Tears for Fears

Were a new wave synth band that formed in 1981 from the embers of a previous band called Graduate. The band essentially consisted of Roland Orzabel and Curt Smith. They became fascinated with the likes of Talking Heads, Brian Eno and Peter Gabriel and moved away from there Mod roots and looked more at the synth sound that was beginning to take over the music market.

They were signed by Phonogram records in 1981 and released two singles 'Suffer little children' and 'Pale shelter', neither did not dent the charts but the next release was to shoot them straight into the charts and become a overnight success.

They released the single originally to be a B side called 'Mad World'. The song was a huge success and reached number 3 in the UK charts in November 1982. On the back of this they released the much awaited debut album 'The Hurting' to huge critical acclaim.

The album was produced by Chris Hughes who was the ex drummer for Adam and the Ants. The album was described as a Concept album which followed the emotions of distress and Primal scream were mentioned in every song. The album enjoyed a 65 week stay in the UK album chart and enjoyed a number one accolade. The album also included the singles of a reworked 'pale shelter' and 'change'.

They went to work on a new album and a more musical shift which produced 'songs from the big chair' Originally producer Jeremy Green worked on 'Mothers Talk' single but the band unhappy bought back Chris Hughes which hit the top 20 and the Follow up 'Shout' was to go more global than 'Mad World' and peak at number 3 in the UK charts. T

The album 'Songs from the big chair' shifted away from the synth sound of previous work going for a more sophisticated guitar arrangement. The album peaked at number 2 in the UK charts and anchored in the charts for 12 months, it also went number one in the US billboard chart.

On the back of that success, the singles were also producing great achievements with 'everybody wants to rule the world' peaking at number 2 in the UK charts. The song was re-released a year later with a slight amendment to run the world to support Sport Relief campaign and the song again hit the top 5.

On the back of success the band went to America to tour and performed at the MTV video awards where the lads discovered a young lady singing in a Kansas City hotel bar by the name of Oleta Adams, who would in time work later with Tears for Fears. They returned home and won the 1986 BRIT award for best single 'Everybody wants to rule the world' but it would be another three years before the boys released any more material.

The new album was 'seeds of love' again the sound had shifted to a more jazz and bluesy feel with a hint of the Beatles and this well prevalent in the release of 'sowing the seeds of love' which was a huge success in the singles chart. The follow up was a duet with Oleta Adams with the powerful hit 'woman in chains' which again fared well in the charts. The album again reached the top spot and also spawned the hit 'advice for the young at heart'.

Following the success of the album Orzabel and Smith had a huge fallout and Curt Smith left the band and handing the reigns to Roland Orzabel who continued the name until they made up in 2000. During the 1980s the band released 3 studio albums with two number ones and a number two. They also released 17 singles in the UK with seven top 10 singles, although they never enjoyed a number one single in the UK they did enjoy two in America with back to back number ones with Shout and Everybody wants to rule the world.