pro-theatricality in pop (Act present Showtime)

 

Me on Act and ZTT in New Statesman

The full epic version

"The song is taken from the Leer-Brücken musical 'Name Dropping (songs from beyond the me-decade)'"

"This is the age of entertaining"

Minelli-laced version

The Naked Civil mix hahaha 

(Quentin on being cold and splendid - crisp to the eye)

Champagne dreams, caviar wishes

And watch them grow from rags to riches

Money to burn, money to give away

Lifestyles of the rich and famous

And look and them who can blame us

Lessons in the subject of decay

Come tomorrow, the dream might blow away

Guilt and sorrow, the price you have to pay

Snobbery and decay

Snobbery and decay

You’ve got yours, I’ve got mine

Obsession, just like Calvin Klein

Fantasy, ecstasy, designer dream, obscenity

Snobbery and decay

Snobbery and decay

Nothing to do, nothing to pay

Nothing but snobbery and decay

Land of the free

How can you tell?

The bigger they come the harder they sell

Here’s to you

Here’s to me

A future aristocracy

Property, poverty

An unstable economy

And decay

And decay

Snobbery and decay

Snobbery and decay

I am the repertoire

Snobbery and decay

The CD single version - nice visual pun there

The album Laughter, Tears and Rage wasn't on a par with the single, sadly.

Funny...

Leer at his best - six years earlier

So many "Snobbery" mixes

A mix for Stephanie Beacham (as in Dynasty)

"Strong Poison", even

Now this is glamorous

Fassbinder-fanboy directing?

"Duel" / "Jewel" the only time Propaganda really swayed me

A beautiful melody, written to suit Claudia's voice, no strain, and the product is, well, cut-glass

"Duel / Jewel" run on as on the album A Secret Wish

Cut Rough / Rough Cut - is there a difference?

The other one was originally meant to be the singer but Trevor Horn insisted Claudia do it as the other one was not up to the job

Eye to eye, stand winners and losers

Hurt by envy, cut by greed

Face to face with their own disillusion

The scars of old romances still on their cheeks

And when blow by blow

The passion dies sweet little death

Just have been lies, some memories of gone by time

Would still recall the lies

The first cut won't hurt at all

The second only makes you wonder

The third will have you on your knees

You start bleeding I start screaming

It's too late the decision is made by fate

Time to prove what forever should last

Whose feelings are so true as to stand the test?

Whose demands are so strong as to parry all attempts?

And when blow by blow

The passion dies sweet little death

Just have been lies, some memories of gone by time

Would still recall the lies

The first cut won't hurt at all

The second only makes you wonder

The third will have you on your knees

You start bleeding I start screaming

S+M bondage Skin 2 fetish wear and all sortsa kink were kind of hip in the early 80s...  that sort of pomo postfeminist moment

The glassy yet brutal sound and crashy drums seems to anticipate Jam City Classical Curves and SOPHIE "Faceshopping"

Glitter shards to cut your face to ribbons 

Classical Curves was “a record about being repulsed and fascinated by the glossy surfaces of a certain 'high-end', hyper-capitalist consumer society” 

e.g. “Her” with its robo chant and sounds like a battery of camera flashes  "Work work work flash / Work work camera flash work / Work camera flash / Work work work flash". Poses being struck as blows struck to the eye...

Obliquely inspired by ballroom and vogueing I should imagine

Back to Propaganda...

Mr Brücken has a go at remixing

I should imagine it was Morley's idea to cover Josef K's "Sorry for Laughing", direct some money towards one of his favorite writers, Paul Haig

The Unapologetic Mix, haha

Everyone involved should apologize for that version 

A live version

Later career is the definition of Wiki Fizzle (trust me, don't look)

but...

I was oh so prepared for this to be terrible but it's actually rather good 

Claudia's got good taste - this is my favorite song by The Band and it's quite a sensitive treatment

The Band are about as anti-glam as it gets it, funnily enough.