Revenge of the 80s Radio - Hour 2 Chris Cordani

Department S' new version of "Is Vic There?" has been a mainstay on the U.K. Heritage Charts and they have a new album coming in September. Phil Thompson, guitarist for the band's current lineup, talks with Chris during this edition of Revenge of the 80s Radio about it

Phil discusses setting the updated "Is Vic There?" to tune, the September 23, 2022 release of Department S' upcoming Burn Down Tomorrow album (of which he had a major hand in writing), working with the band and his playing with the Rezillos in recent years as well.

On this edition of Revenge of the 80s Radio, we talk Hot Summer Jams, the title of both a new single from Taco and new book by music writer James Arena. Both gentlemen have been on with us before, so why not put them together for a show?

Taco discusses the track, putting it together and James' contribution to the lyrics; James discusses his eighth book and some of the highlighted songs of the season. We also throw around some of our own favorite Hot Summer Jams

This week on Revenge of the 80s Radio, we feature a tribute musical block to Andy Fletcher, a founding member of Depeche Mode

We have another New Wave Dance Party on this edition of Revenge of the 80s Radio with extended remixes and concrete-cutting classics from Alphaville, King, Men Without Hats, Book of Love and more classic alternative artists.

Jennie Matthias didn’t aspire to be a singer; she didn’t know she had the voice for the job. It was an accidental “audition” for a bunch of ex-Bodysnatchers looking to form a new band which led to Jennie becoming the lead singer of a band which would later be known as The Belle Stars. Jennie Mathias is our guest on this episode of Revenge of the 80s Radio

During our conversation, Jennie tells her story about how she became the frontwoman for the Belle Stars, how the band’s name (which they did not have at their first performance) came about, her career, post-Belle Stars collaborations, solo recordings, picking herself up from rock bottom and inspiring others to do the same through her anti-drugs work, many charity efforts and her book: Surviving the Storm, In addition, we air a new track finished a short time ago.

In the early days of Revenge of the 80s Radio, I used to cover and review concerts somewhat regularly. During one at Jones Beach in 2009 which featured several artists of the 80s, I met backstage a rather talented percussionist, Lily Gonzalez, who was playing with ABC at the time. Since, she has worked with several classic alternative acts, most recently (and currently) with Tony Hadley. Lily has a new album out titled Sink or Swim; she will be our guest on this episode of Revenge of the 80s Radio.

Lily talks about how she became one of the classic alternative community's most in-demand percussionists and her recent work with Hadley. We also discuss some of the tracks on her album, Lily's own funky-jazzy combo sound and writing two of the songs featured on Sink or Swim with Nik Kershaw including the single "I Like You Better When You're Gone."

We also play music from The Divine Horsemen, Opus, Laibach and more classic alternative artists.