Born on January 18: Tom Bailey (Thompson Twins) always calls his "Doctor! Doctor!"

Born in Halifax, England, in 1956, he's best known for founding the Thompson Twins in the late '70s.

In their early days, when the band's first members were scraping by in London squats, Tom Bailey was the only one with any musical experience. This wasn't unusual in those days. They learned on the job, and even had the right to make mistakes. Things have changed!

While the Belgian school of comics, and even more so Hergé's ligne claire, didn't enjoy any real popularity in the UK, it was indeed from Dupont & Dupond that the band borrowed their stage name. In the English version of Tintin's adventures, the two eccentric police inspectors are called The Thompson Twins...

In its early years, the band resembled a Spanish inn, with countless member changes and the inevitable self-released singles, including the very new-wave “Squares And Triangles” in 1981.

Three albums, pop and bouncy but without much impact (“A Product Of...” evokes XTC in the background), were necessary for the band to gradually refine this obsessive synth pop mix with “In The Name Of Love” (1982) then “Love On Your Side” and “Lies” (1983).  

Now reduced to a trio, with blonde Alannah Currie and black stalwart Joe Leeway, Tom Bailey took a gamble, recording at Compass Point Studios in the Bahamas under the guidance of Alex Sadkin. This gamble gave rise to “Into The Gap” (1984) and its slew of hits, on which Tom still builds most of his live performances. For his 40th anniversary, yet another remastered version was released in 2024. And it's “Doctor! Doctor!”, ‘You Take Me Up’ (and its countless remixes) and ‘Hold Me Now’ that have helped Tom Bailey reach almost one and a half million monthly listeners on Spotify. Nostalgia, nostalgia!

(Stéphane Soupart - Tr.: MH - Photo: © Etienne Tordoir)
Photo: Tom Bailey on the terrace of a suite at the Hôtel Métropole in Brussels (Belgium), September 26, 1985.