As Thompson Twins co-founder Tom Bailey prepares for this upcoming ‘Into The Gap’ Australian tour, he has given Noise11 an update on what the other central members Joe Leeway and Alannah Currie are up to now.
“Neither Joe or Alannah were musicians first,” Tom Bailey explains to Noise11.com. “They were kind of band members first and they were interested in how music back in the 80s was a force for social and stylistic change. They were fascinated by that. They were in a band because they thought they could do something, rather than being musicians. That came second for them, I think”.
Tom was the only one who pursued music after Thompson Twins was no more. “When they quit I think their attention was taken elsewhere,” he says. “All I can do is music basically, so I have to carry on. In the successful threepiece version of the Thompson Twins we had a very strict division of labour where Alannah did the visual styling of the band and wrote lyrics. Joe was in charge of the live theatre presentation because he had a theatre background. I was totally in charge of the music”.
Tom, Joe and Alannah has drove a different section of Thompson Twins. “We didn’t really step on each others territory in that regard and it worked well. As long as we were coming up with good ideas we trusted each other to do that. It was a good idea whereas I think a lot of bands all through in their opinion of everything they do and it all comes watered down. It is good to have a singular vision about what goes on.”
Joe Leeway left music completely after Thompson Twins. “Joe went on to get into hypnotherapy,” Tom says. “He lives in California where there is a big business in the personal transformation business. It is very popular. Alannah is living in London and working as a conceptual artist. I think she has plans to move back to New Zealand at some stage as do we all”.
One of Alannah and Tom’s non-Thompson Twins successes was Debbie Harry’s hit song ‘I Want That Man’. “Alannah wrote the words and I wrote the music and that was great fun,” Tom says. “We wrote several tracks for Deborah on that album largely through our management in New York who were involved with both bands at the time. Deborah was a pleasure to work with. She was great fun. Alannah and Deborah became lifelong friends. In fact, I noticed when Deborah put out her autobiography on audio book she got Alannah to read it. So if you want to hear more of Alannah’s voice, a rare hearing of Alannah’s voice, it’s on that book”.
In 2022, Tom Bailey will perform all of the songs from ‘Into The Gap’ for the first time ever in Australia in October for Destroy All Lines.
https://www.destroyalllines.com/tours/thompson-twins-tom-bailey
Dates are:
20 October, Brisbane, The Tivoli
21 October, Tweed Heads, Twin Towns
22 October, Sydney, Enmore Theatre
23 October, Wollongong, Anitas Theatre
26 October, Canberra, Canberra Theatre
27 October, Melbourne, Palais Theatre
28 October, Adelaide, The Gov
30 October, Perth, Astor Theatre
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