I remember when I was first looking at music papers seeing the name Gruppo Sportivo and being faintly intrigued, in the same way that Brand X adverts were faintly intriguing. Couldn't get a fix on what either band would sound like.
I don't remember ever hearing Gruppo Sportivo then although they got quite a bit of exposure in the UK. And they were pretty big on the Continent, or parts thereof.
A Dutch group - basically a Dutch bloke, as there's this one central, recurring figure, Hans Vandenburg - who take Anglophilia to an extreme. They basically seem to want to be The Members.
Although I think they started before The Members.
Actually what they are really like is a Netherlands version of Deaf School. I believe Bette Bright sang with Gruppo later on.
Well this is None New Wavier to the power of I don't know what - Gruppo Sportivo covering Wall of Voodoo
Like Fabulous Poodles, like Jona Lewie, like Costello and Joe Jackson and Graham Parker, they represent that side of New Wave where it is a time when funny-looking blokes have a chance at being pop stars. People who in most other eras would not get a look-in for not being a looker - too ordinary-bloke unmemorable, or actively mis-shapen.
No funny-looking or even ordinary-looking women of course - in New Wave, it's still expected that you are pretty. At least when it comes to fronting a band. (So not so "New" after all).
You can be quirky and wacky and easy-on-the-eye like Lene Lovich but the beauty double standard still applies.
Gruppo have good looking backing singers, who jig about a bit like the girls in Squeeze's "Cool For Cats", to offset the bald gnome-like central geezer.
Eeuw the mohair makes it look he has horribly hairy shoulders.
Design wise you can't get much more None New Wavier than this cover below
Still going
I mentally elided this lot with Spizz, specifically Athletico Spizz 80, and basically thought they were the same group.
ReplyDeleteVery strong Timmy Mallett vibe to a lot of New Wave.
It's those big spectacles. The Buggles factor.
DeleteAlso the total imperviousness to embarrassment.
DeleteToday, I saw posters for a New Wave nostalgia show at a NYC club next month. A Flock of Seagulls are the headliners, but Belouis Some, Josie Cotton, General Public and four other bands are also performing.
ReplyDeleteOoh you've reminded me that in my very early days I reviewed Belouis Some live.
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