British duo Roland Orzabal and Curt Smith formed TFF out of the ashes of sixth form ska band Graduate at the start of the New Romantic era in the early 1980s. Exploding onto the international scene with the haunting ‘Mad World’ in 1983, TFF went on to release three massively successful, and wildly different albums – until 1989, when Smith parted company from Orzabal in a very public falling-out. Orzabal continued the name with two further albums, a B-Sides collection and ‘Greatest Hits’ package into the 1990s, before Gary Jules and Michael Andrews’ rendition of ‘Mad World’, their very first hit all those years ago, brought the pair’s work firmly back into public consciousness (the Greatest Hits package, amongst other triumphs, re-entered the UK album Top 5). Following the success of the cover and a chance meeting to discuss paperwork, Orzabal and Smith finally called a truce in 2003, and released their first album together since 1989, ‘Everybody Loves a Happy Ending’, in 2005. Whilst they are not the good friends they once were, Smith and Orzabal are currently touring atop the crest of what has to be one of the music world’s most unexpected comebacks.
They are best known for their hits ‘Mad World’, ‘Everybody Wants to Rule the World’, ‘Head Over Heels’, ‘Sowing the Seeds of Love’, ‘Shout’ and ‘Pale Shelter’. Orzabal released a solo LP in 2001, and Smith has previously recorded with a band under the name ‘Mayfield’ during TFF ’s elongated split.
