LISTEN: Thompson Twins’ Tom Bailey reveals set-list surprises ahead of Into The Gap 40th anniversary tour
Hold Me Now, Doctor Doctor and You Take Me Up filled the airwaves as Into The Gap topped he UK charts for three weeks and turned new wave band Thompson Twins into global superstars.
From humble beginnings in Sheffield they went on to perform in front of millions during the Philadelphia leg of Live Aid - when Madonna and Nile Rodgers joined them on stage.
But frontman Tom Bailey admits he never expected to still be performing their seminal album to the masses four decades on.
That’s exactly what he will be doing this month with an Into The Gap 40th Anniversary Tour - full details below - and shows across the UK in Birmingham, Gateshead, Edinburgh, Guildford, Bath, London, Cambridge and now, due to demand, an extra date added at Manchester New Century on Monday, May 13.
BUY TICKETS: For Manchester and all other available shows visit www.gigsandtours.com and www.ticketmaster.co.uk. VIP packages are also available at www.sjm-vip.com.
LISTEN: Thompson Twins' Tom Bailey talks about the tour, the band's past and discusses future recording and tour plans in an exclusive chat with Graham Walker, reflecting on the enduring demand for their music - CLICK HERE.
Tom will perform the iconic 1984 chart-topping album in full along with and other Thompson Twins favourites including If You Were Here, Lies, Lay Your Hands On Me, In the Name Of Love, We Are Detective and many more.
He revealed the setlist will be full of surprises: "It will be the Into The Gap album in its entirety. Although I must say not in the order that it's on the record, for various strategic and dramatic reasons.
"We want to save some of the heavyweight songs until the very end, you know."There will be other well known songs by the Twins. And then we might sneak in a few solo efforts and a few obscurities, as well; maybe even a couple of cover versions. There'll be some surprises."
"It's a different band. In fact, a lot of the musicians in my band today weren't born 40 years ago, when we first did this album. So it will have a different flavour. But they are all amazing musicians and great to play with. The thing is the songs that carry us through. We'll put on a show for sure.”
The album sold five million copies worldwide and was certified two-times platinum in the UK. It has been remastered for a 40th anniversary re-release, Tom told us..
He said: "Unbelievably, it's the 40th anniversary of Into the Gap this year, so I'm especially looking forward to touring the UK and playing all those songs along with some other favourites.
"It's amazing to think that we touched people's hearts back in the day, but the fact that they still want to hear it now is just incredible. And therefore it's emotional for me."
The Art of Noise will be special guests in London, China Crisis in Gateshead and Prefab Sprout's Martin McAloon on most of the rest of the UK tour.
It will be followed with dates in America, with Thomas Dolby, and Tom is hoping for more UK gigs after that.
Tom performed Thompson Twins songs live for the first time in 27 years in 2014 and did retro tours with Howard Jones, Midge Ure, China Crisis, Katrina and the Waves, B-52's and Culture Club.But it was only in 2022 when he performed the entire Into the Gap studio album live for the first time.
Halifax born, educated in Chesterfield, Tom started out as a music teacher at Sheffield's former Brook School in Handsworth before emerging from the Steel City's melting pot of 80s legends that also included The Human League, Heaven 17 and ABC.
Thompson Twins, named after the two bumbling detectives Thomson and Thompson in the animated The Adventures of Tintin, are best remembered for heir classic trio line up of Tom, on bass, guitar, keyboards and vocals, his now ex wife Alannah Currie, who these days is an artist based in London, and Joe Leeway, who became a hypnotherapist in LA.
Tom has ruled out a reunion - though he told how he is working on a new track with original Thompson Twins guitarist Pete Dodd, who still lives in Chesterfield,
He said:" I was in New Zealand at the time, but you know, technology these days, we can do that. He sent me the track. I played the keyboards, it's gone back to Sheffield, and he's working on it now. So that's as close to a reunion of the original as we're gonna get, but it's great fun to do."
Tom said of the Sheffield legacy, as part of the 80s band scene:"We're all influenced by each other in that respect.
"Funnily enough, I was in Mexico playing a concert just before Christmas and the other two headlining acts were The Human League and ABC. Martin Fry said it's Sheffield-On-Sea tonight."
He said of future plans: "I'm always writing, so there's always plans to make more recordings. That's what I do. I'm not very good at doing other things, and I love making music and I love pop music. So expect more. I don't know when or how, but it will come."I'dalso love to do more gigs, including a return to Sheffield. I'm open to any suggestions from promoters. So if it's possible, we will do it.”
THOMPSON TWINS TOM BAILEY INTO THE GAP 40TH ANNIVERSARY TOUR DATES
Fri 10 May 2024 Birmingham Town Hall
Sat 11 May 2024 Gateshead The Glasshouse International Centre for Music Sage 1
Sun 12 May 2024 Edinburgh Queens Hall
Mon 13 May 2024 Manchester New Century *New show*
Wed 15 May 2024 Guildford G Live
Thu 16 May 2024 Bath Forum
Fri 17 May 2024 London Indigo at The O2 ( joined by special guests Art Of Noise/Revision/AV)
Sat 18 May 2024 Cambridge Corn Exchange
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