“It’s lovely to be here celebrating beautiful memories”… Boy George in one of his asides during his headlining performance at the inaugural “iHeart80s Birthday Bash” live concert event at SAP Center in San Jose. The special show on Saturday night featured Boy George, Tiffany, The Romantics, A Flock Of Seagulls, Farrington & Mann of the Original When In Rome UK, Tommy Tutone, Animotion and Nu Shooz, with former original MTV VJ Martha Quinn hosting along with radio personalities Christie James and Morris Knight. It was really a stellar show with end to end 80s-era hits and hitmakers putting on non-stop entertainment for four hours.
What: iHeart80s Birthday Bash
Who: Boy George
Who: Tiffany
Who: The Romantics
Who: A Flock of Seagulls
Who: Animotion
Who: Tommy Tutone
Who: Farrington And Mann: Original Members of When In Rome UK
Who: Nu Shooz
Host: Martha Quinn
Venue: SAP Center
Where: San Jose, California
Promoter: Pacific Concert Group & iHeartMedia
When: August 26, 2017
Seating: (photo pass)
iHeartMedia San Francisco’s iHeart80s @ 103.7 is hosted their first massive 80s music event at SAP Center in San Jose.
iHeart80s launched in June 2016 as “the first-ever iHeartRadio-branded FM broadcast station and features music from the most beloved icons of the decade. The ‘80s dedicated station is a broadcast extension of the popular iHeart80s station on iHeartRadio, the all-in-one streaming music, podcasting and live digital radio service”.
With so many artists performing in one event, the first five sets ran about 20 minutes each, with The Romantics and Tiffany going for about 30 minutes each and then Boy George going maybe a bit longer before hitting the hard curfew of 11:45.
The whole presentation put on by Pacific Concert Group was pretty flawless throughout, with quick changes to the stage set up to accommodate each artist. SAP Center is huge, and the place was just packed with fans of 80s music, a real testament to the love for the artists and their music and the excellent promotion by iHeart80s radio.
It was very cool to see host Martha Quinn introducing a lot of the artists, as I grew up on MTV. I remember my first exposure to MTV in the very beginning via family trips to Lake Tahoe – we would stay in these little hotels and they would boast HBO and MTV. Me and my sister would sit in front of the TV for hours watching all those videos and the original MTV VJs. Then eventually getting cable television for our home it was like being in heaven, tuning into MTV every day and watching all those now classic videos debut for the first time.
DJ Scotty Fox did an awesome job bridging all the sets with favorite tunes from the 80s in a massive megamix.
Note: I wasn’t the photographer on the stage – I was discreetly taking photos from the pit below the front of the stage.
Below are some photos of the venue and hosts for the evening (scroll downward and photos will begin to appear – click any image to open a virtual lightroom with higher resolution versions of each photo):
Nu Shooz
Formed in 1979 with a dozen members, the Portland, Oregon group did not find mainstream recognition until they released “I Can’t Wait” as a single in 1986, off their third studio album, Poolside, which went gold in the U.S. selling half a million copies.
The story of their success with that single is one of those interesting stories that you couldn’t make up, actually coming off their second album and getting some play on local radio, but it wasn’t until someone in the Netherlands got a hold of it and remixed it that they got a major label willing to sign them.
Nu Shooz, fronted by husband and wife founders John Smith and Valerie Day, were nominated for Best New Artist for the 1987 Grammy Awards.
I’d seen them a few times now in the past few years and love watching them perform – they are so fun and always sound amazing. And as you’ll see from John’s footware in the photos that follow, they are true to the Pacific Northwest culture!
Valerie Day does her thing on vocals while John Smith plays those catchy guitar riffs along with backing vocals.
They did an awesome job getting the audience pumped for an evening of 80s music.
Their latest album is Bagtown and you can get all the details about that on their official site: LINK
They are so much fun and I love their music style and they just seem so down to Earth.
Below are some photos of Nu Shooz performing on stage (scroll downward and photos will begin to appear – click any image to open a virtual lightroom with higher resolution versions of each photo):
Farrington And Mann: Original Members of When In Rome UK
As mentioned in the past, I’ve been a big supporter and friend to Clive Farrington of When In Rome over the years, and this marked the second time I’ve gotten to see him perform with Andrew Mann on vocals was well.
With this version of the band, Clive and Andrew brought along Francisco Pancho Burgos Goizueta on keyboards, which I didn’t realize until I bumped into them backstage in the afternoon. Francisco is such a talent – I met him a few years ago rehearing with Clive and came away very impressed. Plus he’s such a kind guy.
The band When in Rome originally formed in 1987, and had broken up by 1990. In that time, they had released just the one eponymous album, which included the huge pop hit, “The Promise”, which has proven to be one of the most enduring and decade-defining songs of the 80s.
I’ve seen Clive perform many times, but he always seems to change things up each show, and it’s really cool to see him and Andrew perform together and share the vocals.
By the time they worked up to “The Promise”, the crowd went wild for their set. They were really on point and sounded amazing!
Below are some photos of Farrington And Man performing on stage (scroll downward and photos will begin to appear – click any image to open a virtual lightroom with higher resolution versions of each photo):
Tommy Tutone
Tommy Tutone is fronted by Tommy Heath, best known for the huge 80s hit, “867-5309/Jenny”.
The band was originally formed as Tommy and the Tu-tones in 1978 with Heath (lead vocals and rhythm guitar) and Jim Keller (lead guitar and backing vocals), but it evolved to Tommy Tutone.
When I saw Tommy perform last year, he did a solo acoustic set, but this year had had a band and it was a very different performance but very cool to get the full effect.
Below are some photos of Tommy Tutone performing on stage (scroll downward and photos will begin to appear – click any image to open a virtual lightroom with higher resolution versions of each photo):
Animotion
Today, founding members and lead vocalist Astrid Plane and lead vocalist and guitarist Bill Wadhams represents the band, which was originally formed in 1983. They released their debut album in 1985, which featured the biggest hit and most well-known song, “Obsession”.
Bill’s son Chris now plays bass guitar for the band, going on several years now. Some of the other members from the past still perform with them, like Don Kirkpatrick and Greg Smith.
As in the past, I thoroughly enjoyed their set and especially their live performance for “Obsession”, one of my all-time favorite songs.
You can check out all new music from them on their official website at www.animotion-obsession.com.
They put on an awesome set and really capture the spirit of what they started so long ago.
Below are some photos of Animotion performing on stage (scroll downward and photos will begin to appear – click any image to open a virtual lightroom with higher resolution versions of each photo):
A Flock of Seagulls
The New Wave band was formed in Liverpool, England in 1979 by brother Mike Score (vocals, keyboards, guitar) and Ali Score (drums). After filling out the band, they found their greatest success with two singles off of their eponymous album released in 1982 with the aforementioned “I Ran” and “Space Age Love Song”.
The video had tremendous rotation on MTV, and the unique style and irreverent presentation, along with the distinct style (and now infamous “Flock of Seagulls” hairstyle) launched them into the pop culture lexicon on many fronts. The band, the sound, and the images were synonymous with the 80s.
The band was really cutting edge from the start, and maybe more than people appreciated until many years later, and obviously was a huge influence on many bands that followed. In a short time, they had a huge impact on the music scene and direction of music in the 80s.
Mike Score has been touring as “Flock of Seagulls” for years, with a very capable band of new members who do the music justice – they sound great.
Mike Score released his own debut album, Zeebratta, in 2014.
These guys always put on such a great set and I think a lot of my generation hold a special place in their heart for A Flock of Seagulls. Pure 80s.
Below are some photos of A Flock of Seagulls performing on stage (scroll downward and photos will begin to appear – click any image to open a virtual lightroom with higher resolution versions of each photo):