Dollar was a British pop duo that emerged in the late 1970s and enjoyed a series of hits throughout the 1980s. The duo consisted of David Van Day and Thereza Bazar, who were both former members of the group Guys 'n' Dolls. Dollar's sound was heavily influenced by the electronic pop and new wave styles that were popular at the time, and their music often featured catchy melodies, lush synthesizers, and pulsing drum machines.
Dollar's breakthrough came in 1979 with the release of their debut single, "Shooting Star," which reached the top 20 of the UK Singles Chart. This was followed by a string of successful singles, including "Who Were You With in the Moonlight," "Love's Gotta Hold on Me," and "Hand Held in Black and White," all of which reached the UK top 10.
In 1982, Thereza Bazar left the group to pursue a solo career, and David Van Day continued to perform under the Dollar name with a rotating cast of female vocalists. Although the duo's success waned in the latter half of the 1980s, they released music into the early 1990s before ultimately disbanding.
Dollar's legacy in the history of pop music is somewhat underrated, but their music continues to be remembered and celebrated by fans of the 1980s pop sound. Their catchy melodies, lush arrangements, and stylish aesthetic helped define the era's pop music and have influenced countless artists in the decades since.
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Transcript
Robbie [00:00:00]:
In today's episode, I'm speaking to a lady who was one-half of the greatest pop duos in British history. They sat over 10 million records and had 14 hits on the UK charts. So sit back, relax, and enjoy this fantastic chat with Dollar's own Thereza Bazar.
Robbie
Let's go back a bit if that's all right. You said your mum's, is it 96?
Thereza Bazar [00:02:26]:
My mother is 96 years old and will hopefully turn 97 in July.
Robbie [00:02:33]:
That's wonderful. And was she into music? Was it a musical household growing up?
Thereza Bazar [00:02:38]:
No. So my father, my late dad, was a semi-professional jazz guitarist.
Robbie [00:02:44]:
Wow.
Thereza Bazar [00:02:45]:
So I did have music in the house a little bit, and when I was young, he would be listening to Joe Pass, Django Reinhardt, Dave Rubeck, that kind of thing. And then Frank and Ella. So Frank and Ella were like that, and then we went to more of an avant-garde. So, yeah. So we heard music and played with a semi-professional jazz guitarist in a tiny little band doing local gigs.
Robbie [00:03:23]:
That's fantastic. And were your influences musically from your dad? Was it jazz you were into, as you were into pop, was into rock?
Thereza Bazar [00:03:30]:
I was a ballet girl.
Robbie [00:03:32]:
Oh, really?
Thereza Bazar [00:03:34]:
I was into classical music. I fell in love with ballet at the age of two and a half because I was taken to a ballet studio with my older sister and refused to leave. And I was a very compliant little girl. I was very polite. But I saw this. I thought I was not going anywhere. And the teacher was so lovely, and I was being so stubborn, and my mother was, like, having a bit of a worry about what I would do. And the teacher came home and said she stands at the back, doesn't make a sound; she can stay. So I was allowed to stand at the back and mimic what they were doing. So from age two and a half, I started ballet and was allowed to go every week. Wow. Every week and stand at the back. And they had a pianist who played classical music. And from a very young age, I fell in love. So with all the real classicists, and I'm a mad classical fan of music, but Tchaikovsky, Chopin, the ballet pieces, but you name it. And I listen to Classic FM. I speak to Bill Oberton, who's a fave of mine, he does the night shift, so it's my day, and I send him messages, tweets on Twitter, and my whole horizons; I've got like a rainbow. The amount of music I listen to is just extraordinary. It balances out all the pop, and you understand there are still only eight notes in an octave and how wonderful you've got these incredible melodies. It doesn't matter what jazz, rock, whatever. I fell in love with music probably the same day I fell in love with ballet, about two and a half years ago. And my first records were classical. Chopin. Octurns Tarkovsky. I think it was Swan Lake. And I saved up my pocket money when I was old enough, or my mom and dad would buy it for a birthday present. And I always listened to them, but I knew every melody off my heart.
Robbie [00:05:59]:
A classic series came out with a record and a magazine, and I still have all of those. I bought them at the time. Holst Planets was my favourite.
Thereza Bazar [00:06:17]:
Jupiter is fantastic.
Robbie [00:06:18]:
So you joined Guys and Dolls at 17. You went along for an audition and got the job?
Thereza Bazar [00:06:31]:
Yeah. I thought I was going for a musical, like, group that was touring. I had no idea. It's a pop group. Exactly. So I was entirely out of my depth. My audition was my song Somewhere from West Side Story, really contemporary. And you had to say something, so I chose a piece of Shakespeare and wore a long black skirt and a black polar neck jumper. And I had long, dark Julie Felix hair, probably no makeup and just that was me. Yeah.
Robbie [00:07:08]:
I was watching it on YouTube the other day. There's a Whole Lot of Love'in. That was the first single. Is that right? It was all medallions and open shirts and hairspray. It was beautiful to watch.
Thereza Bazar [00:07:21]:
I wasn't the youngest. Julie Forsyth was the youngest, and then David Van Day was the next youngest. But I was the most naive because they all went to Italia Conti, the premier showbiz musical theatre school. So they'd all had experience with TV and performing, and I've had some experience with tiny acting bits, but they were so street-wise, and I was just like a baby. I'm serious, yeah. I had no idea. And I probably thought, Putty in our hands, she is. It's either that or I was short. This is in the book. I was the shortest person they could find to match up with David because they wanted three girls and three boys. But that's not a jibe. But it's true. We were the cute ones. I mean, you've got to have your image together.
Robbie [00:08:19]:
Was it a touring band? Did it tour much?
Thereza Bazar [00:08:22]:
Guys and Dolls, Toured for about 48 weeks of the year.
Robbie [00:08:26]:
Oh, really?
Thereza Bazar [00:08:27]:
We never stopped working. That was the cabaret circuit, everyone. And those days, 74 to 78, that was my stint. That was how people went out. And that's an excellent way to have a night out. You go, and you have a meal. It might not be the most fabulous food, but you're going to get a show and a dinner and have a glass of wine or two, and it's all like, I quite like that. It's like Vegas. So Batley's Variety Club was one of the biggest in the land. You get prominent artists coming here from the States. That's why I think I'm here. But well-known artists, huge big acts were playing because that's how people like to go out. You work hard, save your money. We want to have a night out, go and be looked after. And having your table in that cabaret style is quite an excellent way of entertainment.
Robbie [00:09:31]:
Yeah. Was it like a lineup? Were you part of a lineup or.
Thereza Bazar [00:09:34]:
We had our shows. It's a big deal. And we worked every day of the week. We had a van with converted aeroplanes seats that returned a bit, and we would fly somewhere beyond the road. It was so hard. You think Glamorous paid, diddly squat, and it was tough.
Robbie [00:10:07]:
Was it excellent training?
Thereza Bazar [00:10:09]:
Excellent training, yeah. I learned a lot, and the most I learned was about being nice to everybody because you never know who you will meet on the way down. I was always charming to receptionists, and everyone was very polite. That's my upbringing, anyway. But I learnt somehow. Fell in love with pop music. I mean, crazy, crazy. And started analyzing and thought, wow, from The Carpenters to listening to everything. And that was my training in harmonies. You know, with Guys And Dolls, you got three, six voices. How do you combine that to make a good-sounding record, and everyone finds their slot? And I had the highest and lightest voices, so I was always on the top. But I understood about harmonies. That's probably been from my dad or from listening to The Carpenters, the first pop record I ever heard of. So I understood where I fit in. That's your training. You're entirely right, Robbie. That's the training.
Robbie [00:11:20]:
I love that. Your journey was backward. Pop came after I had no idea.
Thereza Bazar [00:11:27]:
As I said, I went into that audition and thought, my pop music, what are they talking about?
Robbie [00:11:32]:
Pop band?
Thereza Bazar [00:11:34]:
It's nothing like my intentions, but I had the adage because I used to love watching musicals and the whole thing; I must have heard somewhere, you have to say, you can do everything. So if you can't ride a horse for an audition, say, oh, of course, I can ride a horse, or what do you like? Do you like pop music? I love pop music. I'm going don't know anything about pop music. So I just said yes to everything because that was the Hollywood era, to say yes and then work it out afterwards if you get the job. So I did, and I went, and it's been written, but we went to that first meeting when we were all introduced to Guys and Dolls, and I was most definitely the odd one out.
Robbie [00:12:27]:
Oh, really?
Thereza Bazar [00:12:28]:
I wondered why I was there, little Miss Mouse, who sat in the corner. I just watched her so loud and so confident. And there's me being super quiet, respectful, and just, and then they asked to sign the contracts, and there's me going, don't think we should be doing that because you need to get some legal advice. So that's, I had a different upbringing ultimately, you know, and Dominic and Paul, they were ten years older than me. They had a lot of experience in the music industry. I had nothing.
Robbie [00:13:03]:
You had street smarts.
Thereza Bazar [00:13:08]:
I don't think I did, Robbie. I had an innate belief in myself, which I've lost for a while through decades, but if you are sincere and open, your sincerity will shine through. That is ridiculous as a statement. I know. In this social media world, when everyone is faking, everyone with influence and everything, that would be the most ridiculously naive statement you could make. Yet I am, almost 68 years old, going; I still believe that. It will cut through if you say it in the right. That's what I believe. I think I'm mad.
Robbie [00:13:59]:
Probably the best kind of mad, though. So we get to 77, and did you and David have enough, or did you want to go off and make a new career? Was the touring getting to you? Was there too much work?
Thereza Bazar [00:14:14]:
No, we got kicked out.
Robbie [00:14:15]:
Oh, really?
Thereza Bazar [00:14:16]:
We got kicked out because I kept making waves about the quality of the records, the songs, and our musical direction. And David needed to get more camera shots and wanted to be the David Jones and David Cassidy he always knew he could be. And so we got kicked out because he just made too many waves.
Robbie [00:14:43]:
Right. When you got kicked out, did you and David instantly know you wanted to work together? Was it sort of, what do we do now? Kind of scenario, or was it not?
Thereza Bazar [00:14:53]:
He wanted to be a solo artist, and I pretended to be a secretary, and I would try to phone record companies and get him an interview, but I couldn't. Finally, and ironically, I got offered a solo deal with EMI Holland. I just rejected it. I said, well, no, you've got the wrong person. It's him, he's one, and I'm happy to be supporting him. So in love with him? No. So we met up with some people who said if you were a duo, that would be good. There's no UK. Duo. There's Donnie Marie and Olivia Newton, John and John Travolta with Greece, but there's no UK. How about that? And David may be said, well, give it a well and see. And we were off this contract about, I don't know, a few weeks later. It took time.
Robbie [00:15:58]:
Wow. Was it a French label that gave you a deal?
Thereza Bazar [00:16:00]:
You, it was a UK label called Acrobat Records, and they ended up getting a deal with Career, the French label, for distribution. Yeah, so that's how it worked. And the guy was called Chris Yule, a fabulous MD from, and I think he was at CBS EMI; I can't quite remember now, but very great ears. I mean, one of the best ears ever.
Robbie [00:16:34]:
And how quickly are you working on the first album? Did you get Straight stuck into it?
Thereza Bazar [00:16:41]:
It was straight stuck into it. And we were meant to work with David Courtney, who wrote the first two tracks, Shooting Star and Who Were You With in The Moonlight. And, of course, how amazing was that? How fortunate you get to work with one of the best producers globally, I mean, ever. Chris Neal is a legend. It's just brilliant.
Robbie [00:17:18]:
What I love about the album is I have not had it in a while, so I listened to it fresh again, and it's like an ELO Space concept album, and that's what I loved about it. This is not the Dollar, I know, but this is the Dollar I liked. Star Control is fantastic. It's an excellent track.
Thereza Bazar [00:17:40]:
I'm so happy you say that. So what I did about three nights ago, not let you into my personal life too much, but I went to bed about half a nine other circumstances of the play. I thought, okay, going to be in my room; I'm going to listen to the whole of the first album, the Shooting Style albums. I haven't listened to it in a long time, all the way through, and I heard it, and, yeah, of course, you get to the end of it. And I've had a few messages from some people on my team going; you must perform that live. You've got to perform that live. And why was it? And really what happened was that's towards the end of the recording of the album and whether it was the budget getting tight or time-wise. Things weren't working so well, and I remember writing that because it was a homage to the Carpenters calling Occupants from Interplanetary Craft, which I loved their music so much. And it was meant to be a respectful nod to them. And I've had this idea about how it would work, but we'd had this sort of structure that David would sing the lead vocals, and I'd be doing all the layering and creating the sound, which is just as important. But well, we could have a long chat. But it wasn't working. And we were under the pump. And so Chris came back in, he said, Look, I've got an idea. And he pulled this Vocoder out. They said, how about we do it like this? And I thought it would start like that but transition into a vocal like a carpenter's. Beautiful, lush. And it didn't. And he ended up doing the whole thing. And I was heartbroken because I thought the melody was just such a yearning, kind of gentle, sad melody that I love the backing track and everything, but I don't think so Vocoder gave the track exactly what it needed. What did you think? What do you think?
Robbie [00:20:17]:
I love a vocoder. It's that dimensional sound that you can't get from a human. It's beautiful. And What was interesting was The Carpenters covered a band called Klattu. Do you know this?
Thereza Bazar [00:20:30]:
No.
Robbie [00:20:31]:
So it was a cover from a band called Clattu. I will dive into history because it's interesting quickly. So I think it's 1978, there's a white vinyl floating around, and it was sent out to record companies and DJs. Everyone was picking up and playing it, thinking it was the next Beatles album because it's very similar to The Beatles, and it turns out it was a Canadian band called Clatu. And The Carpenters, somewhere along the line, heard the single interplane Craft and covered it. And what's interesting is Star Control sounds a lot like the Clattu album. It's extraordinary.
Thereza Bazar [00:21:04]:
But I love the melody and the ending; I remember precisely the synthesizers and the last ones, like some saying bye-bye, going off to Pluto somewhere; it's just so gentle. And it's mesmerizing; I love Star Wars and just like that. I'm not a sci-fi person. But yeah, it was a lovely track, and I'm not sure that treatment was ideal, but you've got other things at stake.
Robbie [00:21:58]:
Yeah, it's lovely. And on that, you also had Loves Got Hold On Me, which was your first self-written one, right? Can we talk about the writing of that? Was that easy to write? Was it a quick song to do?
Thereza Bazar [00:22:11]:
So we were in our flat and had my upright piano in the bedroom. And it was inspired by the Bee Gees. How Deep is Your Love? Because I love the BeeGees. Again, it's harmonies. I'm going, how do they do that? How do they create that sound? It's not just that; it's a sound. And I thought it sounded so airy, which resonated with me. And try and do something that suits you, not try to do something that is the opposite, which is what we all like to do. He's got red hair; make it brown, whatever. Yeah. The melody came relatively quickly, and I was writing it for David because if you got a hit record with the Guys and Dolls experience, don't upset the apple cart; stick to the formula. It was a very natural, easy song to write, and it was ideas of Summer Breezes and that lovely sort of freshness. And we went into the studio, and he couldn't sing it. It was a nightmare. And I remember Chris Neal looking at me because I was in the control room and Dave was in the studio, and he said, but you wrote this, right? I said, yeah, he said it's in his key. And I said yes. I mean, I thought, because that's David. David, if he got something, he'd be okay. If it didn't fit instantly with him, he couldn't learn it. It had to be a natural, intuitive thing. That's when Chris said, well, you go and have a go. And I remember I'm very polite; I would say, oh, no. I said, It's not in my key, and that's not what we're meant to do. And he looked at me and said, go and have a try. And I hate doing that. Maybe I was embarrassed when I was a kid at school and not achieving. And I still thought, oh, my gosh. I thought, okay, do the right thing. And I wandered in, and obviously, I've got David's expression in the control room and Chris Expectantly looking at me and thinking, this will be horrible. I know it's going to be high. I thought, try. What can you do? And I started singing the melody. Chris Neal is beaming through the studio going like this. Am I going? And he goes? Really? And I'm going, okay, because you are the backing with this helmet on. I've always been a backing vocalist in Guys and Dolls. This is my job. That's what I do. I like to do everything I do very well for my ballet training, be very specific. I'm a perfectionist. And suddenly, it was very different.
Robbie [00:25:39]:
Yeah. If I'm allowed to indulge for a second. Star Control would be my album, deep cut, but I would have released Love Street; that's the track I would have released. , That would have been an excellent single to release. Instead of I Want to Hold Your Hand.
Thereza Bazar [00:26:01]:
Yeah, I am hazy about that. I am trying to remember. I'm not sure we recorded Love Street afterwards, but it didn't matter because I want to hold him as a big top ten, and who will ever think about covering a Beatles track? And he goes, let's do this. Okay. But probably after Love's Got Holding Me, I would have whatever he would have said; I would jump that high. Go, of course. And I used to think he was so knowledgeable and experienced, and now I realize he was a guy maybe about six or seven years older than me. But you look at everyone doing something as if they know everything but don't. But that's how you feel.
Robbie [00:26:54]:
And then we got to the second album in 1980, and it was more of a rocky album as it had more of a rocky sound to it. And Dollar was almost following the Zeitgeist. You had the shooting star album, which was very Star Wars. And spacey. And then you get My Sharona comes out in 79. Disco gets pushed to the side, my Shirona blindly.
Thereza Bazar [00:27:18]:
I can still even hear that kick drum and snare drum so well.
Robbie [00:27:23]:
That's it. Yeah. And then, Dollar does the Paris collection now, which is very rocky. Was it a conscious move to move with the times, or was it just purely accidental? You wanted to change the sound and aim for something harder-edged.
Thereza Bazar [00:27:37]:
Yeah, it's all of those. I just knew, as I said, I fell in love with pop and was listening to everything and trying to broaden my horizons and support If You Don't Move On bits like Guys and Dogs. We got kicked out because I kept complaining. So I thought, well if I was complaining, you can't; therefore, play safe now because you've had some hit records. You've got to keep moving forward, forging forward. And we were just caught in the middle there. The synth revolution could have done better; it had Giorgio Moroder and Kraftwerk. It had yet to hit the UK. So we're just in that gap. But I knew we needed to do something different and be edgier. And so we went the slightly harder rockier to get more credibility by becoming a band instead of being a very middle-of-the-road kind of pop act because that was it. You're either rock, pop, or the pop piece of their rubbish. And you've got to be a rock act to gain credibility. That's kind of sorry simplicity, but that's how it was. So that's how it happened. So trying to go personally, I can be edgier in my presentation and image. We can do slightly edgier things. I was listening to others, like, my Shirona. I want that snare. That's fabulous. I liked that sound. I want that raspiness. I want a bit more drive. I want the lushness.
So interestingly. That was the conduit. The Paris collection, from Shooting Stars to that, was unsuccessful. And I've listened to that album, too, in the last few days. There are some cracking tracks on that album.
Robbie [00:29:38]:
Yeah. Girls are out to get you. That's fantastic.
Thereza Bazar [00:29:43]:
And the Video is so good. And I was so out of my depth even doing that and going, Got to catch up. Catch up. But such a great track. And Andy Hill, actually on that Video, was playing bass. So Andy Hill was playing bass in the Video. So cool. And even if you take my breath away, I love that like steel drums. And it was fantastic. It was a different groove. So I have a lot of time for that album. And it wasn't enjoyable that we missed the mark because we were trying to transition. But then, of course, how marvellous that you go through that. And then you find Trevor because needs must, and it's also learning. It's a learning curve.
Robbie [00:30:34]:
Yeah. Were you producing much on the second album? Did you create much of that?
Thereza Bazar [00:30:40]:
I was very much involved with Greg Walsh; it's called Dollar. And Greg Walsh the coproduction on most of it. Yeah. Very much engaged by then. I was knee-deep in everything I was learning. What, all the drunk? I was learning everything. It's just like overload. Sensory overload all the time. And there are many things on there that I'm very proud of, that I was instrumental in doing. And we got ever so close. A couple of those singles, we're in the 50s or 60s. That's like. It's a hit in the making, but you don't have the right, which becomes just business.
Robbie [00:31:27]:
You're right. The second album is underrated. It should get its time. It will get its time.
Thereza Bazar [00:31:33]:
I hope so. There is a couple of tracks like Radio. Okay, so just that. But Radio, the backup vocals I did, I can remember how I did them. And I led up everything. There's no double tracking. All done by the book. And that's one of the nearest carpenters sounds I've ever achieved.
Robbie [00:31:56]:
Yeah, I agree.
Thereza Bazar [00:31:59]:
That is as near as I could get it. And I. I was so happy with that. Again, a real nod to going; that's how I cut my teeth on all of this. And I worked hard. I do 64 layers of whatever it was per track. Greg Walsh and I would be in the studio for hours. Do you want to break it? Go, no, thanks. Let's keep going. And no one understands what you do, what it takes to get to that back in that period. You can't use machines, ADT machines. It's not the same. The voice doesn't rub. You don't get the layering, you don't get the fullness, but it pushes it back anyway. So I'm dribbling on. But it's important to me.
Robbie [00:32:49]:
Sound, as you can, yeah, no, 100%, it works. And then Trevor comes into the story, Trevor Horn, at this point, to do the third album. How open was he to you? Like writing and producing with him as well?
Thereza Bazar [00:33:03]:
Not at all. Not at all. No. He wasn't even open to producing us. But I can be pretty persuasive. It's a good quality of mine. And we met him in a little Japanese restaurant. It's pretty forward in the West End of London and some little back streets in Soho. And, no, he wasn't that interested. But we mentioned that we were going to be asked to represent the UK at the Yamaha Song Festival later. Tokyo.
Robbie [00:33:44]:
Right.
Thereza Bazar [00:33:45]:
I've had Tokyo in my head for a bit because that was a track on the Paris collection we mentioned that goes to Yamaha. And he thought, Why are you going to Japan? His eyes sparked up behind his glasses, and he said, yeah, he will go and do a session with Bruce Wooley. He wasn't interested. He said, well if anything comes up. And I was demoralized; I was sure it was the right fit. I just had this sixth sense. It sounds stupid, but I do. And anyway, he returned, called the next day, and said, We've written this track. Do you want to come and do the vocals on the demo? And that was handheld in black and white. That was it.
Robbie [00:34:29]:
Wow. And it's the perfect track written for you and David, right? It just works as a track.
Thereza Bazar [00:34:34]:
Yeah. It was trial error now. I didn't realize it was trial and error as well. It's a new thing. They just tried it, and it was just freefall, and that's what's so unique about it. But the sheer belief that I knew and, you know what I've written, I won't tell you the title because that would give it away, but I have written a new song. I've written a couple, but I've written one piece, specifically about that moment when I knew, and that's it. It's not like I've got this incredible gift that someone will get out of me, package it, and then sell it around the world. But I knew from hearing Video Kill, just the bass drum, the sound and the backup vocals, that's it for me. That was it. And I can't even understand why Video Killed the Radio Star was a hit probably about nine months beforehand or a year, and I must have heard it. But we were so immersed in the Paris collection that I wasn't listening to anyone's music. I was very head down. But after that, all sort of failed. It's a good word to say, failed. I say it twice. I heard this in my car and thought that's it. It's the clarity; it's just the sound. It's the separation. It's the energy. It's the understanding of painting a picture, which is what you do with a piece of music. I knew. And Trevor said, I've got Trevor's book, but I still need to finish it because I keep reading bits repeatedly. But he says in one part of his book that's how he saw production. And it is so exciting that he just saw everything in pictures.
Robbie [00:36:46]:
Yeah, I've read the book, and I love the book. I got the audiobook version. So Trevor's reading it, and he said he went to the pictures a lot as a child, and you get that cinematic songwriting idea. So he writes like a film. But when he talks about yourself and David in the band, he says it with real love. He loved working with you guys.
Thereza Bazar [00:37:09]:
Trevor was stoned most of the time, which helps, of course, which he admits to. And some of the stuff he's saying, what is that? Because I think I smoked twice in my life. Once I took a drag, which I hated. And then, actually, another time, I experimented with something else. I hated it even more. He was stoned all the time, but even in that time, I kept thinking I wanted to get to whatever it was still about planets. There you go. That's the theme of our conversation. He was kind of astral travelling to that planet somewhere, and I just wanted to be like ET, holding his coattails and travelling with him. But I wasn't brave enough because he had this visualization of sound that I can't tell you was just extraordinary, as we all now learn. But I sat beside his right arm the entire time. I never left.
Robbie [00:38:20]:
Wow.
Thereza Bazar [00:38:21]:
Whatever he was doing and Gary Lang and him, if they were mixing or doing something boring, I never went home.
Robbie [00:38:29]:
Yeah, because you never know what even.
Thereza Bazar [00:38:31]:
Sometimes in the back. And Trevor doesn't even remember. I never left because I knew that it was history. I just knew it. We now know.
Robbie [00:38:47]:
I mean, people like Trevor. They're special people, aren't they? They're like from somewhere else. Like David Bowie.
Thereza Bazar [00:38:51]:
Yes, he is from somewhere but he has an extra dimension when working. I saw him in London and went to dinner when I was back in London in 2022. I hadn't seen him for a long time. And we had a lovely time, and he was working. He said, do you want to listen to what I'm doing? I said seriously. So he got a studio in his house, which was the same. We're all older, but it's this incredible desire to keep making and producing. It's just him, but it's visualization. So it validated all the things I kind of was thinking about when I was growing up. I see the same thing I do when I hear music or pictures. I'll listen to music if I see a vision, like clouds, a lovely sunset or something. So my best times for writing something are when I'm walking or doing something; I certainly would want to leave the studio alone. Write something lovely. People work in different ways, and some are very controlled. Like when I did the Big Kiss album and started writing those songs, that was a job. And I would sit with people in a very structured environment, going, we're going to start trying to write a song today. I'm going, okay.
Robbie [00:40:34]:
Guess as people, you develop your system. If it works, it works. So with Mirror, Mirror, did he bring that in and go, Right, here's your next song? Was it like a production line like that? Was he writing specifically or just going, this song would work?
Thereza Bazar [00:40:50]:
They wrote Handheld in Black and White and Mirror Mirror in the same session.
Robbie [00:40:56]:
Wow. If we talk about the Big Kiss? What was it like with Arief Mardin? One of the greatest producers.
Thereza Bazar [00:41:03]:
Fabulous. Just such a gentleman. And it was a bizarre experience walking into after being at Sharm, walking into studios in New York, Atlantic Studios, and the big, big situation there, and all this incredible soul music coming out. You can hear it coming out of a studio. And I'm thinking, and I'm a very little white, very English girl making this album, which is supposed to be this fusion of a US-UK pop album. And it was pretty weird. But Arif was excellent, and the engineers, they were all gorgeous. But I tried to stop thinking about all the incredible artists he worked with because it was a bit daunting.
Robbie [00:42:05]:
You have to switch because he worked with the Bee Gees and Aretha Franklin.
Thereza Bazar [00:42:11]:
That's not me. And then, very early in the piece, Arif just looked and went, So what would Trevor do? And that's what made me understand that I was maybe the secret key to Trevor, and that's kind of a little how, and it works the same way with Mike Chapman. When I recorded the Gotcha album film track, the same thing happened, they wanted to know how he did it, and they thought, well, if I've worked with him and I was there all the time, then I would know. And I partially knew, well, who would know? I mean, only Trevor knows. No one else can do what he does. Gary Langle would be very close. I'd say yeah, but it was a big question, and I just smiled at him. I said, I'll do what I do, and we'll see where we go because that wasn't the deal. You can understand that it was very high-end, big business with record companies. So it was a great album.
Robbie [00:43:38]:
It's great. You may have influenced Transvision Vamp. It's very, like, late 88. It's very early that I could imagine Wendy James singing over your backing tracks. And you would say okay. So yeah. It was like a rocky sort of punky album. And it's a great album. I will put a Spotify link to people with a nerd in the description for the Video.
Thereza Bazar [00:44:05]:
And thank you, my darling. I'm so proud of the songwriting. That was part of my journey. Can I become a songwriter? And I was given the excellent opportunity to work with the best. I mean, seriously, the best. And I was offered the song What's Love Got To Do With It. And I went into the publishing office, and I heard that. I went, that's great. I'd love to. I can listen to exactly how it would be. It was Trevor-esque, of course, and everything, and I was so excited. So I went home and thought, I've got a hit song if there is one. And I got a call, saying, I'm so sorry, but unbeknownst to me, it was sent over to Tina Turner's manager overnight, and she heard it and loved it so much that you can't have that. And I went, well, there's no contest, is there? So the second prize was but the writer of that song, Terry Britton, is pleased to write with you. And that's how we got to write Too Much In Love, the track we wrote.
Robbie [00:45:27]:
Fantastic. Yeah. What are you up to nowadays? Have you got any big news to share?
Thereza Bazar [00:45:30]:
I've got some big news. I'm going to be doing a tour.
Robbie [00:45:36]:
Fantastic.
Thereza Bazar [00:45:37]:
Definitely a tour on the UK this year. It's not next year or 2023. I'm going to be on tour from late September to early October, only about eight or nine dates, nothing too big, but dipping my toes back in, and it's more a way of going, come and say hi, come and be part of something, because it's essential. As I said, am I making some new music? That may be on the cards, but I want to be there in person. So it's not all just social media and talking about the past. There must be a combination of nostalgia, current, and future. So I could be doing this for decades. I can't stand up anymore, which is funny in itself.
Robbie [00:46:38]:
If people want to find out about the tickets to get that when it comes out, where's the best place to go for that?
Thereza Bazar [00:46:43]:
They're going to have to go onto my social media sites. You're going to ask me to tell you. You'll have to be clever and put them all on your links. But it's Facebook, Twitter and Insta. So yeah, it will be a great show, and it will be Theresa Bazaar's Dollar, My Dollar, with a different slant on a few things and some of the really loved and treasured album tracks that never got a chance to shine. That would be an excellent opportunity to perform those live, like Guessing games. One of my favourite songs ever.
Robbie [00:47:24]:
Please do Star Control and do what I've got to do with it. Why not?
Thereza Bazar [00:47:28]:
Okay, well, all right. Well, there you go. Everyone will have to start. You tell me what you want me to sing. And that's a great way. Isn't that what you call being nice? So she goes, you tell me what you want, set up a poll, tell me what you want, and I'll see what I can do.
Robbie [00:47:48]:
Thanks for talking to me today. It's been wonderful chatting with you.
Thereza Bazar [00:47:51]:
Thank you so much for inviting me. And ask me back, and I'll tell you how things are going, and I can keep you informed.
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