Musical Notes — Tears for Fears

Voiceover by Lawrence Standifer Stevens / Written by Joseph E. Casanova

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After attaining platinum status in the UK with their debut, The Hurting, Tears for Fears took the US by storm in 1985 with their follow-up, Songs from the Big Chair.

The duo commemorated the album’s 30th anniversary with a stateside tour, which included the Free Press Summer Fest in Houston.

The first two singles, Everybody Wants to Rule the World and Shout topped the charts on both sides of the Atlantic.

The Hurting saw heavy rotation on college radio in 1983, and two years later, it provided the soundtrack to my first video shoot.

Some college friends and I volunteered as extras in a clip for Christopher Cross who wrote the Oscar winning Arthur’s Theme. We played paparazzi at a red carpet event. As we awaited our close-ups, one of the production crew played a cassette of The Hurting. That’s when I first heard “Mad World” and “Pale Shelter.”

I asked my friend Chris who was singing.

“That’s Tears for Fears. They’re from England.”

A crew member popped in and said, “We’ll call you when we’re ready for you.”     

An hour passed, then two, then three. Next, we heard Songs from the Big Chair.     

“Too bad we’re not shooting a video for Tears for Fears.” Chris looked at me, slightly miffed, as he tapped his watch.

We were all tired, bored and hungry cuz we’d been there since 3 p.m. and we didn’t shoot the scene until six hours later. By that time, we didn’t care if we were ever on MTV.

However, that all changed once the cameras started rolling. I was in star mode and I rocked it, baby.    

Despite those stellar performances, our footage ended up on the cutting room floor, as they say. My little sister Celeste waited all afternoon to see me on MTV.

“When’s Joseph’s video gonna be on?” she asked Mom.

“Why don’t you ask his agent?” Mom said with a smirk. “Just watch. Your brother’s gonna become famous and not talk to us anymore.”

She was right. No more autographs, please!