Oh, yeah: Haircut 100 from 1982. Very cute, and totally nonthreatening. (Most of the bandmates look like your friends’ dads–at least, the way they might have looked in 1982.) They have to have been the most American top-40 radio friendly “ska” band of the 1980s.
What was it with all the saxophones in the 1980s? Everyone had ’em, from Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band to The Waitresses.
Historiann 
Ah, I remember when boys looked like that. At least in my high school, they did.
I miss the days of floppy bangs and polo shirts. Today’s youth are all about hoodies and shaggy hair. I just can’t get into it.
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I hated all that crap in the 1980s. I listened to Rush and Led Zeppelin, played D&D, and made fun of all the jocks and cheerleaders.
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I think the sax’es got through a loophole in the Dire Straits dictum “don’t give a damn about any TRUMPET-playing band…” Something like that anyway.
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I know, ej: my mother appreciated the clean-cut look that was big in the 80s for both men and women. There was a lot more androgyny back then–we all wore the same polo shirts and button-down oxfords, and the boys actually wore *pink* and some even wore eye makeup.
Ever since the post-grunge 90s (where the look was also pretty unisex), young men’s clothing has gotten baggier and baggier and shaggier and shaggier, whereas the young women’s clothing has become smaller, skinnier, and tighter, and their bodies depilated, manicured, and hair highlighted and processed to degrees that I’m glad I was innocent of back in the 80s. Now, the young womon all look like female female impersonators and the young men look, well, just bad.
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….and their music ?……It’s just noise….
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Hey historiann,
What’s with the volcano and tropical background? And what about the professor in the bushes wearing the Indiana Jones-wannabe hat?
The most saxy had to be Duran Duran.
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I kinda liked that song. And that other one they had.
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ABC–they had a lot of sax.
Fratguy: I rest my case.
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oh yes, the other song…”Boy Meets Girl.” wasn’t that it? now i’m hummin bad (and hilarious) 80s tunes all morning.
That link for fratguy is further proof of musical Devo-lution. (sorry I couldn’t resist referencing the pride of Akron)
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Spud boys rock! (They actually do still tour, or make appearances as nostalgia-fests anyway.)
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Are they not menz?!?
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Sorry, but Haircut 100 is not “ska”, nor are they ‘”ska”‘, nor even “‘”ska”‘”. They are to ska as Air Supply is to heavy metal.
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Pretty much. But they have many of the ska band elements: they’re English, use horns, have black and white members, and a self-consciously island/Reggae beat. The xylophones/vibraphones deal certainly made them more Air Supply-like (or Cheap Trick).
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But Air Supply have many of the heavy metal elements: they’re American, use guitars, have only white members, and a self-consciously unsyncopated rock beat.
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I can’t believe you just linked to the most hated You Tube video in America not made by a UCLA student. Srsly, is this the new ric-rolled or something?
If you want cute, grungy-looking but clean, this guy will work:
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PS My students tell me that linking to the Rebecca Black video is called either Blacklisting or Becky Baiting. Waiting to see which one emerges as the dominant term.
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