Lost Bands of the 80′s: Two People

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As I browsed through a few hundred songs in a file of rare 80′s tracks I downloaded this week (courtesy of a guy on Pirate Bay that posts thousands of rare 80′s cuts) I came across the song “This is the Shirt.” Now, the name of the song itself begs a listen. This Is the Shirt.

“This is the shirt that she wore when it was good, good, good.”

This Is the Shirt Lyrics by Two People

Nevermind the lyrics. The song is damn infectious. I played it on turntable.fm in the New Wave/Alt-80s room to a rousing welcome — a welcome begat by ironic appreciation for the lyrics and, I think, the song itself. This is an 80′s pop song. There’s no getting around it, for better or worse. But if you’re into catchy pop-sensibilities with a hint of Crowded House malaise…. have a listen:

Good luck getting that out of your head for the next week.

I did some more digging on the band: Two People. What did I come up with? Very little. Not even a wiki page. Two People was Mark and Noel. They never actually released a full album, only a few 7″ and 12″ singles. How sad for Two People and how sad for us, that we were not treated to more than a handful of songs from this potentially great band. I worry that one of the “two people” took themselves too seriously and the other one of the “two people” wanted to go some kind of meta, self-aware route. Whatever the reason that this band dissipated before delivering on the promise of “This Is the Shirt” we may never know. Hearsay suggests that the record label screwed them over and they became disillusioned, reformed as a band called The People and then broke up after failing to get re-signed. I’m off to track down some of these singles on vinyl – though after a quick search on Discogs I’m beginning to learn that only the UK and Scandinavia had any appreciation for this excellent band, gone too soon. But isn’t that always the case?

Oh, and here’s their other singles. No — really. That’s it. A few singles and some B-Sides.

But wait, you say? There’s more to the Two People story? Yes, and well, no. The same source that suggested their demise came at the hands of record label mismanagement claims that Noel became a jungle and dance producer and Mark briefly worked with a band called Satellite of Undying Love in the early 90′s. Though video of the band doesn’t seem to exist, a UK vinyl 7″ exists for a song called “Endlessly” as well as a 12″ for “Let’s Do The Base Thing.”

The Complete Two People Vinyl Discography (as far as I can tell):

Rescue Me 7″ (B-side: Back Into the Room of Blue)
Rescue Me 12″ (A1 Rescue Me, A2 Wonderful Thing, B1 Back Into the Room of Blue, B2 Broken Arms)
Mouth of An Angel 7″ B-side: Let’s Raise Murder)
Mouth of An Angel 12″ (A1 Mouth of An Angel Extended, B1 Let’s Raise Murder, B2 Dig It)
This Is the Shirt 7″ Remix (B-Side People In Love (Never Have Much Fun))
This Is the Shirt 7″ (B-Side Sister, Sister)
This Is the Shirt Remix 12″ (A1 This Is the Shirt Remix, B1 People in Love (Never Have Much Fun), B2 It’s Obvious)
This Is the Shirt 12″ (A1 This Is the Shirt A2 This Is the Day (Part 1), B1 Sister, Sister, B2 This Is the Day (Part 2)
Heaven 7″ (B-side: Run to Him)
Heaven 12″ (A1 Heaven, B1 Run to Him, B2 Broken Arms)