That's Entertainment : Pseudo Echo
Back in the day, much like now, Australian bands liked to ape what was happening overseas.
For instance, in the late 80's when hairbands like Poison dominated the charts, Australia had Roxus. Then in the early 90's the world was gifted Nirvana and grunge, so we got Nirvana In Pyjamas, ahem, silverchair. When Nu-Metal hit in the late 90's/early 2000's, there was Limp Bizkit, so we had 28 Days. And so on. It's no shameful thing that influential bands at their peak influence bands who like to mimic the sound, image, etc.
Anyway, in the early 1980's, when Futurist New Romance was at it's peak with bands like Duran Duran, Simple Minds and Ultravox, a little Aussie band sprung up copying the sound and image of these dandy pop stars. Now, depending on who you listen to, they were either one of the worst Aussie bands ever or one of the best Aussie bands ever. If the prevailing scene of pub rock is to be believed, this sinful, wicked band full of poofs and ponces that had no cred. On the other hand, they were equally adored and had mass chart success, no doubt helped by numerous appearances on Countdown.
The band I refer to, is Pseudo Echo.
Now Pseudo Echo are a funny band. Their first album was as I said, very Ultravox / Duran Duran with keytars, awash with synth squelches and electronic African/Asian drums. By the time they released their second album, they'd moved in to the mid-80s prevailing pop sound and my 1989, they'd gone sort of hair-band pop-rock. When they returned in 2000, Pseudo Echo had arrived at the future they had seen some 20 years earlier, but with edgier synth and technological leanings of cool electro.
That aside, they did record one of the biggest selling and best covers of all time in Funky Town.
For mine, A Beat For You is one of the greatest New Romantic tunes, and often finds it's way on to mix tapes of the era.
I'm pretty sure the girls loved Pseudo Echo. If they were around today, think Reece Mastin. Pseudo Echo played their own instruments, wrote their own songs, performed live (though not on Countdown). But like a Reece Mastin, Pseudo Echo were probably burdened by the teen girl image, bad posing, and even when they tried to move away from the poncey side of things in their early days, there was a lingering doubt that they were just a fad band. Which is not fair for Pseudo Echo. Reece is burdened by the fact he was a reality TV show winner.
And dredging through all the singles and video clips, I am quite surprised by just how many hit singles (Top 40) Pseudo Echo had. And today, they're pretty much ignored in the pop history landscape. (Another parallel to TV show winners, where is Lee Harding, Cosima or Paulini now? Hell, where is Atilyan Childs?). Pseudo Echo slip in to a period where Aussie men were still men, but there were Aussie blokes who were blokes who liked girls and therefore went to many of the gigs with their girlfriends and won't admit in public they ever tapped a toe to Pseudo Echo, let alone sang along, bought a 7" single or watched Countdown or Sweet & Sour.
And I think we can safely say Pseudo Echo fall in to that sad Aussie music trap of a massive first album, a decent follow up and the forgotten third album that came out just before the record company sat them down and gave them a chat about finding a job at Franklins...a la 1927 and Thirsty Merc.
So at the end of the day, I will freely admit to not minding Pseudo Echo. And when it all boils down, at least Funky Town kicks some major ar$3.
And now, while I pull some electric boogaloo moves in the privacy of my lounge room, I'm going to whack on some Pseudo Echo, and go ape with the kids. Just hope DOCS don't come a knocking!
Listening
A Beat For You
Stranger In Me
Dancing Until Midnight
Don't Go
Love An Adventure
Living In A Dream
Try
Funky Town
Fooled Again
Take On The World
Over Tomorrow
Eye Of The Storm
Don't You Forget
2000
Lessons In Love # 1
2012
Suddenly Silently
Fighting The Tide
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