Song:Everybody Have Fun Tonight
Album:20th Century Masters: The Millennium Collection: The Best Of Wang Chung
The British group Wang Chung had their biggest success with the 1986 top five hit Everybody Have Fun Tonight. They had some other hits but this song is very durable. Singer guitarist Jeremy Ryder AKA Jack Hues and bassist Nick Feldman met in 1977. Hues responded to Feldman's ad in Melody Maker and the resulting band The Intellektuals lasted for six months. Then they formed 57 Men with drummer Darren Costin, bassist Leigh Gorman, keyboardist Simon Campbell and singer Glenn Gregory. They split up after a year and a half. Gregory went on to be lead singer of Heaven 17 and Gorman was in Bowwowwow. Hues, Feldman and Costin then formed Huang Chung which supposedly means perfect pitch in Chinese. After a couple of singles, Huang Chung signed with Arista Records in 1981. They also added sax player Dave Burnand. They recorded an unsuccessful album for Arista and they asked to be released from their contract. Also, Burnand left. They changed their name to Wang Chung and signed with Geffen Records. Their 1983 album Points On A Curve spawned the top 20 hit Dance Hall Days. Then they recorded the score for the 1984 film To Live and Die In LA for director William Friedkin. That was also successful. Costin left in 1985 and for the 1986 album Mosaic he was replaced by producer Peter Wolf. Not to be confused with the lead singer of J. Geils Band, this Peter Wolf was born in Austria. He moved to the US in the late 70s and played keyboards for Frank Zappa. He went on to a very successful production career in the 80s and produced #1 hits for Starship, El DeBarge, Heart and Patti LaBelle. Everybody Have Fun Tonight reached #2 on the Billboard Hot 100. The music video directed by Godley & Creme was a big part of that success. Of course the song had a great hook that is still memorable today. The single Let's Go was also a top ten hit. Wang Chung released one more disappointing album in 1989 and then split up. This budget comp is a good intro to their music. Feldman formed Promised Land with Jon Moss of Culture Club and they released an album in 1992. Hues recorded a solo album that was shelved and recorded Strictly Inc. with Tony Banks of Genesis in 1995. Wang Chung reunited briefly in 1997. Feldman dropped out but Hues continues to lead them today. Here's the video for Everybody Have Fun Tonight by Wang Chung.
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