Friday, January 16, 2004

By Scott Mervis, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

John Crawford of Berlin, looking like a guy who wouldn't know New Wave from a Wave Pool, is quietly working on what looks like a children's party decoration when VH1 barges in with its cameras. Frank Zincavage of Romeo Void seems bitter and paranoid to the point of refusing to even open the door.

For "Bands Reunited," debuting Monday night, VH1 doesn't merely send out invitations to regroup the original members of hit '80s bands. It shows up like "60 Minutes" and then sweeps them up into a reality show.

"I thought they were pretty gutsy, to be honest with you," says Terri Nunn of Berlin. "I heard they flew all over the country to find everybody. To do that and spend money, and not know if everyone was going to be OK with doing a concert ... and then that fast. They told us, 'You have to do two days of rehearsal and then a show the third day.' I'm thinking 'everybody's got lives' and I had my own fears about whether everybody could play. I thought it was a big crap shoot."

In the two episodes that the PG screened, Romeo Void is saddled with a lead singer who was considered by the record company to be overweight in her prime (and hasn't lost any) and a saxophone player with serious ear damage. Berlin is shown having to confront old tensions between Crawford and Nunn, who still looks and sounds great and tours now with a new version of Berlin.

"We had a rift for six years or seven years," she says. "I hadn't spoken a word to him. But after [we met and that] was so amazing, the next fear was, can we play? I actually hired a guy who could be a musical director for the group. The producers were hesitant, but I said, 'If you can't hire this guy, I might not do it.' "

"Bands Reunited" starts with Berlin Monday night at 10 and continues with one episode every weeknight for two weeks. The other bands featured are Romeo Void (Tuesday), A Flock of Seagulls (Wednesday), Klymaxx (Thursday), Frankie Goes to Hollywood (Friday), Kajagoogoo (Jan. 26), Extreme (Jan. 27), Dramarama (Jan. 28), The Alarm (Jan. 29) and Squeeze (Jan. 30).

Kim Rozenfeld, executive producer of the series, says that the '80s was a natural target for this show. "Our channel shows that nostalgia is a really, really powerful tool for us, specifically '80s. When we looked at the success of 'I Love the 80s,' it was hard to ignore that. The '80s is a really resonant time in terms of pop culture. It's very pop-stalgic."

Like "Behind the Music," the drama of "Bands Reunited" is seeing what became of artists who were once the toast of MTV and watching their emotional reunions.

"You're dealing," Rozenfeld says, "with people who have had really amazing experiences, sort of being on top of the world, flying in private jets, the world on a string for them. That's taken away. It was important for me to show both sides of those characters. To show being on top and adjusting to a life of normalcy."

In the case of Berlin, Nunn says, the show has stirred up new interest among some of the members to work together again. Is she game?

"I love them," she says, "and I would explore it with them."

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