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Thursday, November 01, 2007

"...but the trial separation worked / and ended up / in a divorce case"

Is getting married young a mistake? Do we really know what we want when we're only 17?

Those are questions posed in Fun Boy Three's single, "Tunnel Of Love". After shedding most of The Specials, Terry Hall, Lynval Golding and Neville Staples formed Fun Boy Three in 1981, discovered Bananarama, and had a few UK hits. In 1983 the band teamed with producer David Byrne (yes, that one) to record their second LP, Waiting. You may have heard Waiting's first single, "Our Lips Are Sealed", a song co-written by The Go-Go's Jane Weidlin. Unlike their version, Fun Boy Three's came nowhere near the Top 40 in America.

The young-married-couples-in-turmoil follow-up single stood even less of a chance. That doesn't stop "Tunnel Of Love" from being a classic single, though, with its unique ska-tinged tango beat and darkly humorous lyrics of romantic despair. Hardly the stuff Top Ten hits are made of.



Alas, Waiting would be the final Fun Boy Three project, as Hall disbanded the trio just as they were gaining traction in the U.S. Hall would go on to form the more traditionally pop Colourfield.

And yes, he later married.

Then got divorced.

"Tunnel Of Love" did not chart.

Get Fun Boy Three music at Amazon or on Fun Boy Three & The Specials

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posted by John, 3:25 PM
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