Tears For Fears - Music For Tables (1990)

Tears For Fears were formed in 1981 in the city of Bath, by Roland Orzabal and Curt Smith, after the dissolution of their first mod-influenced band Graduate. Orzabal and Smith had met as teenagers in Bath, and after forming Graduate they released the single 'Elvis Should Play Ska', followed by their 'Acting My Age' album in 1980, but the band was short-lived and split the following year, with the duo becoming session musicians for the band Neon, where they first met future Tears For Fears drummer Manny Elias. Orzabal and Smith continued working together, drawing inspiration from artists such as Talking Heads, Peter Gabriel, and Brian Eno, with Orzabal developing a fondness of synthesizers after admiring the drummer-free approach of Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark, and the success of Depeche Mode. They first called their band History Of Headaches, which was soon changed to Tears For Fears, being inspired by Dr Arthur Janov's primal therapy. The original idea was that Orzabal and Smith would be the nucleus of the group, bringing in additional musicians to help them complete their music, and around this time they met local musician Ian Stanley, who offered them free use of his home 8-track studio. Stanley began working with the duo as their keyboard-player, and after recording two demos the band were signed to Phonogram Records in the UK, releasing their first single 'Suffer The Children' in November 1981. This was followed the next year by 'Pale Shelter', with neither release proving successful, but their third release changed all that, with 'Mad World' reaching number 3 in the UK charts in 1982. Their debut album came out the next year, and featured both guitar- and synthesizer-based songs, with lyrics reflecting Orzabal's bitter childhood and his interest in primal therapy. The album was a big success and hung around the UK charts for over a year, where it reached No. 1 and platinum status. 

Further hit singles followed, including a re-recorded version of 'Pale Shelter', all of which reached the top 5 of the UK charts. Towards the end of 1983 the band released a new, slightly more experimental single, 'The Way You Are', which was intended as a stopgap while they worked on their second album, but although it was a top-30 hit in the UK, it didn't come close to matching the success of their three previous hits. The music was a departure from their usual style, and featuring sampling and programmed rhythms, so the band decided a change of direction was needed, and they dropped the experimental style of the single, although they continued to explore this direction on the b-sides of their singles. 

In early 1984 they began working with producer Jeremy Green on their new single 'Mothers Talk', but the band were unhappy with the results and so producer Chris Hughes was brought back into the fold and the 'Mothers Talk' single was re-produced for release in August 1984. It was a departure from their earlier works, and fared better that the last single, reaching the UK top 20, but it was their next release which was the beginning of the band's rise to international stardom, with 'Shout' hitting the top 5 of the UK charts, and paving the way for their second album 'Songs From The Big Chair', which was released in February 1985. By now the synth-pop had been abandoned in favour of a more sophisticated sound that would become the band's stylistic hallmark, anchored around the creative hub of Orzabal, Stanley and producer Hughes, and the it became one of the year's biggest sellers worldwide. Following the album's release, the band went on a world tour that lasted most of the year, during which they were scheduled to appear at JFK Stadium in Philadelphia on 13 July for for the Live Aid charity event. However, on the morning of the historic event it was announced that the band had pulled out of the show, with the official reason given for their non-appearance being that two of their backing musicians, guitarist Andrew Saunders and saxophonist Will Gregory, had quit due to the expiration of their contract. They were replaced by Alan Griffiths on guitar and Josephine Wells on saxophone for the remaining bulk of the 1985 world tour, and the band pledged to donate proceeds from their concerts played in Tokyo, Sydney, London and New York to make up for their non-appearance at the concert. 

It was 1989 before the group released their third album 'The Seeds Of Love', being largely written by Orzabal in collaboration with keyboardist Nicky Holland, who had toured with the band on their 'Big Chair' world tour in 1985. The album retained the band's epic sound while showing increasing influences ranging from jazz and blues to the Beatles, the latter being particularly evident on the hit single 'Sowing The Seeds Of Love', and the album was another worldwide success, entering the UK Albums Chart at no. 1, and eventually going on to sell millions of copies internationally. After 'The Seeds Of Love', Orzabal and Smith had an acrimonious falling out and parted company in 1991. The split was blamed on Orzabal's intricate but frustrating approach to production and Smith's desire to slow down the pace of their work, and it wasn't helped by their manager Paul King declaring bankruptcy in 1990, and later being convicted of fraud and imprisoned. Following Smith's departure, Orzabal kept the band name alive by releasing the 1992 hit single 'Laid So Low (Tears Roll Down)', which was a taster for the band's greatest hits collection 'Tears Roll Down (Greatest Hits 82–92)'. Smith relocated to New York City, and in 1993 he released his first solo album 'Soul On Board', but it wasn't a commercial success, while Orzabel has carried on under the Tears For Fears name, issuing two more albums since 1993, before re-uniting with Smith in 2000 for one final record 'Everybody Loves A Happy Ending' in 2004. The band continued to tour for the following 15 years, and a new album is finally on the cards for 2021. I mentioned earlier that the band's more experimental work was saved for their b-sides, and this was evident right from the start, with the stripped-back 'Wino' appearing on the flip of their first single, and so a selection of weird and wonderful music continued to show up over the next decade, all of which you can now hear in one place.

Track listing
     
01 Wino (b-side of 'Suffer The Children' 1981)
02 The Conflict (b-side of 'Change' 1983)
03 We Are Broken (b-side of 'Pale Shelter' 1983)
04 The Way You Are (single 1983) 
05 The Maruaders (b-side of 'The Way You Are')
06 Empire Building (b-side of 'Mothers Talk 1984)
07 The Big Chair (b-side of 'Shout' 1984)
08 Pharaohs (b-side of 'Everybody Wants To Rule The World' 1985)
09 When In Love With A Blind Man (b-side of 'Head Over Heels' 1985)
10 Sea Song (s-side of 'I Believe (A Soulful Re-Recording)' 1985)
11 Always In The Past (b-side of 'Woman In Chains' 1989)
12 My Life In The Suicide Ranks (b-side of 'Woman In Chains' 1989)
13 Johnny Panic And The Bible Of Dreams (b-side of 'Advice For The Young At Heart' 1990)
14 Music For Tables (b-side of 'Advice For The Young At Heart' 1990)