Curt Smith - vocals, bass, keyboards; Roland Orzabal - vocals, guitar, keyboards; Manny Elias - drums, programming; Phil Palmer - guitar; Ian Stanley - keyboards
Tears for Fears, the British synth pop duo featuring Roland Orzabal and Curt Smith, were just starting their quick ascent to the top of the pop charts when they made this live recording for the King Biscuit Flower Hour in April of 1983. The two were childhood friends who both came from broken homes and discovered music together, giving their group a name inspired by psychologist Arthur Janov's "Primal Scream Therapy" (the controversial therapy publicized by John and Yoko Lennon after the breakup of The Beatles). Many of the songs on their initial album, The Hurting, were based on Janov's writings and made for great lyrics for the angst-ridden MTV generation.
This show was essentially a showcase of the first album, with nearly all of it being performed to near perfection. Orzabal and Smith quickly became press darlings in the U.K. and were deeply embraced by BBC 1 radio. Their success was less evident in the U.S., although they got enough MTV exposure to build a solid fan base.
It would be their second album, Songs from the Big Chair, and the strength of two hit singles, "Everybody Wants to Rule the World" and "Shout," that catapulted the duo to international rock star status. Tears for Fears continued to make albums for another five years, but after their third album Smith departed, leaving Orzabal the task of carrying on alone with the band name. Neither saw any great commercial success while apart from each other. In 2004, they reunited to record a comeback album, Everybody Loves a Happy Ending.