE1) : #5 UK

Sowing the Seeds of Love (1989, IDEA12) : #5 UK, #2 U.S., #17 Austria, #18 France, #11 Germ., #2 Italy, #3 NL
Woman in Chains" (1989, IDEA13) : #26 UK, #36 U.S., #20 France, #14 Italy, #12 NL
Advice for the Young at Heart (1990, IDEA14) : #36 UK, #31 France, #14 NL
Famous Last Words (1990, IDEA15)
Johnny Panic and The Bible of Dreams (1990, PANIC1)

Laid So Low (Tears Roll Down) (1992, IDEA17) : #17 UK, #15 France, #40 Germ., #6 Italy, #26 NL
Woman in Chains (reissue) (1992, IDEA16)

Break It Down Again (1993, IDEA18) : #20 UK, #25 U.S., #19 France, #9 Italy, #16 NL
Cold (1993, IDEA19)
Goodnight Song (1993)
Elemental (1994)

Raoul and the Kings of Spain (1995) : #31 UK
Secrets (1995)
God's Mistake (1996) / released in 1995 in the U.S.

Closest Thing to Heaven (2005) : #40 UK, #38 NL
Everybody Loves a Happy Ending / Call Me Mellow (2005)

External links