Promises, promises: Naked Eyes today!

It's no secret any longer that the Regeneration Tour is easily the can't-miss concert ticket of the summer. With a lineup that includes The Human League, ABC and a handful of other treasures from the 80s, it's a much-needed trip back to a time when artists were genuine, music still meant something and songs were worth memorizing by heart.

But I think the real secret ingredient of the tour comes right up front with the first act on stage -- Naked Eyes. When the tour hit Las Vegas earlier this month, singer Pete Byrne strolled onstage with his guitar, a wide grin on his face and strummed one simple chord before slowly and gently crooning...

I walk along the city streets you used to walk along with me,
And every step I take reminds me of just how we used to be.
Well, how can I forget you, girl?
When there is always something there to remind me.

I was captivated, immediately thrown back 25 years to a time when what video came next on MTV was by far the biggest concern of the day. I sprang to my feet, unable to articulate a single sentence during his entire set, left only to look to each of the fans and friends standing around me and see that everyone was as caught up in the moment as well. That's the definition of total joy.

On Aug. 30, Pete and the Regeneration gang will play Clearwater's Ruth Eckerd Hall, and I'm slated to introduce him on stage. (Tune in to the podcast for news of a SPECIAL TICKET GIVEAWAY from Stuck in the 80s, including a pair of backstage passes to the grand-prize winner!)

So imagine how cool it will be to actually speak with Pete Byrne later today. Pete is phoning in from the road (today, they're in Monterey, Mexico, believe it or not) to chat during this week's Stuck in the 80s podcast.

You can expect the usual uncontrollable adoration that comes with me interviewing one of my '80s heroes. But I think you'll learn a whole lot more about Pete and his love of music. In the meantime, feel free to add any suggested questions for me to ask. But just like at the Regeneration show, I know mine  already by heart.

[Photo by Russell Baer]

Comments

[Pichi]

Good luck with seeing Naked Eyes, I attended the 11 August concert in Saratoga CA and we had Flock of Seagulls, ABC, Belinda Carlisle and Human League perform. Naked Eyes was on the playbill but for whatever reason they were AWOL. It was still a great concert although I was looking forward to seeing David Byrne perform.

Pichi

[Douglas Arthur]

Devo was using electronic drums almost from the very beginning. The original drummer for the band was Mark and Bob's brother Jim Mothersbaugh, who quit before the first album to go work for an electronics company to develop electronic drums. A lot of Devo's early sound came from the hand-made electronics they used. I think their biggest downfall came in their increasing reliance on synthesizers at the downfall of the great guitar sound they had earlier on Are We Not Men? ands Duty Now For The Future. The use of electronic drums and effects was something they had always done, it is just that the technology they used got better the more records they sold. In some of the songs that they have released since their last proper album, they have gone back to their original more guitar oriented sound. Check out Huboon Stomp, from the South Park:Chef Aid CD, or Are You Ready? from the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers soundtrack, or most recently, Watch Us Work It which was used in a Dell computer ad and then released as a single on iTunes. One of their best in a long long time.

oh, yeah sorry, got sidetracked by my Devo obsession!
can't wait for the Naked Eyes interview sounds like it could be fun!

[don in tulsa]

does that include airfare in the special ticket giveaway? that's about the only way i could see this tour. guess that's what i get for living in tulsa.

[Marissa]

Ah-poo! I'm late to the game. I didn't have a question, though. It's a comment about "Always Something There To Remind Me" being one of my son's favorite songs. I have it on one of many compilation CDs. When Spenser was 7 he heard it and requested it whenever we were in the car. He's now 14 and still loving it.
It's always awesome when my offspring loves a song that is so near and dear to me. "You were a TEEN-AGER when this song came out?!"

[Spears]

Just got off the phone with Pete. Great interview. Really great guy. He promised to sing his cover of Elton John's "Rocket Man" backstage to me in Clearwater since he won't have time to put it in the set.

[Spears]

Everyone needs to download the acoustic version of "Always Something There to Remind Me" off Naked Eyes' 2007 album, "Fumbling With the Covers" (GREAT album of acoustic covers, including a very moving version Elton John's Rocket Man.)

I'm almost convinced the acoustic "Always" is better than their 80s version.

[Neil]

For me "Always Something There To Remind Me" is still an amazing song. It is one of the few 80's songs that has electronic drums that I actually like. One trend in music I didn't like about the 80's was the increasing use of electronic drums, but it really works well in this song. That song doesn't feel dated to me, even though it contains so many elements of trends from that time. I really hated when bands like the Cars, Devo, and Van Halen all started using electronic drums. It just didn't work.

[Former Producer Dave]

Ahh, Rick, you beat me to the question! I've always wondered the same thing about their selection of that song. Steve, you ought to ask him about when he first heard it and why did it make such an impression on him....apart from being a great song, that is. ;)

[Rick]

Maybe it's duh, but what made him choose to reinvent a
Burt Bacharach tune in the middle of the New Wave movement?

It sure as hell worked, what with me (and everyone else) singing
his interpretation of the song 20+ years later!

And was he ever tempted to do it again, with something like "I Say a Little Prayer for You"?

[Bassnote]

Of course you have to ask him about Rob Fisher. Were they still close when Rob passed away? Was it an even writing partnership with Rob?