Print

Email story

Comment

Letter to the editor

Time after time, it's the '80s

By GINA VIVINETTO
Published November 23, 2004

Many of today's hottest new groups - Franz Ferdinand, the Rapture, the Killers (which played in Tampa over the weekend) - are invoking the new wave sound of the early 1980s.

Those bands, inspired by the Cure, Joy Division and Gang of Four, have an arty, danceable sound steeped in kicky, off-kilter drumbeats, synths and moody vocals.

What year is this anyway?

You might ask yourself the same question at Wednesday's Anarchy in the F.L.A. benefit at the Bank, a new nightclub and live music venue in St. Petersburg. The show features 20 of the Tampa Bay area's hottest bands performing punk and new wave from the late '70s and early '80s, including the Sex Pistols, the Clash, Talking Heads and Joe Jackson. Even Echo and the Bunnymen.

Between sets, audience members get a chance to do punk rock karaoke.

Why did Flee, WMNF-FM 88.5 DJ and emcee of the event, choose this music? "From doing my show on WMNF, whenever I would play music from the late 1970s and early 1980s, the response was just overwhelming," Flee says. "People would call in and be so happy and make requests. It was just great feedback. People love this music."

People do love this music. Last week I was a guest on Flee's show, and we played cuts from the recently released Left of the Dial: Dispatches from the '80s Underground, a four-disc collection (Rhino, $64.98). It's a whopper of a set, with songs by American college radio favorites including the Replacements, Husker Du and R.E.M, as well as British fare from Elvis Costello, the Cocteau Twins and Julian Cope. It also boasts the Sugarcubes, Bauhaus, X, even Mission of Burma.

Any 1980s enthusiast would go gaga over the box.

But enthusiasts of music of any era and genre can enjoy Wednesday's show. The wonderful thing about tribute shows like Anarchy in the F.L.A. is experiencing unique interpretations of songs we know (and some we don't). For instance, Doc Lovett of the raucous Blues Punks is taking a shot at Costello's Watching the Detectives. What the heck is that going to sound like? I bet Costello, who relishes interpreting others' tunes, would dig it. The members of teen band Squirrels Gone Wild weren't even born in the 1980s, yet are tackling the Dead Kennedy's California Uber Alles and the Pistols' Holiday in the Sun. How will the surf rock sound of the Vodkanauts come across covering the Cars' My Best Friend's Girl?

(Incidentally, that band's lead singer, Steve Alex, will do double duty, singing again and playing guitar with Four Star Riot; you'll hear him coo Blondie's One Way Or Another!).

Flee, who's encouraging bands and audience members to break out their '80s finery, has his outfit prepared. "It involves a lot of safety pins and punky stuff," Flee says. "I would love to see everyone dress up."

Anarchy in the F.L.A.'s lineup also features Too Many Subplots, Bob Anthony, the Downshifters, Parsons Brown, Car Bomb Driver, John McNicholas, Can't Do It, Auditorium, Jeremy Gloff (featuring Jen Shamro), Sheila Kirsten Hughes, Uncle John's Band, Sparky's Nightmare, Sandy Atkinson, Lorna Bracewell and the Mercy Seat.

Apparently a lot of us take a guilty pleasure in watching I Love the '80s and loading up our iPods with enough '80s tunes to launch a flock of seagulls.

Some of us even leave the house to indulge our '80s habit.

Folks at the Castle, one of Ybor City's most successful nightclubs, have been celebrating all things '80s on Monday nights for six years.

"It's one of our most popular nights," says manager Cynthia Williams. Williams estimates that upward of 500 people pay $3 every Monday night to dance to the music spun by DJ Rob Pittman, classic new wave and dance music from the 1980s, and some obscure gems. Of course, because the '80s were the dawn of the video age, those images are shown on the four large screens over the Castle's dance floor.

The patrons range from college students to older professionals nostalgic for the good old days. What you won't find on Mondays, Williams says, is the typical Ybor club kid. Monday patrons don't go to Ybor nightspots on the weekends. These people are at the Castle on Monday nights because they love the 1980s music. "After all, this is a work night for most people," Williams says. "They are really making an effort to go out."

Williams says she sees people of all ages and backgrounds letting it all hang out.

"Honey, we don't miss a beat!" she says. "It's my favorite night. The mix of people is just terrific. You can't not have fun."

The Castle is at 2004 N 16th Ave., Ybor City, Tampa. (813) 247-7547.

On the other side of the bay, the Bank hopes to get in on the '80s audience, too, but its Saturday "London Calling" theme night allows a day of rest before welcoming the work week.

Owners Bill Hillman and his wife, Anja Todorovic, are big fans of music from the era, with a twist.

"The music that we particularly liked from the 1980s was all coming from England," Hillman says. "So, our 1980s night features music that's all British, everything from Elvis Costello to Depeche Mode to the Cure and some ska."

Hillman, 44, and Todorovic, 35, will also play more rocking British fare such as the Who and the Rolling Stones, and even dip into some 1990s music. Hillman managed a Planet Hollywood in Moscow, where he met Todorovic in 1993, and was the director of operations at the House of Blues in New Orleans. Together, the two ran a club in Paris and hope to see the Bank entice a hip crowd with its state-of-the art sound system and stylish decor. Local artist and architect Frank Strunk III has been contributing interior design work and will install some of his sculpture.

"Right now, it's been mostly friends coming by," Hillman says, "like the biggest living room in town."

That will likely change after the crowd expected for Anarchy in the F.L.A. Hillman says he intends to have local and national bands perform frequently.

"We're trying out this '80s night, and later, when we really get going, we'll add more concept nights," he says.

Check out www.atthebank.com for more info.

Gina Vivinetto can be reached at 727 893-8565 or gina@sptimes.com

Anarchy in the F.L.A. kicks off at 8 p.m. at the Bank, 1950 First Ave. N, St. Petersburg, 727 397-7217. The Southwest Music Lovers Group event raises money to send local bands to the South by Southwest music conference and showcase in Austin, Texas. For more information, see www.bandsgonewild.org Tickets are $7 advance, $12 at the door, $10 with a nonperishable food item donation. Ages 21 and up.

[Last modified November 22, 2004, 12:05:11]