Podcast: Pete Byrne and Naked Eyes
Pete Byrne is one of the good guys from the '80s music scene. And because the universe has a sick sense of humor at times, bad things tend to happen to good people.
As the co-founder of Naked Eyes, Pete had a rough go of it during our golden decade. Despite the success of songs like "Always Something There To Remind Me" and "Promises, Promises," the band's record company didn't want them to tour.
"I think it hurt us a great deal," Pete told me this week. "I've been back on the road for three years. Everybody knows my songs, but there are still a lot of people who don't know the name. The marketing of Naked Eyes wasn't the best."
Alas, years stuck in the studio eventually drove Pete and his parter Rob Fisher apart in the late '80s. When they finally got back together in the late '90s to start work on a new Naked Eyes album, tragedy struck. Rob died during stomach surgery. It'd be another 5 or 6 years before Pete would try again.
But his persistence has paid off, and Naked Eyes is winning fans over again with Pete's passion for music, a long-overdue slew of live appearances across the U.S. and a new album coming in 2009. Naked Eyes is the opening act of the Regeneration Tour, stopping in Clearwater on Aug. 30 at Ruth Eckerd Hall.
He's also the special guest on this week's Stuck in the 80s podcast, which features a ticket giveaway for the Clearwater show. The podcast features a few Naked Eyes songs you may have never heard before -- elegant tunes such as "Emotion in Motion" and "Voices in my Head." I know you'll get a kick out of those, as well as Pete's story about hanging out with Paul McCartney the night he recorded the vocals for "Alway Something There To Remind Me."
Click here to listen to the show. Or click here to get all our shows for free via iTunes.
Relive the music, movies and culture of the greatest decade ever with Times online editor Steve Spears. A teen during the decade, Steve is obsessed with everything from Duran Duran to Journey, John Hughes to John Cusack, and parachute pants to Reaganomics.
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Great podcast, We already have tix - we'll see ya at the show. Hope you find your t-shirt.
Posted by: surfdog | August 16, 2008 at 02:41 PM
Tonianne! You sound as adorable as you look!
The interview with Pete Byrne was another feather in your cap, Steve. Well done.
Posted by: Marissa | August 16, 2008 at 02:46 PM
Excellent, excellent show this week, guys. "When the Lights Go Out" is one of my favorites by Naked Eyes. Good to hear Tonianne in there too!!
dave
Posted by: Former Producer Dave | August 16, 2008 at 09:03 PM
Great interview this week. I'll be listening to "The Best Of Naked Eyes" on my iPod tonight.
Posted by: Bassnote | August 17, 2008 at 12:17 AM
Another great interview, my man.
Awesome!
Posted by: Rick | August 17, 2008 at 02:18 PM
i want to go but ill be @ school.I'm sorry. I hope you have fun Steve
Posted by: Samantha Lawren Lane | August 17, 2008 at 03:17 PM
Still have tickets left to give out!
Posted by: Spears | August 17, 2008 at 03:25 PM
Man, I would love to go again, especially to see Missing Persons. I really envy you, Steve.
Posted by: Jeff from Vegas | August 17, 2008 at 10:31 PM
Another great podcast! The highlite for me was hearing Tonianne's voice! After all the posts and emails it is always fun to hear it! And also, thanks for playing my "long distance dedication" I didn't think you'd actually play it...and you played an appropriate part of the song too! :)
Posted by: Douglas Arthur | August 18, 2008 at 02:02 PM
I finally got to listen to the podcast today, that acoustic version of "Always Something...." is excellent, I'm off to iTunes to score it right now.
Posted by: Sherrie | August 19, 2008 at 07:33 PM