Teenage magazine cover in March 1982
The hard-working city of Sheffield in Yorkshire is not like The Holywood Hills you know. It's not even like Chelsea or West Hampstead down in London. Here, famous celebrities are very thin on the ground. Most Sheffielders are like me - unheralded nobodies who do not appear in magazines, films or TV shows. We are the shadow people.
However, a few famous people do live here and one of them is the musician, singer and record producer - Phil Oakey. He gained fame with a band called The Human League at the start of the 1980s. They had a massive worldwide hit with a song that Phil had written himself - "Don't You Want Me?" As a reminder, listen to the YouTube video at the bottom of this blogpost.
Nowadays, he still lives in Sheffield just a stone's throw from this keyboard - and I mean that quite literally. I just looked out of the window between the houses across the street and behind them is the large pre-war house called "Orchardlea" which Phil Oakey made his home over thirty years ago. I snapped a picture of it today...
Funny how he has never asked for my autograph - nor for a selfie with him. I expect he just wants to respect my personal space as they say.
Boy, does that bring flashbacks of early MTV watching. And nursing school.
ReplyDeleteI do not dance now but then it was a good song to dance to.
DeleteOh, I remember that song and still here it on the radio sometimes.
ReplyDelete*hear!
ReplyDeleteHear! Hear!
DeleteDoes he still wear lipstick?
ReplyDeleteYes. The same shade as my own.... Autumn Berry. What is your shade of choice Bruce?
DeleteNo need to listen to the video, I was already singing it in my head after your printed the title!!
ReplyDeleteCould you post a video of your good self on your blog singing that number while dressed up like Phil Oakey?
DeleteGreat music and talent. I'm not going to check what he looks like now. I've had so many disappointments of late with ageing pop stars, the latest being Bon Jovi.
ReplyDeleteI didn't realise that Bon Jovi was gay.
DeleteFunny how people just become regular old blokes. A one time captain of Australian cricket team lived near me and nobody took any notice of him.
ReplyDeleteNice looking house Phil Oakley has.
The house is bang next to the main road. I took that picture from the bus stop.
DeleteYou mentioned Phil Oakey living close to you a few times, and I believe you are right in thinking that he respects your privacy and wish to stay out of the limelight - he knows what it's like!
ReplyDeleteIn 1982, I was 14. My sister and our two best friends (also sisters) were heavily into "New Wave" and "New Romantics", and since it was relatively hard to come by them in Germany, we pooled our pocket money together for buying records by bands such as The Human League, Depeche Mode, Heaven17 and others, as well as UK magazines such as NME and Smash Hits.
As far as I know, Glenn Gregory and Martyn Ware both live in Sheffield, too. And while Glenn still is recognisable as the voice of H17, Martyn can go largely incognito as long as he doesn't wear his stage outfit of glittery jacket and hat.
Martyn Ware lives in London but he has a Sheffield Wednesday season ticket. I doubt that he attends matches wearing that glittery jacket.
DeleteI didn't remember that song until the music started, then I remembered.
ReplyDeleteDid ya git up and dance honey?
Deletedoes dancing in my chair count?
Delete"Celebrities" fall into two camps, those who are insulted if everyone does not recognize them, and those who just want to live a normal life. I often bump into politicos, and influencers here in the DC area, most of them prefer the same "Goodmorning" that I say to almost everyone I pass, even in the afternoon.
ReplyDeleteYou appear normal but it sounds like you are a mad man David!
DeleteI'll have that song reverberating in what's left of my brain all day now. Thank you, Neil.
ReplyDeleteDid you have a lobotomy Janice?
DeleteNever heard of this artist, that I can remember.
ReplyDeleteIt's not all about ABBA you know Monica!
DeleteIt's great that people leave him alone so that he can go about his business without being worried about being bothered.
ReplyDeleteEven if I saw him shoplifting I would say nothing.
DeleteI know the song well. We exercise to it in my manic gym class. It is rather nice to have famous neighbours. Here in this part of London we can boast amongst others Enid Blyton, Bob Monkhouse, David Bowie (we have a Ziggy Stardust zig-zag on the pavement outside the pub where he used to perform), Baroness Floella Benjamin and Nigel Benn (his son used to go to my daughter's primary school). Rachel Reeves and her sister used to go to our local secondary school.
ReplyDeleteHow can you boast about Enid Blyton, Bob Monkhouse and David Bowie when they are dead?
DeleteI know the houses they lived in.
DeleteIt's strange relistening to an old song that I liked, and seeing it with old eyes. That video, those lyrics, they're horrific. This is a quote I found from Oakey, "Oakey has always insisted that it is not a love song, anything but. 'Don't You Want Me' is instead a song about power politics between the opposite sex."
ReplyDeleteGood to know that things haven't really changed but we do see things differently, or at least I do.
Well, I still like those catchy lyrics.
DeleteLots of once-famous people are now around anonymously.
ReplyDeleteSome - like Gerard Trower even have pseudonyms like Conan the Barbarian or Tasker Dunham.
DeleteI live just round the corner from David Seaman's parent's house. My wife is friends with his mum. They often cross paths in the hairdressers.
ReplyDeleteGreat! Now I can boast that I have blogged with a bloke whose wife is friends with David Seaman's mum! Folk will be well impressed.
DeleteYou are taking me down memory lane. This brings back memories of MTV followed by MUCH music…one of the presenters was a certain JD Roberts before he morphed into the FOX News John Roberts. A bit niche but some of your US readers might be able to relate.
ReplyDeleteDidn’t they perform on the night club on west street opposite city hall? I’ve forgotten what it was called
ReplyDelete