Tag: Fan Club Fun

Tears for Fears Travel Fans Quarterly Update – Q2

Dedicated to musician Shaina J. who also travelled from coast to coast to see the band. We wish her great success in life and we’re super happy that she is one us!

This was certainly the Anniversary Quarter. We have more anniversaries between late January and first of April it seems. Historically Q1 (January through the end of March) is a big deal for the band. So many great group projects and productions occurred at that time…and birthdays! Just take a look! *also, help us find the photographer for the headliner photo if you can. We’re trying to get in touch. Thank you!

  • Julian Orzabal birthday 21 January
  • Charlton Pettus’ Birthday 13 February
  • Ian Stanley birthday 28 February
  • Lauren Evan’s Birthday 3 February
  • Michael Wainwright 6 March
  • Chris Merrick Hughes 3 March
  • The Hurting Anniversary 7 March
  • SFTBC Anniversary 25 February – EWTRTW single released on the 17 March (wordle honoured)
  • The Tipping Point Anniversary 25 February

We also celebrate TFF’s first show anniversary at Moles in Bath UK which took place on the 1st of April in 1982. We’re horrified that the efforts to keep Moles open were not respected and they will indeed close unless something major changes. To say we’re angry is an understatement but it’s out of our hands.

  • Carina Round’s Birthday 20 April – Thank you to Lady Emily and Curt Smith for confirming. We’ll aim to have a proper cake day celebration for her online in future.

Shout out to these special fans who also have birthdays during that time. It was a joy celebrating them online!

  • Todd Skees 26 Feb – Todd holds many of the early documents from the Tears for Fears World Service. He was recently seen with us at the 2022 Atlanta show. Such a joy to have him around.
  • Michael Magno 8 March – his middle name is Roland and he is one of Atlanta’s greatest musicians. See his latest on Dunwoody TV
  • Radio Crème Brulee’s anniversary is on the 16th February – we’re grateful to them for keeping the band in rotation

As we have mentioned multiple times, Curt befriended Hazan Hillel Tigay of Palm Station. He is one of the cantors at the incredible IKAR_LA, an incredibly inclusive shul/house of prayer where those of multiple faiths have dialogue and discuss how to better our world (tikkun olam).  Palms Station’s latest album includes a song called Alive and Curt sings the lead on it. Andye will be showing the videos from his visits during the next fan chat. This song was featured in a profound episode of The Good Doctor on ABC season 7, episode 5. We had a watch party and fans of the TV series got quite a shock. Have your tissues on hand!

Curt announced earlier this year that he and his dear daughter Lady Diva Smith would be a part of the Michel Polnareff tribute album which was released on the 5th of April. They did an incredible cover Polnareff’s “La Poupee Qui Fait Non.” How does one top of the original? Give it to a member of Tears for Fears. It’s a sumptuous one… give it a listen on Apple Music, Amazon Music and it’s also on Spotify! We’ll be discussing Polnareff’s legacy on the upcoming fan family chat but in the meantime, visit our Instagram account to hear the original and then Curt and Diva’s version. Both are absolutely sublime and again, the family rockers created an impeccable piece of art with it!

Then Curt joined the US Army – Just kidding! He spent a day with them to learn more about what it is like to walk a mile or more in their shoes. There’s a great video he shared that discusses his experience. Shoutout to Traci S. and other fans who have served in the armed forces with the sole desire to protect the nation’s people. No one likes war. Healthy humanity’s goal is peace and it is a global issue when innocent people are threatened or harmed by evil. Let’s envision and make individual efforts to create a world where the only thing an army needs to do is help us with peace time efforts.

Jamie Wollam Drummer Genius

Jamie has been featured multiple times in publications for his incredible skill at playing the drums. He is an excellent percussionist and also has his own private off the beaten path studio where he perfects his craft like the genius he is. Last quarter we looked at videos from his personal space and learned how he works and creates the magic that he is known for. This month, like literally this week, we got to see even more as he collabs, works with and is further supported by A&F DrumCo and several others. Have a look at this incredible post featuring a fan top favourite, The Working Hour. Be sure to check out the latest on his website.

The Kids! In case you missed it, they’re all young adults now!

Diva’s latest posts were delightful and displayed some of her music. It’s brilliant. You can have a listen on her Instagram feed.

Curt’s second daughter, wonderful Lady Wilder, is now finishing up her senior year at college. Her final University project is on display at the Gund Gallery and we all were privileged to view it virtually. See if you notice familiar faces. Have a closer look. Congratulations to her! The family is clearly proud and we are too! It’s a joy to celebrate her success!

Roland’s eldest son, Raoul is often sharing his latest work with followers. Take a look at the latest and be sure to let him know if you’re interested in buying one for your home. They are a wonderful addition! Several of us have at least two!

We look forward to Roland’s second son Pascal’s latest music when he is ready to share. Watch this space and his!

Marvelous Mother Margaret’s Beautiful Work

Roland’s marvelous mother, beautiful Lady Margaret, was also quite busy with a tapestry. She finished it recently after nearly a decade of detailed and delicate work. It was sold to fan Amanda Jayne BT and the proceeds are going to women’s charity. It came with a beautiful handwritten card with thanks. Such a lovely piece of art to keep for a lifetime. It is museum worthy! Stunning work Mother Margaret!! Exquisite!

Tears for Fears Alumni Update

Oleta Adam’s is out performing and you still have a chance to see her live. Be sure to keep up with her schedule on her official website and social pages. We’ll also be sharing show dates as always.

John Baker of Graduate and The Korgis has also been quite busy. They have had some wonderful shows and many fans have been showing up together to enjoy. Be sure to like and subscribe to their social pages and get in on the good stuff! Check out his May interview on Radio Bath with Dave Mason!

The Korgis are getting lots of media attention and were recently on BBC Breakfast. There’s even a shoutout to Roland Orzabal and we learn a few tidbits about how their work came to life. We really appreciate this band. Stay onboard their fan train. It’s connected to Tears for Fears and we’re here with them both for life!

Julian Orzabal and Jon Birch have released two new pieces of work with their music group, The Upside Down Clinic. Checkout their latest video. Their music is really great to get yourself going in the morning. You can support them on bandcamp and also get merch from their online shoppe.

Love this photo of Jon and Julian

Superfans Soaring into the Stars

Our lady Tamara was recently in the UK spending time with fellow fans, musicians, friends and the blessed team at Radio Bath. Be sure to check out her wonderful interview with Dave Mason. She gave us some incredible shoutouts and we appreciate it. Tamara goes above and beyond in every capacity and we’re so excited that she has such a wonderful relationship with Bathonians and the UK fan team. She is a wonderful representative of true Tears for Fears fandom. Her interactions begin about 41mins into the session. There’s always a lot of fun when Radio Bath is involved. Join the Radio Listening Party every Friday with Dave Mason and the Tears for Fears Travel Fans. It’s our way of enjoying the warmth of friendship despite being an ocean apart. Thank you Tamara and Dave Mason!

While there, we got to learn of Dion Smith’s newest work and Tamara’s involvement! Dion is working on new music and has an EP coming out this May. Congrats to him and all his hard work. Check out Lady Tamara helping out in the studio! Super neat!

Also shoutout to Dion’s wife, Paula Smith, for all her hard work in photography. She has professionally photographed so many amazing artists that have a relation to the world of Tears for Fears. Notably she photographed Billy Idol during one his stops where one of Lauren Evan’s many talented friends, Kitten Kuroi, was part of his BVs team. Tamara and team were there for that too. Billy Idol, Kitten and team will be in Atlanta this week at the Shaky Knees Festival where we saw Tears for Fears back in 2019.

Sharron Foxx is another super fan that is also super busy. She manages a fan group dedicated to Lauren Evans and you can also hear her work with the Pink Floyd Tribute Band – Wish You Were Here. She recently gave Andye the moderator a virtual pass backstage at their Ohio show in that incredible theatre. It was awesome! Big shoutout to Sharron for joining in on the Tears for Fears fun and representing the music world’s appreciation of the band.

Sharron, or Shaye as friends call her, takes part in lot of our admin calls which are now on Zoom. We’ve been working on a new project. If you’re interested in giving your testimonial on how the band has impacted you and how much you love their music, feel free to be a part of the project. Send your testimonial to papasfans@gmail.com with your name and “TFF Testimonial” in the subject line. It’s the Tears for Fears Travel Fan email account and we’ll look for those to add to the celebration and summer band birthday fun. Also, feel free to start sending in your birthday wishes to Curt and Roland as they both turn 63 years young this year. Looking forward to seeing and hearing from everyone.

Click play ^^ to watch the highlights from the latest TFF fan family chats in Q1! Good times!

Also happening in fan land…fans are touting their Tears for Fears tattoos. Here’s Olivia Jane’s (L) and Shaina’s (R). We know many of you are planning to get one this summer. You can also get a henna tattoo. Superfan Karla got a great one recently and shared with the Tears for Fears fan forum on Facebook. Whatever you decide to do, take your time. Think about it and try some temporary ones first before making your final decision. It’s Tears for Fears so you want it to look terrific like these!

That’s all we’ve got for the moment. Enjoy this fun clip of NFL Player DeMarcus Ware saluting the band as the Koala on The Masked Singer! Speak to you soon!

Thank you for reading and watching! Be sure to follow @tearsforfears (TW X) @tearsforfearsmusic (IG) @curtsmithofficial (fb) @curtsmith (TW X) @curtsmith (IG) for official information, happenings and updates. Lauren, Carina and Jamie all have accounts as well.

Follow @papasfans for fan travel resources, meetups and fun! We’re also on Instagram @tfftravelfans

Cheers!

Tears for Fears in Brasil -Interview

Tears and Kooks International is so blessed to have quite a few multilingual fans. One of those is Andye (Nigerian-Portuguese)  and she translates reviews and videos from the various original languages into English for the stateside fans. Recently she e-met Brazillian born Karina Longo (@mrscarbohydrate) Karina Longoon Twitter while Tears For Fears was on a tour stop in Brasil. Karina was a great volunteer; stepping in during a very busy time. While Andye was translating videos and interviews from Mexico, etc Karina jumped in and translated the interview conducted by a local Brazillian media team. You can see it below in English. Thank you so much (@mrscarbohydrate) for your help! You are an official KOOK!! *Karina was also recently followed by Curt Smith on Twitter*

INTERVIEW WITH CURT SMITH / SHOUT (translated by Karina Longo & Andye Andinha moderator for (@papasfans))

ORIGINAL BY ELIO BANDERA FROM ZERO HORA (PORTO ALEGRE) / SEGUNDO CADERNO (http://www.clicrbs.com.br/especial/rs/clubedoassinantezh/19,617,3511615,Shout.html)

RESPONSIBLE for 80’S HITS SUCH AS “SHOUT” AND “SOWING THE SEEDS OF LOVE”,THE BRITISH DUO TEARS FOR FEARS WILL PLAY TOMORROW IN PORTO ALEGRE.

WITH 30 YEARS  IN THE MUSIC SCENE AND SEVERAL POP CLASSICS FROM THE 80’S AS PART OF THEIR CAREER, TEARS FOR FEARS HOLD THE STATUS OF BEING ONE OF THE FEW BANDS OF THEIR GENERATION WHO’VE PLAYED IN THE SOUTH OF BRAZIL.  TOMORROW (03/10), AT 9PM, PEPSI ON STAGE WILL WELCOME THE GROUP FOUNDED BY CURT SMITH (BASS AND VOCALS) AND ROLAND ORZABAL (GUITARS AND VOCALS), WHOSE NAME WAS INSPIRED ON ARTHUR JANOV’S PRIMAL SCREAM, A PSYCHOTERAPHIC METHOD WHICH CONSISTS ON REACHING OUT YOUR DEEPEST FEARS AND SET YOURSELF FREE THROUGH SCREAMS (AS “SHOUT” LYRICS SUGGEST: “SHOUT, SHOUT/LET IT ALL OUT”).

TEARS FOR FEARS’ POP SOUND WAS KNOWN FOR ACOUSTIC ELEMENTS, KEYBOARDS AND LYRICS SURROUNDING SELF-DISCOVERING THE NEED OF CHANGING YOURSELF AND EVEN LOVE. THE ALBUM ‘SONGS FROM THE BIG CHAIR’, FROM 1985, BEST KNOWN FOR HITS SUCH AS EVERYBODY WANTS TO RULE THE WORLD, HEAD OVER HEELS AND SHOUT (ALL OF WHICH ARE TO BE PLAYED AT THE GIG) REACHED THE TOP OF BILLBOARD.

IN THE EARLY 90’S, A FEW MONTHS AFTER THE RELEASE OF THE VERY WELL ACKNOWLEDGED THE SEEDS OF LOVE (1990), THE DUO’D SPLIT UP, EVEN THOUGH ORZABAL KEPT MAKING MUSIC UNDER THE NAME OF THE BAND AND DECIDED TO RELEASE TWO CDS WITHOUT CURT. IN EARLY 2000’S, CURT RETURNED TO THE BAND. THEIR LATEST STUDIO ALBUM, EVERYBODY LOVES A HAPPY ENDING WAS RELEASED IN 2004.

THE GIG IN PORTO ALEGRE OPENS THE BRAZILIAN TOUR.  ON THE SETLIST, SOWING THE SEEDS OF LOVE, PALE SHELTER, WOMAN IN CHAINS AND ADVICE FOR THE YOUNG AT HEART ARE VERY LIKELY TO BE PLAYED AS THEY WERE IN LIMA (PERU), WHERE TFF PLAYED LAST WEEK, SMITH SPOKE ON THE PHONE TO ZH.

ZH – AFTER 15 YEARS SINCE THE LAST TIME TFF PLAYED IN BRAZIL, YOU GUYS ARE COMING BACK TO PLAY CITIES YOU’VE NEVER BEEN BEFORE. WHAT’S YOUR EXPECTATIONS AND WHAT SHOULD tHE AUDIENCE EXPECT?

CURT SMITH – I’M REALLY ANXIOUS AND I HOPE THEY’RE GONNA BE GOOD GIGS, ESPECIALLY FOR THE REACTIONS WE’VE BEEN SEEING ON THE INTERNET. IT’S ALWAYS GREAT TO PLAY PLACES WHERE WE’VE NEVER BEEN BEFORE. RECENTLY, WE MADE A CONSCIOUS CHOICE OF THE PLACES WE’RE GOING TO PLAY AND NO ONE PUT US UNDER ANY KIND OF PRESSURE. FOR THIS TOUR, WE DECIDED TO MIX OUR MOST WELL-KNOWN SONGS WITH MORE STRUCTURED VERSIONS OF OTHERS.

ZH – WHAT DO YOU RECALL FROM THE CONCERTS YOU’VE PLAYED HERE BEFORE?

SMITH – I RECALL IT WAS A BIT CRAZY. I REMEMBER ONE RIO DE JANEIRO GIG (HOLLYWOOD ROCK, IN 1990) WHEN THERE WAS THIS MASSIVE STORM. ALL THE MUSICIANS AND THE CREW WERE REALLY SCARED OF BEING ELECTROCUTED AND WE HAD TO RUSH THE CONCERT A LITTLE BIT. BUT WE LIKED IT A LOT AND THE AUDIENCE WAS VERY RECEPTIVE.

ZH – WITH TEARS FOR FEARS ON TOUR IS IT SAFE TO SAY THAT IT INSPIRES YOU TO COMPOSE NEW SONGS?

SMITH – YEAH. ACTUALLY, WE ALREADY WROTE A FEW, BUT WE STILL DON’T HAVE ENOUGH MATERIAL TO RECORD ANYTHING. WHEN WE FINISH THE SOUTH AMERICAN TOUR, WE’RE GONNA START WORKING ON IT. I BELIEVE WE COULD PROBABLY FINISH A NEW ALBUM NEXT YEAR.

ZH – DO YOU BELIEVE THAT THAT CELEBRATING THE 80’S  (80’S REVIVAL) WILL LAST FOR A LONG TIME?

SMITH – I DON’T THINK THAT WHAT HAPPENS HERE ISTHE CELEBRATION OF AN ERA, EVEN THOUGH YOU COULD SAY IT’S A FACT THAT LOADS OF GOOD SONGS WERE MADE AT CERTAIN SPECIFIC TIMES. PEOPLE REALIZE THAT THESE TUNES HAVE REAL QUALITY AND THAT’S WHY THEY KEEP LISTENING TO THEM.

ZH – YOU’RE VERY KEEN ON SOCIAL NETWORKS, LIKE FACEBOOK AND TWITTER (@CURTSMITH), AND YOU ALSO PRESENT A LIVE MUSIC WEB SERIES (STRIPPED DOWN LIVE WITH CURT SMITH). DO YOU THINK THAT THE INTERNET CHANGED THE WAY YOU MAKE MUSIC?

SMITH – I BELIEVE IT DID, QUITE A LOT, AND IT ALSO HELPED ME TO FIND OUT HOW TO KEEP BEING AN ARTIST. IT BASICALLY STARTED WHEN I WAS LOOKING FOR A MUSICIAN. I FOUND THIS CELLO PLAYER (ZOË KEATING) THROUGH TWITTER, LISTENED TO HER MUSIC AND THEN INVITED HER TO RECORD A TRACK WITH ME. WE DID ‘ALL IS LOVE’ WITHOUT EVEN MEETING EACH OTHER IN PERSON. IT WAS A FUN EXPERIENCE, AND I INTEND TO DO IT AGAIN.

ZH – TALKING ABOUT TWITTER, BEFORE GOING TO LIMA, YOU WERE TWEETING ON MANCHESTER UNITED’S MATCH FOR THE CHAMPIONS LEAGUE (CURT IS A VERY ENTHUSIASTIC SUPPORTER OF THE TEAM). DO YOU LIKE BRAZILIAN FOOTBALL AS WELL?

SMITH – YES. IN MANCHESTER, WE HAVE BRAZILIAN PLAYERS SUCH AS ANDERSON (FROM THE SOUTH OF BRAZIL), AND THE SILVA BROTHERS (FABIO AND RAFAEL, FROM RIO). BRAZILIAN FOOTBALL WAS ALWAYS BRILLIANT AND VERY APPRECIATED IN ENGLAND. ONE OF THE BIGGEST MOMENTS OF MY LIFE WAS WHEN I MET PELÉ BACK IN 1986, WHILE IN MEXICO FOR THE WORLD CUP.

ZH – YOU AND ORZABAL HAVE KNOW EACH OTHER SINCE YOUR TEEN YEARS, AND NOW IN 2011 YOU BOTH ARE 50 YEARS OLD. HAS TIME CHANGED YOUR MUSICAL/PROFESSIONAL RELATIONSHIP?

SMITH –WE’RE MORE RELAXED… (FRANKLY) NOW, WE KNOW WHAT WE REALLY WANT AND WE DON’T NEED TO QUESTION OTHER PEOPLE. QUITE HONESTLY, WE DO WHATEVER WE WANT TO DO WHEN IT COMES TO OUR RECORD COMPANIES, AND IT MAKES EVERYTHING EASIER FOR US.

–END OF INTERVIEW–

again, many thanks to Karina for her help. If anyone has any comments or questions (about the translation) please leave a reply.

*A gentle reminder, this is a fan generated blog. For official answers from the band please contact them directly using the resources found on Curt’s page. Contact (@curtsmith) on Twitter or Facebook. Curt also has a website: www.curtsmithofficial.com