Everybody Have Fun Tonight, Everybody Wang Chung Tonight With ``The Best Of Wang Chung''.

Entertainment Editors & Music Writers

LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 6, 2002

There was more to Wang Chung than "Everybody Have Fun Tonight," one of the most recognizable songs of the `80s. Wang Chung epitomized the musical movements of the decade -- the breaking-the-rules of punk, the technology of New Wave, and the canonization of pop. Mixing rock, funk, electronics, World Music and sonic experimentation, the band promoted a global pop that can still be heard in music today -- and on "The Best Of Wang Chung" edition of "20th Century Masters/The Millennium Collection" (Geffen/UME), released October 8, 2002, featuring 11 digitally remastered selections spanning the group's career on Geffen from 1983 through 1989 plus its 1997 reunion disc.

In 1980, singer-guitarist-keyboardist Jack Hues, singer-bassist-keyboardist Nick Feldman and drummer Darren Costin formed Huang Chung. After a self-titled album, the band changed its record company and its spelling. Its Geffen debut, "Points On The Curve" (1984), spawned the pop hits "Dance Hall Days" (#16) and "Don't Let Go" (#38) as well as "Don't Be My Enemy" and "Wait." Following a tour with the Cars, Costin exited and Hues and Feldman took an experimental turn when director William Friedkin ("The Exorcist," "The French Connection") asked them to score "To Live And Die In L.A." (1985). The eerie, atmospheric soundtrack (including the almost-Top 40 title song) became the band's next Geffen album and earned widespread critical acclaim.

Delving back into pop, "Mosaic" (1986) yielded its biggest hits: "Everybody Have Fun Tonight" (#2) and "Let's Go" (#9) plus "Hypnotize Me" (#36). Rhythmically intense, thought-provoking edges abounded but it was the light-railing-against-the-dark "Everybody Have Fun Tonight" (and its "Everybody Wang Chung tonight" refrain) which became the band's signature. Yet, despite success, Wang Chung's next album, "The Warmer Side Of Cool" (1989), with the controversial "Praying To A New God" and "What's So Bad About Feeling Good?," would be its last original.

Hues and Feldman pursued individual projects before reuniting for a new track, "Space Junk," for 1997's "Everybody Wang Chung Tonight ... Wang Chung's Greatest Hits," and embarking on a series of live promotional dates. Those shows led to lengthier U.S. tours the following year and summer 2000, the latter as part of an `80s revival package with A Flock of Seagulls, Gene Loves Jezebel and Dale Bozzio of Missing Persons. The duo's return was so well received that it seems likely that fans will be Wang Chung-ing with them many nights in the future.

The series "20th Century Masters/The Millennium Collection" features new "best of" albums from the most significant music artists of the past century.