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80s music trivia - fast facts (part 2)

 
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This second part in the series on 80s music trivia will help you learn all those irrelevant, yet interesting facts that helped define this diverse decade. Click here to see 80s music trivia part 1.

The Governors
The film Predator has a unique place in US politics. It is the only movie of the 80s to star not one, but two future governors. The first, Arnie, is too obvious but on of his co-stars, Jesse Ventura would also become a governor.

Flock of Seagulls
Flock of Seagulls have a legendary reputation for their exotic 80s haircuts (see Hair Styles of the 80s and Wedding Singer ). This can be easily explained by the fact that the lead singer was a hairdresser before he joined the band (judging by the hairstyles it is obvious why he left hairdressing).

Depeche Mode
Depeche Mode is named after the magazine of the same name and that names roughly translates as Fashion News. For more details, see this explanation.

Art of Noise
In 1989, Tom Jones teamed up with Art Of Noise to perform a cover version of Prince's Kiss. Like 1990's Nothing Compares To You, the cover version sold more copies than the original.



Echo and the Bunnymen
In 1986, the drummer De Freitas left the band and was replaced by former Haircut 100 drummer Mark Fox. Perhaps he felt threatened by Echo, the name given to the drum machine (see here for more details). However, by late 86, all was forgiven and De Freitas returned. Tragically he was killed June, 1989 in a car crash.

Heaven 17
Heaven 17 formed in 1980 and took their name from A Clockwork Orange. To see this reference in the film, keep a look out for bands that are mentioned in the record shop about 30 minutes into the movie (in the same scene you can also catch a subtle plug for Kubrick's 2001 soundtrack).

Martha Walsh
Martha Walsh was lead singer of the Weather Girls. She was also the vocalist responsible for the characteristic 'Everybody Dance Now' in Gonna Make You Sweat (C&C Music factory) and was also the lead vocalist in Black Box's Everybody Everybody. See here for more information.

B52's
Mainly seen as an 80s band, the B52's formed in the mid 70s during a drunken evening at a Chinese restaurant. They were named after the large beehive hairstyle called a B52 (but not the plane or cocktail - even though the hairstyle was named after the plane). The five members were Kate Pierson, Cindy Wilson, Ricky Wilson (Cindy's older brother), Fred Schneider and Keith Strickland. On October 12, 1985, Ricky Wilson died. It was originally thought that his death was attributed to natural causes and some reports suggested cancer, but later it was revealed that he had died of AIDS.

Frankie goes to Hollywood
Originally, the group was called Hollycaust (after lead singer Holly Johnson and the paranoia of nuclear destruction that is evident in their single Two Tribes), but they changed their name to Frankie Goes to Hollywood. It was taken from an old headline about Frank Sinatra's movie career.

Soft Cell
Marc Almond and Dave Ball formed Soft Cell. Ball who was largely unknown to most people (especially compared to Marc Almond) later resurfaced in the techno ground The Grid.

Yello
One of Yello's members was Dieter Meier was a millionaire industrialist, professional gambler and member of Switzerland's national golf team. He also directed the 1990's movie 'Snowball'.

Spandau Ballet
After Spandau Ballet split up in 1990, one of the founding members, Gary Kemp, went on to start an acting career. He has since appeared in The Bodyguard, The Larry Sanders Show and Embrace of the Vampire.

Duran Duran
The club where Duran Duran started to play gigs was called Barbarella. This club was named after the same film where Duran Duran sourced their name (see here for more details)

Click here to see 80's music trivia part 1

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