New York city based Rude Boy George have just released a great cover version of the Rod classic ‘Young Turks’ on their new EP ‘Lies and Alibis’
Rude Boy George are a band that reimagines 80’s New Wave classics in ska, reggae and rocksteady versions. They are motivated by a shared love and respect for ska (reflected in the reference to 1960s and 2 Tone rude boys) and the extraordinary amount of good music produced in the late 70s and early 80s New Wave/post-punk era (Boy George). And they want to have some fun doing it. That’s Rude Boy George’s agenda and mission statement–as simple as that.
Base player Marc Wasserman told SMILER today “As a band that reinterprets 80s new wave and post-punk into ska and reggae tracks, we were drawn to the new wave and synth sounds of Young Turks. The video was on MTV all the time in the US back in the early 80s and as a teen the song always spoke to my desire to rebel a bit and explore that early sense of freedom you get when you are young. It’s also a timeless track that still sounds fresh and it really worked perfectly from the get go when we came up with a reggae arrangement that featured both our lead singers taking turns on the verses. We also wanted to pay our respects to the legendary Rod the Mod!”
To here a sample and buy the track go to https://rudeboygeorge.bandcamp.com/track/young-turks
For more information on Rude Boy George go to https://www.facebook.com/RudeBoyGeorgeBand/
“Young Turks” first appeared in 1981 on Rod’s album Tonight I’m Yours. The track presented Rod backed by a new synth-pop and new wave sound. The term young Turk, which originates from the early 20th-century secular nationalist reform party of the same name, is slang for a rebellious youth who acts contrary to what is deemed normal by society. The phrase “Young Turks” is never heard in the actual song, the chorus instead centering on the phrase “young hearts be free tonight”, leading to the song frequently being misidentified as “Young Hearts” or “Young Hearts Be Free”.
The music for the song was composed by Carmine Appice, Duane Hitchings, and Kevin Savigar, with lyrics written by Rod The song, which was released as the first US single (second in the UK) from Tonight I’m Yours, was produced with synthesizers and a hi-hat played over a drum machine. On the Billboard Hot 100, “Young Turks” debuted at no. 61 on 17 October 1981 and peaked at no. 5 on 19 December 1981 – 9 January 1982. The song peaked at no. 11 on the UK Singles Chart and also was a top 5 hit in Australia, Belgium, Israel (no. 1) and Canada. Released a few months after MTV went on the air, it was the first video containing breakdancing to be played by that station.