Music & Concerts
Reviving Animotion
Long-dormant ‘80s popsters reunite for fun new album


Astrid Plane and Bill Wadhams have reunited as Animotion. (Photo courtesy Invisible Hands Music)
Los Angeles-based synthpop group Animotion became part of the fabric of ‘80s pop culture with their iconic 1984 single “Obsession.”
Built on Princely synths pulsing with electricity like something off “1999” with a touch of new wave weirdness for good measure, the infectious single reached no. 6 in the U.S. and has remained a staple of ‘80s nights the world over ever since. They weren’t quite a one-hit wonder, although they are often seen as such.
The follow-up to “Obsession,” the less immediately catchy “Let Him Go,” stalled at no. 39. The band’s second album “Strange Behavior” (1986) was a flop, with lead single “I Engineer” struggling to only no. 76. A major-lineup shift followed, including the firing of lead vocalists Astrid Plane and Bill Wadhams who were was replaced by Cynthia Rhodes, an actress and dancer known for her role in “Dirty Dancing,” and Paul Engemann. The new lineup scored one hit in 1989 with “Room to Move,” but that was it. Animotion was relegated to the dustbin of ‘80s history.
Twenty-eight years later, Animotion is back with its original vocalists and first album since its precipitous dissolution. “Raise Your Expectations,” out Jan. 20, is an apt title for a band returning from the dead after so long away, and by and large they exceed whatever expectations anybody may have had. Just hearing Astrid Plane and Bill Wadhams again on new material is a strange exercise in time travel that is a pure retro delight. First single “Last Time” is a synth-heavy melding of ‘80s sensibilities with a modern sheen. Its big melodic hook and rich layers of keyboards are at once familiar and fresh.
The rest of the album continues in much the same vein. Animotion stays grounded in its trademark sound of the past but updates it for a new millennium. “Not Your Lover” is a hard-driving synth-rocker with distorted vocals and jolts of guitar that give it an almost industrial vibe. “They Can’t Touch You” is a melodic mid-tempo gem with a sweet vocal by Wadhams. “Bad Review” dives us right back into the band’s glory days, beamed straight from their 33-year-old debut, with an energetic very-‘80s sound. The song is a wry reflection on the quick ups and down of success, a topic that Animotion is perhaps more suited to address than anyone.
“Everything” is a complete departure, a gorgeous acoustic-guitar based ballad with sublime vocal harmonies. The tempo amps back up quickly with the club-ready title track, a song that if given a chance would be a prime candidate for a series of hot remixes. “Trust Me” is a more experimental track with a vast electronic soundscape, Astrid Plane’s voice sounding just like we remember it from “Obsession” but somehow transported far into the future.
“You Love It” is another high energy dance-floor stomper, and the lovely “Surrender” is an old-school synth ballad with perhaps Plane’s finest vocal on the album. “Raise Your Expectations” closes with a dynamic re-imagining of their old hit “Let Him Go,” a futuristic hard-throbbing banger that’s injected with far more pep than the original.
No, “Raise Your Expectations” doesn’t tread any new ground, it’s not going to be on year end “best of” lists and it won’t spawn any additional Top 10 hits to add to the band’s legacy, but it doesn’t need to. “Obsession” will always ensure that Animotion holds a place in ‘80s pop lore, deservedly so. Hearing them back again with new music is an unexpected pleasure not only as an album but in what it represents: it’s never too late to start anew, take a risk and follow your drive and passion wherever it may lead. Kudos to Animotion for having the fortitude to come back strong after so many years out of public awareness.
Music & Concerts
Underdog glorious: a personal remembrance of Jill Sobule
Talented singer, songwriter died in house fire on May 1

I’ve always prided myself on being the kind of music consumer who purchased music on impulse. When I stumbled across “Things Here Are Different,” Jill Sobule’s 1990 MCA Records debut album on vinyl in a favorite Chicago record store, I bought it without knowing anything about her. This was at a time when we didn’t have our phones in our pockets to search for information about the artist on the internet. The LP stayed in my collection until, as vinyl was falling out of fashion, I replaced it with a CD a few years later.
Early in my career as an entertainment journalist, I received a promo copy of Jill’s eponymous 1995 Atlantic Records album. That year, Atlantic Records was one of the labels at the forefront of signing and heavily promoting queer artists, including Melissa Ferrick and Extra Fancy, and its roster included the self-titled album by Jill. It was a smart move, as the single “I Kissed A Girl” became a hit on radio and its accompanying video (featuring Fabio!) was in heavy rotation on MTV (when they still played videos).
Unfortunately for Jill, she was a victim of record label missteps. When 1997’s wonderful “Happy Town” failed to repeat the success, Atlantic dumped her. That was Atlantic’s loss, because her next album, the superb “Pink Pearl” contained “Heroes” and “Mexican Wrestler,” two of her most beloved songs. Sadly, Beyond Music, the label that released that album ceased to exist after just a few years. To her credit, the savvy Jill had also started independently releasing music (2004’s “The Folk Years”). That was a smart move because her next major-label release, the brilliant “Underdog Victorious” on Artemis Records, met a similar fate when that label folded.
With her 2009 album “California Years,” Jill launched her own indie label, Pinko Records, on which she would release two more outstanding full-length discs, 2014’s “Dottie’s Charms” (on which she collaborated with some of her favorite writers, including David Hadju, Rick Moody, Mary Jo Salter, and Jonathan Lethem), and 2018’s stunning “Nostalgia Kills.” Jill’s cover of the late Warren Zevon’s “Don’t Let Us Get Sick” on “Nostalgia Kills” was particularly poignant as she had toured with him as an opening act.
Jill was a road warrior, constantly on tour, and her live shows were something to behold. My first interview with Jill took place at the Double Door in Chicago in early August of 1995, when she was the opening act for legendary punk band X. She had thrown her back out the previous day and was diagnosed with a herniated disc. To be comfortable, she was lying down on a fabulous-‘50s sofa. “I feel like I’m at my shrink’s,” she said to me, “Do you want me to talk about my mother?”
That sense of humor, which permeated and enriched her music, was one of many reasons to love Jill. I was privileged to interview her for seven of her albums. Everything you would want to know about her was right there in her honest lyrics, in which she balanced her distinctive brand of humor with serious subject matter. Drawing on her life experiences in songs such as “Bitter,” “Underachiever,” “One of These Days,” “Freshman,” “Jetpack,” “Nothing To Prove,” “Forbidden Thoughts of Youth,” “Island of Lost Things,” “Where Do I Begin,” “Almost Great,” and “Big Shoes,” made her songs as personal as they were universal, elicited genuine affection and concern from her devoted fans.
While she was a consummate songwriter, Jill also felt equally comfortable covering songs made famous by others, including “Just A Little Lovin’” (on the 2000 Dusty Springfield tribute album “Forever Dusty”) and “Stoned Soul Picnic” (from the 1997 Laura Nyro tribute album “Time and Love”). Jill also didn’t shy away from political subject matter in her music with “Resistance Song,” “Soldiers of Christ,” “Attic,” “Heroes,” “Under the Disco Ball,” and the incredible “America Back” as prime examples.
Here’s something else worth mentioning about Jill. She was known for collaboration skills. As a songwriter, she maintained a multi-year creative partnership with Robin Eaton (“I Kissed A Girl” and many others), as well as Richard Barone, the gay frontman of the renowned band The Bongos. Jill’s history with Barone includes performing together at a queer Octoberfest event in Chicago in 1996. Writer and comedian Julie Sweeney, of “SNL” and “Work in Progress” fame was another Chicago collaborator with Sobule (Sweeney lives in a Chicago suburb), where they frequently performed their delightful “The Jill and Julia Show.” John Doe, of the aforementioned band X, also collaborated with Jill in the studio (“Tomorrow Is Breaking” from “Nostalgia Kills”), as well as in live performances.
On a very personal note, in 2019, when I was in the process of arranging a reading at the fabulous NYC gay bookstore Bureau of General Services – Queer Division, I reached out to Jill and asked her if she would like to be on the bill with me. We alternated performing; I would read a couple of poems, and Jill would sing a couple of songs. She even set one of my poems to music, on the spot.
Jill had an abundance of talent, and when she turned her attention to musical theater, it paid off in a big way. Her stage musical “F*ck 7th Grade,” a theatrical piece that seemed like the next logical step in her career, had its premiere at Pittsburgh’s City Theatre in the fall of 2020, during the height of the pandemic. The unique staging (an outdoor drive-in stage at which audience members watched from their cars) was truly inspired. “F*ck 7th Grade” went on to become a New York Times Critic’s pick, as well as earning a Drama Desk nomination.
In honor of the 30th anniversary of Jill’s eponymous 1995 album, reissue label Rhino Records is re-releasing it on red vinyl. Jill and I had been emailing each other to arrange a time for an interview. We even had a date on the books for the third week of May.
When she died in a house fire in Minnesota on May 1 at age 66, Jill received mentions on network and cable news shows. She was showered with attention from major news outlets, including obits in the New York Times and Rolling Stone (but not Pitchfork, who couldn’t be bothered to review her music when she was alive). Is it wrong to think that if she’d gotten this much attention when she was alive she could have been as big as Taylor Swift? I don’t think so.
Music & Concerts
Tom Goss returns with ‘Bear Friends Furever Tour’
Out singer/songwriter to perform at Red Bear Brewing Co.

Singer Tom Goss will bring his “Bear Friends Furever Tour” to D.C. on Sunday, June 8 at 8 p.m. at Red Bear Brewing Co.
Among the songs he will perform will be “Bear Soup,” the fourth installment in his beloved bear song anthology series. Following fan favorites like “Bears,” “Round in All the Right Places,” and “Nerdy Bear,” this high-energy, bass-thumping banger celebrates body positivity, joyful indulgence, and the vibrant spirit of the bear subculture.
For more details, visit Tom Goss’s website.

Aussie pop icon Kylie Minogue brings her acclaimed “Tension” world tour to D.C. next Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. at the Capital One Arena. Tickets are still available at Ticketmaster.
The show features songs spanning her long career, from 1987 debut single, “The Loco-Motion,” to “Padam, Padam” from her album, “Tension.”