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Thompson Twins
British pop band
Thompson Twins were an English pop band, formed in 1977 in Sheffield. Initially a new wave group, they switched to a more mainstream pop sound and achieved considerable popularity during the early and mid-1980s, scoring a string of hits in the United Kingdom, the United States, and around the world.
In 1993, they changed their name to Babble, to reflect their change in music from pop to dub-influenced chill-out. They continued as Babble until 1996, at which point the group permanently broke up.
File card: Thompson Twins
named after: Thomson and Thompson
members: Tom Bailey, Alannah Currie, Matthew Seligman, Ced Sharpley, Peter Dodd, Joe Leeway, John Roog, Chris Bell
formed in: Sheffield
labels: Arista Records, Warner Bros. Records, T Records
genres: popular music, new wave
Facts from Wikidata and Discogs, free to use.
Thompson Twins (named after the detectives Thomson and Thompson in the Tintin comics) was formed in 1977 in Sheffield by Tom Bailey and guitarists John Roog and Peter Dodd, with drummer Chris Bell (3) joining soon afterwards after some line-up changes. They arrived in London and self-released their debut single "Squares And Triangles" in 1980. After their 1981 debut album, they recruited The Soft Boys's bassist Matthew Seligman, New Zealand saxophonist Alannah Currie, and percussionist Joe Leeway, forming a septet. After the group completed their second album, "Set", Dodd and Roog left to form the short lived act Big View. Seligman also left the group to pursue a career as a session musician (for The Waterboys, David Bowie etc.). As a trio, Thompson Twins reached their commercial peak with their "Into The Gap" album and the five singles that it spawned, managing to conquer the American market in the process. Joe Leeway went solo in May 1986 and the group continued as a duo, releasing three more albums. The band released e
Also known as: T. Twins, T.T'S, T.T's, T.T., T.T.'s
From Discogs (free to use). Their entryThe Glitch Weekly1984
Hold Me Now
1983 single by Thompson Twins
"Hold Me Now" is a song by British band the Thompson Twins. Written by the band members, the song was produced by Alex Sadkin and the group's lead vocalist Tom Bailey.
The song is a mid-tempo new wave song that uses a varied instrumentation, including keyboards, a xylophone, a piano and Latin percussion. It was released in November 1983 as the first single from their fourth studio album, Into the Gap.
Background and recording
"Emotionally, it was written as the result of some argument that was resolved between Alannah and myself", explained Tom Bailey in an August 2014 interview with Songfacts. "We actually decided, well, this is an interesting emotional subject. What it feels like to get back together again after separation and the kind of ideas that come up and the way that emotion and physicality somehow are brought together." According to Bailey, the song also "had a very strong idea" behind it and was written in only half an hour.
Composition
"Hold Me Now" is a pop, new wave and synthpop ballad, performed with a "hypnotic, swaying groove", that features the sound of a marimba in the background. The song is composed in the key of D major, with a time signature set in common time, and moves at a moderate tempo of 108 beats per minute.
Critical reception
Originally, "Hold Me Now" received a mixed response from pop music critics. In a review of the group's album Into the Gap, Parke Puterbaugh, from Rolling Stone magazine, said that the band took a "new and drastic tangent" and that they "have slowed it all down to bring the human factor into clearer focus", adding that "Hold Me Now" maintains a "hypnotic, swaying groove that suggests reserves of pastoral contentment even in the wake of the storm".
Music video
The music video for "Hold Me Now" was directed by Rupert James, produced by Tim Bevan, and edited by Brian Grant and Nick Morris. The video features the Thompson Twins in a set with a blue background. Each member is standing on a platform, singing or playing a different instrument, a guitar or a piano for Bailey, a marimba or another percussion instrument for Currie, and a bass guitar or congas for Leeway. The video is heavily edited, with frames sliding from the sides, doubling or tripling, split-screen edits, and close-ups of the band while singing or dancing. At the end the background changes from blue to red, and the three members are featured together singing and clapping while the song is fading out.
