1983 in rock: Genesis show pretenders how to do prog with Mama

1983 was a vintage year for progressive rock, with a raft of newer bands spearheaded by Marillion picking up the gauntlet thrown down by the likes of Genesis, Yes and King Crimson a decade earlier. Both Yes and Genesis returned to the fray themselves that year and Genesis, by now slimmed down to a trio of Phil Collins, Mike Rutherford and Tony Banks (at least on record) released an album simply titled 'Genesis', which featured a typically 1980s cover design consisting of simple yellow block shapes.

Genesis had undergone a transformation in sound to go with their slimmed-down line-up; with shorter (and in some cases 'poppier' songs) and with modern synth sounds prominent, they were starting to lose some of their older fans who had been with them since Peter Gabriel was vocalist, as they also gained new fans on the back of the concurrent solo success of drummer/singer Phil Collins. Perhaps wanting to show that they still had it in them to do 'prog', the lead-off single was 'Mama', a song that started off with a haunting synth sound and steadily built into a huge production. The structure of the track was very similar to that of 'In The Air Tonight', the song that had kick-started Collins' solo career two years earlier and like that track, it had only a drum machine rather than actual drums  until the closing segment, when a huge salvo kicked in. The drum sound had the same 'gated reverb' effect as 'In The Air Tonight', which Collins and producer Hugh Padgham had pioneered. This sound made the drums appear to 'explode' from the speakers with startling effect.

'Mama' was the band's biggest UK hit at the time, reaching number 4 in the charts and although subsequent singles were more in the shorter, poppier vein, they did have another prog trick up their sleeve on the album. 'Home By The Sea/Second Home By The Sea', a suite of two tracks written from the viewpoint of a burglar who finds himself a captive of ghosts, compelling him to hear their life stories... "as we relive our lives with what we tell you".

With 'Mama' and the 'Home By The Sea' suite, Genesis showed the new breed how to do progressive rock, and the album and subsequent tour (for which, they were augmented on stage by Daryl Steurmer on guitar or bass, and Chester Thompson on drums) proved to be a success, culminating in a run of dates at Birmingham's NEC arena the next year.

From the 1983 self-titled 'Genesis' album, here is 'Mama'.

1983 in television: By The Sword Divided

The BBC has a long tradition of producing quality historical dramas, and another made its debut in 1983 when By The Sword Divided reached our screens. Set in the period leading up to, then during, the English Civil War, it served to show the impact of the war on the Lacey family, which became split with family members siding with either the Royalist, or Parlimentarian side.

The series boasted a strong cast including Julian Glover, Sharon Maughan (or Mughan as she was credited in the series), Gareth Thomas (of 'Blakes 7' fame) and Rosalie Crutchley. The first series, shown in 1983, covered the period to the end of the First English Civil War in 1646, whereupon the Royalist side was defeated. The series ran for two seasons and concluded with the Restoration of the Monarchy, illustrating throughout the shifting loyalties among the cast of characters.

By The Sword Divided has not been shown a lot on UK television since its original transmission between 1983 and 1985, but it has been issued on DVD in recent years.

Below is the first episode of 'By The Sword Divided':
 

1983 in music: Billy Joel scores big with 'An Innocent Man'

American singer-songwriter Billy Joel had a big year in 1983. Already well-known and with a string of radio hits to his name, his ninth album 'An Innocent Man' and lead-off single 'Uptown Girl' were huge hits, with both the album and Joel's performance on the 'Uptown Girl' single becoming nominated for Grammy awards. (Both lost out to Michael Jackson, unsurprisingly)

'An Innocent Man' spawned a string of hit singles, including 'Tell Her About It', 'The Longest Time' and the title track 'An Innocent Man'. The album spent over a year on the UK charts, while in his native US, the album spent a staggering 111 weeks on the US pop album charts.

Joel had become something of a fixture in celebrity gossip mags for his relationship with supermodel Christie Brinkley at this time; and she appeared in the now-iconic video for 'Uptown Girl' in which Joel plays a motor mechanic, while Brinkley is the well-heeled customer. The material on the album was inspired by 1960s soul and R&B music, which the singer himself said was because of his feeling somewhat like a teenager again following his recent divorce, and high-profile relationship with Brinkley.

The video was parodied 28 years later in the BBC series 'Ashes To Ashes'; set in that period it featured Gene Hunt (played by Philip Glenister) as the Joel character and his police colleagues as the mechanics, with Alex Drake (Keeley Hawes) as the Brinkley character. The parody proved popular and illustrated the enduring appeal of the song and video.

Billy Joel has made only three more pop albums since 'An Innocent Man', with the last ('River of Dreams') coming in 1993. He remains a big draw on the live circuit however, and continues to tour the world performing his hits.

Here is Billy Joel with 'Tell Her About It':


Bonus: the parody of 'Uptown Girl' taken from 'Ashes To Ashes' (BBC):

1983 in rock: Black Sabbath and Gillan join forces

Metal pioneers Black Sabbath were in a bit of a tight spot in 1983; their collaboration with Ronnie James Dio ended the year before under strained circumstances over mixing of their live album, and their original vocalist Ozzy Osbourne had meanwhile established himself as a solo artist, backed by some major talent.

Meanwhile, former Deep Purple singer Ian Gillan was intending to take 1983 off, in order to recover from an operation to remove nodules from his throat. He had folded his own band Gillan at the end of the previous year and, unbeknown to many at the time, had been planning with his old Deep Purple bandmates to reform the band (that finally took place in April 1984). However, in the summer of 1983 he agreed to a proposal from Sabbath guitarist Tony Iommi that they should join forces, for one album and tour at least.

With a marquee name on vocals once again, and with dates booked including a headlining appearance at Reading, all seemed set for a successful year. However, when the album was released ('Born Again') it provoked controversy because of the 'satanic' cover design (a demonic-looking baby set against a blue background). It later emerged that cover artist Steve 'Krusher' Joule (who had been approached by Sabbath) was reluctant to do the cover. He had a good relationship with the Osbourne camp and not wanting to jeopardise that, he submitted a rough design of a demonic baby, feeling certain it would be rejected by Sabbath's management. Instead (to Krusher's amazement) the design was approved, and he was then obliged to produce a finished album cover. Famously, Ian Gillan quoted as saying "I looked at the cover and puked"! (He had not been party to the decision to approve the artwork, and did not see it until the album was ready for release.)

Further to this, Gillan also said that he felt that the album had been ruined at the mixing stage, he had gone on holiday after contributing his vocals and left feeling that they had made a 'brilliant' album. However he thought differently once he heard the final mix. Nonetheless, the band (with ELO drummer Bev Bevan touring in place of Bill Ward) hit the road for the tour. They suffered more setbacks on the road when the stage set they had conceived, based on 'Stonehenge' was far too big to fit into many of the venues they played at, and the incident was parodied in the film 'This Is Spinal Tap' - only in reverse, with their Stonehenge set being built exactly to the plans (right down to the measurements), so that it looked tiny when lowered on stage! Gillan also struggled when singing older Sabbath songs; not familiar with the material, he had prepared crib sheets with the lyrics printed on them, to be placed on stage monitors. This plan fell apart when the stage was filled with dry ice, obscuring the sheets and resulting in farcical moments where the singer actually had to squint next to the sheets, in order to read the lyric and perform the songs!

Their appearance at Reading did go on as planned, they headlined the Saturday, 27th August. Their set was recorded for BBC Radio One's 'Friday Rock Show' and broadcast a few weeks later. By the end of 1983, Gillan and Sabbath quietly parted company and while Gillan pressed ahead with the Deep Purple reunion, Sabbath struggled through the rest of the decade, and after numerous false starts finally got some stability back in 1987 with the recruitment of Tony Martin on vocals. He went on to record five albums with Sabbath, but his contribution and efforts to restore their shattered credibility is overlooked nowadays, with the band finally reuniting with Ozzy in 2012.

Probably the best song off the 'Born Again' album was the epic 'Zero The Hero'; it is presented here:

Helsinki World Athletics Championships 1983

The inaugural World Athletics Championships, held in the Olympic Stadium in Helsinki, Finland, were arguably more important than either the previous Olympics in Moscow three years earlier, or the Los Angeles games scheduled for the next year. The reason for that was of course the boycotts that ruined both Olympiads. In 1980, much of the West stayed away from Moscow, in a US-led boycott prompted by the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan (interestingly, the Great Britain team did attend those games, albeit under the banner of the British Olympic Association and despite intense pressure from the Thatcher government to withdraw). Also of note is the fact that 32 years later in 2012, with Afghanistan now occupied by US and UK forces, nobody stayed away from the London Games.

Similarly, the 1984 Olympics were boycotted by almost the entire Warsaw Pact, led by the Soviet Union and including most of the nations under its sphere of influence, so the first ever World Championship of Athletics took on greater significance as these were the only games to pit the elite athletes from either superpower up against each other. Also during this period, with Germany still separated into two nations, the East German women athletes were posting some incredible times, which were suspected to be artificially enhanced. (The confirmation of this only came after the fall of the Berlin wall some years later, yet the times posted by the likes of Marita Koch remain world records today.)

From a British perspective, there were some real chances of medals, with the middle-distance reign of Ovett and Coe still ongoing. However Seb Coe was battling illness prior to these games and was forced to miss Helsinki, while newcomer Steve Cram had established himself as a prospect in the meantime. Cram went on to win a gold medal in the 1500 metres, while Steve Ovett could only finish fourth, as his star began to wane. Decathlete Daley Thompson reigned supreme in the multi-discipline event, and he delivered the goods once more with another gold medal to add to his Olympic, Commonwealth and European golds. Britain also won several silver and bronze medals, thanks to sprinter Kathy Cook, the men's 4x400m relay team, the women's 4x100m relay team, steeplechaser Colin Reitz and javelin thrower Fatima Whitbread.

The standout memory for me was that women's javelin; Whitbread had led the contest from her first throw and was looking all over the gold medallist, until local heroine Tiina Lillak pulled out a monster throw with her final effort, throwing over 70 metres to snatch gold and leave Whitbread devastated at the side of the track. The pictures showing her inconsolable with her family at the side of the track contrasted sharply with the delirious crowd roaring their appreciation of Lillak's effort. She had produced the host nation's only gold medal in one of their favoured events. To this day, if I ever see a field event where a competitor snatches a win with the last effort (it doesn't matter if it is a javelin, hammer or a shot put) that goes down as 'doing a Tiina' in my book!

Women's javelin, World Athletics Championships Helsinki 1983 (Finnish commentary)


Of course the big star of those games was US sprinter Carl Lewis. He won the 100 metres, beating Olympic Champion Allan Wells comfortably and added a relay gold and long jump gold for good measure. Lewis's supremely confident persona wasn't to everyone's taste, but he went on to dominate his sport for several years afterwards. However, reports of a positive dope test being kept quiet by his own athletics federation have somewhat sullied the memory of his performances.

The 80s saw the East European women utterly dominate, with the aforementioned Marita Koch proving almost unbeatable in sprints. She competed in 100, 200 and 400 metres, unthinkable today but she was immense in all. We now know that East Germany's success was chemically enhanced, but another athlete who was controversial in those days was Jarmila Kratochvilova from Czechoslovakia. Her appearance was extremely masculine, with short brown hair, muscular build looking more like a rugby player and strength that enabled her to keep her form over 400 and 800 metres while others melted away, her performances in 1983 stunned observers. Despite the controversy, she was never tested positive for performance-enhancing substances, although fact that the times she posted would still win gold today have many still convinced her efforts were just too good to be true.

When the World Championships started, they were held every four years in the year following the Olympics. The next two championships were in Rome in 1987, then Tokyo in 1991, after which it was decided to hold the meet biennially. The 2013 championships in Moscow, Russia will mark 30 years since the inaugural meet, and the debate over whether what we see is genuine or enhanced rages as much today as it did then. Until proven otherwise, perhaps we should enjoy what we see as true since watching any sport with a cynical eye merely spoils the enjoyment. Anyway, let's go back in time and here is a montage prepared by the BBC showing many highlights from those first World Championships in Athletics:

Number plate system change and cars of 1983

The vehicle registration plate system in Great Britain changed in 1983; for the previous 20 years motor vehicles on the British mainland were given a number plate comprising three letters, then a series of numbers and a final letter which denoted the year of registration. Originally, when the scheme started in 1962, that final letter would change over at the start of each year, however by 1967  the motor industry pushed for (and got) a change, so that the letter changed in August. This was intended to create sales of new vehicles in a traditionally slow period, so the E plate was issued in January 1967 as normal, but by August the F plate came out and from then on the letter changed each August. An example of the sort of registration plate is illustrated by a famous number plate from TV show 'The Prisoner' - the KAR 120C plate seen on the Lotus Seven driven by actor Patrick McGoohan in the show.

Actor Patrick McGoohan driving KAR 120C. Image (c) Granada Ventures

The plate system also indicated in the three letters whereabouts the vehicle was registered; the last two letters denoting the regional office. The numbers were random, however an industry soon sprang up where registrations which could be made into a word, a name or something approximating that, were sold at high prices. In the same vein, the UK Drivers and Vehicle Licensing Association (DVLA) kept a 'blacklist' of registrations which could be construed as inappropriate and did not issue them.

By 1982, the system had reached the letter Y (some letters such as I, O, Q, and U were not used) and a change was then required. The solution was simply to reverse the formula and start again; that is, the last letter which denoted the registration year, became the first. Going back to our example, if 'The Prisoner' had been made after 1983, the car might have had the number plate C120 KAR.

How the registration plate might have looked after 1983

 
Therefore the first registrations with the new A prefix letter were issued in August 1983. Not surprisingly, sales were strong in a year when the registration system itself, not just the letter denoting the year, changed.

This system should have lasted for another 20 years at least, however another push by the motor industry in 1999, intended to even out sales over the year, meant that the registration letter changed twice a year, so a new plate was introduced March and also in September. Also by that time, it was soon coming around to the time when the registration system needed another change. In March 2001 plates with the prefix letter Y were issued, but by September, the new system came into effect. Instead of a letter denoting the year at the start or end of the plate, the new system had a two-digit number. In September 2001, that number was '51', and March 2002, '02', then '52' for September 2002 and so on. This system continues today, with the current plate being '13' and from September, '63'.

Back in 1983, when the system last changed, some of the popular cars of the UK included Ford's Fiesta, Escort and Sierra (the infamous 'jelly mould' design which became influential), the Austin Metro and larger Maestro (a car which featured a talking dashboard on some models), and from Vauxhall, the Cavalier and Astra. The 'hot hatch' was popular in this period also, and Ford had introduced a 'hot' Sierra in 1983, the XR4i. Among hatchbacks, the Nova from Vauxhall, introduced this year, was a popular smaller model too, as was the Fiat Uno and Volkswagen Golf.

The Ford Sierra, early example from 1983 (Wikipedia)

The 1980s would see huge changes in this and many other industries, and although many of the top-selling cars were British 30 years ago, sadly that's no longer the case today.

1983 in television: Late Late Breakfast Show

In the 1980s with just four TV channels to choose from, the Saturday night ratings battle between BBC and ITV was still raging. ITV had scored a hit in 1981 with their practical joke-orientated show 'Game For A Laugh', and the BBC responded with a light entertainment show of their own, 'The Late, Late Breakfast Show' presented by DJ-turned TV host Noel Edmonds. The programme went out live, and after a slow start hit its stride once the producers started to book major names as guests.

The format of 'The Late, Late Breakfast Show' included comedy, music and initially, a monologue spot featuring fellow DJ John Peel. Peel was included presumably to give the show a more credible 'edge'; his image was more Keith Richards to Edmonds' Cliff Richard-type 'safe' image. Comic spots included a practical joke segment (featuring 'The Hit Squad', the BBC's answer to 'Game For A Laugh'), and the 'Golden Egg Awards', including humorous TV out-takes. Music features included interviews and appearances, most notably ABBA made their final TV appearance on this show.

Also included was the 'Give It A Whirl' slot - this would feature a viewer who had called into the show and volunteered to take part in a stunt. The stunt was selected using the 'Whirly Wheel', although it was meant to appear random, the stunt had in fact been pre-arranged with the viewer being trained up to perform the stunt live on TV the next week.  It was with these stunts that the show attracted controversy; a clip from a 1983 edition of the programme (which can be seen below) illustrates just how far they went.



Watching that clip 30 years on, and with the knowledge that such an ill-prepared stunt would never be allowed to air on television today, it is absolutely shocking viewing. Remember, this show aired live on Saturday evenings. Not only were the crowd too close, but after the first jump went wrong (the driver was shaken, but not seriously hurt) they did ANOTHER one! The second jump (with a different stunt driver) was even worse, and the stunt driver involved sustained a fractured pelvis. The track-side commentator was John Peel, who later expressed regret at ever having agreed to be involved with the show when he saw just how dangerous the stunts had become.

Unbelievably, the BBC were allowed to continue to run stunts involving viewers, and, having not heeded the warnings, tragedy struck three years later when another contestant was killed while practising for a bungee jump stunt due to be aired on that week's programme. Only then was the programme pulled, with the producers heavily criticised. Edmonds immediately resigned from the show.

Ultimately, what started out as an entertaining show of comedy, music and chat ended because of a producer's desire to 'push the boundaries'. It would be several years before Edmonds returned to Saturday night live television, with 'Noel's House Party'. This time the focus was more on humour and practical jokes, with no dangerous stunts involved.