Oh my, Tom outs himself as a New Romantic/Electro Kid turned Proggie! ...
To me, Autograph sounded a bit like dumbed down Loverboy (if that's possible), which means they sure were mining deep!
All the later stage new wave/synthpop dudes were proggies. Flock of Seagulls, Human League, the whole fricken lot. No earlier stage New Wavers (i.e. punks, sometimes even with synths) wouldn't go near them.
Autograph is a funny parallel in that way, so dumbed down (unbelievably so as you say considering the source is hair metal to begin with), but even in the video you can see who the target demographic really is - those girls in the 'audience' are no hair metal chicks, but more conservatively (if fashionably for the time) dressed no longer young adults with jobs and starting to have and appreciate responsibility, like proper jobs in an office, but still wanting to show they have a fun/wild side by listening to a band that has pointy guitars, long permed hair, tight leatherette pants and bandannas on their wrists, lamenting how they have to have respectable haircuts to keep those jobs, but secretly not missing the upkeep - back-combing was a pain. It was similar with nerdier latter synthpop. Only the goth ladies held steadfast; granted it may have been a bit easier for them to keep it real in the office, and every office has one, it's like a rule.
Show Posts
