Still Relevant
Listening to the incredible pedigree of pop classics contained within the canon of iconic British pop-sensation Billy Ocean, you get the sense these tracks have built up an infallibility to the notion of garish nostalgia and cultural cringe, which resonates in the work of many of his contemporaries.
'Caribbean Queen', 'Love Really Hurts Without You' and 'When The Going Gets Tough' “ all these tracks hold true as beacons of the pop form, shining as strong today as they did before Billy made his retreat from the industry in the early '90s.
"Melodies, melodies. People love music, people love melodies," Billy states in his impossibly charismatic Trinidadian cadence. "Whatever people are exposed to, they'll accept it until they hear something better. I think it's like this new generation, they hear a lot of music made by machines. But once they hear songs that are really true to the form, with nice melodies, they love it just as much, or they love it more.
"I see a lot of young people at my concerts, obviously the older generation too. But the audience is very mixed sometimes, the young people are there because they want to hear melodies, they want to hear songs."
At the crest of his success, Billy famously took time off from the spotlight, completing removing himself from the follies of the music industry. "I took the time out to be with my family as my kids were growing up and there's daddy travelling over the place, having a lot of fun. I can't exactly say I was having the sort of fun I am having now," he ponders.
It goes to show that time has not forgotten Billy Ocean, judging by the success of his perpetual comeback tour, which saw Billy perform in Australia for the first time ever in 2009. "It shows you how good it's been, because I haven't been off the road since then, I've kept going. That initial tour in 2007 was just a taste to see what the whole thing was all about. But the response and reaction has been so good, that here I am still out here wondering what I've started. It has gone very good, I must admit."
Billy Ocean performs alongside Ali Campbell's UB40 and more at the Brisbane Riverstage January 26.
