Music Blurbs Vol. 14

More of my 200-word sorta-bios.

A Flock of Seagulls
The enduring visual image of A Flock of Seagulls is one featuring Mike Score’s distinctive hairstyle, a swept-forward do reminiscent of a cockatoo. Positioned behind a futuristic synthesizer, Score fronted the band on MTV hits like “I Ran,” “Space Age Love Song” and “Wishing (If I Had a Photograph of You).” The Liverpool quartet (not that one) also won a Grammy Award for one of their instrumental tracks, 1983’s “D.N.A.” Beyond the unique look of the group, A Flock of Seagulls helped usher in new wave as a commercial and cultural force. The group’s self-titled debut album rose to the number one spot on the Australian charts, reaching the Top Ten in the UK and U.S. AFOS combined rock muscle, New Romantic visual style and forward-looking synthesizer textures. By the middle of the decade, the band broke up, but by ‘98 they had reformed and resumed touring. 2024’s Some Dreams introduced a clutch of new songs.

Regina Spektor
Even by the standards of pop music, Regina Spektor has a most unusual back story. A childhood émigré fleeing persecution in post-Soviet Russia, Spektor settled with her parents in New York City when she was nine. Her classical piano studies continued at a conservatory, and she self-released her debut album, 11:11 at age 21. Six years later, she had earned prominent billing at the 2007 Bonnaroo Festival, playing in front of a massive audience. With eight studio albums and two live discs to her name, Spektor is now firmly established as a popular singer-songwriter. She has performed at the White House, supports a number of charities (including HIAS, the organization that helped her family settle in the U.S. in 1989) and ventured into film work with a cover of the Beatles’ “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” for Kubo and the Two Strings. Spektor’s most recent studio offering is 2022’s Home, Before and After. That record charted in five countries, and like most everything in her body of work, it was received warmly by critics. Her catalog has recently been reissued on limited-edition vinyl.

Buena Vista Social Orchestra
What little knowledge Americans have regarding the culture of Cuba is quite limited, filtered through a U.S. government hostile to that country’s leadership and an influential and ultra-conservative south Florida diaspora that’s even more virulently opposed to it. As such, the rich musical culture of Cuba is less celebrated than it deserves to be. Thanks to the efforts of a team including American guitarist Ry Cooder, the 1996 album Buena Vista Social Club broke through some of those barriers, introducing audiences in the U.S. and beyond to the country’s musical styles of bolero, son and danzón. For his trouble, Cooder was tried and fined for having violated the Trading With the Enemy Act, but the runaway popularity of the album led to widespread interest in Cuban music and culture. The BVSC album and related projects have global sales of more than 50 million units. Today, some 30 years after the album’s release, a stage musical is playing to enthusiastic audiences on Broadway, and – under the direction of band leader and trombonist Jesús “Aguaje” Ramos – the Buena Vista Social Orchestra brings that music to live audiences across the Americas.

Cyndi Lauper
Cyndi Lauper burst colorfully onto the pop music scene with her aptly-titled 1983 debut album, She’s So Unusual. With her brightly colored hair, irrepressibly sassy attitude hook-filled pop music, Lauper cut a memorable figure on MTV, then in its ascendancy. Lauper may have seemed custom-made for the visual medium of the video music channel, but she stood apart from the then-current crop of pop tarts thanks to her genuine and formidable musical chops. Behind her thick and unapologetic Brooklyn accent, Lauper was a seasoned songwriter and experienced live performer. She’s So Unusual shattered records, giving Lauper four hit singles. 1986’s True Colors was another smash, and Lauper sustained her creative momentum even when the hits stopped coming. Her 2003 jazz standards album At Last reminded anyone who might have missed it that she’s a remarkably versatile talent. 2016’s Detour found her tackling country and western. Her current Girls Just Wanna Have Fun Farewell Tour comes full circle, celebrating her debut single and signaling an end to her touring days.