Bath · 1985
Two friends from Bath, a name from a therapy, and an album called after a chair.
Curt Smith · Roland Orzabal
Curt Smith (left) and Roland Orzabal in a 1985 Polygram publicity photograph for Songs from the Big Chair. Distributed by Polygram Records U.S., Public domain.
Carry the chairThe album took its name from the big chair in the film Sybil, the one place its heroine felt safe. It was made in more than one room. Pick the chair up and take it to each of them.
Bath · the late 1970s to 1983
Bath
Roland Orzabal and Curt Smith met as teenagers in Bath, bonding over Thin Lizzy and Blue Öyster Cult.
Their first professional band was Graduate, a mod-revival and new wave act: one album, Acting My Age, and the single Elvis Should Play Ska in 1980, then a split in 1981.
FEARS
Fears. One letter away from the name.
They took the name Tears for Fears from primal therapy, Arthur Janov’s treatment, which had become famous after John Lennon went to him in 1970.
Site of Moles · 14 George Street, Bath
Tears for Fears were a regular band there.
Moles opened at 14 George Street on New Year’s Eve 1977, run by Philip Andrews. It reopened in November 2015 after a fire, then closed and filed for insolvency in December 2023.
The club has shut. George Street is a public street at the top of Milsom Street; look from the pavement.
Hammersmith and Bath · 1981 to 1984
14–15 December 1983
The concert video In My Mind’s Eye was filmed at the Hammersmith Odeon on 14 and 15 December 1983, directed by Mike Mansfield.
A live recording of Broken from that December found its way onto Songs from the Big Chair. The hall opened in 1932 as the Gaumont Palace, was the Hammersmith Odeon from 1962 to 1993, and is listed Grade II*.
Still a concert hall, now the Eventim Apollo: go to a show.
45 Queen Caroline Street, London W6 9QH · Tickets via eventim.co.uk
The old Hammersmith Odeon, where In My Mind’s Eye was filmed in December 1983. See what is on.
See showsNorth Road, Bath
Around the time the duo formed, keyboard player Ian Stanley offered them free use of the 8-track studio in his home.
Producer Chris Hughes told Mix the band recorded eight songs at Stanley’s home studio, which they had just upgraded with advance money from the second album. Hughes lists a 32-channel Soundcraft desk, a 24-track tape machine, a Fairlight, a Prophet 5, a Jupiter 8, a DX7, a PPG Wave and a new LinnDrum.
A private home on a residential road. It is named here and not mapped; please leave the people who live there in peace.
Songs from the Big Chair · 1984–1985
No one room made this record. Chris Hughes remembers a house in Bath; Wikipedia and the Bath Chronicle name the band’s own studio in a Beckington wool store; the vocals and the mix went to Munich, and the videos to Dorset and the desert.
25 February 1985
Set the chair down in every room and the album comes out.
JFK Stadium, Philadelphia · 13 July 1985
The chair is on the bill for Philadelphia.
Tears for Fears were booked to play Live Aid at JFK Stadium on 13 July 1985 and pulled out that morning.
George Thorogood and the Destroyers took the slot. The official reason was that two backing musicians had quit when their contract ran out. The band pledged the takings from concerts in Tokyo, Sydney, London and New York instead.
Site of JFK Stadium · South Broad Street, South Philadelphia
89,484 people were at the Philadelphia show that day. The stadium was demolished in September 1992. Xfinity Mobile Arena stands on the site.
The stadium is gone; an arena stands on the site in the South Philadelphia sports complex. Go for a game or a show.
Sport Aid, Box and Beckington · 1986 to 1989
RULE
Everybody Wants to Rule the World: the 1984 title.
For Sport Aid they re-recorded their biggest song as Everybody Wants to Run the World. It came out on 23 May 1986 and reached No. 5 in Britain.
Sport Aid’s Race Against Time was run on Sunday 25 May 1986: 10-kilometre races for African famine relief, with 200,000 runners finishing the London course.
Real World Studios · Box Mill, Box, Wiltshire
The Seeds of Love was recorded at Real World and at the Townhouse in London; the sessions restarted in early 1988 and ran until the summer of 1989.
It reportedly cost £1 million to make, against about £70,000 for Songs from the Big Chair. Orzabal and Smith had heard Oleta Adams, a hotel lounge singer and pianist, in Kansas City on their 1985 American tour; she sings on the album. The Seeds of Love came out on 25 September 1989 and went straight to No. 1 in Britain.
Real World is in the old Box Mill, a 200-year-old water mill by the By Brook. Peter Gabriel bought the site in 1987 and founded the studio in 1989.
A working residential studio, not open to visitors. Box is a village on the A4 east of Bath.
The Wool Hall · Beckington, near Frome, Somerset
It opened to other musicians in 1986. The Smiths made Strangeways, Here We Come there in 1987.
The Wool Hall dates from the 16th century, when Beckington was a centre of the Somerset wool trade; it has been Grade II listed since 1968. Van Morrison bought it in 1994, after recording five albums there, and sold it in 2002. In 2018 its equipment was auctioned and the building was being turned into homes.
Now private homes in a listed building. Walk the village street; the Wool Hall is not pinned.
Franklin, Tennessee · 11 July 2023
The live album of Songs for a Nervous Planet was recorded on this stage on 11 July 2023, during the Tipping Point tour.
It came with four new studio recordings and a concert film, Tears for Fears Live: A Tipping Point Film. Orzabal and Smith told AP that knowing the cameras were there played on their nerves on stage.
An open-air venue in a former quarry, south of Nashville. Go to a show.
4525 Graystone Quarry Lane, Franklin, Tennessee · Tickets per show
The quarry stage where Songs for a Nervous Planet was recorded live in July 2023. See the season’s shows.
See shows
Where it is now
In Bath, George Street and Pulteney Bridge are a short walk apart; Box is a few miles east and Beckington a drive south. Durdle Door is a day on the Dorset coast. Cabazon is on the road to Palm Springs.
8 places you can visit, from Bath to Franklin. Moles and JFK Stadium are gone; their sites are pinned on public streets. Ian Stanley’s house on North Road and the Wool Hall are private homes: named, not mapped.
Pins mark public places; private homes are named but not pinned.
General reference · Public access · Coordinate precision: area · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. A walkable Georgian city on the Avon. The band’s Bath is street level: start on George Street and walk down to Pulteney Bridge.
General reference · Public access · Coordinate precision: site · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. The club has shut. George Street is a public street at the top of Milsom Street; look from the pavement.
General reference · Restricted access · Coordinate precision: site · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. A working residential studio, not open to visitors. Box is a village on the A4 east of Bath.
Bath, Somerset
Roland Orzabal and Curt Smith met as teenagers in Bath, bonding over Thin Lizzy and Blue Öyster Cult.
A walkable Georgian city on the Avon. The band’s Bath is street level: start on George Street and walk down to Pulteney Bridge.
14 George Street, Bath
Moles opened at 14 George Street on New Year’s Eve 1977, run by Philip Andrews.
The club has shut. George Street is a public street at the top of Milsom Street; look from the pavement.
Box Mill, Box, Wiltshire
Real World is in the old Box Mill, a 200-year-old water mill by the By Brook. Peter Gabriel bought the site in 1987 and founded the studio in 1989.
A working residential studio, not open to visitors. Box is a village on the A4 east of Bath.
West Lulworth, Dorset BH20 5PU · Book direct
Static caravans, Skylight Cabins, camping pods and touring pitches on the estate at West Lulworth, by the arch where the Shout video was filmed. Open 1 March to 2 January.
Check availabilityStay
Caravans, cabins and camping on the Lulworth Estate, beside Durdle Door.
West Lulworth, Dorset BH20 5PU · Book direct
Static caravans, Skylight Cabins, camping pods and touring pitches on the estate at West Lulworth, by the arch where the Shout video was filmed. Open 1 March to 2 January.
Check availabilityGo there
Durdle Door, the Cabazon dinosaurs, the Apollo, the Franklin quarry stage, and walks in Bath and the desert.
West Lulworth, Dorset · Open all year
Open all year; no beach access after 9pm or dusk. The cliff path can be steep and loose.
Plan a visit50770 Seminole Drive, Cabazon, California · Adults $15
Mr. Rex, Dinny and more than a hundred other figures beside the site of the Wheel Inn. Open from 9am; tickets at the door only.
Plan a visit45 Queen Caroline Street, London W6 9QH · Tickets via eventim.co.uk
The old Hammersmith Odeon, where In My Mind’s Eye was filmed in December 1983. See what is on.
See shows4525 Graystone Quarry Lane, Franklin, Tennessee · Tickets per show
The quarry stage where Songs for a Nervous Planet was recorded live in July 2023. See the season’s shows.
See showsBath
Live marketplace results for walking tours of Bath. Check each itinerary for the stops it really makes.
Live marketplace results · itineraries change
Compare toursPalm Springs, California
Live marketplace results for desert tours around Palm Springs. Check each itinerary for the stops it really makes.
Live marketplace results · itineraries change
Compare toursWhat’s on
No Tears for Fears date after October 2026 was on an official page when we checked.
No current dated events are listed. Check providers for the latest programme.
Take it home
The first album, the big chair, the record made at the mill, and the live set from the quarry.
Jo-Ann Greene
A 1985 book on the band, from the year of the big chair.
Find the bookTears for Fears · CD, Vertigo, 1985
The album named after Sybil’s big chair.
Live marketplace search · listings and condition change
Find a copyTears for Fears · LP, Mercury, 1983
The first album, March 1983.
Live marketplace search · listings and condition change
Find a copyTears for Fears · CD, Fontana, 1989
Made at Real World and the Townhouse; No. 1 in Britain.
Live marketplace search · listings and condition change
Find a copyTears for Fears · Album, Concord, 2024
Live from the Franklin quarry stage, July 2023, with four new studio songs.
Live marketplace search · listings and condition change
Find a copyDates, prices, rooms and stock change: confirm with the provider before you travel or buy. A stay or tour is described as a filming location only where the card says so.
Every place and moment behind this page, with sources.
11 of 11 places · 19 of 19 Moments
Bath, Somerset
Roland Orzabal and Curt Smith meet as teenagers in Bath.
Their first band releases Acting My Age and splits the next year.
The duo take a name from Arthur Janov’s primal therapy.
The Sport Aid version is released two days before the Race Against Time.
14 George Street, Bath
Tears for Fears play Moles on George Street regularly.
Moles closes after 45 years.
North Road, Bath (Ian Stanley’s home studio)
Ian Stanley offers them free use of his home 8-track studio.
Eight songs are recorded in Stanley’s upgraded home studio.
Beckington, near Frome, Somerset
The band turn a 16th-century wool store in Beckington into their own studio.
Two chords Orzabal had been playing become Everybody Wants to Rule the World, the last track recorded for the album.
Songs from the Big Chair comes out, named after the big chair in the 1976 film Sybil, where the heroine feels safe only in her analyst’s chair. It reaches No. 1 in America and No. 2 in Britain.
The Wool Hall opens to other musicians.
Box Mill, Box, Wiltshire
The Seeds of Love is recorded at Real World and the Townhouse.
45 Queen Caroline Street, Hammersmith, London W6
In My Mind’s Eye is filmed at the Hammersmith Odeon.
West Lulworth, Dorset (BH20 5PU)
Nigel Dick films Orzabal and Smith at Durdle Door for Shout.
Solln, Munich
Vocals and mixing at Union Studios, Munich.
50770 Seminole Drive, Cabazon, California
Curt Smith drives to the Wheel Inn for the Everybody Wants to Rule the World video.
South Broad Street, South Philadelphia
Tears for Fears pull out of Live Aid on the morning of the show.
4525 Graystone Quarry Lane, Franklin, Tennessee
The Franklin show becomes a live album and a concert film.
