Book Of Love @ House Of Blues

Words by: Cheli Strumila
Photos by: Canonblue Lalley

New Orleans, LA

Have you ever had those magical nightlife experiences that would change your life forever?  Mine would come at the age of 19 when I and a group of my fellow coworkers at Bennigans Galleria in Dallas decided to go to the Starck Club in Dallas to see the Book of Love concert in 1986.  I had heard about this Starck Club when I was living on South Padre Island, TX and our dear friend Gary London came back from a trip to Dallas raving about this new club that was so not like anything we had ever seen up till that time.  So when my coworkers suggested we go see Book of Love I was all in, so ready to see this club that was nothing like I had ever seen and this new band that my coworkers could not stop talking about how cool and modern their sound was.

Having been raised most my life in Lawton, Oklahoma, there wasn’t a huge amount of new wave music coming to our area.  Mostly country, top 40, hair bands, and whatever MTV was playing at the time back when it was all about “Music Videos.”  There were some music videos being played like Flock of Seagulls, Duran Duran, etc, but it wasn’t until I saw the movie Valley Girl and heard the band Modern English that I realized there was a whole other world of music out there that was more of what I was interested in than what my local market was playing. It wasn’t until I moved to South Padre at the age of 18 that I actually found others who shared my love of European new wave and punk bands such as The Cure, The Smiths, Psychedelic Furs, Joy Division, Kraftwerk, Siouxsie and the Banshees, and so many others. But sadly, once I moved to Dallas I found myself back in the clubs that catered to Top 40 once again to appease those who just settled for whatever the music of the day was that the local radio station was feeding to them.  Now don’t get me wrong, many of those bands and songs back in the early 80’s were cool for that time, but my heart and soul still yearned for something more modern and futuristic in its sound.

The moment we walked the stairs at the front door of Starck Club, were selected by the doorman to be allowed to enter and pulled back the curtain to enter what would be the coolest atmosphere of a club I had ever seen (most nightclub designs today actually owe their ambiance to Starck Club for setting the bar for the look and feel of clubs today), in that moment my life would change forever!!

As we made our way to the front of the club where the stage was, my friends and I waited in anticipation for Book of Love to take the stage.  Having not heard them before, I had no idea what to expect, but once they took the stage I knew right then and there from the first sounds coming from the keyboard as they began to play Boy that they were one of the bands I had been searching for in my musical journey.  Over the next hour+ we would be treated to some of the most incredible talent and creative musical sounds we had not been accustomed to in the pop culture of the day. To say that concert changed my life would be an understatement!!  So synthesized and electronic, synthpop as it would later be called, this mixture of punk meets electronic dance with a hint of Goth would be the new norm for me and my friends as Book of Love would forever change our music world as we knew it.   The next day my roommates Julie & Sam and I went out and bought the cassette and over the next months it would be played everywhere we went!  While we were getting ready, while we were driving around, while we were cruisin’ White Rock Lake, while we were hanging out, no matter where we were the Book of Love would be the background music of our lives at the time with such great tracks as I Touch Roses, Still Angry, Yellow Sky, Modigliani, Boy, and so many others!   

So many years have passed, 30 to be exact, but I still hold fast to that beautiful memory of the first time I entered Starck Club and the first time I ever heard Book of Love!!  Times have changed, music has changed, and I never got a chance to see Book of Love in concert again after that first night.  In the decades to follow everyone has moved into new musical styles over the years which is just the cycle of life.  But this year has seen a reemergence of so many Great 80’s New wave and punk bands coming back to perform such as Kraftwerk, The Cure, Psychedelic Furs and Yes, even my beloved Book of Love!!  Guess you can say our cycle of life has come full circle!

Book of Love was one of the premiere 1st wave electronic groups that emerged out of the New York City scene in the mid-’80s and legendary Seymour Stein signed them to Sire Records. On April 1, 1986, art-students-turned-musicians Susan Ottaviano (Lead Vocals), Ted Ottaviano (Songwriter/Keyboards/Vocals), Lauren Roselli (Keyboards/Vocals) and Jade Lee (Keyboards/Vocals) released the band’s debut album. At a time when you didn’t see many all-girl or mostly girl bands, Book of Love with 3 women and 1 man as the members were not only pioneering electronic music, but also breaking gender gaps in music.  

As their biography on their website states…. Friends since high school, Ted and Susan (who share the same last name but are not related) initially worked with Susan’s Philadelphia College of Art classmate Jade Lee in a band called Head Cheese in the early 80s. In 1984 Ted recruited fellow School Of Visual Arts friend Lauren Roselli and a quick chain of events secured Book of Love its breakthrough. It was Roselli who got a copy of “Boy” to DJ Ivan Ivan who himself had just scored a dance hit with “The Dominatrix Sleeps Tonight” and was looking for new projects. Ivan then passed it along to Seymour Stein, head of Sire Records. “When Ivan played Seymour the demo of ‘Boy’,” says Ted, “he went, ‘That’s the One I want.’ ” ” Boy”, anchored by pulsating keyboards, infectious hooks and a deadpan delivery told the tale of a girl who wanted to be where the boys are but is “not allowed”. An underground smash in NYC, this one track had secured the unknown group a recording contract and a support slot that introduced them to America. Between 1986 and 1993, Book of Love released four albums, Book of Love, Lullaby, Candy Carol and LoveBubble and had such hits as Boy, I Touch Roses, You Make Me Feel So Good, and Pretty Boys & Pretty Girls/Tubular Bells which crossed over on the Billboard Hot 100. The band’s music was also featured in the movies Planes, Trains and Automobiles, Silence of the Lambs, and American Psycho.

This year Book of Love commemorates their 30th Anniversary with a New Album, “MMXVI – Book of Love – The 30th Anniversary Collection,” as well as Special Anniversary Concerts scheduled all across the country and even more dates to be added than those that are already scheduled.

I was lucky enough to attend their sold out New Orleans concert at the House of Blues recently.  A show that sold out in less than 72 hours speaks worlds to how much their fans love them and were impacted by their music.  To say it was another Magical Experience would be an understatement.  Some of my dear friends from my Starck Club days drove down from Dallas & Arkansas just to be a part of this Fabulous Show which made it even more special!! Scarlett, Michael, Mona, and I were beyond excited to once again see Book of Love live since they were a part of all the beautiful memories we made back in our Starck days!  I mean seriously, how many bands out there have fans driving through numerous states picking up other friends just to attend their show?!! You have to be something special for your fans to even consider doing that for a few hours of a concert.  Even our friend Angelique who is younger and wasn’t with us during our Starck days knew all their songs and her older brother who was also a big fan of BOL was so jealous that it was already sold out.  And he had every right to be jealous as it was one Fabulous show as Ted Ottaviano and Susan Ottaviano took us back to a musical journey in time of all the songs that made us such huge fans to begin with.  We could not stop dancing and singing, and smiling and cheering with every favorite song they began to perform.  As I sit here writing this story I find myself still smiling remembering just what a wonderful night it was of music and friendship!!

I had a chance to chat with Susan Ottaviano while they were traveling to their next show to find out where they have been, what they think of the music today and what they thought of the reemergence of so many of our favorite 80’s new wave bands.

What have ya’ll been doing over the past 30 years?

In addition to raising a family, we’ve gotten back together a numerous times over the years and since 2000 we’ve done a variety of tours, but this is the most comprehensive reunion that we’ve had.

Being one of the pioneers of electronic music, What do you think of the new direction electronic music has taken? Are you a fan of all this new technology?

I’m a fan of today’s music, I would say I’m still a fan of songs more than just electronic music...as a music community we’re always moving forward

Back in the 80’s, your music was so new and fresh, who were some of your favorites during the 80’s and who were your musical influences before electronic started to take a hold of our music scene?

We actually have a song out now called “All Girl Band” that is about that…There weren’t a lot of all girl bands and we were out in the punk rock scene as fans during the time of the Ramones, Sid Vicious…many of the all-girl bands that inspired us were Delta 5, Slits and others that didn’t get as popular during the time of the British punk invasion…We were Fans out in the clubs…

How did ya’ll start to experiment with the electronic music sound while you were all art students.

It was more of an accident. We were just playing the instruments that we knew like Ted’s first instrument was the piano and the accord, and we had a bass player, and started writing music and it just sort of happened as we played whatever instrument we had on hand…it wasn’t a conscience thing it just evolved…and Ted just took on all the writing and producing and afforded us to have the ability to work with all types of sound

These past couple years we have seen the reemergence of many popular 80’s electronic bands such as Kraftwerk, The Cure, Psycadelic Furs that had disappeared from the scene for decades, now with your return to the music scene, it seems like we’re coming full circle again.  Why do you think this is happening? Why do you think it took so long for so many of these fabulous bands to start touring again?

I think it’s all really timing… Many of us took a break after touring for so long.  The music scene had changed but I think that it’s come back around with a new appreciation and come full circle to withstand the test of time and still feel fresh

Covering so many bands and concerts as we do here at Coast Observer Live, It was nice to see that Book of Love’s music and sound has not missed a beat all these decades later.  You could almost say it has been frozen in time with Ted and Susan still bringing to the stage that electronic glamour 80’s presence that helped to start and pioneer what could be called the birth of EDM.   

Book of Love’s new compilation album, “MMXVI – Book of Love – The 30th Anniversary Collection,”  to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the band’s eponymous debut album is now available for download and features re-mastered versions of the band’s greatest hits and never-before released demos. This digital collection will also feature two new songs – “All Girl Band” and “Something Good” – which are the band’s 1st new recordings in more than 15 years.  For those not in the digital age as of yet, you’ll be able to buy their new CD available this fall around September.

Book of Love will also host many concerts for you to be a part of with many more dates to be added.  For a list of all their upcoming shows and to download their new album or purchase the CD when it becomes available, visit their website at  http://www.bookoflovemusic.com/