at the same time as the UK, yet play on college and indie radio stations helped it to capture the imagination of enough people to accelerate the official introduction of the band to the U.S. It was not released officially in the U.S. Off their 1982 After The Snow album, in my opinion, it is that much more of a testament to the musical brilliance of the song that it still broke out as big as it did. My first recollection of the band and their music was finding them on regular rotation on MTV in the very early days, from their video for “I Melt With You” (per Robbie from my interview in recent days, the budget for the video was only 1,000 GBP). There is a full and comprehensive biography about Modern English on their webpage with a thorough narrative about the history of the band: LINK Sometime thereafter, Richard Brown and Stephen Walker joined the group, which was then renamed Modern English, and this also marked a change in direction for the kind of music that they made. Modern English has it’s roots in a band called The Lepers, which was formed by Robbie Grey, Gary McDowell, and Michael Conroy in 1979, in Colchester, Essex, England. In fact, I was inspired to buy their two albums on CD after the show (and from reading their Facebook page, it sounds as though a new album will be coming soon).īelow are a few photos of The Generals performing on stage:īelow is one video I shot of The Generals, performing the song, “Thank You”: Certain aspects of their work reminded me of other artists I really like (in a good way) though collectively I found their sound to be unique and rich with originality, while being hooky/catchy. A two piece band with Matt Sertich on lead vocals and guitars and Kirk Janowiak on drums and vocals, with some prerecorded sounds for their live set-up, I was really impressed with their music. I’d never heard their music before, but really enjoyed their set. The one opening band for Modern English was indie/alternative band and Sacramento natives, The Generals. Who: Modern English Venue: Harlow’s Restaurant and Nightclub Where: Sacramento, California Supporting: The Generals When: JSeating: General Admission (I spent the concert in front of the stage, front row standing) Supporting Act: The Generals The link below will take you to the article with the embedded player: Robbie Grey, Modern English: “Rock Talk” Podcast Audio InterviewĪlternately, you can download the podcast for free from iTunes HERE. The day prior to the show, lead vocalist and front man Robbie Grey took time out of his very busy schedule to chat with me via phone, which is the basis of the “Rock Talk” podcast that was published Thursday. It was both incredible and surreal to see this important band play live, just a few feet in front of me, but definitely worth the wait. Of course, it was a matter of time until that seminal classic song would be played on stage, but the set list leading up to it was a fantastic voyage through their incredible catalog, and they sounded absolutely fantastic (and kudos to Harlow’s for the really nicely tuned sound system). As the band has a history and habit of disbanding (in ’87 and ’91), this was my first time seeing them live, so it was an extra thrill to see the band featuring all of its original members. For me, their biggest hit, “I Melt With You”, was definitely among the best and most decade defining songs of the 80s – it is really ubiquitous with the vibe and culture and new direction in music that took hold in the early 80s. West Coast tour, which begins and ends in the month of July. Last night Modern English played Harlow’s in Sacramento as part of their U.S.
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