Private Lives were a British new wave band, active in the early to mid-1980s, who are best known for their 1984 charting single, "Living in a World (Turned Upside Down)".

Biography

The band formed in 1980. At its core was vocalist and songwriter John Adams, accompanied by Rick Lane on keyboards and John Read on bass. The band's debut single, "Where Do I Go", was released by

WEA The Wea were a Miami–Illinois-speaking Native American tribe originally located in western Indiana. Historically, they were described as being either closely related to the Miami tribe or a sub-tribe of Miami. Today, the descendants of th ...

on 1 August 1980. The song was written by Adams and Lane and produced by Adams and David Moore. The band signed to the

Chrysalis Records Chrysalis Records () is a British independent record label that was founded in 1968. The name is both a reference to the pupal stage of a butterfly and a combination of its founders' names, Chris Wright and Terry Ellis. It started as the Ell ...

label, releasing a single, "Because You're Young", on 12 March 1982. It featured Adams on vocals, Lane on keyboards, Read on bass, Steve Harvey on drums and Bobby Valentino on violin, with guest appearances by Gary Barnacle on saxophone and Paul Harvey on guitar. The song was written by Adams and Lane and produced by Adams and

Martin Rushent Martin Charles Rushent (11 July 1948 – 4 June 2011) was an English record producer, best known for his work with the Human League, the Stranglers and Buzzcocks. Early life Rushent was born on 11 July 1948 in Enfield, Middlesex. His fathe ...

. The band's third single, "Memory of Your Name", also on Chrysalis was released on 13 August 1982. The lineup on the single featured Adams on vocals and drums, Read on bass and Lane on keyboards, with guest appearances by

Simon Climie Simon Climie (born 7 April 1957) is an English songwriter, musician and record producer. He is best known as the former lead singer of the UK duo Climie Fisher. Biography Climie was born in London. Beginning his career primarily as a songwr ...

on guitar and Guy Baker on bass. It was produced by

Tony Visconti Anthony Edward Visconti (born April 24, 1944) is an American record producer, musician and singer. Since the late 1960s, he has worked with an array of performers. His first hit single was T. Rex's " Ride a White Swan" in 1970, the first of man ...

. The band gathered a strong live following, but poor record sales led to them being dropped by the label and the band breaking up. Private Lives re-emerged, this time as a duo with Adams on vocals and Morris Michael on guitar; though Lane was no longer in the band, he continued to co-write most of the band's material with Adams. The group signed with

EMI Records EMI Records (formerly EMI Records Ltd.) is a British multinational record label owned by Universal Music Group. It was originally founded as a British flagship label by the music company EMI in 1972, and launched in January 1973 as the succes ...

and released a single, "Break the Chains", in September 1983. The song was written by Adams and Lane and produced by Peter Wade Schwier. The next single, "Living in a World (Turned Upside Down)", was released in January 1984. It was written by Adams and produced by Adams and Schwier. The single peaked at No. 53 on the UK Singles Chart in February of that year, remaining in the top 100 for five weeks. The success of the single was helped by a support slot on

Hall and Oates Daryl Hall & John Oates, commonly known as Hall & Oates, were an American rock duo formed in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1970. Daryl Hall was generally the lead vocalist, while John Oates primarily supplied electric guitar and backing vocals ...

' tour of the United Kingdom. The subsequent single, "From a River to a Sea", was released in May 1984 but failed to chart. "Living in a World (Turned Upside Down)" was re-recorded, remixed and re-released in October 1984. Their debut album, ''Prejudice and Pride'', was released by EMI Records in 1984. Among the backing musicians on the band's album were

Kajagoogoo Kajagoogoo ( ) were an English Pop music, pop band. They are best known for their 1983 hit single "Too Shy", which reached No. 1 on the UK Singles Chart, and the top 10 in numerous other countries. History Beginnings (1978–1982) Formed ...

bassist

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, English singer

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and

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. In 1985, Adams released his debut solo single, "Through the Eyes of Love", which was produced and co-written by Andy Taylor (

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). He then went onto release a solo album, ''Strong'', on

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in 1987, with one single, "Strip this Heart". All three failed to chart. In 2016, Lost 80s Records re-released a remastered limited edition of ''Prejudice and Pride'', which included six additional tracks, comprising the band's previous three singles and B-sides. Though the band are not too well known in their native country,

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music critic Michael Sutton claims that "Living in a World" enjoyed popularity as a turntable hit in

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, Philippines, and is still played on the radio.

Discography

Albums

* ''Prejudice and Pride'' - EMI Records (EJ 24 0136 1) (1984)

Singles

* "Where Do I Go" - WEA (K 18303) (1 August 1980) * "Because You're Young" - Chrysalis (CHS 2564) (12 March 1982) * "Memory of Your Name" - Chrysalis (CHS 2628) (13 August 1982) * "Break the Chains" - EMI Records (PRIV 1) (September 1983) * "Living in a World (Turned Upside Down)" - EMI Records (PRIV 2) (16 January 1984) - UK #53 * "From a River to a Sea" - EMI Records (PRIV 3) (May 1984)

References

{{reflist Musical groups established in 1980 English new wave musical groups New wave duos EMI Records artists Chrysalis Records artists