Fan from 🇵🇭 here I was a kid in the 80s when this came out. This song defined my batch. The Alarm together with Big Country and Cactus World News were my favorites👍
Shot on the roof of 1 Stephen St, just off Tottenham Court Road, London W1. I arranged permission to film there as the other part of the building (No2) was leased by Music Box who I was working for at the time. Note how Nigel Twist is framed out of many of the shots because Nige was really ill with a rotten bout of flu on the day and so only sat in for 2 or 3 camera passes, the rest of the time we let him rest. If memory serves, both Mike & Nigel were very uneasy being on top of such a high building.
Gaz, I remember you mate! You were a huge Alarm fan who used to plug them a lot on TV. You must have many more anectodes about the band. We'd love to hear more from you : )
Great to know these details , thanks Gaz. My first ever gig was The Alarm at the Royal Court, Liverpool April 26, 1987. Fantastic gig, never seen better. Gaz I believe I saw you there too, in the balcony. with Mike's wife Jules I think, she was a friend of my sister... Prestatyn High...
‘Gaz Top’ looked like he belonged in the band… Great presenter not like the lame-wads we got today. I hope the Gods are still blessing u old chap… Top Man. Don’t get me started on ‘ Mark-me-wurdz’ ffs! It’s all flooding back…
Bought the actual single at the time. This track is very special to me. Saw the video when it first came out. Love Mike and the guys to tiny bits. Always ready for a trip down memory lane! Thank u. Janine XXX
Jan Ivar Hansen-Bergli I think you’ll find the current line up just as good live. Don’t live in the past, get out to a gig near you soon. You won’t regret it !
Light years ahead on the environment. Topical and typical of their lyrics to deliver a hard hitting, heartfelt wake up call to action. The spirit of The Clash is alive in the music too. I love The Alarm and Mike Peters is a great man.
Finally one that allows comments lol just wanna say Mike is the best and an inspiration and a great human being I've been a fan of the Alarm for over 30 years
I still remember staying late at night and waking early morning next day to hear this song over the radio. It winds me down for the day, and revs me up with the beat of the drums! THANKS for sharing!
This song surly has not just been remastered but remixed too. You can really hear Eddie's bass carrying the melody line under Dave's peddle point guitar. And of course Twist's astonishing kick drum. I'm also sure the cover photo for the 7 & 12 inch single was taken in the men's bogs in St Davids Hall.
Lyrics: Hey now now Hey hey hey You may be rich You may be poor You may have nothing in this world at all You may be black, you maybe white You may be a prisioner in your own times You may be lost. You may be found You may have been beaten up and knocked to the ground You may have belief, suffer from deceit Or you just might be blind Oh no no You may affect the truth You may be seen as false You may be a king or a vagabond You may be up, you may be down You may sit in judgement with the rest of the clowns You may have love You may have hate You may be the President Of The United States But even you, you can't sit and hide While the world's resources die This is absolute reality reality reality We are all the cause, The solution to reality Ooh yeah yeah Hey now now Hey now now You may be in control You may be controlled You may sit down 'till you do as you're told You may work hard You may never work at all You may be accused but you don't know what for You may be innocent or partly to blame You may just be afraid in this power mad age But there's one thing we all must find Some peace in our time This is absolute reality reality reality If I may speak of truth this is absolute reality The absolute time, the absolute place The absolute now for the absolute solution It's absolute reality now Now Now Now This is absolute reality reality reality This is absolute reality reality reality This is absolute Oh reality La la la la la This is absolute La la la la la Reality La la la la la This is absolute Reality
Great friggin song, all these years later I still know every word (and every word to everything on Strength) even though I've not revisited it all that often in the 2000's ... Anyways, LOVE this song, love the vid, love seeing em together and looking like they did back when I listened to Strength like every day for about a year ... BUUUUUUT ... I kinda hate this 2018 remaster of the tune. This production/mixing made it way too poppy sounding for my taste. Gimme the original version ... it sounds more like this, only this is a really bad recording ... ua-cam.com/video/EE84MT1o5YQ/v-deo.html. If you have the original vinyl, it sounds WAY better than this. Note that on the Strength version, he sings 'hey now-na-now ... hey now now' at the start ... but this one goes 'hey now-na-now ... hey hey hey'. Guessing this was probably mixed from the 'single' version of this song ... it's really not as good as the album version, esp. not in this uber-pop mix down from 2018.
![The Alarm - Spirit of '76 (Official Music Video} Long Version [2019 Remaster]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/YSjXvFI0Zsw/mqdefault.jpg)
![The Alarm - Spirit of '76 (Official Music Video} Long Version [2019 Remaster]](/img/tr.png)
![The Alarm • “Absolute Reality” (Live in studio) • 1985 [Reelin' In The Years Archive]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/Df42esK6tAs/mqdefault.jpg)
![The Alarm - Strength (Official Music Video) [2019 Remaster]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/i4TMXRRh4Hg/mqdefault.jpg)
A Song forever... absolutely for all ages...
This is brilliant, absolutely.
This song will live forever...
Ski School brought me here. Section 8, party on!
Fan from 🇵🇭 here
I was a kid in the 80s when this came out. This song defined my batch.
The Alarm together with Big Country and Cactus World News were my favorites👍
I actually have the CWN cassette :) wonderful music in the 80s
You know you were raised right when you're 13 and you grew up with the alarm
Southampton Gaumont 85 and 86 , 2 of the best gigs of my life.
Shot on the roof of 1 Stephen St, just off Tottenham Court Road, London W1. I arranged permission to film there as the other part of the building (No2) was leased by Music Box who I was working for at the time. Note how Nigel Twist is framed out of many of the shots because Nige was really ill with a rotten bout of flu on the day and so only sat in for 2 or 3 camera passes, the rest of the time we let him rest. If memory serves, both Mike & Nigel were very uneasy being on top of such a high building.
Gaz, I remember you mate! You were a huge Alarm fan who used to plug them a lot on TV. You must have many more anectodes about the band. We'd love to hear more from you : )
Great to know these details , thanks Gaz. My first ever gig was The Alarm at the Royal Court, Liverpool April 26, 1987. Fantastic gig, never seen better. Gaz I believe I saw you there too, in the balcony. with Mike's wife Jules I think, she was a friend of my sister... Prestatyn High...
‘Gaz Top’ looked like he belonged in the band… Great presenter not like the lame-wads we got today. I hope the Gods are still blessing u old chap… Top Man. Don’t get me started on ‘ Mark-me-wurdz’ ffs! It’s all flooding back…
Bought the actual single at the time. This track is very special to me. Saw the video when it first came out. Love Mike and the guys to tiny bits. Always ready for a trip down memory lane! Thank u. Janine XXX
Awesome song, I might get older but this never gets old. I can’t get enough of it!
1980's🎶✨❤️
Classic band that still rock until these days! Absolutely love it!
Amazing music and lyrics. Filled me with energy on a full day
I really love this group this song is life changing for me
Great video,,,never gets old i could listen to it 10times and never get tired
Yet to experience a better live band than The Alarm in their prime. So much energy and heart on stage!
Jan Ivar Hansen-Bergli very true
Jan Ivar Hansen-Bergli I think you’ll find the current line up just as good live. Don’t live in the past, get out to a gig near you soon. You won’t regret it !
indeed
Why o why did these boys not become bigger .They were magic
This question I ask me until today!! Maybe not the luck to stay at the right time at the right place and meet the right persons?
I remember when this song was in the movie ski school
One of their most powerful songs!
Light years ahead on the environment. Topical and typical of their lyrics to deliver a hard hitting, heartfelt wake up call to action. The spirit of The Clash is alive in the music too. I love The Alarm and Mike Peters is a great man.
Just remembered how important The Alarm are for the World
Finally one that allows comments lol just wanna say Mike is the best and an inspiration and a great human being I've been a fan of the Alarm for over 30 years
Great band, and Mike Peters is one of the most inspirational people around
Wow 7 people for a greattttt ugh it deservs more
80s music rules!
Memories. Saw first time in my lifetime. The best thing about this is that it was the only thing I had ever done ☑️ singing.
Used to love this as a kid growing up. A great video indeed
I didn't know Joey Gladstone from Full House had a band!
This video shoot is amazing and feels like shoot on real concert.
Memories! Saw this first time on MusicBox television!
Saw them on a college campus around 1988. Very impressive of course in such a small venue. They were a big splash on MTV for awhile as well...
wish to go back 😢
Nice video, absolutely reality song I ve seen this video more than 60 times.
This is true we are the solution to the reality we want to see around us no matter who we are.
Great live band. Very English and love the rock/pop genre.
Great song from a great band.
Cool song cool song cool song cool song cool song
That’s amazing it’s totally heal my pain i feel so happy to see it
This is the first time ever i've seen Sharpy NOT dressed as a cartoon pirate !
I still remember staying late at night and waking early morning next day to hear this song over the radio. It winds me down for the day, and revs me up with the beat of the drums! THANKS for sharing!
Nice song with that....
Love hope and strength to MP
Great job guys
remembering my high school days!🇵🇭
This song surly has not just been remastered but remixed too. You can really hear Eddie's bass carrying the melody line under Dave's peddle point guitar. And of course Twist's astonishing kick drum. I'm also sure the cover photo for the 7 & 12 inch single was taken in the men's bogs in St Davids Hall.
I’ve never seen this band before. They are pretty good
Absolute reality!!😎
80s, high school days, naive, oblivious on what real life is, having simple things life, admiring the girl you really like......good ol flashback!
Lyrics:
Hey now now
Hey hey hey
You may be rich
You may be poor
You may have nothing in this world at all
You may be black, you maybe white
You may be a prisioner in your own times
You may be lost. You may be found
You may have been beaten up and knocked to the ground
You may have belief, suffer from deceit
Or you just might be blind
Oh no no
You may affect the truth
You may be seen as false
You may be a king or a vagabond
You may be up, you may be down
You may sit in judgement with the rest of the clowns
You may have love
You may have hate
You may be the President Of The United States
But even you, you can't sit and hide
While the world's resources die
This is absolute reality reality reality
We are all the cause,
The solution to reality
Ooh yeah yeah
Hey now now
Hey now now
You may be in control
You may be controlled
You may sit down 'till you do as you're told
You may work hard
You may never work at all
You may be accused but you don't know what for
You may be innocent or partly to blame
You may just be afraid in this power mad age
But there's one thing we all must find
Some peace in our time
This is absolute reality reality reality
If I may speak of truth this is absolute reality
The absolute time, the absolute place
The absolute now for the absolute solution
It's absolute reality now
Now Now Now
This is absolute reality reality reality
This is absolute reality reality reality
This is absolute
Oh reality
La la la la la
This is absolute
La la la la la
Reality
La la la la la
This is absolute
Reality
Awesome!👍👍👍
Possibly my favourite Alarm song but there's a lot to choose from
👍👍👍
Still have the vinyl album. A great band, very underrated and never got as big as the should have. Better than a Welsh U2.
{:o:O:}
We are the solution with a coz' in absolute reality...
Let them ski!!
Love it
love x
It's so complicated the discography of the band that i confuse studio albums with compilations and re-recorders. But i like it. Regards Mike
Edgardo Gregorini it isn’t really, the split up on 1991, anything more is Mike.
looking back, the alarm seems a derivative of U2
Okay sounds like fun but I’ll just get back to you later on
Aham Brahmasmi
They couldn't get more than 7 people for the crowd? LOL
Great friggin song, all these years later I still know every word (and every word to everything on Strength) even though I've not revisited it all that often in the 2000's ... Anyways, LOVE this song, love the vid, love seeing em together and looking like they did back when I listened to Strength like every day for about a year ... BUUUUUUT ... I kinda hate this 2018 remaster of the tune. This production/mixing made it way too poppy sounding for my taste. Gimme the original version ... it sounds more like this, only this is a really bad recording ... ua-cam.com/video/EE84MT1o5YQ/v-deo.html. If you have the original vinyl, it sounds WAY better than this. Note that on the Strength version, he sings 'hey now-na-now ... hey now now' at the start ... but this one goes 'hey now-na-now ... hey hey hey'. Guessing this was probably mixed from the 'single' version of this song ... it's really not as good as the album version, esp. not in this uber-pop mix down from 2018.
Why crop the frame down??
I think it was because Twist was sick, and he sat out most of the video. See the comment above.