Yesterday, marked the release of the 17th track from musician, author, and film composer Michael Hearst’s (One Ring Zero, Songs For Ice Cream Trucks, Unusual Creatures) series of 80 cover songs from the 1980s recorded with guest vocalists comes out.
The track is “Love Cats” featuring John Cameron Mitchell (Hedwig and the Angry Inch) on lead vocals. “Love Cats” was written by Robert Smith and originally released in 1983 by The Cure.
Other featured vocalists in the series include Amanda Palmer, John Cameron Mitchell, Stephin Merritt Syd Straw, Jonathan Coulton, Claudia Gonson, Tanya Donelly, Krystle Warren, John Linnell, Jamie Lenman, Allyssa Lamb, Xavier Smith, Martha Wainwright, and many others.
Individual tracks will be released worldwide digitally every other Tuesday, having starting with the September 10th, 2024 release of the Til Tuesday hit “Voices Carry” featuring vocalist extraordinaire Syd Straw.
Nostalgia for the 80s is at an all time high. Widespread fondness for the era’s distinctive music, fashion, and entertainment has been fueled by media celebrating 80s culture, alongside a longing for the simplicity of that time amidst today’s technological complexities. Then again, perhaps it’s just that people who grew up in the 80s have reached middle age.
In 1983, the year that “Mr. Roboto” was released by the band Styx, 10 year old Michael Hearst missed the school bus because he couldn’t peel himself away from the five-minute-long MTV video. In the late ‘80s, while driving himself to school (as well as to the malls and various skateparks around Virginia Beach), the stereo in his car constantly blasted mixtapes featuring Oingo Boingo, The B52s, and Public Image Ltd.
In 2024, inspired by the thought of teaching his 10-year-old son about 80s’ music, Michael began recording his own versions of classics, such as “Break My Stride” by Mathew Wilder and “Hold Me Now” by Thompson Twins. Hearst is an avid collector and player of unusual and hand-crafted instruments, including theremin, accordion, and daxophone. After inviting his close friend and fellow 80s music lover Claudia Gonson (Magnetic Fields) to pick a song to sing—she chose “Eyes Without A Face” by Billy Idol—he decided to reach out to other friends including Tanya Donelly (Belly), John Linnell (They Might Be Giants), The Magnetic Fields’ Stephin Merritt, and Syd Straw to pick songs to sing for the project. They in turn suggested some of their friends to join the fun: John Cameron Mitchell (Hedwig), AC Newman (New Pornogrpahers), Amanda Palmer, Xavier Smith, and many more. Now the wheels were in motion and Hearst was enjoying the ride way too much, thus he set about to record 80 of these reboots. 80 from the 80s!
From Krystle Warren’s deep-velvet rendition of Paul Simon’s “Call Me Al,” to Jonathan Coultan’s pitch-perfect falsetto on Crowded House’s “Don’t Dream It’s Over,” Hearst’s 80 FROM THE 80s aims to entertain and perhaps provide a little bit of respite from the election season ahead, reminding us of a time when you could still “catch the deluge in a paper cup.”
Initial batch of releases will include:
1. “Voices Carry” w/ Syd Straw (‘Til Tuesday)
2. “You Dropped A Bomb On Me” w/ Stephin Merritt and Xavier Smith (Gap Band)
3. “In My Room” w/ Tanya Donelly (Yazoo)
4. “Don’t Dream It’s Over” w/ Jonathan Coulton (Crowded House)
5. “Lovecats” w/ John Cameron Mitchell (The Cure)
Michael Hearst is a composer, multi-instrumentalist, and writer, whose vast output is characterized by a fascination with extremely specific themes.
His most recent project is a four-part book series, each book geared toward a grand theme: Unusual Creatures, Extraordinary People, Curious Constructions, and Unconventional Vehicles. Each book includes a companion album, and Unusual Creatures was also made into a PBS Digital series, hosted by Hearst.
His previous album, Songs For Ice Cream Trucksis currently blared by at least 50 ice cream trucks around the world. And Songs For Fearful Flyers, which includes voicework by fearful flyer Whoopi Goldberg, has soothed many nervous travelers.
Hearst has also composed soundtracks for the movies To Be Takei, Magic Camp, Chicken People, and The Untold Tales of Armistead Maupin among others.
Michael Hearst is a founding member of the band One Ring Zero, who have released nine albums, including the literary collaboration As Smart As We Are, featuring lyrics by Paul Auster, Margaret Atwood, Dave Eggers, and Neil Gaiman, among others; Planets, a collection of new compositions to represent the solar system and beyond; and The Recipe Project, in which the band has taken recipes from today’s top chefs (Michael Symon, Tom Colicchio, David Chang, etc.), and sing them word for word.
Hearst has performed and given lectures and workshops at universities, museums, and cultural centers around the world. He has toured with The Magnetic Fields, performed with The Kronos Quartet at Carnegie Hall, and has appeared on such shows as NPR’s Fresh Air, A+E’s Breakfast With The Arts, and NBC’s The Today Show.