“Nostalgia” is always a big buzzword, looking in the rearview when things were supposedly simpler – like right now with the ‘90s. It could manifest as a movie evocative of the decade or one that’s straight-up banking on the legacy of a franchise. Maybe it’s a Britpop band singlehandedly thrusting the genre back into the spotlight. Sometimes, albeit rarely, it’s an act who’ve decided to release an entire album of covers from the year they themselves peaked in popularity.
Then there’s the ‘80s, which have somehow stopped being nostalgic, instead turning into an era that is always in fashion. Dress up a party as a themed event that doubles as an excuse to get decked out in all things neon or stonewashed jeans, but the irony of busting a move to Young MC suddenly doesn’t seem like such a laugh when everyone is legit into it.
Take, for instance, Lost 80’s Live, which has been going on for well over 20 years and bills itself as North America’s longest-running retro music tour. Headlined by A Flock of Seagulls, the 2025 edition cabbage patches into The Wang this Friday (August 1), with support from a laundry list of new wave one and two-hit wonders like The Vapors (“Turning Japanese”), Big Country (“In a Big Country”), General Public (“Tenderness”), and many more. And if you’re going to throw an ‘80s party, there’s no better host than UK export Richard Blade, who came up introducing the masses to all those artists in the first place as a DJ at the iconic Los Angeles radio station KROQ beginning in 1982 and continues as a torchbearer on SiriusXM’s 1st Wave station six days a week.
The legendary Blade, who saw an expanded edition of his most excellent, bestselling 2017 memoir World in My Eyes land on shelves last November, will be MCing and DJing Lost 80’s Live on Friday. Ahead of the night, he sat down with Vanyaland for a 617 Q&A (Six Questions; One Recommendation; Seven Somethings) to discuss the continuing appeal of the decade, ‘80s artists that should’ve been bigger, and which songs he’d play for someone who’s never heard Depeche Mode.
:: SIX QUESTIONS
Michael Christopher: What is it about ‘80s music that keeps finding new fans generation after generation?
Richard Blade: I think it’s because ‘80s music was fun. At the time when I started playing it, I didn’t know if it would have the longevity, the legs. In fact, I asked Howard Jones if he thought at the time he was making just disposable pop music, and he went, “Wow, no one’s ever asked me that,” because that’s what I thought it was. And then when the ‘90s rolled around and I started hearing the music change, I realized how good the ‘80s music was. And I think when you compare it with today’s music, there’s a few great artists out there; like Ed Sheeran is fantastic. Harry Styles is proving to be great. Taylor Swift, of course, singer/songwriter, even though she’s incredibly commercially successful; if you look at her songs, they’re great.
But so much of today’s music, and I hate to sound like my parents, is not that great. It’s all Auto-Tuned and sampled, and it’s almost fallen into the Hollywood cliché of just remaking and doing a sequel. And that’s what today’s music feels like. It doesn’t feel innovative and new, whereas ‘80s music was new, and when I would be doing private parties, quite often I’d see a group of 14-year-olds walk up to me and make requests. And I’m like, “Okay, here it comes, DJ Khaled, and Nelly and… And they would say, “Yeah, could we play DJ Khaled, but could you also play A-ha ‘Take on Me’ and Duran Duran ‘Rio’? And I’m like, “Wow!” And when I would play these songs, the kids knew every word. And so, it was like there was something special about the ‘80s music. It transcends generations. It speaks to people who just enjoy a good song.
You’re responsible for exposing so many people to these acts in the first place. And I’m wondering if, when you do tours like this and you’re presenting the bands live, do you see it as being sort of an extension of what you did originally? First, you presented them sonically via the radio to people, and now there’s the visual element.
Yes, I do actually feel that way – now you ask. I’ve never really thought about it that way, but you are absolutely right. In a way, it is, and for a lot of the audience, they will know the songs, but they’ve never had the chance to see the artists before. For example, Peter Godwin hasn’t toured in America for 35 years. Belouis Some has only just come over this year for the first time since, I think, Frankie Goes to Hollywood when he opened for Frankie back in late 1984. And Icicle Works the same thing. So, I think for the people it is that visual element and they’re waiting for the song, but to have the actual performer themselves rather than a tribute band or an ‘80s cover band do it is going to be something very special.
Do the ‘80s remain sort of a static decade for you? Like, do you get just as excited about, say, a new Flock of Seagulls release as you did back in the day? Or is it more along the lines of, “I have to play this new single by them, but I know that people are going to be asking for this or that instead.”
Well, it all depends how good the song is. Limahl, from Kajagoogoo, just did a cover of America’s “A Horse with No Name” and it is fantastic. I do a feature once a week called “New Sensation” where I play a brand-new song from a 1st wave artist, and I back it up with their classics. So obviously I started with “Too Shy” and then I went into “Horse with No Name,” but I said, “This is one of the best new sensations I’ve played in 15 years.” He’s taken a song that everyone knows, and he’s put a twist on it without losing the actual song itself. And it got me really, really excited. But I do get excited if it’s good. Berlin have released a couple of albums I’ve really enjoyed. In 2015, New Order put out Music Complete, which was their last original album. And that was brilliant. The Pet Shop Boys consistently put out great albums. So, when it’s good, I’m pumped for it.
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By the same token, do you get tired of certain songs? I mean, not asking you to name names, but how many times can you play “Too Shy” or “Personal Jesus?” Are you ever like, “Alright, I really want to go a little bit deeper with this band.”
There are a couple of songs, but they’re more novelty songs that I get tired of. I’m like, “[Sighs], Okay, we’ll put this one on.” But there are very few Depeche Mode songs that I would be tired of, or Echo & the Bunnymen. And I do like “Too Shy,” because I know the audience loves it as well. So, most of the songs I honestly don’t get tired of. When I’m playing “Rio” from Duran Duran, which I’ve played 11,442 times… 43 times. When there’s that pause, I’ll still do that “One, two, three, four: her name is Rio,” and if I have a chance in between the bands, I’ll probably drop that in on Lost ‘80s Live and watch the whole audience sing it. And when you feel that vibe that they’re as happy as you are about that particular song, then I think it keeps the music alive.
What’s the one new wave artist you thought should have made it to superstardom, but for whatever reason, it didn’t happen?
I don’t know about superstardom, but I think Go West should have been bigger. But the problem was their PR company pushed them as the next Wham! rather than the first Go West. It was like in the ‘60s, everyone was “the next Beatles.” No, you can’t be the next Beatles. There’s the Beatles. That’s it. You could be the next whatever. I think Go West should have been bigger.
[Then] there was an artist who only had one single, and his name was Cee Farrow, and he was a tall German model, and he was signed to a record label that went bankrupt, and then he died of AIDS, sadly. And the record label didn’t pay the mother the royalties from him. And so, she sued, got the rights to the song back, and withdrew it. So, it’s almost impossible to get, and I play it about every three months as my “Friday Forget Me Not,” but it’s a great track called “Should I Love You.” He should have been much bigger. He had the looks, he had the voice, and it looked like he had the songwriting chops as well. But unfortunately, AIDS took him way too quickly.
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What do you think was a bigger moment for U2: the US Festival or Live Aid?
Oh, Live Aid, without a doubt. When Bono got off the stage to help that girl who fainted, and they just continued playing “Bad,” and they were only going to play about a six-and-a-half-minute version, but ended up [doing] 13 minutes. And it actually pushed Live Aid’s schedule a little. Adam Ant could only do one song then because of that. But Live Aid really broke U2, because when they did Band Aid in November of 1984, a lot of the groups that were there were like, “Who’s this bunch of Irish yobs?” They didn’t really know who U2 were. U2 were still up and coming, and they were only on the bill for Band Aid, the recording, because Bob Geldof is also from Ireland, and he wanted them there.
But my favorite memory of U2 at the US Festival was when Bono started climbing the speaker stacks holding the flag, and a security guard came and grabbed his leg and started pulling him down. “What are you doing? Come on down, get down off those speakers!” They were nothing. U2, in the order they were playing, were opening for Missing Persons. That puts it in perspective. But even then, Bono was determined to make a statement every time he performed. The next time he climbed the scaffolding on the speaker stack, the security were like, “Okay.”
Who are some of the artists that people might be surprised that you listen to, that maybe you don’t get to play?
I love Brazilian jazz. My all-time favorite song, up there with “Enjoy the Silence,” “West End Girls,” “She’s Leaving Home” from the Beatles, is “Mas Que Nada” from Sergio Mendes and Brasil ’66 – not the Black Eyed Peas bastardized version – the original two-and-a-half-minute version. My wife and I will – when she’s cooking, she’ll listen to her Harry Styles channel, or when she knows I’m coming in, she’ll put on a Brazilian jazz (channel) and when “Mas Que Nada” from Sergio Mendes comes on, we both stop whatever we’re doing, and we dance for two-and-a-half-minutes together. It’s just beautiful.
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:: ONE RECOMMENDATION
A four-part series that blew my socks off, and I’m so pleased it got, I think, 11 Emmy nominations, is Adolescence on Netflix. The most genre-breaking show I have ever seen because it’s four episodes and each one is shot in one take, so the camera starts rolling and that’s it for an hour. There’s no edits in it. And I hadn’t read anything about it apart from, “It’s good.” After I finished watching it, I did a deep dive into it, and they did three weeks of rehearsal for each episode. So, if you like that scene in Goodfellas with Martin Scorsese where they walk through the kitchens and then out into the showroom without an edit, that’s what it’s like for an entire hour. There’s very little editing needed, but just the same, the way that show is written and structured makes me just go, “Oh my God, that is fantastic.”
:: SEVEN OF SOMETHING
Your memoir is titled World in My Eyes, after a Depeche Mode track. If there were someone who had never heard them before, what would be the seven songs that you would play to introduce that person to Depeche Mode?
I would say to them, first and foremost, this is not in chronological order because towards the end, I’m going to go back to the beginning and give you a song.
“Leave in Silence” – A fantastic song with lyrics that just will break your heart when you hear them. When a love affair is compared to cancer… I don’t think anyone’s ever done that before. “I would stop this thing from spreading like a cancer.” Oh my God. And this is when Martin Gore is just finding his feet as a songwriter. Fabulous.
“See You” – We’ve all gone through breakups. We’ve all gone through heartbreak. I’ve been very fortunate – I haven’t had too many, but I have had devastating ones. And I’ve been the person who’s been on the wrong side and realized that later. And I’ve been the person who’s been the victim when it wasn’t my fault, it seems, but perhaps it was something I did, and that’s why she broke up with me, whoever that “she” was, because there’s been several of them. And that song that always has been my go-to and helped me through the tears has been “See You.” All I want to do is see you again. I won’t touch you. “I just want to see you.” A fantastic early Depeche Mode [song].
“Blasphemous Rumours” – We’re going to go into a darker phase. And again, this is a band that is reinventing itself with just incredible music. And at the time “Blasphemous Rumours” came out, and this has nothing to do with Depeche Mode, I just want to throw it out there, it was the same time that people were suddenly realizing how great Depeche Mode were also realizing how great a band called The Smiths were. And so much of a song like “Blasphemous Rumours” will cover and link with songs like “How Soon Is Now?” “I need to be loved, just like everybody else does.” It’s funny how those songs kind of go together
“Never Let Me Down Again” – A seminal track for the band and a seminal track for Depeche Mode fans. Because when Dave [Gahan] did that at the Rose Bowl concert, he did something he’d never done before, because he looked out at this crowd and he stood at the front of the stage and as the chorus came in and the instrumental part of the chorus where he doesn’t sing, he just lifted his hands up. And as he did, 70,000 people lifted their hands up, and then he went [moves his arms side to side] and they did the same thing. And ever since that day in June of 1988, he has done that, and the crowd has waited for that moment.
“Enjoy the Silence” – Song number five has to go to Violator, which to me is one of the few perfect albums. And again, if you’re saying, “Well, what else is a perfect album?” along with Sgt. Pepper’s [and] Disintegration from The Cure. But Violator, a perfect album and, I hate to name drop, but a really dear, dear, great human being by the name of [Pet Shop Boys’] Neil Tennant, who is a fantastic friend of mine, when L.A. was suffering through the fires, bing, I get this email. He goes, “It’s Neil, tell me that you are okay.” He said, “We are watching an apocalypse here in England about what’s happening. I just need to know you are all right.” And I was almost in tears when I read that because for someone with that reach and that success, just to think of me was mind-blowing. I got my wife, and I said, “Look at this!” And I wrote back, and I said, “Whether I’m okay or not, this has made me fantastic. Fortunately, we are fine, and thank you.” But the reason I mentioned Neil Tennant is he said to me one day, he goes, “Richard, I got to tell you there’s a song I wish I’d written. And to me it is the perfect pop song.” And he didn’t mean that as a put-down. He meant that as in popular as in crossover. And I said, “What?” And he said, “It’s called ‘Enjoy the Silence.’” So that has to be there.
“World in My Eyes” – When I was writing my autobiography or memoir, because the first part’s an autobiography and then it turns to memoir, I was trying to come up with a title. And then I realized “World in My Eyes” was exactly that. “I’ll take you to the highest mountain / To the depths of the deepest sea… And you won’t have to move / You just sit still.” And I thought, “God, this is just right for what I need.” And I texted Martin and I said, “Can I use the song title? If you are planning to [use] it for something else, tell me.” And he said, “Absolutely. I just want one thing from you. I want an advance of the book because I would like to write something about it for you.” And I was like, “Oh, thank you. Thank you, thank you.” So, “World in My Eyes.”
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“Just Can’t Get Enough” – Now I would like to take you all the way back to the beginning of Depeche Mode. I would like to go back to Speak and Spell. I would like to go back to when it was the original four and the band was starting to fly under the direction of Vince Clarke. And I would like to play you the song that has saved my ass so many times, at so many gigs when I’ve started to lose the dance floor, and I’ve gone, “Here we go…” reach into my back pocket and get that song I’ve deliberately been saving or holding back for this particular moment. And it is to me the greatest dance song that came out in the 1980s, and that would be “Just Can’t Get Enough.” And again, as much as Depeche Mode always want to try and move on, and they’ve demonstrated that, I mean, Memento Mori – fantastic. But “Just Can’t Get Enough,” they have to play.
LOST 80’s LIVE :: Friday, August 1 at The Wang Theatre, 270 Tremont St. in Boston, MA :: 7 p.m., all ages, $59 to $178 :: Event info :: Advance tickets
