Showing my age, I suppose . . .
In the booklet accompanying one of King Crimson's many multi-disc sets is a photo from the first-ever show the Discipline line-up did, at a pub called Mole's Club, and standing up front is Curt Smith, who, Robert Fripp helpfully points out, went on to form, with Roland Orzabal, Tears for Fears. I did not know this until a few years ago, but they met while both attending Primal Scream Therapy. Not only the band name, but song titles, including the title cut off The Hurting, "Shout" and a few others, were taken from the lingo of Primal Scream Therapy (John Lennon and Yoko Ono were also devotees, in the early 1970's).
Here's "Mad World", a very synth-pop, 1980's song from their first release:
Along with unleashing Oleta Adams on the world, this next song features the silly words of the outro, "So free her . . ." When I first heard it, I was stunned, because it was such a departure from the title track, "Sowing the Seeds of Love", which in turn was different from the synth-pop of their first two recordings. In fact, the bulk of the tracks have a jazzy/R&B feel to them, especially on side 2. After Songs From The Big Chair, this all seemed quite a departure. One can argue they were changing with the times, or maturing as song-writers/arrangers, or some other reason. I'm not sure what was going on, but I am grateful because this song really is good. It's "Woman in Chains":
Curt Smith left after Seeds of Love, but Roland Orzabal kept on recording, releasing an album in 1993 under the name Tears for Fears, which featured the very danceable, almost anthemic "Break it Down Again". The songs was, in many ways, a return to the kind of synth-pop of the early and mid-1980's:
Smith later rejoined Orzabal and they recorded Everyone Loves A Happy Ending and a live CD.
