This past Monday (Bastille Day) we went to Chicago to see & hear one of my early influences (Yazoo) perform. The team of Alison Moyet and Vince Clarke have embarked on a "Reconnected" tour after disbanding 25 years ago (bloody hell). It was quite an historic event given Yazoo's short career of 2 years and the major influence on many bands that followed. Vince Clarke, of course, went on to form the hugely successful duo of Erasure. Although Erasure also had a large influence, in my opinion, their songs have never had the depth of Yazoo's material.
To make the concert even more special, my brother was there with me. He (David) and I had a synthpop duo (Studio II) during the late 80s/early 90s and it's fair to say that without Yazoo, we probably never would have existed. I think we covered nearly every Vince Clarke penned song at some point. So, it was major groovy to be sitting next to him as Yazoo took to the stage after all these years. Goosebumps-a-plenty! It has inspired me to seek out and digitize all of the Studio II material and get it online. History is too important to simply sit in boxes in the basement! Watch for synthpop goodness soon.
The concert was excellent and featured many "true to the original" versions of classic Yazoo tracks as well as a few updated (and up-tempo) versions. Alison's voice has never sounded better and she genuinely seemed to be having a great time. Vince Clarke was, well... Vince Clarke. I think I saw him smile once, but he's not the most animated of fellows! The packed house at the Chicago Theatre was extremely enthusiastic, prompting me to ask David, "Where were all these people when we were playing?". In his usual witty way, he responded, "Chicago". :)
Anyway, a fun time was had by all and a much needed boost to the creative juices followed. That is all.
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Human nature, at least many people's, is to always suspect that the grass is greener on the other side. We take the parts of our lives that we don't like and focus on how great life would be if the exact opposite were true. The trouble with that bad habit, is that it never goes away. Life is a compromise. No matter what possessions you have, what job you have or what relationships you have... there will always be a downside. There is a fine line between striving for better and never being happy. It's easy to recognize what is wrong in our lives, but not always so easy to recognize the wonderful experiences and people in our lives. Find what makes you happy in your life and totally dwell on it... go on... just roll around in it! Take all that energy you spend wishing for something more, and bask in everything great you have going on right now.
In this week's Tea with Hungry Lucy War-N & Christa share a preview of a new song (working title: Pajamas), likely title "The Best Day of Her Life". We get to hear the original noisy piano recording, and the newly arranged music.