‘It was impressed by a snog in a photo-booth’: how Thompson Twins made Maintain Me Now

Tom Bailey, singer, songwriter, bass, guitar, keyboards

Thompson Twins had been a seven-piece, rag-bag, guitar-based band residing in a squat once I met Alannah Currie, who was additionally squatting in London. She was in an anarchic improv band, the Unfuckables, who had been clearly not destined for High of the Pops, however there was one thing very thrilling about her. After I invited her to return on on the finish of a Thompson Twins gig, she stole the present.

We slimmed all the way down to a three-piece with Alannah, Joe Leeway [keyboards, percussion, vocals] and myself. Abruptly we had been a recognisable trio who might all slot in one automotive. After I purchased a synthesiser, our monitor Within the Title of Love grew to become a dance/membership sensation, which opened doorways in America. Till then, we’d at all times vaguely hoped our music would do effectively, however after that we thought: “Why don’t we truly design it to do effectively?”

Maintain Me Now took place after we’d gone off to jot down songs in some home someplace and had a inventive disagreement that spilled over into private insults. However behind that was actual affection and a relationship we’d stored secret from the press. We quickly made up and instantly wrote Maintain Me Now about that course of. The tune got here very simply. It felt extra mature than the clubby stuff. It was slower, heartfelt, extra emotional, and being about actual stuff gave it authenticity.

I used to be eager to document it as quickly as potential however Alex Sadkin, our common producer, wasn’t accessible, so I went into RAK Studios and recorded most of it myself, one thing I’d by no means carried out earlier than. Alex got here in on the finish and wished to redo among the vocals. Joe and I shared the falsetto bits. We knew we had been on to one thing as a result of everybody who heard it stated it was going to be an enormous hit, together with the BBC.

We launched it in November 1983 as a result of in these days everybody wished a Christmas No 1. We had been away recording at Compass Level within the Bahamas when Maintain Me Now got here out and had little or no contact with the surface world. We got here out of these classes to search out it racing up the charts, then it simply grew to become this monster hit.

Alannah Currie, singer, songwriter, percussion

I keep in mind a van pulling up exterior with all this gear and the entire band transferring into a extremely unhealthy squat reverse mine. When Tom gave me a raise to the tube, we hit it off immediately. In these days, a great deal of bands got here from the squat scene: you had free housing, you’d bunk the tube and have the run of London.

The Unfuckables solely did one gig however we had been wild feminists who’d fill eggs with black paint and throw them at sexist adverts. We had been fearless. As soon as I joined the Twins, we solely had one another so actually went for it. I used to be a girl musician at a time when there weren’t many and Joe was Black, so we received a tough time.

All people centered on Tom, who’d had classical coaching – whereas we had been soiled punks. However we at all times tried to search out the frequent floor between the three of us. I keep in mind us all sitting in my squat deciding we wished to be a brand new kind of band – synthesisers and drum machines introduced unbelievable freedom. After being broke for therefore lengthy, instantly we might do what we wished: attempt to make superb information.

Maintain Me Now could be principally a letter from me to Tom, and him to me, with interjections from Joe. I by no means had “an image, pinned to my wall”, however that lyric was impressed by a photo-booth image of me and Tom snogging, which I stored inside my writing e-book. I scrawled many of the lyrics down like a love letter, a kind of frenzied belongings you do to search out out what you’re actually considering. Then we tailor-made the phrases as in the event that they had been coming from Tom, as a result of he’d be singing it.

Every little thing was carried out so rapidly it was completely from the guts. Then the tune simply appeared to tackle a lifetime of its personal. It was such an enormous, bombastic, painful however madly nice time in our lives. Tom and I’ve two youngsters collectively however whereas we’re not a pair, or a band, however all three of us are like household and keep in contact. Often, I’ll hear Maintain Me Now enjoying someplace and my coronary heart simply goes: “Ohh.”