A lot of music fans will look back at the 1980s decade with fondness. The birth of MTV and the breakthrough of some of the biggest names in pop today were riding the airwaves and our screens with catchy pop videos to boot…and who can forget Live Aid…
By Ian Woolley
Then Jerico
Madonna, Michael Jackson, and Queen are just three acts who were hardly ever off our screens and radio airwaves. One such group at the tail end of that era was Then Jerico. Recently we caught up with their lead singer Mark Shaw to ask him about what he remembers about the 1980s.
Favourite 80s pop video? “Sledgehammer” by Peter Gabriel” replied Mark. Who can forget those headless dancing chickens!
Mark Shaw (centre) and Then Jerico
With many appearances on TOTP, I asked Mark about which Top Of The Pops memory he remembers most.
“The first time we did TOTP with “The Motive” will always be special but it was surreal sitting in the BBC reception at 8 am waiting to be escorted to the TOTP studios and seeing a dozen internationally famous people just standing around and chatting.”
“When we returned from lunch at the local pub, BBC security guards wouldn’t let us back in for an hour as they didn’t believe we were genuinely in the charts!” said Mark.
Now with some new Then Jerico gigs on the horizon, plus a few acoustic ones, the 80s are to quote Simple Minds, ‘alive and kicking’ for Mark Shaw and his band.
Read our full interview with Mark Shaw HERE