Naked Eyes 'Fumbling With The Covers' album

"In my first two videos I wore pajamas, so this title should come as no surprise," Naked Eyes front man Pete Byrne says of "Fumbling With The Covers," the band's long awaited third studio album. "I wanted to record songs from some of my favourite artists, but lesser known songs, not the big hits everyone knows." In the early days while still performing in the pubs of Bath, England, Byrne, as one half of the synth-pop pioneers Naked Eyes, along with bandmate Rob Fisher, shared a love for the music of Bob Dylan, Cat Stevens, The Beatles and Jimi Hendrix.

"It was around 1980 that Rob and I formed a band called Neon, that would later include Curt Smith and Roland Orzabal," says Byrne. "We recorded a few songs, but the band fizzled, and Roland and Curt went on to form Tears For Fears, while Rob and I created Naked Eyes." Almost immediately, the band signed to EMI and began recording at the legendary Abbey Road Studios. "... I've always loved the songs from the great girl singers of the sixties, and one day in the studio we decided to do a cover of one of them; it could easily have been a Dusty Springfield song or a Cilla Black tune, but as fate would have it, we settled on a Sandie Shaw song." That song, was the Burt Bacharach/Hal David tune "Always Something There To Remind Me," which immediately exploded into the Top Ten.....followed by the self-penned "Promises, Promises" and "When The Lights Go Out." The back to back to back hits resulted in massive U.S. radio airplay and an almost constant presence on MTV (even if it was in pajamas.)

Although the band was expecting to tour, the label wanted a follow-up, so Byrne and Fisher went into the studio to record "Fuel for the Fire" which produced the hit single "(What) In The Name of Love." Soon enough, the duo was asked to begin work on yet another release, but, rather than continuing what was becoming a never-ending cycle, Byrne and Fisher decided to walk away and leave Naked Eyes as a project to be continued...

The next few years saw both Byrne and Fisher involved in a number of various activities. Fisher teamed up with vocalist Simon Climie on a couple of albums, one of which which spawned the hit single "Love Changes (Everything)." Meanwhile, Byrne collaborated with a number of artists including Stevie Wonder (providing vocals on the #1 single "Part-Time Lover") and also wrote and produced a number of songs for Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen among others. By 1999, Byrne and Fisher decided to pick up where Naked Eyes had left off and started work on a third album. Sadly, it was tragically interrupted when Fisher passed away from complications of surgery that summer. Left to carry on solo, Byrne decided that the best course of action was to start where it had all begun all those years ago back in Bath. "I had the title, I went out and got a guitar, then with guitar and title in hand, went looking for the songs that inspired me to be in a band in the first place." That brings us to where we are today, so on July 31st, you'll be able to experience "Fumbling With The Covers," a ten-song collection that has really been the result of a very long and unpredictable journey...

Even in the midst of the latest “retro” 80s revival, it is no small thing to be one of the rare acts whose music still gets consistent radio airplay. Naked Eyes is just such a band: Fans of their warm brand of synthesized pop, which comprised two albums and two huge 1983 US hits (“Always Something There To Remind Me” and “Promises, Promises”), can’t help but launch into song at the sound of their immediately-recognizable melodies.

By the time Naked Eyes formed, members (and friends) Pete Byrne and Rob Fisher were old hands at the herky-jerky game of finding the right band. Both had gone around on the Bath pub-n-club circuit while punk, new wave and disco were dominating the music scene, but nothing had clicked for them long-term. They had a brief run with Neon from 1980-81, a band that also featured future Tears for Fears members Roland Orzabal and Curt Smith – yet that essential something remained elusive. “All of Neon’s material was written by Rob and me,” remembers Byrne, “so it sounded like Naked Eyes with guitar and drums.”

On their own again in 1982, Byrne and Fisher opted to keep things simple: Synths, and a two-man format. Early demos (one of which was their lush cover of the Burt Bachrach/Hal David classic “Always Something There to Remind Me”) led to a major label record deal – and producer Tony Mansfield, who put the shine on their 1983 debut album, “Burning Bridges” (tweaked slightly and retitled “Naked Eyes” for the US), which they recorded at the legendary Abbey Road Studios.

The release of “Always” proved successful on both sides of the Atlantic, and was rapidly followed up with “Promises, Promises” and “When The Lights Go Out,” proving that the band had more than just one good tune in them. The following year brought about their second album, “Fuel for the Fire” (clearly the band preferred albums with heat-themed titles), but it failed to continue their momentum, (the quirky single, “(What) In the Name of Love” only brushed the Top 40). Saddled with difficult second album woes brought about by changes at the record label, Byrne and Fisher called it quits.

Yet that’s been far from the last word heard from Naked Eyes. Relocated to California, Byrne has kept their flame alight in the intervening years, assembling a greatest hits/rarities album (“Everything And More”), which includes all the 12-inch dance remixes – including a version of “Promises, Promises” that features vocal assistance from Madonna. He has also made a name for himself by working with Stevie Wonder, Brad Buxer (musical director for Michael Jackson) and as a producer and songwriter for among others The Olsen Twins. And he has released both an EP and full-length album of original tunes (2000s The World in Which We Love and 2001s The Real Illusion). Byrne and Fisher, who had remained on good terms since the band breakup, reunited in early 1999 to work on new tracks, but Fisher died suddenly late in the year after complications following stomach surgery.

Since Fishers death, Byrne had been mulling over the idea of putting a new Naked Eyes together, and in 2005 put that idea in motion. Having connected with talented members of several Los Angeles-based bands, themselves enamored with the newly-repopularized synth sound of the 80s, Byrne has written several dazzling new tracks (including the impressively moody Diamond Days) and has headlined many sold-out shows around the U.S. Not that Naked Eyes will stop there: On July 31st '07, the Naked Eyes-Stripped album (Fumbling With The Covers) will be released, Byrne is starting work on the next Naked Eyes electric album and more upcoming tour dates are in the works. Proof, if ever any was needed, that with Byrne at the helm Naked Eyes is a band for whom the lights never do go out.

By Randee Dawn

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Naked Eyes - Fumbling With The Covers