Tom Bailey - lead vocals, bass, synthesizers; Alannah Currie - percussion, vocals; Joe Leeway - congas, percussion, vocals
The Thompson Twins had everything that the programmers at MTV were looking for: outrageous looks; catchy, modern-sounding pop songs; and a passion to embrace the most striking fashion concepts of them time. This show, recorded in front of a mainly Syracuse University student audience, was one of several shows recorded for the King Biscuit Flower Hour during the band's first headlining US tour.
Featuring mostly material from their first two LPs, including "Kamikaze," "Tears," "We Are Detectives," "Love On Your Side," "Lies," and "In The Name Of Love," the Twins were remarkably spontaneous considering so much of their show was based around pre-programmed MIDI samples. The show closes with an incomplete version of "All Fall Out," which had been eliminated when the original broadcast had been aired.
They were neither a duo or related, but the Thompson Twins made a considerable impact on the MTV generation when they broke out in the UK in 1982 with a sassy blend of electronic dance music and edgy pop songs. Formed by guitarist-keyboardist Tom Bailey in the late-'70s, the Thompson Twins embodied everything that the MTV era stood for: over-the-top alternative fashion and hair, wildly dramatic performances, and a heavy reliance on programmed sounds and synthesizers.
Bailey toyed with a number of lineups, getting the group up to six members at one point. In the end, they worked as a trio consisting of Bailey, girlfriend Alannah Currie, and singer Joe Leeway. Their rise coincided with the growth of MTV, and since they were so visual, they were instant stars on the youth-driven network.
By 1985, however, the band's popularity waned. Bailey and Currie formed a whole new group called Babble later in the decade, but they divorced and the band went bust after two albums.