Episode 39: Thompson Twins - Into The Gap (1984) Part 1

 

This artist selection for this episode was inspired partially by the previous two episodes. In the discussion about The Cure, it was mentioned that Boris Williams had joined The Cure after leaving his position as a touring member of the Thompson Twins. Brian and Sarah decided it was a good time to talk about that previous band Boris Williams was in, and they chose the Thompson Twin's fourth album, 1984's "Into the Gap," to discuss here.

Part 1 - Album History

Brian reminds us that some of the early history of the band was covered during the mixtape episode, so the focus on the history shifts more to the making of the album and some of the adventures the band had during recording in the Bahamas. For a brief moment, Brian thinks he's doing a James Bond movie podcast, until Sarah brings him back to reality. They go on to discuss the chart success of the "Into the Gap," some mixed reviews from music critics, and the album art. Brian reveals that the cover of his cassette is inexplicably different from the traditional album cover. One other interesting tidbit the hosts discovered in their research was that yet another future member of The Cure was also a touring member of the Thompson Twins at this time!

Part 2 - Personal History

One of the hosts has a rather unimpressive personal history with this album, so it's probably best that she spoke first.  (Guess the pronoun gives away who it is!) Brian, on the other hand, has impressively vivid memories of purchasing the cassette back in 1984, and he explains how the Thompson Twins, and this album in particular, became one of the cornerstones of his musical library and heavily influenced his listening preferences to this day.

Part 3 - Track by Track

Finally, the discussion of the album begins. But by the time Brian and Sarah get done talking (or rather, gushing) about the music, vocals, and video for the first track on side one, more than an hour has passed! This fact, plus the fact that they are both feeling somewhat under the weather, reluctantly leads our hosts to the decision to end the episode after discussing "Doctor! Doctor!" It definitely wasn't planned or preferred, but given the circumstances, it was probably the wise choice.

See the video we discuss here:

Doctor! Doctor!

 

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