Bath Chronicle 25/11/2000

Phil Chamberlain

Bath's most famous pop music sons are getting together for the first time since 1990. Phil Chamberlain charts the Tears For Fears story

THEY were one of the iconic groups of the 1980s.

So the ever-growing reports of a reunited Tears For Fears will have the fans, and the music industry, slavering.

After all, Duran Duran have come back from the dead and Spandau Ballet's greatest hits success showed there was still huge interest in the group.

Meanwhile '80s compilations remain an album-selling staple.

The latest news regarding Tears For Fears comes from Roland Orzabal, who was in the city this week to auction one of his guitars.

More than 100 people took part in the charity event at which one of Roland's prized walnut and gold guitar fetched nearly £3,000.

He had donated the guitar to help raise £250,000 to build new facilities to help autistic children in the city.

Roland and Tears for Fears partner Curt Smith have kept their links with their home city. This summer Curt released a special single - Snow Hill -in aid of the London Road Carnival. Now Roland's generosity will help children at the Margaret Coates Unit at Fosseway School.

And as an added bonus, his hint has helped fuel more rumours of a gettogether. The star said he had been writing new material with Curt for a future Tears for Fears project.

Roland travelled to Bath from London where he has been filming a video for his new single Lowlife, due for release in February, from a forthcoming solo album, Tomcats Screaming Outside.

On Curt's own website he reports that he was recently in England and that trip included some work with Roland. The former Beechen Cliff schoolboy said it was "surprisingly successful - no drama, no weirdness, and some good music. Something may come of it.

"More trips are planned between now and the end of the year. In the meantime I'm back to finishing the solo project."

Fan and Bath Chronicle columnist Bob Jenkins, says that, like our sporting heroes, we have an emotional bond with Tears For fears.

"They represent us, in ways far deeper than our civic dignitaries or politicians, " he wrote recently.

"The same goes for musicians like Tears For Fears, a link which has been undervalued over the years. Why aren't there plaques, guided walks and plans for a music festival celebrating the 20th anniversary of their global conquest?

"It would be much more relevant to the average Bathonian than the International Music Festival.

"When I hear Mad World or Everybody Wants To Rule The World on the radio, I feel pride. They're our boys made good.

"In fact, they're far more a part of the city than that much-trumpeted Jane Austen who didn't even like the place."

Curt met Roland when he was 13 and brought him into his school band.

In 1980 both joined Graduate, a five-piece ska band. The group signed to Pye's Precision label and had a near hit with Elvis Should Play Ska.

The group cut an album called Acting My Age and had three further unsuccessful singles.

Graduate split up the following year but Roland and Curt stayed together and recorded two songs at David Lord's studios in Bath. They began experimenting with synth-pop and took their name Tears For Fears, from Arthur Janov's book Prisoners of Pain, which is about confronting pain in order to eliminate it.

Demos from the the first two songs interested a Phonogram talent spotter who signed them to the Mercury label.

In November, Suffer Little Children was issued but did not chart. In 1982 their second single was released but it was their third in November, Mad World, which brought them national attention. This reached number three in the UK and the band played its first tour supporting The Thompson Twins.

The next month the group was named Most Promising New Act by readers of Smash Hits and signed a management deal with Paul King.

In 1983 there were a series of chart successes for the group, with Change reaching number four and The Hurting becoming their first number one.

Their biggest selling record to date was released in December 1984. Shout hit number four and became one of the soundtrack songs of the decade.

The album Songs From The Big Chair was released the following March and reached number two in the album charts. It went triple platinum.

It heralded an increasingly high profile in the US as the group embarked on an 18-month world tour.

In 1986, Everybody Wants To Rule The World won Best British Single at the BRIT awards but the by the end of the year the band was exhausted by its promotional schedule.

Roland had become established as the major songwriting force and the next couple of years saw the group working on their follow-up album, as well as making links with other artists.

With their international status came intensive press interest and a series of tabloid articles alleging high jinks by Curt in his youth led to him winning substantial libel damages.

He reportedly gave the money to his mum so she could buy her Bath council flat.

Finally, in 1989, the single Sowing The Seeds of Love was released and reached number five in Britain while the album The Seeds of Love, which cost the then enormous amount of more than £1m to produce, entered the charts at number one. It featured several guest stars but while the band continued to pick up awards, they did not repeat their earlier chart success.

Both members began branching out and the musical differences in the group eventually lead to Curt taking a five-year break from the pop scene.

While Roland kept Tears For Fears going - and released three albums - Curt moved to America where he recorded under the name Mayfield in 1998.

The duo maintained a distant relationship but whatever music or personal differences led to the split in the first place have obviously eased in the intervening years.

For the fans, it's time they ruled the world again.