[Many Afternoons, Still No Utopia] -- In 1986, Alphaville released their sophomore album, Afternoons in Utopia. It was something of a concept album -- a sci-fi synth/disco opera -- but it still holds up pretty well, particularly considering it did not chart nearly as well as their first album, Forever Young [covered here on September 27, 2024]. Afternoons in Utopia was recorded over a period of nine months and involved nearly 30 different musicians [see Credits on Discogs]. The album barely squeaked into the US Billboard 200 (at #174) while four of the five singles charted internationally. None of them became a huge radio hit.
Regarding Afternoons in Utopia's first single, "Dance With Me," Alphaville's lead singer, Marian Gold, reportedly said that the lyrics refer to child prostitution. I have found several references to this interview on the web, but I have yet to find a copy of the actual interview. Still, having read the lyrics afresh, and re-watched the music video, I do see some legitimacy to the claim. And I'll never be able to hear this song quite the same way again.
Oh, and I'm not sure how they picked which tracks to release as singles, but I think they missed out by not selecting "The Voyager".
Flashback: Afternoons In Utopia (June 5, 1986)
And that's all till next week. Dedicated 80s-philes can find more flashbacks in the Prophet or Madman archives or via Bookended's 80s Flashback tag. As always, your comments are welcome on today's, or any other, flashback post. And if you like what I'm doing here, please share the link with your friends. If, however, you don't like the flashback, feel free to share it with your enemies.
See you in seven!
