Chapter 77: Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go (January - October 1984)

20 January 1984

Roger Waters - The Post War Dream

Released: 20 January 1984

Recorded: May - October 1983

Producer: Roger Waters, James Guthrie and Michael Kamen

Track listing[1]

Side A

The Post War Dream

Your Possible Pasts

One of the Few

The Hero's Return (Part 1)

The Gunner's Dream

Paranoid Eyes

Side B

Get Your Filthy Hands Off My Desert

The Fletcher Memorial Home

Southampton Dock

The Hero's Return (Part 2)

Not Now John [feat. David Gilmour]

Two Suns in the Sunset

Roger Waters had finished the Spare Bricks project in time for the release of the film adaptation of The Wall, and shortly after doing so, Argentina had invaded and occupied the Falkland Islands, shortly followed by invading South Georgia. Mother England was outraged, and Margaret Thatcher's government had dispatched a naval task force to engage with the Argentine Navy and Air Force before launching an assault on the islands. Britain had won the battle by 14 June, but not everyone was happy about the actions of the Conservative Party, among those included John Lennon and Roger Waters.

ROGER WATERS: "The Post War Dream was about how, with the introduction of the Welfare State, we felt we were moving forward into something resembling a liberal country where we would all look after one another … but I'd seen all that chiseled away, and I'd seen a return to an almost Dickensian society under Margaret Thatcher. I felt then, as now, that the British government should have pursued diplomatic avenues, rather than steaming in the moment that task force arrived in the South Atlantic." (2008)[2]

Roger Waters (left) and David Gilmour (middle) during the recording sessions for The Post War Dream, 1983.

A few tracks that were intended for The Wall - "Your Possible Pasts", "One of the Few", "The Fletcher Memorial Home" and "The Hero's Return" - found themselves a new lease of life when they ended up on The Post War Dream, and Waters called up David Gilmour to help with some guitar parts. Although he would be committed to working on Pink Floyd's About Face in August 1983, Gilmour accepted the invitation, even singing some vocals on "Not Now John". Both would recall the sessions with fondness, with Waters feeling like it was being a part of Pink Floyd again prior to Syd Barrett's unfortunate passing in 1977.[3] He would even attend a few of his former band's shows during their About Face Tour, thinking about playing with them again, even if it was just for one show.

The Post War Dream finally came out on 20 January 1984, quickly topping the charts in the United Kingdom and peaking at #4 in the United States. It received mixed reviews upon initial release due to how personal the themes were, but has since gone on to become a critical favorite, being cited as one of the greatest examples of "anti-war rock", inspiring artists like Bad Religion and U2. The album's sole single, "Not Now John"/"The Hero's Return", managed to reach #30 in the United Kingdom but did not chart in America.

6 April 1984

Smile - Radio Ga Ga

Released: 6 April 1984

Recorded: August 1983 - January 1984

Producer: Smile and David Richards

Track listing[4]

Side A

Radio Ga Ga

Tear It Up

Love Kills

It's a Hard Life

Let Me In Your Heart Again

Side B

I Want to Break Free

Man on Fire

Star Fleet

Man Made Paradise

Hammer to Fall

Is This the World We Created...?

Needing a change of scenery, the members of Smile - Freddie Mercury, Brian May, Roger Taylor and John Deacon - went over to America along with new producer David Richards (per Taylor's suggestion) and keyboardist Spike Edney to record their follow up to Fun in Space. Around fifteen songs were considered for inclusion, although some would later turn up on future albums. During the sessions, the band had also worked on music for a couple of films - Freddie recorded "Keep Passing the Open Windows" for The Hotel New Hampshire which later ended up becoming a solo B-side. The other film, however, was a actually a reconstruction of a German film from 1927 - Fritz Lang's Metropolis.

DAVID BOWIE: "I'd had this big vision about bringing Metropolis back to life for the new generation. I wanted to bring in people I was familiar with over the past fifteen years or so - Mick Jagger, John Lennon, Freddie Mercury, to name a few - to work on a soundtrack that would retell the iconic story about a dystopian, terrifying future. Some brought in new material, whilst others reworked older songs to fit the narrative." (2011)[5]

Smile in the music video for "Radio Ga Ga", 1984. The video was famously interspersed with footage from Metropolis.

Bowie's vision for Metropolis included psychedelic effects to make the audience believe that they were the ones who were stoned, and not the director, and the soundtrack was made to feel contemporary with the times rather than using orchestrated music. Smile contributed three songs to the soundtrack, all of which would later end up on Radio Ga Ga - the title track, "Love Kills" and "Is This the World We Created?". David Bowie's Metropolis came out under the Apple Films banner and received a polarizing reception among critics and audiences alike. Some praised the music featured while others criticized Bowie for ruining the original, to which he responded, "This wasn't the original. I've no bloody idea where that is." It wouldn't be until 1998 that Apple would revisit Metropolis by creating a more "definitive" restoration of the film with the assistance of Martin Koerber, eventually being released in 2001.

BRIAN MAY: "There were two ideas we had in mind for 'Break Free' - Roger suggested Coronation Street, and Freddie wanted The A-Team. There was a lot of debating behind the scenes over which one we should film." (1989)

The Coronation Street parody, a British soap opera show, would star Freddie as a frustrated housewife, Deacy as a conservative grandmother, Brian as a contented housewife, and Roger as a naughty schoolgirl. During their stay in the United States, Mercury had become fascinated with The A-Team, an action-adventure show focusing on four ex-members of a fictitious US Army Special Forces unit tried by court martial for a crime they had not committed. Freddie thought that he would portray B. A. Baracus with Brian as Hannibal, Roger as Howling Mad Murdock, and Deacy as Peck.

Freddie Mercury as a housewife in the British music video for "I Want to Break Free", 1984.

A compromise was reached so that the United Kingdom (Coronation Street) and the United States (The A-Team) would each have their own music video - Freddie believed that the Americans would not have accepted a group of men in drag in a music video; indeed, men in drag was British humor, something that would easily have been lost on American viewers.[6] There was criticism, however, over alleged "whitewashing" of Mr. T's character B. A. Baracus. Both music videos included a sequence with the band in a coal mine and another parodied the French ballet L'après-midi d'un faune (Freddie was sans mustache in that sequence, having kept it for the Coronation Street parody).

Radio Ga Ga (#1 UK, #2 US) was received positively by critics and fans, as were the singles from the album. There were two covers for the album; in the United Kingdom, it was the band dressed up as their Coronation Street characters, while the international cover would feature a regular band shot. For the 1991 re-release and onward, the Coronation Street cover became the standard, becoming one of the most iconic album covers of the 1980s. Smile would embark on a worldwide tour beginning in August.[7]

Summary of single releases from Smile's Radio Ga Ga

• "Radio Ga Ga" / "Let Me In Your Heart Again" - 6 February 1984 (#2 UK, #6 US)
• "I Want to Break Free" / "Love Kills" - 2 April 1984 (#3 UK, #10 US)
• "It's a Hard Life" / "Killing Time" - 16 July 1984 (#1 UK, #6 US)
• "Hammer to Fall" / "Man Made Paradise" - 10 September 1984 (#5 UK, #8 US)
• "Thank God It's Christmas" / "Is This the World We Created...?" - 26 November 1984 (non-album release; #9 UK, #10 US)

15 May 1984

A shot from the first episode of Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends, Thomas, Edward and Gordon, in which Thomas teases Gordon by waking him up with his whistle, 1984.

"Thomas is a tank engine who lives at a big station on the Island of Sodor. He's a cheeky little engine with six small wheels, a short stumpy funnel, a short stumpy boiler, and a short stumpy dome." Those were the words told by Ringo Starr on 15 May 1984, the day that the adaptation of the Reverend Wilbert Awdry's Railway Series books first premiered.[8] With thirteen episodes at running at ten minutes each, plus a Christmas special at fifteen minutes, Britt Allcroft Presents The Rev. W. Awdry's Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends Starring the Beatles was a smash hit with critics and fans.

The episodes utilized stories from the first eight books - from The Three Railway Engines to Gordon the Big Engine - but they were strung together to form a narrative between the stories. The voices for the engines were provided by the Beatles, with Britt Allcroft, David Mitton, Mike O'Donnell and Junior Campbell providing additional voices such as the coaches, trucks and engine crews. For marketing purposes, the title was shortened to Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends, but the diehard fans would recite the full title as if it were a mantra. There have been attempts at simply shortening the full title to BAPTRWATTTEAFSTB - pronounced Bapt Rewa Totte Anfstb - but these simply didn't catch on.

The Beatles put out a non-album single on 27 August - "No More Lonely Nights" backed with "We All Stand Together". Both were penned by Paul McCartney, with the latter sung by Ringo Starr.[9] Alongside the positive publicity with their involvement in Thomas the Tank Engine, the power ballad on the A-side was well acclaimed, topping the charts in the United Kingdom and even reaching #3 in the United States, likely due to the kid-friendly B-side akin to "Yellow Submarine".

The voice cast of Britt Allcroft Presents The Rev. W. Awdry's Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends Starring the Beatles

• John Lennon as Thomas and Gordon
• George Harrison as Edward, James and Terence
• Paul McCartney as Henry, Percy and Bertie
• Ringo Starr as Toby and the Fat Controller
• Britt Allcroft as Annie and Clarabel, Henrietta, the Queen, Mrs. Kyndley and additional voices
• David Mitton as additional voices
• Mike O'Donnell and Junior Campbell as the Troublesome Trucks

Episode list for the first season of Britt Allcroft Presents The Rev. W. Awdry's Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends Starring the Beatles[10]

1. Thomas, Edward and Gordon - adapted from "Thomas and Gordon" and "Edward and Gordon" (15 May 1984)
2. The Sad Story of Henry - adapted from "The Sad Story of Henry" and "Edward, Gordon and Henry" (22 May 1984)
3. Trouble for Thomas - adapted from "Thomas' Train" and "Thomas and the Trucks (29 May 1984)
4. Thomas and James - adapted from "Thomas and the Breakdown Train", "James and the Top Hat" and "James and the Bootlace" (5 June 1984)
5. On Your Guard - adapted from "Thomas and the Guard" and "Troublesome Trucks" (12 June 1984)
6. Fishy Situations - adapted from "Thomas Goes Fishing" and "James and the Express" (19 June 1984)
7. Strike Out! - adapted from "Tenders and Turntables" and "Trouble in the Shed" (26 June 1984)
8. Runaways and Tractors - adapted from "Percy Runs Away" and "Thomas, Terence and the Snow" (3 July 1984)
9. The Fall and Rise of Henry - adapted from "Coal" and "The Flying Kipper" (10 July 1984)
10. Pride Before a Fall - adapted from "Gordon's Whistle", "Off the Rails" and "Henry's Sneeze" (17 July 1984)
11. Toby the Tram Engine - adapted from "Toby and the Stout Gentleman" and "Thomas in Trouble" (24 July 1984)
12. Buses and Mines - adapted from "Thomas and Bertie" and "Down the Mine" (31 July 1984)
13. Tar Wagons and Queens - adapted from "Dirty Objects" and "Paint Pots and Queens" (7 August 1984)
14. Mrs. Kyndley's Christmas - adapted from "Mrs. Kyndley's Christmas" and "Thomas' Christmas Party" (4 December 1984)

July 6, 1984

Barbara Bach and Ringo Starr, 1983. Similarly to her husband's role as narrator for Thomas the Tank Engine, Bach would gain a career revival with her performance as Catwoman in Batman and Robin in 1984.

Similarly to the first two Superman movies, Batman and Robin was shot alongside Batman, hence both films were directed by Martin Scorsese and scored by Vangelis. The eighth entry to the DC Appleverse introduced Barbara Bach as new love interest/antiheroine Selina Kyle/Catwoman and Donald Pleasence as Oswald Cobblepot/Penguin, with John Travolta, Tom Cruise, Harvey Keitel and Peter Cushing reprising their respective roles as Batman, Robin, Commissioner Gordon and Alfred. Batman and Robin was the first entry in the DC Appleverse to be rated PG-13[11] while the previous films were all rated PG; the PG-13 rating had been created to indicate a higher level of intensity after Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom and Gremlins, both rated PG, contained violence that was too graphic for said rating.

Taking place a year after the original film, a relationship between billionaire Bruce Wayne and journalist Vicki Vale had not worked out, with Bruce putting his attention on looking after ward Richard "Dick" Grayson. However, the pair meet with a young woman by the name of Selina Kyle who becomes enamored with Bruce, much to Dick's disgust, which puts a strain on their relationship. Unknown to either of them (although Dick finds out first), she is actually a burglar who goes by the name of Catwoman, and is working under a mobster by the name of Oswald Cobblepot, who goes by the moniker "Penguin".

Donald Pleasence in Halloween, 1978. Six years later, he would star as the Penguin, the villain of Batman and Robin.

Bruce and Dick's relationship gets strained to the point that they argue over whether or not Selina should be trusted or not. In a desperate attempt to prove himself right, Robin goes off to hunt Catwoman down and have her arrested, only to be held at ransom by the Penguin and his goons. When Bruce hears of Robin's capture, he goes after his ward as Batman, leading to a final battle that ends with the Penguin being killed by Catwoman as revenge for turning on her. It is there that Batman unmasks himself in front of Catwoman, revealing himself to be Bruce Wayne and that Robin is Dick Grayson. Bruce and Selina part ways (but not without sneaking in one final kiss) while the former repairs his relationship with Dick. At the end of the film, Batman encounters a man in a blue suit with a red cape, wondering what his purpose is here on Earth.[12]

Despite being in stiff competition with the likes of Ghostbusters that summer, Batman and Robin was able to become a success both critically and commercially, with acclaim going to Barbara Bach's performance as Catwoman, who later stated that it sparked a revival in her film career. Madeline Kahn had originally been considered for the role, but due to her pregnancy with Alice Lennon, she asked Barbara to take the role instead. However, Maddy did not rule out the possibility of appearing in a future film as Poison Ivy. Meanwhile, fans were excited about the upcoming Justice League film following Christopher Reeve's cameo appearance at the end.

October 26, 1984

Sharon Stone, 1983.

Three and a half months following the release of Batman and Robin, Wonder Woman II was released with Tom Mankiewicz taking over for Ivan Reitman as director due to the latter's commitments with Ghostbusters and the soon-to-be-released Justice League. The ninth entry of the DC Appleverse saw Elizabeth Peña again reprising her role as Wonder Woman, this time playing off against rising star Sharon Stone as Priscilla Rich, also known as the supervillain Cheetah.

Over thirty years have passed since the end of World War II, and Diana Prince has taken up residency in Washington, D.C., becoming roommates with a dancer and philanthropist with a split personality by the name of Priscilla Rich. At first, the two women get along well with each other, but when Priscilla sees Wonder Woman (unknown to her, actually Diana) save a child from getting hurt at a charity event, she becomes envious and wishes that she was as good as Wonder Woman. Over time, Priscilla becomes increasingly disheveled before she finally becomes the Cheetah.

Priscilla Rich discovering her other persona Cheetah in a mirror in Wonder Woman issue #6, published October 1943. This served as the basis for the plot line of Wonder Woman II in 1984.

Cheetah frames Wonder Woman for a bank robbery and tips off the police before setting fire to a warehouse that Wonder Woman is in, but she manages to survive and escape because of her fireproof armor. She manages to follow Priscilla to Paradise Island where the villain holds Queen Hippolyta hostage. Cheetah and Wonder Woman battle for control of Paradise Island, with the former defeated when Hippolyta's magical girdle is taken off of her. Priscilla requests to remain on Paradise Island until she can control her split personality while Diana returns to Washington, D.C., where reads a news article about Superman sealing the San Andreas fault line after Lex Luthor's hijacking of a nuclear missile to detonate in it, as depicted in the 1978 film. This piques Diana's interest, wondering how many other super heroes are in man's world.

Reception towards Wonder Woman II was generally positive, but not quite as strong as that of the original, with some critics lamenting the absence of Steve Trevor (played by John Schneider), noting that their chemistry is what made the original film. However, there was still praise for the dynamic between Peña and Stone as the hero and villain, respectively, and the film was to serve as an appetizer for fans waiting the main course - Justice League.

Footnotes

1. All tracks are sourced from Pink Floyd's The Final Cut. "The Hero's Return (Part 2)" is sourced from the "Not Now John" single.
   
2. Actual quote said by Roger Waters for Comfortably Numb - The Inside Story of Pink Floyd, but slightly altered to accommodate the album title change.
3. In OTL, tensions were high amongst Pink Floyd due to Roger Waters' domineering behavior.
4. Tracks are sourced from The Works, Queen Forever, Roger Taylor's Strange Frontier, Brian May's Star Fleet Project and Freddie Mercury's Mr. Bad Guy. "I Want to Break Free" and "Hammer to Fall" are the single edits found on Greatest Hits II. "Love Kills", "Let Me In Your Heart Again", "Man on Fire" and "Man Made Paradise" were all auditioned for The Works in OTL, but did not make the cut for various reasons. "Star Fleet" was a separate project altogether, although Roger Taylor did play drums on it, making it an honorary Queen track.
5. Giorgio Moroder had to pay $200,000 for the rights to make his own restoration/re-edit of Metropolis, outbidding David Bowie. Goodness knows what Bowie might have done with the film if he had won the rights...
6. In OTL, the music video for "I Want to Break Free" was banned on MTV, killing the single's chances of success in America, and by extension, killed Queen's popularity in the United States until the appearance of "Bohemian Rhapsody" in Wayne's World in 1992. Sadly, that was three months after Freddie Mercury's death from AIDS.
7. In TTL, with the success of the A-Team version of "I Want to Break Free", Smile ends up touring in the United States instead of Sun City in Bophuthatswana, South Africa. In OTL, Queen never toured North America for their Works Tour, and their appearance at Sun City was controversial because of the apartheid policy of South Africa in place at the time. United Nations requested entertainers to boycott the country and the Musicians' Union disallowed any of its members from performing in Sun City. Queen strongly defended their stance by saying they "play to anybody who wants to come and listen" and were "a very non-political group." They donated to a school for deaf and blind people to prove their philanthropic values.
8. In OTL, Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends debuted on October 9, 1984, John Lennon's 44th birthday.
9. Ringo Starr did not sing "We All Stand Together" in OTL. In addition, Paul had written the song for Rupert and the Frog Song, which still got made in TTL under Virgo-Libra Studios.
10. Most of these stories were adapted for the first series of Thomas the Tank Engine in OTL. Paint Pots and Queens would not be adapted into an episode until 1995 for the fourth series, and Mrs. Kyndley's Christmas was never considered for adaptation save for a brief flashback sequence in Thomas' Christmas Party.
11. In OTL, the first film rated PG-13 was Red Dawn, released one month after the modified rating system was introduced.
12. The synopsis is loosely based upon OTL's Batman Returns, with the romance subplot influenced from Batman: Return of the Caped Crusaders.

Author's Comments

At long last, we've reached the home stretch for the first draft of Strawberry Peppers! We're now into 1984, and quite a lot has happened thus far - Roger Waters' The Post War Dream is now a proper solo album (The Final Cut was basically a solo album in all but the name anyway), the world's now going gaga for Smile with Freddie Mercury on board, Thomas the Tank Engine has finally reached the small screen, and the Appleverse is now getting closer and closer to its climax. But of course, the Beatles are still recovering from the disappointing reception of War and Peace; rest assured, things will turn out better for them in the end.

I'm amazed at how much I've written for in the past two and a half years, and to those who've continued to read during that time, I can't thank you enough for your support. There's only three more chapters to go, so hopefully I'll be able to end this draft on a high note.