Archive for June 23rd, 2010
Avarice and ambition — Brit edition!
One of Tom’s best posts. He’s illuminating on the phenomenon of Bros, the English boy band that mesmerized their country for a couple of years in the late eighties. I’ve no idea what if any stateside MTV exposure these blond schemers got; we had the Boston fivesome to worry about a few months later. But compared to these chalk-voiced hustlers the New Kids were the Stones. Tom reminds me of what is of course an obvious point about Bros’ product (it’s barely music; it’s more like the sound of three dozen cash registers captured on a Synclavier) — they made no secret about wanting your money and showing their contempt for the suckers who surrendered it. In this, I suppose, they were more honest than other teen-pop idols before or since. Amusing sidenote: Pet Shop Boys manager Tom Watkins played their svengali, which might explain Tennant and Lowe’s fascination with Bros in the hilarious Pet Shop Boys, Literally, Chris Heath’s account of their 1989 world tour.
Here’s a clip of their only worthwhile song, and the one that made the faintest of blips on the US charts:
