Watch Him Get Naked

With 1980s playlists all the rage these days, you don't have to be of a certain age to appreciate the tuneful joy of Naked Eyes' 1983 "(There's) Always Something There to Remind Me." But it helps. If only for the fact that you can count yourself among those who were there when the song first exploded across America. Then again, since the song was originally written in the 1960s by Burt Bacharach and Hal David, originally recorded by Dionne Warwick, and originally became a hit when British singer Sandie Shaw got a hold of it, even you who were there when can't officially count yourselves among the first where that tune is concerned. Not so with Naked Eyes' second smash hit, "Promises Promises," even though that track shares a title with a Bacharach/David musical. No, "Promises" is pure Naked Eyes -- resolutely tuneful and relentlessly upbeat. In fact it remains such a catchy representation of the era that Lady GaGa herself sampled it for 2008's "Poker Face." Naked Eyes was a synth pop duo out of Bath, England who were among the first to combine ultra-modern technology and old-fangled songwriting. With the 1999 death of co-founder and keyboardist Rob Fisher, the duo became one, singer Pete Byrne. He continues to carry the name with both solo shows and, on occasion, backed by a full band. Byrne's about to release a new LP of all original songs called Piccadilly, the first since 2007's Fumbling with the Covers. But whereas that last album featured songs from the songwriters Byrne finds most compelling (Bob Dylan, The Beatles, Elton John), the latest finds the pop operative compelled again to compose on his own.
Thu., July 9, 2009