Thompson
Twins
 There were neither any Thompsons nor any twins in the band, but
this former seven-piece anarchist collective made it big as a trio
in the mid-80's, remembered at least as much for their hair as for
their music:
Leader Tom Bailey had a red mop that was massive on top and
short at the sides, with a long rat tail at the back.
Alannah
Currie, a slightly-built New Zealander who relocated to South
London, had frizzed-out hair that suggested a tonsorial
electrocution, while Joe Leeway's dreadlocks belied the fact that,
despite his Nigerian heritage, he grew up a Manchester Mod.
As recently as 1980, the Thompson Twins were all living in
extreme poverty on the same street in South London, and it was
amongst the squats that the aforementioned seven-piece band
emerged.
In one of the final sessions for their second album, Set,
three of the seven twins (Alannah, Tom and Joe) went in the studio
to hash out a track to fill out the second side of the LP.
What
they came up with in about 20 minutes was In The Name Of Love,
a bouncy, dance-oriented synth-pop number that became a big club
and radio hit. Soon they were out on their own as a threesome.
The Thompson Twins specialised in accessible early-MTV-style
synth/dance pop and they were huge from 1983 to 1985 -
reaching their peak with the single Lay Your Hands On Me and
the album Here's To Future Days - before
suddenly vanishing as quickly as they had arrived.
Among their hits were Hold Me Now (US #3), Lay
Your Hands On Me (US #6), King For A Day (US
#8), Doctor! Doctor! (US #11) and Lies (US #30).
Bailey
and Currie renamed the band Babble in 1993.
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