When Punk was Dead

Girls called Eileen aren't as keen on it as you'd at first think.

Girls called Eileen aren't as keen on it as you'd at first think.

Well, post-punk is 80s rock so that's hardly surprising, though likening them to A-Ha and the Pet Shop Bouys is like comparing Yes to Sailor because instrumentally they really are that far removed from "80s pop". All of them have a Mr Bowie influence to some extent because he was very influential on all 80s music but Japan's Mr Sylvian and his baritone vocals are more often compared to Mr Ferry, though my ears hear a very distinctive and unique style and a timbre like no other, just has I do with Mr Fish. Perhaps your ears were confused by the pretty boy image on the video. For actual Mr Bowie connections, Mr Sylvian comes from the same small town in Kent that also gave us Mr Frampton and he provided the vocals to Mr Sakamoto's soundtrack for Merry Christmas Mr Lawrence after Mr Bowie declined involvement in the soundtrack so he could concentrate on the acting, [Mr Sakamoto managed to do both of course, though neither of them could hold a candle to the films real stars Mr Conti and Mr Kitano and since I've wandered off on this little diverting tangent - Mr Van der Post's novel that the film was based upon was given the Prog treatment in instrumental concept album form by The Enid in 1988 and released under the novel's actual title of The Seed and The Sower]. Another connection is Mr Bowie's one-time collaborator Mr Fripp invited him to join King Crimson and while Mr Sylvian declined the offer, they did work together on the rather excellent The First Day album and their even better live recording, Damage. Another Prog connection with Exhibit "F" is sitting to Mr Sylvian's right on the keyboards is Progupine Tree's Mr Barbieri and on his left somewhat uncharacteristically playing another keyboard is the greatest bass guitarist of his generation, the very sadly missed Mr Karn.