Jeff and Martha Davis of the Motels talk Abducted by the 80s Tour and more!

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
I'm Jeff Stevens. It's the EightiesShow podcast, chatting with the vocalist and
founding member of the Motels. It'sMartha Davis on tour this summer with the
Abducted by the Eighties Tour. HiMartha, Hi Jeff, Hi Martha.
How are you doing? I'm good? How are you? I'm good?
Do you feel abducted by the Eighties? I'm totally abducted by the Eighties.

(00:20):
I mean, I call them thatwon't go a waities. They seem to
keep going. That is brilliant.I love that well. I would have
to think, you know, youguys had I just remember, you know,
the videos. I was in highschool and only the Lonely came on
and suddenly last summer, And isn'tit crazy to think that forty years later

(00:42):
the eighties have really never left.No, No, they have not,
and there's kind of a resurgence.I think I think they may have sort
of sort of dipped away, butthey seem to be back in full circle.
And it was a great time.I think that they're I have this
theory that you know, because videossort of happened around then. It was

(01:03):
sort of a really inspiring time artistically, because you had a whole sort of
a whole new genre. And artloves it when it gets a new new
set of paints for the palette,you know, like when you when you
when you're an artist and you've gotlike a whole new toolbox to play with.
And I think that was happening.I think, you know, it
was inspiring fashion and people's crazy haircolors and I mean, it was all

(01:27):
going on. It was. Itwas a madman time. So I'm lucky
to be there, you know,and still lucky to you know, be
doing it and and still making music. And we have a new album that's
coming out this year. Yeah.Yeah, it's going to be a crazy
one too. It's like a scifi musical called Escape from Planet Earth.

(01:49):
So it's which a lot of peoplewould like to do these days. I
think I think you're hitting it righton the head with that one Escape from
Planet Earth that people will be like, Yes, where do I sign up?
Martha Davis at the motels here,part of the Abducted by the Eighties
tour, which is all over theUS with Wang Chung and men without hats

(02:13):
and naked eyes. I would imagineMartha that over the years, you have
toured with these guys before or bumpedinto them? Is it more so recently
with kind of you know these eightiespackages and fun get togethers, or did
you have some time with them backin the eighties. No, Actually,
the Wang Chung's and the Motels gottogether probably, and I think it was

(02:36):
right before the pandemic. Everything sincethen is sort of like time was altered
during the pandemic. I don't knowif you felt that, but I truly
time time has changed. So butwe toured together, and I love those
guys. They're so talented and sofunny and so great. We actually had
the tour and then we got todo this again sometime and they they put

(03:00):
this thing together. They are responsiblefor that title abducted by the eighties because
we all were. So it's goingto be so fun. I have not
played with men without hats, sothat's gonna be fun. That will be
a new experience. But Naked EyesPete is like an old friend. We've
worked together a lot, so it'sgoing to be It's fun, you know,

(03:22):
it's just fun. It's great toplay music, it's great to tour.
The audiences are so supportive. Peoplelove the eighties. They love going
back, they love the return,you know, because music can transport you
in time, and that's the beautyof it. Well, and speaking of
escaping from planet Earth, I thinkthe one thing that has really resonated with
people is the fact that eighties musicdoes bring so much happiness, really more

(03:46):
so than any other decade. No, I firmly believe that no other decade,
the nineties, the two thousands,there's great music in there, but
none of it has resonated and stuckaround more than the eighties. And I
think it makes people feel good.I mean, my kids are in their
twenties and they love the eighties.It's just, you know, it's it
seems like the broad genre that everybodystill want. The magic. It was

(04:10):
a magic time. It was amagic time for music, and just because,
like I said, you know,it was everybody was at a sort
of like there was a there wasa new new thing there was. I
mean, one of the times Ithink was the most creative before the eighties
was the sixties. You know,in the music in the sixties, there
was so many great bands. Imean it was insane, how many,

(04:31):
you know, from the wo tothe Boy, the Dog is eating my
call sheet to that. But andthat was because to me, in the
in the sixties was the advent ofFM radio. You know, all of
a sudden, you didn't have tostick to a format where you're playing two
minutes and thirty second songs. Youcould go six minutes long. And when

(04:55):
you get something like that that's inspiringartistically, I think it just it just
it's everybody's juices blow. And Ithink that's what happened in the eighties with
videos and things like that. Youknow, it was a spectacular time and
it still is. I mean,it's still fun playing with these people,
you know, and we have agreat time well, and people are gonna
hear so many hits when you gosee the Abducted by the Eighties tour,

(05:15):
because you guys have with the Motelshave a bunch of hits Wang Chung and
I feel like each one of thesebands, people will be sitting there and
go and they'll say, oh,I forgot about that song, or I
didn't realize they did that song maybewith you know, one of the Wang
Chunk songs or something, and andso there's probably a lot of oh wow
moments in the course of this show. There is good times. There's a

(05:38):
lot of fun, and everybody willwang chung tonight. You know, it's
like it's I swear to god,they play that song and I will be
dancing on the sidelines there. It'slike it's so much fun. They're so
great. So at a lot oftimes. Let's see, last time we
were playing, Marty went out andplayed sax with him. Oh, I

(05:59):
think it was yeah. So,I mean, you never know what's going
to happen. It's just it's gonnaI'm really looking forward to it. Well,
Martha, before I let you go, I do want to ask you.
So you touched on videos? Youknow, you guys got the Best
Performance in a Music Video at theAmerican Music Awards for Only the Lonely Did
You? I love talking to artiststo find out their take. Some people

(06:19):
loved doing videos, and other artistsare like, oh, it was the
bane of my existence. I hatedit. It was cumbersome. What does
Martha Davis take on shooting videos backin the eighties. I love it.
I loved it. I love itbecause it's it's this crazy, you know,
creative. I actually and I workedwith such brilliant directors. You know,

(06:43):
like Russell mckahey on the first oneswho when we were doing the Only
Lonely video, and that's when itwas first happening, so there was yeah,
it was yeah, it was.It was wild wild West. You
know, there was no rules,there was no the budgets were. I
think we made Lonely and Take THEEon a Lover in two days. I
think we shot both of them.Oh wow, for like sixty thousand dollars,

(07:06):
which was unheard of after, youknow, a year later, he
couldn't do that. But I workedwith Russell McKay, I worked with David
Fincher, who's still a friend.You know. Yeah, it was.
It was fantastic and there was collaboration, like Russell McKay who on the Only
Lonely video he pictured me in alarge cocktail glass out in the middle of

(07:27):
the desert and I went, Ikind of had a little bit different vision.
Now, Martha, how often didyou say, you know what I
was thinking maybe of something a littlebit different for this video. Did you
get to speak up on that.I'll get my two cents worth then,
because I really do I have,I really do artistically involve myself a lot

(07:51):
I've always done the album covers andyou know, I don't know. I
like art, I like vision,I like and that's you know, part
of the part of my songwriting.I like to create these, you know,
sort of cinematic vignettes, you know, so where you get an actual,
real feeling that you know you're somewhereelse, you know. Yeah,

(08:13):
I like to transport. So yeah, I love it. Well it it's
fun to watch your videos and hearyour songs, and I will say I
love so many of your songs,but there's something about suddenly last Summer that
I think really just I'm in thefirst line it happened one summer, and
so many people can think back tosomething, whether it's childhood or last summer

(08:35):
or whatever, where you're like,it happened one summer. What a great
line. Oh well, thank youso much. I appreciate that. Well,
we're going to go see you onAbducted by the Eighties tour. It's
all over the US. It's MarthaDavis and the Motels, Wang Chung men
without hats, naked eyes. Don'tmiss it. It will. I'm sure
your goal is probably to make surenobody can talk the next day, because

(08:56):
they've been singing all night, rightright on, that's what we're gonna do,
and then we're gonna wait tonight.I love it. Martha Davis,
thank you so much. Have awonderful summer. This is my pleasure.
You have a beautiful day.