That song and a few others by the iconic British band were played regularly in a dance club that I frequented back in the day in St. Louis. Whenever that song comes on the radio, even today, I turn it up and sing along.

But Modern English had and has a whole body of work in addition to that iconic single, and it was thrilling last night to enjoy their performance here, which was produced by MusicFile Productions, the parent company of Savannah Stopover and Revival Fest.

And it wasn’t just thrilling because of the nostalgia. Modern English played a tight set, seemed to enjoy their classics, threw in a few strong originals, and generally just tore it up for well over an hour in the hot and humid old warehouse space.

All that, and lead singer Robbie Grey wore a Tom of Finland t-shirt. (Bobby Zarem was even in the house.)

I took some pics:

For those of us of a certain age, that merits a wow.

Modern English’s “I Melt with You” was a nightclub staple when I started venturing to dance clubs in the Midwest in nineteen something-something. I loved a couple of the band’s early albums.

From today’s press release:

Legendary English rockers Modern English will play a one night only concert in Savannah on Wednesday, August 28th at Dollhouse Productions event space at 980 Industry Drive. One of the defining post-punk/new wave bands of the 1980â€s, the band will tour the U.S. behind the release of a new album, the first to be recorded with the original members of the group in 25 years. In addition to newer material, their hit songs “I Melt With You”, “Hands Across the Sea” and “Ink and Paper” remain some of the most recognizable and beloved tracks of the last 40 years.

An 80â€s themed dance party will follow the 10pm show. Tickets are $15 in advance and $18 the day of the show, space permitting. Tickets will go on sale at 5pm today on Showclix.

MusicFile Productions is the same LLC, headed by Kayne Lanahan, that’s behind Savannah Stopover, the indie music festival that began in 2011.

The MusicFile’s summer series starts with a free show by Widowspeak at The Sparetime on July 8:

The series kicks off on Monday, July 8th with a free show at The Sparetime featuring Brooklynâ€s critically acclaimed Widowspeak. The Captured Tracks recording artist will give a rare, stripped down performance at 9pm.

Widowspeak is comprised of Molly Hamilton and Robert Earl Thomas, renowned for their dreamy, western-tinged take on rock and roll. Their atmospheric, hazy sound has drawn comparisons to 90â€s standout Hope Sandoval of Mazzy Star. Widowspeakâ€s second album, Almanac, released in January of 2013, was recorded by Kevin McMahon (Swans, Real Estate) in a hundred year old barn in the Hudson River Valley of New York State during the transition from summer to fall. The album has received critical praise from NPR, Pitchfork, Rolling Stone, Spin and many others.

Ponderosa and Yip Deceiver will play a show on July 12th at The Jinx:

Ponderosa and Yip Deceiver (featuring members of Of Montreal) will perform on Friday, July 12th at The Jinx. Both bands are Stopover veterans. Local band Hallucinex will open.

Atlanta based Ponderosa has gained both critical success and momentum behind the release of their 2nd album Pool Party last summer. Stomp and Stammer magazine praised the band for “soaring, interstellar harmonies, booming drums, spatial textures, offbeat tangents and reverb aplenty” stating that the new LP “brings them closer in approach to that of groups like Band of Horses, My Morning Jacket and Athens†Futurebirds.”

The of Montreal spin-off project of Davey Pierce and Nicolas Dobbratz know as Yip Deceiver offers playful, high energy dance pop with a buzzing funk vibe.

Tickets for the event are available at The Jinx and are $8 in advance and $10 at the door.

And here you go:

That’s the great opening line of “Queen, Liz” — the first song on Christ, Lord’s EP Live at Criminal Records recorded in September 2012.

The Atlanta band brought its kind-of-gypsy folk for a long, exuberant set last week at Dollhouse Productions here in Savannah. That show was being recored too, as part of the Savannah Stopover‘s series of Sessions. I don’t know when any of the songs from that night will be released, but I’ll update this post when they are.

I’ve heard Christ, Lord several times now (see here and here), but this was the best show yet, by far. In part, that was because of the venue itself — the Dollhouse space gave guests room to move, to dance, or just to drift to the back and listen and sway and get lost in the sound.

Lead singer and accordionist Christian Ballew has a quiet charisma on stage, and his voice feels just perfect for dancing through the beauties and ironies of Christ, Lord’s songs. Like this: “I’m the pearl in the oyster / You’re the pearls before swine.”

Of course, Ballew isn’t alone — I can’t imagine anyone makes any real money when traveling with an 8-member band, but they sure make some good music together. The combination of sounds and sensibilities gets better every time I hear Christ, Lord.

You can find Christ, Lord on Facebook and bandcamp.

And let me add: I’m skeptical that Christ, Lord has found the best band name for advancing their career(s).

I took some photos. The lighting was uneven across the stage — very uneven — but the overall visual effect was lovely.

Atlantaâ€s garage ballroom / punk tango masters Christ, Lord bring their fantastic live show back to Savannah for a live performance on Dollhouseâ€s main stage. Faun and Pan Flute open and later lend their whimsical stylings to the Christ, Lord set for what is destined to be an unforgettable night of entertainment.

Christ, Lordâ€s set will be recorded and taped as part of an ongoing Savannah Stopover Sessions at Dollhouse Studios recorded series to be made available online via bandcamp. Local superhero heartthrobs Triathalon will close the night. Doors at 8pm.

Superhero heartthrobs?

Anyway, Christ, Lord is a really interesting band. A few tunes plus a few pics from a gig last fall at The Sentient Bean:

A few pics from the Bean, click for larger versions:

I’ve written a lot about Triathalon over the last year — a standout local act. During the recent Savannah Stopover Triathalon released a 3-song EP recorded at Dollhouse, and just recently they released a self-recorded 3-song EP. Here are both of them:

I’ve written pretty often about Heyrocco, a great trio from Charleston, including this lengthy Savannah Stopover preview.

I’ve taken photos of Heyrocco on a number of their Savannah trips:

Having bought a VIP pass for last month’s Savannah Stopover, I was thrilled to spend part of Saturday during the festival hanging out at Dollhouse Productions on Industry Drive in West Savannah.

I heard two of the Stopover Sessions — a new effort this year to record live tracks from some of the visiting bands. I was on hand both for This Mountain and Field Report, both of which seemed to lay down amazingly tight versions of their songs with ease and professionalism.

Now the final mixes have been posted to bandcamp for those two bands plus Young Buffalo, Country Mice, HOTT MT, Fine Peduncle and mumbledust.

There’s just a single track from mumbledust, a great Savannah-based duo that I’ve written about before. Ryan McCardle and Rachael Perisho sure have some beautiful songs, including “Elvis, TN”:

Most mumbledust recordings have been pretty lo-fi and have generally had Perisho’s voice a bit more dominant than McCardle’s. So this recording is something of a departure — and beautiful.

“Elvis, TN” is only available on the compilation, which you can stream below and which can be purchased for $7:

I was especially impressed with the three-song Field Report Stopover Session, which can be purchased for just $5:

I love the feel of the studio in “Fergus Falls”.

Again, click here to stream and/or purchase all the sessions.

Here’s a shot of Field Report:

It was not a good night for Savannah’s music scene cynics.

Dan Deacon has played Savannah before, but I’d never caught him. As he began, he recounted a gig at The Jinx when a fan knocked over his entire digital kit, bringing the set to a quick conclusion.

Accidents like that must be one of the hazards of playing on the floor, at the same level as the audience. But as a great show produced by Safe//Sound and Dollhouse Productions on Monday proved, the positives vastly outnumber the negatives.

If there’s anything more engaging than the layers of the witch doctor Deacon’s music, it’s watching him work the crowd.

The crowd did whatever Deacon asked — they pointed, kneeled, stepped back, divided into teams, even exited the back of the building and came back in the front after creating a long bridge of extended arms and united hands.

Deacon was like that wacky camp counselor, gone all psychedelic.

After his lengthy set, Deacon personalized fans’ souvenir tickets and posed for photos for as long as he was wanted.

Deacon was preceded by Grand Buffet, an energetic and often-satirical rap duo from Pittsburgh that revved up the crowd.

The flat out great local band Triathalon kicked the evening off with its occasionally soulful garage surf rock.

There were a few minor technical issues, including too much bass and drums in Triathalon’s mix and an uncooperative speaker in Dan Deacon’s set, but the vast majority of the crowd didn’t even notice those.

I took pictures. First you’ll see a few of Triathalon, then Grand Buffet, then Dan Deacon.

Click for larger versions.

Dan Deacon has more than 33,000 fans on Facebook, but his web presence is a little hard to get a handle on. I hate to say it, but the best background on him can probably be found on Wikipedia.

Photo by Shawn Brackbill

This will be Deaconâ€s third visit to Savannah. He is currently supporting his new album America (Domino Records) that debuted on August 28th. America has been described by the New York Times as “a dark love letter of sorts to the country”. Rolling Stone states that “his music and sound-scapes depict the beauty and poetic nature of his homeland”.

With this new body of work, Deacon explores all dimensions of instrumentation, melding acoustic and synthetic tones, pop and classical scores, and experimenting with a host of players on a variety of instruments. In short, Deacon has honed his take on the sound of “America”, uniting disparate elements to create a cohesive message: “The future surrounds us. Let us begin”. Relevant to the recent election, Deaconâ€s visit to Savannah is very good timing indeed.

Here’s “True Thrush”:

Check out the Facebook event invite. Tickets are available at Graveface Records and via the Safe//Sound blog.

Click here for Grand Buffet’s Facebook page. They’re a hip hop duo from Pittsburgh.

And Triathalon, one of Savannah’s best young bands:

Triathalon at Fashion’s Night Out on Broughton Street