Latest news with #EverybodyHaveFunTonight
Forbes
3 days ago
- Business
- Forbes
Wang Chung On ‘Everybody Have Fun Tonight' Amid New Compilation Set
Wang Chung (L-R): Nick Feldman and Jack Hues. Nearly 40 years after it first peaked at number two on the Billboard chart in 1986, Wang Chung's celebratory hit 'Everybody Have Fun Tonight' continues to be a fixture of pop culture. In addition to being played on the radio and streaming services, the song has since made its way into television and movies, including That '70s Show, Sex and the City, Ghosts, The Goldbergs, Ricki and the Flash and This Is Us. Most recently, 'Everybody Have Fun Tonight' was featured in the trailer for next year's Grand Theft Auto VI. For Wang Chung — the British duo of Nick Feldman and Jack Hues — that track and their other big smash from the 1980s, 'Dance Hall Days,' are the gifts that keep on giving. 'It is shocking in a way,' Hues says. 'The durability of 'Dance Hall Days' and 'Everybody Have Fun Tonight' is pretty remarkable — and given that we didn't really do anything for about 20 years after we split in 1990. So the fact that various high-profile things adopted the songs during that time, it's quite interesting.' Meanwhile, a two-disc compilation, Clear Light/Dark Matter — which was recently released through the Seattle-based music technology company SING — seems poised to prompt further renewed interest in Wang Chung. Aside from 'Everybody Have Fun Tonight' and 'Dance Hall Days,' Clear Light/Dark Matter contains other popular favorites from the band's catalog, such as 'Wait,' 'Hypnotize Me,' 'Let's Go' and 'Praying to a New God.' 'It feels like it's about time in a way,' Feldman says. 'It seems like a really good time to make that kind of summary of where we've gotten so far. I think it covers a lot of ground in a good way that is very kind of digestible, obviously, to the hardcore Wang Chung fan, but also maybe people who are you know a little less familiar with all of our deeper work as well.' 'Wang Chang is 'Everybody Have Fun Tonight" and "Dance Hall Days,' both of which are essentially big commercial hits,' adds Hues. 'But Wang Chung is also 'To Live and Die in L.A.' And it's also the more ambitious songs on The Warmer Side of Cool and Tazer Up! So there's a lot there. I think Nick and I always were interested in the freedom that came with making so-called pop records that you could bring a lot of material to the table.' Also notable on the compilation are a recent remix of 'Everybody Have Fun Tonight' and a live performance of 'Fire in the Twilight" (which originally appeared on The Breakfast Club soundtrack from 1985) from Toronto's El Mocambo. And especially for die-hard fans, the compilation delves into several album tracks going back to their 1982 debut record as well as demos for such songs as 'Dance Hall Days' and 'To Live and Die in L.A.' 'To go back to [the demos], you hear how fairly accurate we were in our sort of realization of what the recordings would be, even though these demos were recorded literally on a little four-track recorder in Nick's flat in London,' says Hues. ''Dance All Days' has the low synths and the kind of drum rhythms that we wanted. But it's also interesting to hear how much more focused and slightly faster the tempo of the final version of the track became.' The new compilation is a sign that Wang Chung's previous studio albums could seeing a reissue at some point. 'We've been looking at re-releasing studio albums in deluxe editions with outtakes and demos,' Hues says. 'But finding a really good home for that project has been difficult. We finally found this company called SING, which was very enthusiastic. And we decided the best way to prelude a sort of sequential re-release of the albums would be by doing a career retrospective, which is what this is, essentially." The arrival of Clear Light/Dark Matter comes as the band is marking their 45th anniversary this year. Formed in London in 1980 under the moniker of Huang Chung, they released their self-titled debut album two years later. The group later moved on to a new label, Geffen Records, and changed their name to the slightly more pronouceable Wang Chung. Their 1983 album for the label, Points on the Curve, yielded the sublime hit 'Dance Hall Days,' which peaked at number 16 on the Billboard chart. 'I guess we reach this sort of crossroads point where it's a bit like the last chance saloon in a sense,' says Hues. 'You've got a bit of profile, but you haven't yet nailed it. There was this kind of pressure in a sense. But somehow I managed to squeeze out 'Dance Hall Days' in that situation. I remember I was teaching guitar in those days at various secondary schools. The ideas came from a session where a kid didn't show up for their lesson one time. I sort of remember sitting in that classroom amongst the desks strumming away—'Take your baby by the hand' and starting to hear the song in my head.' 'We did record 'Dance Hall Days' for Arista with the producer Tim Friese-Greene, who produced all the Talk Talk stuff,' adds Feldman. 'We loved Talk Talk, but it didn't quite capture the song well enough.' Portrait of members of the British Pop group Wang Chung as they pose backstage at the Park West, ... More Chicago, Illinois, May 2, 1984. Pictured are, from left, Nick Feldman, Jack Hues, and Darren Costin. (Photo by Paul Natkin/WireImage) 'Around that time, we met a manager, David Massey,' Hues says, 'who saw the potential for the band in America. He saw this slightly cinematic quality that the music's got would not be appreciated or particularly well served in the U.K. at that time. So he took 'Dance Hall Days' to the States. We got a couple of offers, and eventually it got us signed to Geffen. Very fortunately, Arista allowed us to take the song with us and re-record it.' One famous fan of the Points on the Curve album was American director William Friedkin, best known for his hit movies The French Connection and The Exorcist. He who enlisted Wang Chung to do the soundtrack for his 1985 crime thriller To Live and Die in L.A. The music for the movie was a stylistic departure from the band's commercial/pop music side. 'We actually embarked on a follow-up album to [Points on the Curve], but it wasn't going particularly well,' Hues says. 'I remember being with a friend of mine in central London at his apartment. His phone rang and this American lady said, 'I want to speak to Jack Hues.' So he gave me the phone. And she said, 'Will you be at this number in half an hour? Mr. William Friedkin would like a conversation with you.' 'Then Billy, as I came to know him, was on the phone," Hues continues. "We had this sort of hour-long conversation where he just talked about the fact that he loved 'Wait' in particular, off of Points on the Curve, and that he was using that as a temp track. So when they had finished the day's shooting, he would watch the rushes back and have that music playing in the background. He said, 'That's the atmosphere that I want.'' 'We were so excited to work with a legend like him,' Feldman remembers. 'The record company was going, 'Where's our three-minute single?' And [Friedkin] was saying, "I don't want a song. I want long-form, gritty, dark, intense music with no vocals.' It was so thrilling for us. The whole experience was amazing. But it also really helped to cleanse palette, I think, to move on to the next more commercial record.' That commercial record became 1986's Mosaic, co-produced by the band and Peter Wolf. It yielded the hits 'Hypnotize Me,' 'Let's Go' and the now-iconic 'Everybody Have Fun Tonight.' As Feldman recalls, the latter track went through various iterations. 'So the very first stage was that I had this sort of chorus idea,' he says. 'It was quite slow, and it was 'Everybody have fun tonight.' I played it to Jack. I thought he'd go, 'Well, you can't have a song called 'Everybody. Have Fun Tonight.' That's just terrible.' But he was like, 'I like that.' I thought, 'Really? Well, you're not going to ask to change the lyrics?' 'So we recorded it,' Feldman continues. 'It was like a 'Hey Jude' tempo,' quite slow. And at the end of it, Jack just threw in this ad lib of 'Everybody Wang Chung tonight.' It was just a throwaway thing. When we played the demo to Peter Wolf, he was like, 'I love that. That's got to be in every chorus. And you've got to speed the track up and restructure it.' So we did that in the studio. I wasn't sure it was a hit. I thought it was either the worst thing we'd ever done or brilliant.' 'I remember [David Massey] coming into the studio,' adds Hues, 'and tears came to his eyes with the sense of, 'This is it. This is brilliant!' So that's always a good sign.' Following the success of 'Everybody Have Fun Tonight,' Wang Chung's next The Warmer Side of Cool (1989), marked a change in approach. Featuring 'Praying to a New God,' the album incorporated more guitar-oriented rock—an indication of the end of the synth-dominated New Wave '80s. 'It's great to have that sort of success and the hits that we had on Mosaic,' Feldman says.' But I think it left people with the impression that we were now a sort of pop band, which I think were always a bit more than that. So I suppose [Warmer] was a slightly conscious way to try and reorientate the perception of Wang Chung.' 'This was at a time when really everything was changing and Guns N' Roses and Nirvana were the new bands at Geffen,' says Hues. 'I think the decision to call it a day was probably the right one.' During Wang Chung's hiatus in the 1990s, Feldman and Hues worked on their individual projects before regrouping by the 2000s. Since then, Wang Chung has recorded two records (2012's Tazer Up! and 2019's Orchesography) and consistently toured on their own and as part of '80s package bills. This summer, they will be on the road for a bill featuring Rick Springfield, John Waite and Paul Young. Wang Chung today 'I suppose we're like a couple of veterans coming back from the war,' Feldman explains about his and Hues' partnership now going nearly 50 years. 'You've been through so much together. There's such a strong bond. And we respect each other.' 'It is a long marriage,' adds Hues. 'It's had its ups and downs for sure. But we get on well as people. Nick is a great guy. We give each other a bit of freedom to do things we want to do. We've had some really pretty sound success as Wang Chung, but it's not been so heavy that it's swept us off our feet. Just listening to each other, I think, that's essentially what's kept us together.'
Time of India
07-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Time of India
GTA 6 Trailer Likes: GTA 6 trailer 2 view count nears 70 million with 4.7 million likes in a day
Source: Rockstar Games Good figures for trailer 2, but trailer 1 remains the champion Grand Theft Auto VI Trailer 2 Insightful look at Jason and the changing GTA 6 storyline "Everybody Have Fun Tonight" Rockstar Games keeps the hype for Grand Theft Auto VI going with the launch of its second official trailer. In a mere 24 hours, the clip accumulated nearly 70 million views and 4.7 million likes on YouTube, making it one of the most successful gaming trailers ever. Although it didn't set records like the initial trailer, its performance assures that fan interest is still sky-high as the game approaches its 2026 2 of GTA 6 premiered to gigantic figures, reaching around 69 to 70 million views and 4.7 million likes in just one day of upload. It rapidly rose to the #1 position in YouTube's trending segment and received more than 416,000 comments. Such statistics indicate a significant level of worldwide interest and excitement, particularly given that the game's release is yet to come, after one in comparison to Trailer 1, which was the one introducing character Lucia, the second trailer comes up slightly less in raw performance. Trailer 1 broke YouTube records, earning over 93 million views and 8.9 million likes in 24 hours. It also attracted more than 1 million comments, reflecting a blowout level of fan engagement. Nevertheless, Trailer 2 did better in like-to-dislike ratio, gaining only about 63,000 dislikes against more than 250,000 for the indicates that although the initial surprise and hype had somewhat leveled off, audience opinion and interest continue to be very the first trailer centered around Lucia, the second trailer changes its focus to Jason, the male protagonist of the game. The trailer shows more of the Bonnie-and-Clyde-type relationship between the two protagonists and promises a romance-based plot within the context of a contemporary Vice the trailer showcases the bright, hectic, and sun-baked world players will be able to enjoy. Traditional songs such asprovide a nostalgic but lively tone that reflects the high-speed, high-stakes world of crime Rockstar is release also generated rumors regarding gameplay mechanics, such as probable character-swapping, cooperative play modes, and a social media–driven in-game Trailer 2 did not exactly top the record-breaking figures of its parent, it still posted an unmistakably impressive performance. Amassing close to 70 million views, garnering millions of likes, and enjoying a better reception, it further solidifies GTA 6 as one of the most awaited titles of this decade. With Rockstar drawing closer to its May 2026 launch, fans can probably anticipate more trailers and reveals that will keep such mammoth momentum Read: Two trailers down and here's why a third GTA 6 trailer makes perfect sense
Yahoo
06-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
13 Things We Spotted In GTA 6 Trailer 2
16 months on from Grand Theft Auto 6's first trailer, Rockstar Games has released the second trailer for its upcoming open-world action game. And while GTA 6 is still a year away after the recent delay, we at least now have a lot screenshots and a big new trailer to look over for the next few months. After watching and re-watching (and then re-watching a few more times...) GTA 6's new trailer, which was released out of nowhere on May 6, we've spotted TKTK details that you might have missed. So here's what we've seen in Grand Theft Auto 6's second trailer. 'Fixing some leaks' Screenshot: Rockstar Games / Kotaku Rockstar's new trailer opens with one of the main characters, Jason Duval, on a roof doing some repairs. When asked what he's doing, Jason says he's 'fixing some leaks.' 100 percent that's a reference to all the GTA 6 leaks that have happened over the last few years. Is that Stephen Root? Screenshot: Rockstar Games / Kotaku This might be confirmed by the time you read this, but when Jason's friend/landlord/criminal compatriot Brian arrives, it sounds a lot like Stephen Root from Barry and Office Space. 'Everybody Have Fun Tonight' Wang Chung's 1980s hit song, 'Everybody Have Fun Tonight' is one of a few different tracks that plays in the trailer. The other major song is 'Hot Together' by the Pointer Sisters, another big hit from the '80s. This might be a clue that Rockstar has done the right thing and added an '80s-themed radio station to GTA 6. Weightlifting might be back Screenshot: Rockstar Games / Kotaku Good news to fans of lifting weights and getting buff, a feature last seen in GTA San Andreas: it looks like Rockstar might be bringing it back in GTA 6. In this trailer and the various screenshots released by Rockstar, Jason looks a bit different, sometimes with more or less sun burn, different hair cuts, and even some extra bulk. Lucia Caminos & Jason Duval Screenshot: Rockstar Games / Kotaku When Jason arrives at prison to pick up Lucia, who we first saw locked up in GTA 6's original trailer, the guard asks his name. He says Jason Duval. We also learn here that Lucia's last name is Caminos. The two of them seem like a tight couple, going on dates, laying on top of one another, and robbing places together. Truly, this love story won't end in tragedy. Hurricane Roxy happened Screenshot: Rockstar Games / Kotaku Not much more to say, but at one point we see a bar and a sign that mentions 'Hurricane Roxy.' This is likely a past storm that hit Leonida, Rockstar's Florida stand in. The gold dress returns Screenshot: Rockstar Games / Kotaku In the first trailer we saw a woman in a car wearing a gold dress, then partying at night. Now we see what happened before and get confirmation that, yes, that was indeed Lucia. It appears that she and Jason go out to a rockin' club and grind all over one another, perhaps after that drive down the highway. An elevated train Screenshot: Rockstar Games / Kotaku During a quick moment in the trailer we see an elevated passenger train. This appears to be Rockstar's version of Miami's real Metrorail. Fight clubs Screenshot: Rockstar Games / Kotaku It looks like Lucia (and maybe Jason) will be able to fight in tournaments or possibly underground fight clubs in GTA 6. As she kicks someone we see what looks like a small crowd of people behind her, cheering. Upgrading your house Screenshot: Rockstar Games / Kotaku Throughout the full trailer we see Lucia and Jason living in a small house in Leonida. At first the place looks rough, but in different parts of the trailer we see the house get fixed up more and more. Will players be able to decorate or customize their home as they steal more money and finish mission? Perhaps! New sports team Screenshot: Rockstar Games / Kotaku We've seen professional sports teams in past GTA games, and now we have a new one: The Leonida Manatees. Based on the jersey color and design, I think this is Rockstar's spin on the Miami Dolphins NFL team. A PS5 in GTA 6? Screenshot: Rockstar Games / Kotaku At the very end of the new trailer, we see Jason laying on the couch and watching TV. What he's watching is very interesting, but before we talk about that I want to point out the PS4-looking controllers and the PS5-looking console in their living room. Now, this won't be an actual PlayStation, but I'll be curious if we see the return of the in-universe Degenetron brand first seen in GTA Vice City. Phil Cassidy?! Screenshot: Rockstar Games / Kotaku Perhaps the wildest moment in this trailer, for superfans at least, is the possible return of Phil Cassidy from GTA Vice City. In the trailer he's on the TV as part of a gun store commercial. Now, this is odd because Phil is from the GTA 3D universe (which is all the games between GTA III and Vice City Stories) and hasn't been a part of the HD universe—the 3D and HD timelines are separate, beyond some stuff crossovers like brands, radio stations, etc. So does this mean GTA 6 is set in the 3D Universe? No, I don't think so. Instead, I think Rockstar is either teasing fans, and this guy will be named Phil Willy or something different, or the studio is willing to create new versions of past characters for its HD timeline. Either way, it is very interesting. Will Tommy from Vice City appear in this game? We'll find out when GTA 6 launches on PS5 and Xbox in May 2026. . For the latest news, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
Yahoo
11-02-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Rick Springfield stopping in Huber Heights for summer concert
DAYTON, Ohio (WDTN) — An 80s artist is heading to the Miami Valley to perform in early summer. Rick Springfield is set to perform at 7 p.m. on June 23 at Rose Music Center at The Heights in Huber Heights. Springfield will be joined by Wang Chung, John Waite and Paul Young. Billy Joel, Rod Stewart to perform at Paycor Stadium in September The artist is known for hits like 'Everybody Have Fun Tonight,' 'Jessie's Girl,' 'Don't Talk to Strangers' and more. 'This special tour is sure to delight music fans of what is regularly described as the greatest decade in pop/rock music,' said Rose Music Center. Presale tickets go on-sale at 10 a.m. on Feb. 12. General public tickets will become available at the same time on Feb. 14. Click here to purchase tickets. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
