Press Gang - I Vole It!

 Who ARE these people?!

Who were Lynda Day and Spike Thomson? What was Press Gang? Having received several e-mails over the years requesting that '80s Actual devoted a blog post to them, I became aware that they were 1) and 2) fictional characters and 3) a TV series which featured them. A teenage interest TV series which featured them. This series went into production in 1988 and first appeared on-screen in January 1989. Another series was produced in 1989 and screened in early 1990. Another three series (with fewer episodes) followed.

It all passed me by at the time. Not that I wasn't into '80s kids' TV (although I wasn't a kid at the time) - Murphy's Mob, Dangermouse, Super Gran, Gilbert's Fridge, Duckula, Henry's Cat, Number 73 and many other kiddywink shows captivated me back then (I left school early in the decade and dropped Grange Hill - I didn't want to be reminded of school). But a show about teenagers running a newspaper called the Junior Gazette (A Voice For Today's Youth) somehow did not register on my radar at all.

And yet it's brilliant. It's innovative. It's quirky. It's witty. It's fast moving. It's surreal. It's dramatic. It's nail biting. It's sad. In fact, it's all of these things and probably more.

Encouraged by the enthusiastic e-mails I've been receiving, all saying that Press Gang was the best thing since sliced bread, I've caught up.

My first reaction, as the e-mails requesting a blog mention for the show trickled in, was: "Oh Gawd! A series with teenage interest? Oh! YAWN!" Then, finally: "Well, s'pose I'd better take a look at it..."

But I quickly found I couldn't put it down. I laughed. I cried. It changed me.

The main characters in the show are all teenagers who work on a youth newspaper called the Junior Gazette. Of course, I wasn't a teenager in the late 1980s. No, no, my teenage era was a little earlier (Oh, Alannah Currie of the Thompson Twins, be still my fluttering heart!) and things were a little different, but the series still reminded me quite powerfully of the fun - and the pain - of my own teenage years. There's truth there. And, true to life again, the show doesn't neatly tie up all the story-line loose ends either. What led up to a suicide in series one? It seems there was a lot more to it than met the eye, but, just as in life, we don't discover all the answers to everything. There are lessons in living to be learned, but the show is never preachy. And some topical issues of the time are included, without being shoe-horned in. I'm still recovering from the tragic tale of the boy who flew - until he hit the ground. No spoilers, I promise!

Remember the '80s Sunday teatime "treat" Highway, starring Harry Secombe? Well, thoroughly unlikely though it seems, there's a link between this show and Press Gang.  In 1984, Bill Moffat, headmaster of Thorn Primary School in Johnstone, Renfrewshire, Scotland, was working on an environmental studies kit he called The Norbridge Files, centred on a children's newspaper - the purpose of the kit was to motivate students to participate in projects concerned with health-related issues. Bill Moffat showed his kit to Highway's executive producer Bill Ward when the school was visited to film the choir, and they discussed the idea of it being developed as an idea for a children's TV series.  

American TV producer Sandra C Hastie had relocated to England from America in 1984 and was in partnership with Bill Ward. Bill discussed the Norbridge Files with her and they looked at Bill Moffat's original brochure, but other things got in the way and the Norbridge Files was filed away on a shelf. 

In 1986, Sandra was considering returning to America, but, after dusting off the Norbridge Files, she became interested in developing it into a TV series again.

With Lewis Rudd of Central Television also interested in the concept, Sandra revisited Bill Moffat, who suggested that his son, Steven, a teacher, should write a pilot script. Sandra was rather dubious, but Steven submitted a script, which Sandra later described as 'the best half-hour script I have ever read'. Much work needed to be done, many changes would be made to the original concept, but Steven was on board and became the sole writer.

The Norbridge Files was commissioned in 1987. The title was quickly changed to Press Gang. Filming of series one took place in 1988, ready for broadcast in early 1989. Series two was filmed in the summer of 1989, ready for broadcast in early 1990.

And, as they say (well, we do, anyway!) the rest is history.

The Junior Gazette team hard at work - series one.

Back to the story, and the Junior Gazette is a brainwave of former Fleet Street newspaper editor Matt Kerr (Clive Wood) going back to his roots after the bright lights to edit a local rag - the Norbridge Gazette. The Junior Gazette is conceived as an outlet for the creative talents of kids at Norbridge High School, a large comprehensive, somewhere in England.

The kids are given very basic equipment to do the job - manual typewriters, not fancy electric gizmos, though they do manage to win a computer in a competition. But it wasn't a competition really. In fact, it was... but no, no, no - I won't drop a spoiler in here. Buy the DVDs and find out. The Junior Gazette kids are not even allowed a phone, but manage to acquire a lovely red oh-so-1980s-typical-of-the-time model, but keep it secret from Matt Kerr, although his newspaper is footing the bill, until... oops, no spoilers!

Spiky, shaggy permed English girl Lynda Day (Julia Sawahla), editor of the Junior Gazette, apparently vehemently dislikes slick and sassy "I wear my sunglasses at night" American boy James "Spike" Thomson (played by an English guy called Dexter Fletcher). Spike's a rebel who did something unspeakable at a school disco, and is press-ganged into joining the team in the newsroom. Lynda doesn't dislike him really. Perhaps she "voles" him?

When Spike goes missing, it seems that he may have been caught in a gas explosion at a local record store where he'd gone to buy a replacement after his personal stereo had eaten a friend's cassette. Lynda is worried, but then we see Spike and he seems fine - chatting up the ladies and apparently having a great time... but is that the reality of that moment?

By the way, Spike definitely "voles" Lynda. But perhaps it's not to be?

Underneath Lynda's spikiness there is vulnerability. But was it really an encounter with her that caused a schoolboy to put a shotgun in his mouth, pull the trigger and end his life  in 1989?

Kenny Phillips (Lee Ross) is Lynda's friend - and has been since childhood. He's Lynda's rock and has spent a lot of time picking shrapnel out of people who have got in her way over the years, and she's suffered for him, too. She sprained her arm whilst trying to push him out of a window in the early 1980s (according to the show's pre-story references).

Colin Mathews (Paul Reynolds) looks after the Junior Gazette's finances. He's a thoroughly Thatcherite young geezer, used to bring much comic relief to the series, but is he totally selfish?

Sarah Jackson (Kelda Holmes) is a good friend to all and tends to be stepped on by Lynda. She's a great reporter. But will she ever find a long-term boyfriend? Can she ever escape from Lynda? Lynda will use every trick in the book (and some that aren't) to stop her.

Billy Homer is a tetraplegic and a whizz with computers. This recurring character was played by Andy Crowe, a real life tetraplegic. 

And then there was school teacher Mr Sullivan (Nick Stringer) - was he really Lynda's guardian angel? And what about the sewage in his front garden?

There are other characters. But I could go on all night.

Bill Moffat, father of series writer Steven, and originator of the "Norbridge Files" - the concept that led to "Press Gang" - wrote the novels based on the series. "Exposed!"  - book two in the series - was published in 1989.

The series runs story-lines very quickly, the humour comes thick and fast, but, just when you think it's all a bit superficial, a character or scenario from many episodes before turns up, remembered in perfect detail by the writer, and it all seems very real. Or things suddenly take a turn to the dramatic. Or sad. Or odd.

The series ran from 1989 to 1993, with twenty-five of a total of forty-three episodes being recorded (twelve broadcast) in 1988 and 1989.

So, it deserves a place on '80s Actual.

Below, we have some snippets from an article published in Look-In magazine in March 1989, which tells some behind the scenes facts about the filming of the first series in 1988, courtesy of Julia Sawahla and Dexter Flexter, AKA star crossed lovers Lynda Day and Spike Thomson...

 How long did it take to make the series?

Dexter: "About thirteen weeks. We had twelve episodes to shoot, and it started out that we would do one a week. But things got more and more complicated, and it started to mean that time was running out. So, we went from doing a five-day working week to six days. We had to be at work each day from from 6.30am to 6.30pm. You were up nice and early, and home nice and late! I'd go to bed, wake up, and before I knew it I'd be back at work again."

Did that cause any problems?

Dexter: Well, you had to make sure you learned all your lines fairly quickly, because we had to film more quickly. What that meant was that we had to film several scenes all in one lump, to be used in different episodes. So we were jumping from episode twelve to episode five to episode nine. Things got really confusing and you didn't know where you were!"

Julia: "They were long days, but we did get an hour for our lunch break! But we had to have breakfast and tea on set, and just find a spot wherever we could to eat it. Mind you, after a while I'd lost my appetite as I was on pain killers."

What happened?

Well, I thought I had a really painful wisdom tooth so I  went to the dentist, because I had a big swelling on my face. He took the tooth out because he reckoned it had become infected. That was pretty painful. But what was even worse was when I later found out that the tooth hadn't been infected at all, and there was no need to have it out. So I've got a perfectly good wisdom tooth lying at home that shouldn't really be there."

Did anything go wrong?

Dexter: "I think the main problem everyone had with the cast was finding us! You see, when we got bored with waiting around we tended to wander off. So they were pulling their hair out, running around looking for us. The best example of that was when Charlie Creed Miles, who plays Danny, was wanted for a scene. They were all searching for him for about fifteen minutes and the guy was asleep under a desk! They were looking everywhere for him. That's the thing about Charlie; he's always asleep somewhere he shouldn't be."

Julia: "Lots of things went wrong! In particular, I can remember doing one shot which had me walking up towards a door, and the camera happened to be following me. It was mounted on wheels, and as it moved it just crashed into the wall. All the people who had been clinging to it fell off! On another day we hired about fifty pigeons to appear in an episode, and we had real fun and games with them. They would just crash into your head as you were doing a scene, and the director kept saying 'carry on, act naturally.' Of course, you couldn't; it just put you off. You don't expect to be dive-bombed by pigeons when you're making a TV series."

Did you get on well with each other?

Dexter: "Oh, definitely. As a group we all got on very well and we did spend a lot of time together socially. Paul Reynolds, who plays Colin, and I had some great laughs together."

Julia: "There are nine principal actors in the series, along with all the others and the extras, and we were very lucky because we all got on really well together. There was never any bad feeling."

 Have either of you ever wanted to be a reporter?

Julia: "No, I never have, but I don't think that makes any difference to the way I play Lynda. I certainly think I know enough about deadlines now through working on 'Press Gang'. My biggest problem was finding the time to learn my lines. I had to do that at home, and that was the most difficult thing about making the series."

Dexter: "Like Julia, I didn't do any real research into what it's like being a reporter, mainly because the character of Spike doesn't really call for it. He's a real rebel without a cause, and all he does is sit about with his feet up throwing rubbish into the wastepaper bin while everyone else is rushing about like an idiot. He just sits there and says, 'Hey, man, relax! Where's the problem?' That's the kind of reporter I'd like to be..."

Now that '80s Actual has finally discovered Press Gang (and been bowled over by it) you can expect  more  on the show very soon!

Blockbusters

"Can I have a 'P' please, Bob?"

Sorry, I couldn't resist it!

The original US version of Blockbusters debuted on 27 October, 1980, the brainchild of TV game show purveyor extraordinaire Mark Goodson. The American version was open to adult contestants of all ages. Our version, made by the Midlands ITV regional service Central, began on 29 August, 1983 - and quickly became a hit. 

After the American version of the show had been spotted, Central TV produced a pilot for a UK version in 1982. The pilot followed the American format and the 16-18 rule regarding the age of contestants did not apply. It was some months before the student age group was decided on and the decision was made to go ahead with a series of the show. The UK version went into production in 1983.

The show was very hi-tec by the standards of the day, and pitted two contestants against one.

Some people questioned this system, and Bob Holness, the UK show's presenter, said in 1986:

"People often ask me about this, and I say that it's to see if two heads are better than one and, anyway, the single player has less questions to answer than the team of two. I usually find that the single player wins because they've got one mind. Very often you can see team players delay before pushing the buzzer, because they've got to work together."

The contestants making their way across the board and taking the hotspot for the Gold Runs in the UK version were, as we said earlier, sixth formers, but the show attracted many and varied viewers: my seventy-something gran watched, as did my fifty-something postman, and my nine-year-old sister. Everybody, it seemed, was fascinated by Blockbusters.

Blue against white... are two heads better than one?

Bob Holness was terrific, whether introducing the contestants, their mascots, or asking the questions. And do you remember the Blockbusters hand jive which often took place as the end credits rolled? 

Despite Blockbusters being a show centred on teenagers, Bob himself was not a trendy young thing. He was a middle aged man, well mannered and groomed, who is remembered fondly as a caring host by many of the show's contestants. In those days, most quiz show hosts weren't trendy, but it mattered not with Bob. I always felt his genuine warmth and charm - and his reassuring manner, no doubt born of his maturity - made him ideal to present Blockbusters.

On how he got the job, Bob commented in 1988:

"When Central TV were looking for someone to host Blockbusters I was thought of. It was remembered that I'd done TV programmes of much the same sort, such as Junior Criss Cross Quiz which I compered in the 1960s and which was also a question and answer show. One led to the other."

The difference being that Bob achieved far greater fame through Blockbusters. It was simply a great show with an ideal host. 

Bob later said: 
  
“Blockbusters, which began in the Eighties, was my favourite time in television. Its success was such a huge and pleasant shock because no-one ever predicted it. In fact everyone scoffed at the show when it first was mooted and for the first few screenings.

“They had to fight even to get it a teatime slot but in the event that was ideal. Its appeal was to all ages, from older children who’d just got in from school to parents and grandparents. I think that’s what caused its success – it really was true family entertainment.”

A snippet from the TV Times, August 1985. "Blockbusters" was going from strength-to-strength. Bob had just recorded eighty editions in one month, and another forty were lined up for November! I was a big fan of Mr Holness and the show and collected the series of quiz books which accompanied the series. They really proved their worth on long train journeys!
-

There were quite a number of these "Blockbusters Quiz Books" - I still have about eight of them. 

A signed "Gold Run" book. 

Bob gained  his own mascot on the show at Christmas 1983 - Harold the Hedgehog, a present from his wife.

 Interviewed in 1986, Bob explained his attitude to the contestants:

"I never call them kids. I call them youngsters. I think 'kids' is patronising. And I encourage them to be individualistic. Over the years, they've come to realise how far they can go. They can be a bit cheeky and they don't get knocked down."

Bob felt that he got on very well with young people in general: "I used to be one myself!"

During the 1986 interview, he also chatted about some of the memorable mascots that had appeared on the show:

"We've had jars of piccalilli, seaweed, a half-eaten apple, and even a three-foot high doll of me, with a suit and everything!"

As the '80s went on, the show saw several changes. One of the fondest remembered innovations was this highly distinctive opening sequence, in which we left planet Earth and took off for a futuristic alien city, where the shows apparently took place. The model city, evocative of the 1982 film Blade Runner, was designed by senior graphic designer Graham Garside and materials used in the construction work included foam board and perspex, covered with metallic foils.

Other fondly remembered visual features of Blockbusters were the figureheads hung around the studio, which, over the '80s years, included Zeus, Toyah Wilcox, John Wayne, Marilyn Monroe and Charlie Chaplin. These were designed by Derek Howarth and made of polystyrene, cut with hot wires and shaped with rasps and files. 

Here's a question:

What 'E' composed the theme tune to the UK version of Blockbusters?

The answer is Ed Welch and the theme tune was called Quiz Wizard.

The British Association of Toy Retailers 1986 Game of the Year - a boxed version of "Blockbusters". Bliss - now we could all have a 'P' at home. Sorry.

Oh those glory days of 1980s computers! You could play "Blockbusters" on them, of course! The pictured version of the "Blockbusters" computer game is for the Commodore 64.

Two 1980s contestants on "Blockbusters". The young gent with the mullet and the young lady with the pink bunny mascot tell Bob all about themselves.

 The letter  'C' is flashing - let's play "Blockbusters"!

 In the late 1980s, Bob spoke about how the show had changed since its debut in 1983: "I'm much more relaxed than I used to be. Blockbusters today features contestants who actually know 'the name of the game'. They know what's expected of them and they know how far they can go in their talks with me. At the beginning it was an unknown quantity, the young people then had no yardstick. But today they can come out with things like, 'Can I have a 'P' please, Bob?' "

From the "TV Times", April 1987 - Bob makes a spectacle of himself! The "Blockbusters Abroad" special followed several Gold Run winners on their prize holidays.

Bob goes trendy - he looks ready to challenge snooker ace Dennis Taylor in those glasses! 

In 1988, Bob was asked: "Is it true you have a jar of mints on the set?" He replied: "How did you hear about that?! The mints started right at the beginning of the show and they're now a feature of the programme - though they're never seen. I put a mint out for each contestant at the start of a show, just to make them feel at ease. Once they held them up to the camera - sending me up a little!"

The one and only "Blockbusters" annual, on shop shelves in late 1988 ready for 1989. In his introduction, Bob wrote:

... let me just say that I have enjoyed presenting 'Blockbusters' more than any other television or radio programme I've done...

Bob with the famous hexagonal board in 1989. Probably the strangest question asked on "Blockbusters" in the 1980s, and perhaps ever, was: "What 'C' has 4 stiff-standers; 4 dilly danders; 2 lookers; 2 crockers and a wig-wag?" The answer, which, not surprisingly, stumped the contestants on the night is "Cow" (4 legs; 4 teats; 2 eyes; 2 horns and a tail!).

A new question for you:

-

"What 'T' was a 1980s pop group with a link to Bob Holness?"

Find out here.

UPDATED 20/6/2014

Rik Mayall

He really was one of the pioneers of the 1980s alternative comedy scene. The young Mayall and Ade Edmundson started performing at the Comedy Store in mid-1980. Nigel Planer and Peter Richardson joined at the same time. They all went on to found the Comic Strip in October '80, with Comedy Store compere Alexei Sayle. An advertisement for female performers was answered by Dawn French and Jennifer Saunders. When Channel 4 debuted in November 1982, the Comic Strip team hit the TV screens, and in the run-up to the launch of Channel 4 the BBC was prompted to start preparing something alternative itself - The Young Ones.

Magical times.

RIP, Rik.

Did Anna Wing (Lou Beale Of EastEnders) Really Appear in Market In Honey Lane?

 Lou Beale and family in 1985: "Market In Honey Lane? 'Ere, weren't that that soppy telly programme about 'ow lovely cockneys are? Not very true to life, was it?"

I've had an e-mail which asks me to stray out of the 1980s and into the 1960s. You think I REMEMBER the 1960s? Well I DON'T. Well, not much. But I'll have a go... 

Jackie writes: 

I keep reading that the actress Anna Wing who was Lou in EastEnders from 1985-1988, was in an ATV soap series called "Market In Honey Lane" from 1967-1969. I've read it on Digital Spy, in her obituaries in the Guardian, The Radio Times and The Stage and LOADS of places. But I still somehow doubt it because I've never seen her interviewed or read an interview with her in which she said so. Can you help?

Oh, crikey! Well, I went to the British Film Institute site which contains a pretty exhaustive cast list for Market In Honey Lane, including the guest cast line (the BFI is usually very thorough indeed) and she's not in that - not even as a guest star. And she's certainly not in any of the surviving episodes. Perhaps she wasn't in it at all - rumours spread on the internet and the BBC, ITV, Radio Times, Guardian, etc, etc, do fall for them regularly. Or perhaps it was a bit part? Maybe even an unnamed extra? But going on concrete fact, I have my doubts. Here's a link to the BFI cast list for Market In Lane - some future notables there, like Dennis Waterman, Ray Lonnen, Yootha Joyce and Richard Thorp - but no Anna Wing - 

http://www.screenonline.org.uk/tv/id/1400806/credits.html

Talking of Market In Honey Lane, many comparisons are made between this and EastEnders as both feature an East End market - it's even been called a "precursor" to EastEnders, but that's tripe. Market In Honey Lane (later simply Honey Lane) was not originally a soap opera. It was a weekly series of self-contained stories, each one focusing on a particular character. The twice weekly "soap" format was only adopted for the second and third series (it was never shown all year round) and these suffered from the dreaded "regional variations" - some ITV companies showed it in the afternoon, some late at night. Ratings were not good for the second and third series, and ITV was not renowned for giving things a great deal of time to perform well. Albion Market suffered similarly in the 1980s. Market In Honey Lane was long forgotten by most people before planning began on EastEnders in 1983 and, despite the setting, was very different indeed in style - and impact.

 The British Film Institute says:

Inspired to some extent by Granada TV's success with Coronation Street (ITV, 1960-), ATV's Market in Honey Lane was a very conventional TV serial, setting up minor heartbreaks and conflicts so that the writers could dissolve them, usually, in a flood of cosy sentimentality.

 The series, overall, is deeply embedded in a culture; that of the Cockney proletariat with its wide boys, stoical mothers and hermetic yet threatening cosiness. It was not an earth-shaking programme, and certainly not pioneering in any revolutionary ideas in technique and production, but simply proposed itself to the casual viewer as a mildly pleasant affair. 

 http://www.screenonline.org.uk/tv/id/1400806/index.html

EastEnders could never have been described as that! And now I'll bow out. Sorry I couldn't really clear your mind on this, Jackie. Anna Wing certainly didn't mention Market In Honey Lane in interviews I saw with her in the 1980s. However, the show was largely forgotten by then and no claim to past fame. As I say, if she did appear, it was either a bit part or a non-speaking extra. But there is a chance she simply didn't appear in it at all. Let me know if you find out anything else, and thanks for writing.

And please, readers, don't ask me to stray out of my 1980s comfort zone again. The '60s - all those kaftans, flares and love beads. Blueerggh! I'm going to watch a nice pop video featuring the lovely Alannah Currie at the height of her Thompson Twins fame just to soothe myself before bed! Just lurve her '80s hairdos!

The Shutter Shades Of The 1980s...

Geeky slatted shades of the 1950s (no, they didn't make a major fashion splash!) and the super sci-fi style design of the 1980s.

Shutter Shades, louvered sunglasses in a range of tempting colours, have become very popular in recent years. Many of the colours seem reminiscent of the 1980s, but that's appropriate because the sunglasses are somewhat akin to a type of fashion eye wear from that decade. These were futuristic looking, streamlined sunglasses, slatted, which slowly made inroads into the fashion psyche after making an appearance in the Glittering Prize Simple Minds pop video of 1982. Then Astrid Plane, of Animotion wore a pair in that band's video for Obsession midway through the decade, and Chris Lowe of the Pet Shop Boys also donned a pair a bit later in that ten year span. A very different design of slatted sunglasses had appeared in America the 1950s, but do not seem to have been adopted by the great and the cool. The futuristic 1980s design, probably largely thanks to the wonder of the pop video, made great waves.

I never wore them in the '80s (they were apparently nicknamed "Venetian Blinders", according to some sources, but I never heard them referred to them as such back then). I just never got round to buying a pair and they would have clashed with my Miami Vice/casuals/sportswear style dress sense anyway. But I liked them and I so love the modern version. They remind me of the good old '80s days (sigh)!

The Thompson Twins

One of my favourite bands of the 1980s was the Thompson Twins. In fact, I even joined their fan club. I liked their music, which I found to be quirky and original (“I bought you sentimental roses, but you gave them all away”) and I was absolutely infatuated with Alannah Currie, hairdos, hats and all.

Me and my workmate Neal parodied the group’s songs (“Hold me now - warm my tights!”) but that was no indication of dislike.

We were a couple of daft lads who took the mickey out of anything that moved or made a sound. You have to remember, the World Wide Web wasn't even invented till 1989. There wasn't even a computer where we worked. They weren't "everyday life". Our jobs as office clerks in the early-to-mid 1980s were mind numblingly boring, we had to do something to stay awake. We had to make our own amusement.

I never told Neal I’d joined the Thompson Twins fan club. I didn’t want him taking the mickey out of me, but Alannah had me under a spell…

The Thompson Twins went through several incarnations, but the band we all know existed from 1982 to 1986 - the trio of Tom Bailey, Alannah Currie and Joe Leeway. It was these three who gave us the distinctive music and style which still produces a happy smile and a bop round the living room whenever heard for many of us who love 1980s music.
From the Daily Mirror, February 28 1984...

Three into two goes like a bomb

By Robin Eggar

The audience is screaming, Cowley carworkers’ daughters and posh undergraduates joining in with equal enthusiasm. Oxford is seething at the sight of an odd trio who have proved that three into two does go. All the way to the top of the charts.
The Thompson Twins are the first rock sensation of 1984. And this is the first night of their sell-out, thirty-four date tour around Britain.

But how are Tom Bailey, Joe Leeway and Alannah Currie taking to the road?

Lead singer Tom says:

“It’s like a three-way marriage. We live out of the same suitcase and depend on each other.

“We use each other emotionally to cope with stress. But in the long run it means we’re even stronger.”

None of the three “twins” is related - or even called Thompson. Their name is taken from a pair of bumbling detectives in the “Tintin” comic strip.

Their latest album, “Into the Gap”, has raced to No 1, outselling its nearest rival two to one. Their single, “Doctor, Doctor”, is hovering just below the top spot in the charts.

And yet four years ago they were living in south London squats and waiting to be discovered.

I saw them one night in a sleazy club. There were seven in the band then and only seventeen in the audience.

One paying guest had passed out. The other fifteen had joined the band on stage and were banging cans out of time with the music. I made my excuses and left.

It all changed when Tom wrote a song to fill up the second side of an album in 1981. It was called “In The Name Of Love” - and it became a hit in America. It was No. 1 for five weeks in the disco charts there.

Tom, 28, says:

“That was like having the blinkers torn off my eyes.

“I suddenly realised that we’d just been making music for a small circle of friends in London, kids in America really liked us.”

The only other members of the band who shared Tom’s scent of success were Joe Leeway and Alannah Currie.

And so it was that the band slimmed down to three. Joe says:

“Until Tom wrote “In The Name Of Love”, we were boring.

“Finally I sat down in this room and said I don’t want to work with you, you, you and you. I only want to work with Tom and Alannah.”

The three are from very different backgrounds. But together they form a unique blend. Tom, whose father is a Yorkshire doctor, used to teach music. He was the founder of the original band.

Alannah, 26, is a manic ball of fire with a taste for silly hats. She was born in New Zealand.

Her father was a docker and her mother cleaned hospitals at night. She was determined to escape from her home and arrived in London in 1977, penniless.

She worked cleaning toilets, washing dishes and sweeping up in a hairdressing salon. She was trying to learn the saxophone in her squat one day when “this real wimp” came over to complain about the noise.

It was Tom.

At 31, Joe is the oldest Twin. He was born in London to an Irish mother and a Nigerian merchant seaman. He was fostered to an elderly couple in Dartford, Kent, when he was two years old.

“The first black I ever talked to was when I was 21,” he says. “I still think white, even though I’ve got black skin.”

He became the Twins’ roadie after a career in acting. Then, after one evening when he complained that he wanted to do more in the band, they bought him a set of congas. He played them the wrong way round for months.

Joe now plays the synthesiser. He also designed the group’s spectacular stage show for the current tour.

Alannah takes care of the videos and the Twins’ style. She also writes the lyrics, sings and plays percussion.

Tom writes most of the music, sings and is the teenage heart-throb.

Professionally it works. But it does take its toll on their individual relationships.

All admit they have not the time or the love to give to an outsider. This has given rise to speculation that Tom and Alannah live together and are planning marriage.

“That is silly,” says Tom. “All three of us are dead against the idea of marriage. Alannah and I are very close, but we are not having any kind of secret relationship.

“I am also very close to Joe. Whatever I do with anyone else, those two are my first priority.

“We are intensely close. We love each other very dearly and it is totally different from any other relationship I’ve ever had.

“We are united by a common aim and our care for each other.

“If anyone left, that would be the end of a great adventure."

UPDATED 9/4/2014

Great Feats Of The 1980s: Herring Juggling...

The 1980s were simply wondrous. I mean, the World Wide Web, Microsoft Windows, DNA fingerprinting, and other simply hornswoggling inventions were invented, the likes of Eddie The Eagle had us spellbound, and it was a time when our ethos was simply "GO FOR IT!" We will never see its like again. Something rarely mentioned is a fabulous feat from Minnesota, USA. 

Herring juggling.

"Herring juggling? Oh my gawd, who the hell juggles herrings?" you ask.

"No, no," I hasten to put you straight.

"It was the herring that did the juggling."

Let Mrs Rose Nylund of St Olaf fill you in - click on image to read...

HELP! Desperately Seeking 1980s "Happy Bird Day" card...

Here's a plea from me: when I turned twenty in 1985, amongst my mammoth crop of birthday cards (I was soooo popular!) was one showing a load of birds flying around or standing around on telephone wires. The card carried the greeting "Happy Bird Day". The card illustration was a cartoon-style image and not particularly attractive ( I seem to recall one or several ugly blackbirds were present), but, driven by nostalgia, I've been seeking the image on-line and can't find it. Does anybody out there have one they can scan?  I would be very grateful! There are modern day versions, but they simply don't cut it. Speaking of '80s greetings cards, look out for a selection on here soon, plus the continuation of our '80s lyrics quiz, and features on Press Gang and Interceptor. Sorry updates have been so sparse, but life is pretty busy at the moment! x

1986 - "Hands Up If You Use Right Guard, Hands Down If You Don't..."

You know, here at '80s Actual, we always go the extra mile for our adoring fans (bless you both!), but a question we received in early December had us stumped:

'80s were the decade of the Shake and Vac woman, "We hope it's chips, it's chips", BT (Beattie), "We've got the Jewson lot", "Co-Co Pops, Mr Spock", and so on. But this is driving me crazy. I recall a TV ad from around the late 1980s for a deodorant in which people put their hands up if they used it, but lowered them if they didn't. I know it sounds mad, but it's true, I swear it! I can't find it anywhere. Do you remember it?

Well, dear reader, I recall a lot of the 1980s through a kind of haze... colourful, eventful, youthful times for me and pretty chaotic, so I didn't. But I put a call out, explored YouTube and I think I've found it. It's from 1986 and is for Right Guard - and I recall it now. Very witty jingle, which I've now got stuck in my head. I've been going around singing it all day. Is this it? Would be more than a tad grateful if you'd let me know! x

1980-1986: The Adventure Game - Patrick Dowling And "Alice In Wonderland Crossed With Hitchhiker's"

Welcome to Arg! Darong played Moira Stuart, Gandor played Christopher Leaver and Gnoard played Charmian Gradwell.

Ah, what a delight! Without further ado, let's say: "Nepo emases!" Maddie Smith pronounced it so beautifully! In fact, it seemed that Ms Smith might actually be called Ivy P Daid at one point. Christopher Leaver, played by Gandor, suggested the possibility, but, of course, Ivy was actually Chinese Detective actor David Yip - which is self explanatory if you think about it.

Anyway, back to the main story. In the early 1980s, the vast majority of us knew little or nothing of computers. The subject was a closed book to me and my mates down at the local comprehensive school, and my school didn't have a computer at all. Computers were for scientists, Dr Who, the gas and electricity boards, and posh, geeky, nerdy people most of us knew nothing of as the decade swung into action. But the BBC telly series The Adventure Game featured a computer - and the show is a testament to how computer visuals leapt on during the decade, with the boring green-on-black writing of 1980 looking extraordinarily dated alongside the colourful "virtual reality" mazes featured in later years.

Arg was a small planet of little consequence, often visited by time travellers. The Argonds were a race of shape-shifting dragon-like creatures, who often assumed human form so as not to alarm visitors from Earth.

Whilst being a polite race, the Argonds did get a little bit fed up with intrusions from time travelling Earth folk and, having a regrettable sense of humour, would "nick" the essential time lock crystal from space crafts and set travellers a series of puzzles to enable them to get it back. Whilst we're on that subject, how do you work out how many Argonds are round the pond? I used to know, but I've forgotten!

The ruler of Arg was the Rangdo - "Uncle" to some - who started out in human form but didn't like it so metamorphasised into first an aspidistra then a teapot. "Gronda Gronda, Rangdo!"

The Adventure Game was all so beautifully English! I've been evaporated? Oh, bother! I shall just have to walk home, and it's jolly cold tonight! As the '80s continued, the concept really caught on on Arg with the puzzle fests being broadcast to great acclaim on Argo-Vision, and also becoming cult viewing here on planet Earth via the miracle of intergalactic relays. The show's creator, Patrick Dowling, described it as: "Alice In Wonderland crossed with Hitchhiker's," - as in Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy.

Dowling had previously been involved in great telly wonders like Vision On, but there is no doubt that The Adventure Game was his crowning glory. He wrote and produced the first two series in 1980 and 1981, and introduced several episodes of the '81 series. He retired in 1982.

The Rangdo's delight was the Vortex - which saw many Arg explorers from Earth evaporated - but devious use of green cheese rolls could thwart (and infuriate) his Highness.

Explorers included Paul Darrow of Blake's 7 fame, Noel Edmonds of Swap Shop, Barbara Lott - Timothy's dreadful mother from Sorry!, and Rubik's Cube adorer David Singmaster. Actress Elizabeth Estensen confounded the wily dragons by having a hand small enough to fit down a narrow glass tube and extract a helpful piece of equipment, Maddie Smith and David Yip came unstuck after the clock quacked, and Bonnie Langford called the Rangdo "Oh Gronda". She was later evaporated.

 Paul Darrow steps it out. Will he be evaporated?

Of course, as Arg-O-Vision became the most popular TV station on that side of the horse head nebular, the Argond presenters of its top-rated show began to show signs of "artistic temperament" in the studio: Charmain Gradwell, played by Gnoard, ordered Angord, played by Angord, very fetching in her 1980s high fashion ra ra skirt and deelyboppers, to keep out of camera range during a session of the Drogna Game in one episode (the Drogna was the Argonds' currency), and Christopher Leaver, played by Gandor, brought Sarah Lam, played by Dorgan, down a peg or too by evaporating her in the 1985-'86 series.

Former children's TV heroine Lesley Judd, obviously thoroughly bored with sticky back plastic on Blue Peter, turned to the bad in The Adventure Game. Having been a contestant in one show in 1980, she turned up as a "mole" in the 1981 series - posing as a prisoner of the Argonds, but actually out to deceive and delay her fellow Earth folk and, hopefully, evaporate them. She went up a lot in our estimation during her Adventure Game stint. We never could stick goody-goody, fuddy-duddy old Blue Peter.

 Lesley Judd and friend - "Mole, mole, go to your hole!"

Of course, as Rongad would say, things could seems rather sdrawkcab on Arg, but it was all doog yrev (pronounced "doogy rev"). Nodrap?

After Patrick Dowling retired in 1982, the show's director Ian Oliver took over as producer, and was joined for series four by Christopher Tandy. 

Some episodes of this groundbreaking series were, unbelievably, wiped by the BBC, and, also unbelievably, there has never been an official DVD release of the episodes which do remain. The Adventure Game truly was groundbreaking - being the precursor to such series as The Crystal Maze and Knightmare. The 1980 series somehow grabbed my attention ( I was then a hairy, disgruntled teen with absolutely no computer savvy), and the following three series were required viewing. In 1980, when The Adventure Game began, I believed that computers were for eggheads. By 1986, when The Adventure Game ended, I thought they were a passing fad. How wrong I was! But the series, a wonderful combination of wacky problems, sci-fi and whimsy, remains one of my favourites - not just of the 1980s, but of all time. 

The Great BIG 1980s Pop Lyrics Quiz - Part 2!

The pig's back and so is '80s Actual with the second part of our totally tubular Great BIG 1980s Pop Lyrics Quiz! Can you match the gems below to the '80s pop ditties in which they featured? Go on, have a go! The other parts of the quiz can be found by clicking on the Great BIG 1980s Pop Lyrics Quiz label at the bottom of the post.

21) "I bought you sentimental roses, but you gave them all away..."

22) "I'll protect you from the Hooded Claw. Keep the vampires from your door..."

23) "It's not a crime when you look the way you do - the way I like to picture you..."

24)"Now my friends, the time has come, to raise the roof and have some fun..."

25) "Standing in the door of the Pink Flamingo crying in the rain..."

26) "I've only to hear you and my heart beats like a drum..."

 Kajagoogoo reflected the upwardly mobile thing and some rather lovely hairstyling trends in 1983.

27) "You're the next to break the ice - wanna come down right now?"

28) "Don't tell me that you think it's green, me I know it's red..."

29) "We will race you high above the ground..."

30) "Boxes that go beep, little lights that leap..."

31) "Within the hour, I'll smash another cup. Please don't start saying that or I'll start believing you..."

 32) "And everyone turned over, troubled in their dreams again..."

33) "Your love is sweeter than wine. But wine is all I have. Will your love ever be mine?"

34) "Hey little sister what have you done? Hey little sister who's the only one?"

 35) "We've got no future, we've got no past, here today, built to last..."

 36) "Now you're crying in your sleep, I wish you'd never learned to weep..."

 37) "I was sick and tired of everything when I called you last night from Glasgow..."

38) "The lights are on, but you're not home..."

39) "Hey, how ya doing? Sorry you couldn't get through..."

40) " I wanna talk theory with Curie - impossible I guess..."

This quiz really gets you jumping to the beat, does it not?

The Great BIG 1980s Pop Lyrics Quiz - Part 1!

In the 1980s, Frankie said "Relax". The pig said 'Oink'.

After our lovely long break, listening to those rascally popstrels Duran Duran belting out Rio and other "legendary" 1980s pop sonnets in a luxury yacht anchored in the swimming pool up at the Falcon Crest mansion, we're just dying to bring you the Great BIG 1980s Pop Lyrics Quiz.

You know, the 1980s was probably the best decade for pop music ever invented. It was so swingorilliant we waited with breath absurdly bated for each porksome instalment of the Now That's What I Call Music saga, thought that Nick Heyward was pretty darned brilliant, and shed bitter tears whenever our fave choons were chewed up by our wicked cassette players.

And those lyrics! Wow, those lyrics! From Jimmy The Hoover to Pepsi and Shirley, from Splodgenessabounds to A Guy Called Gerald, the 1980s were simply awash with memorable sing-a-long moments. "Wicked", was it not?

But just how well do you remember those lyrics? Can you match a handful of lyrics to a particular song? This is what our epic four-part Great BIG 1980s Pop Lyrics Quiz is all about. We give you the lyrics, you jot down the song title - if possible without Googling or some other new-fangled nonsense, then we give the answers and a rating with the final part of the quiz, which will be posted in late January. This is not for the faint hearted. There will be eighty, yes EIGHTY lyrical posers in all (fitted with big hair and shoulder pads as standard). This quiz is the best innovation since the C5. See how you do - GO FOR IT! - if you dare...

And whilst you're here, if you have any memories you care to share of 1980s pop epics and what they and their lyrics meant/mean to you, please feel free to do so in the comments.

We're agog with anticipation.

Still here? OK then, matey boots...

1) "You're a slave to fashion and your life is full of passion..."

2) "Stay with me, let loving start..."

3) "Qua qua fa diddily qua qua..."

4) "All the teachers in the pub, passing round the ready-rub..."

5) " Get your booty on the floor tonight, make my day..."

6) " Sound and caring, help the helpless, but always remain ultimately selfish..."

7) If we are what we eat, you're my kind of meat..."

8) "Given that you pay the price, we can keep you young and tender..."

 The legendary Michael Jackson. Billie Jean was not his lover.

9) Peaceful revolution let the perfect wave surround me..."

10) "It's wrong to wish on space hardware..."

11) "Easy girls and late nights, cigarettes and love bites..."

12) "Is it real or is it synthesized? Baby, I'm hypnotized..."

13) "Who do you want me to be to make you sleep with me?"

14) "Baby look at me and tell me what you see, you ain't seen the best of me yet, give me time I'll make you forget the rest..."

15) "In my imagination there is no hesitation, we walk together hand in hand..."

16) "On days like this, in times like these - I feel an animal deep inside..."

17) "I still find it so hard to say what I mean to say, but I'm quite sure that you'll tell me just how I should feel today..."

18) "Jack and Jill went up the hill to have a little fun. Stupid Jill forgot her pill and now they have a son..."

19) "And the public gets what the public wants..."

20) "It's not the way you lead me by the hand into the bedroom..."

Some truly memorable 1980s lyrics from The Art Of Noise here. All together now: "Dum dum dum tra-la-tra-la-tra-la-la". Look out for the next instalment of this quiz - it's gonna be nearly as raunchy as Haircut One Hundred, more satisfying than nouvelle cuisine, more stirring than a power nap... "Does heaven wait, all heavenly, over the next horizon?"

Here Comes Christmas!

 Memories! A Now That's What I Call Music Volume 5 cassette, £7-99 from Woollies in 1985. A snip! 

We were fair hornswoggled here at '80s Actual Towers to realise that Chrimbo was on yonder horizon again, and that somebody had made a clock out of a Now That's What I Call Music Volume 5 cassette case from 1985! Love it!

"You can almost hear time ticking away..." as Go West once sang. This little beauty has got a lovely clunking tick to it.

Now is the time to give '80s-themed gifts, and look back on memories from that most golden of decades... the glorious deelyboppers debut of 1982, for instance, or Anneka Rice being flunked by a dwyle in 1987... such happy, happy days! 

Talking of 80s-themed gifts, we were dead chuffed to receive a Mr Tea mug (a spoof on the A Team's Mr T) and a "Hello, Is It Tea You're Looking For?" mug - an affectionate (we thinks) spoof of Lionel Richie's rather excellent 1983 song lyrics. We're so chuffed we're dancing on the ceiling.

Well, tis the season to get George out of the cupboard. George? you ask. Yus, we reply - George the bear who was rescued from being thrown out at a charity shop by Andrew, who was doing some voluntary work there a couple of years ago. George is incredibly cuddly and lovable, but has the regrettable habit of bursting into Last Christmas whenever his "TRY ME!" (very enticing!) foot is squeezed. Never mind. we love 'im anyway!

George luxuriates on a 1980s candlewick bedspread. It's not exactly Club Tropicana, but it's the best we can do.

Coming soon, we have the first part of our BIG 1980s Lyrics Quiz ("qua qua fa diddily qua qua") and a look at the making of the first series of the highly esteemed kids' telly show Press Gang in 1988 (first broadcast in early 1989).

Have a lovely Christmas. We hope you get all your heart desires. And remember... more is more.

xxxxxx