Embarrassing 80's - Ricky Gervais & Seona Dancing

Seona dancing was a 1980s British new wave group, best known for providing comedian Ricky Gervais with his first experiences as a public performer. Although the band were not successful, their single "More to Lose" went on to become a teen anthem in the Philippines.
In June 1982, in his final year as a student at University College London, Ricky Gervais and his friend Bill Macrae formed Seona Dancing, with Macrae writing the songs and playing keyboards and Gervais writing and singing the lyrics. After recording a sixteen-song demo tape, they were signed by London Records which released two of their singles: "More to Lose" and "Bitter Heart". In 1983, the duo performed their single "More to Lose" on the ITV syndicated children's television show Razzamatazz. Yet, despite the promotion of "Bitter Heart" through its music video and "More to Lose" by its TV performance, both singles failed to break the Top 40. With "More to Lose" charting at number 117 and "Bitter Heart" at number 79 on the UK Singles Chart. After the lacklustre performance of their two singles, the band split up in 1984.
Gervais went on to have a successful international career as a comedian and actor, while Macrae later embarked on a solo career, though he has not made any real media appearance since. When Jimmy Kimmel asked about Macrae in an interview in 2014, Gervais said jokingly, "I hope he got fat too."

[@Knagedoedel]

Not embarrassing at all. He looks good, totally eighties and the music isn't embarrassing either. It's the eighties and he's good at it.

[@simonlaurens584]

I was there in the 1980's. Ricky Gervais band Seona Dancing was really good. Their songs Bitter Heart and More to lose were two of the best in that decade. Ricky looked incredible and his voice was superb. People who put him down... as in this footage were just jealous!

[@Picnicl]

Very good looking - Ricky was clearly channelling one of his musical heroes, David Bowie.

[@Loverboy19691]

Picnicl, .......Ricky Gervais very good looking? ....should've gone to Spec savers. !!!

[@carolsnook4659]

@@Loverboy19691 jealous guy !! Lol...

[@striperross4975]

@Marshall Carwood ...and he'll say the same with david bowie?

[@soccer1970-f5f]

@@Loverboy19691 not exactly ugly was he. You must be a real stud....not.

[@stevehowe9404]

I’m 2Yrs Late but... I 100% Agree with the Bowie thing 👍🏻👍🏻

[@Rick__C-137]

This wasn't embarrassing AT ALL. I fucking loved it!!!

[@NickSBailey]

He lost most of the weight ages ago, I'm sure he could have at any time if he'd wanted.

[@StJohn-cb6if]

Loved this song from the first time I heard it on the radio - in The Philippines! It still plays on Flashback Fridays/Throwback Thursdays/80s Saturdays. It helps that he was easy on the eyes

[@christianmillendez1992]

haha i didn't know what he actually looked like in the 80s until lately, though. and when i see and hear him now as a comedian, it's hard to imagine him having that memorable singing voice from "more to lose".

[@christianhunt8350]

What is this song called?

[@StJohn-cb6if]

@@christianhunt8350 "More To Lose" ("I was tired of thinking that our love could...")

[@dlucas5536]

This is classic 80's. He looks the part and sounds good. Nothing embarrassing here. Just a different era.

[@jvalba2010]

seona dancing was actually very popular in the Philippines, particularly his "more to lose" song. we still do love it, we even play it in gigs often

[@billthecat666]

That’s a good example of art that found its audience.

[@richpurnell6520]

Nothing embarrassing about this, great song.

[@Loverboy19691]

Darren Kemp, yeah, it was so great it was never a hit, I never heard of this song and I was around in the 80's. Every Sunday listening to the latest chart run down, but this song wasn't on the play list !!

[@ultramimo]

So what. The fact that didn't become a hit doesn't mean the song wasn't good.

[@nuclearwaste5427]

Rich Purnell super song.. it still rocks my turntable...

[@chrisjaytabarejo1180]

Andrew Dexter unfortunately it wasn’t a hit anywhere except in the Philippines. Just listening to this song brings me back to my younger years. I was very fond of this song.

[@thannypadlan]

imagine...philippines is the only place on earth that this music became a hit..and guess what it also became so iconic that even the millenialls fell on love with it...and youre in luck if you have it in vinyl..its one of the most rarest vinyl out there that would cost up to 300 euros a copy..trust me on that...i have a copy myself

[@CS-mo7xp]

"both singles failed to break the top 40" gervais: "good, didn't want them to."

[@samvs1259]

Hahaha! Nice. :)

[@joshives5682]

Next

[@winniepeg2020]

the only thing embarrassing on this video is the commentators, I can't figure out why he wasn't a musical legend, he looked and sounded fantastic ❤️😎

[@shr00mhead]

Rick y Gervais is not ashamed of how he looked then. Hes embarrassed by how he looks now.

[@MrBrewman95]

Because pizza happened after he shot the Bitter Heart music video. Can't blame him.

[@flashoftruth]

lol, like fuck he is, lay off the shrooms.

[@shr00mhead]

@@flashoftruth He said it himself you idiot.

[@flashoftruth]

@@shr00mhead it's a joke you idiot.

[@shr00mhead]

@@flashoftruth No, jokes are humorous.

[@whutzat]

WTF?....to be honest he looks hot and sounds great!

[@josefrootgum]

the only real embarassment are those nobodies in the video commentating and the nobodies in the comments section shaming a millionaire who actually worked for his millions. smh

[@cardboardtubeknight]

Doesn’t make him less of an insufferable asshole

[@aelieri2443]

@@cardboardtubeknight Ricky Gervais is one of the funniest and realist comedians ever.

[@cardboardtubeknight]

@@aelieri2443 At this point all he should be known for is making the only British TV show that got outdone by its American counterpart.

[@josefrootgum]

seona dancing is awesome. i'm an 80s kid from the Philippines and I still love 'more to lose' to this day.

[@TheSpookyDuke]

It's interesting when middle aged geezers on such shows talk bad about 80's fashion or music. They have to be really lacking any persona and be essentially a hypocrite for such denial of their own youth. Plus, 80's were simply awesome :)

[@shaunfoley858]

Duke J too true 30 years from today will be embarrassing

[@VanielDeeform]

Totally agree 👍

[@christianmillendez1992]

@@shaunfoley858 yeah, all these skinny jeans on non-skinny people.

[@jpride100]

david bowie influence

[@Natashahoneypot]

yes

[@MohamedMagdi790]

Yes, that's the 1st thing that came to my mind :)

[@Natashahoneypot]

Mohamed Magdi I hear David sylvian as well

[@oogifsesm298]

Well done.

[@josefrootgum]

david bowie is one of ricky's heroes, he said in interviews

[@vincegianni5384]

this wasn't embarrasing at all.. seona dancing is ❤

[@vladlashing]

whats embarrassing?

[@norahherbie8537]

Nothing..band has a good sound

[@Maxim89Il]

Those dissing him are just tossers. It sounded really good! Great melodies, vocals, arrangements could've been a bit bitter, but that's an 80s thing. I think he had it in him, maybe still does. Those who try and take the micky out of him probably consider trash like Katy Perry and Justin Bieber as music. I've always appreciated his comedy career, but as a music person, it does make me feel it's a shame we don't get more.

[@whutzat]

I think he looked amazing, sounded really good, and the song isn't that bad

[@grannywindu7]

Not embarrassing at all. Rickys really talented

[@chinocracy]

More to Lose is one of the most beautiful songs I've ever heard, so love the piano riffs.

[@Ocealuna]

This is Not embarrassing. It make me like him even more.

[@creadman37]

I was at that episode. My sister is the girl on the left at the first shot on the piano. I was in front of the stage. Also on that episode were China Crisis doing Wishful Thinking and Bucks Fizz with When We Were Young.

[@lordgalahad]

The "More to Lose" song became a massive hit here in the Philippines

[@tickedoffnow]

This is not embarrassing He looks amazing 😍🔥

[@nourah5033]

Damn He was Attractive

[@studmalexy]

he looks like a damn woman!

[@lilywei864]

@@studmalexy exactly, attractive.

[@studmalexy]

@@lilywei864 so what does this mean for society when masculine men are bred out of existence?

[@lilywei864]

Mr Hole it means that people can find whoever they want to be attractive without creeps trying to tell them otherwise. if you love your masculinity that much then try building your own empire of macho-loving people and slap your daughters for dating men who don’t bench press.

[@lilywei864]

Mr Hole What this means for society is that people can look whatever the hell they want and not be shoved into boxes where they “have to be masculine”. if anything is bad for society, its a community of bitter miserable people who aren’t allowed to love who they love or be themselves. But sure, call people out because they have a different depiction of “attractive” than you do. that’ll work

[@gsldragon]

I didn't think he would succeed as a singer as well, but back then, he was actually good for a band I never heard of.

[@weknowwhatweare7600]

Nothing embarrassing about this clearly excels at anything he dose legend 🇬🇧💯

[@Kaervek87]

Their Bitter Heart single is awesome!

[@RampartPh]

i grew up to this song. it was a massive massive hit in myt country back then.

[@KreeZafi]

I can see the previous comments agree with me - this is not embarrassing at all! He was hella fine and had a nice voice.

[@missydoyle453]

He looks like David Bowie the early years lol

[@arkijun8304]

we still play " more to loose" in our mp3's in manila thanks ricky and seona dancing

[@jayleigh4642]

I personally think Ricky Gervais is very handsome. I love him singing.

[@richpurnell6520]

Those people are trying to be funny, they obviously had their heads up their arses in the 80's, they're still stuck up there now.

[@robertheal5137]

or weren't even born yet ! This was a common early 80's look.

[@absoluteb22]

Embarrassing is the generic crap of today that is fit for 10 year olds.

[@MisterGuitarItalia]

Dude looks great, especially within an 80s context (Duran Duran, Nik Kershaw, etc.)... probably just didn't have the right songs. To all those fools trying to make fun of him remember one thing: You're the one commenting HIS old videos, he's not even aware of who you are.

[@Brendan-Black]

Amen to that.

[@paulwalker2401]

I thought it was brilliant.. Lovely tune and voice..

[@SJUCityBoy]

In my opinion, these songs are quite good. He became a comedian afterwards. Who cares. That shows he was/still is a very talented individual. End of statement.

[@Brendan-Black]

Truth.

[@loonylinn8824]

what?? embarassing?? more to lose is a success and still making waves.

[@OfficiallySanctionedKATG]

whats embarrasing about bringing a song out, working for a living and providing for yourself?

[@npsck1802]

How is this real? This is like the opening of some Ricky Gervais comedy movie.

[@DanHarkless_Halloween_YTPs_etc]

Wish the aspect ratio weren't so screwed up, but thanks much for uploading this. Until I watched this I wasn't 100% sure that it wasn't just a prank of Gervais' to say the singer in Seona Dancing was him. 😄

[@uiliumpowell4684]

Where is the embarrassment? That was pretty normal to be pretty back then...I figured something more cringe worthy would happen...on the other hand, I can't believe I spend precious time making comments like this , it is really a serious pointless addiction.

[@norahherbie8537]

I think he s quite nice looking

[@Loverboy19691]

Should've gone to spec savers !!

[@Ozzpot]

I don't know why we look back at this as embarrassing. From what I've seen, Seona Dancing was a pretty decent example of New Wave / Synth Pop. It's of its time, sure, but so are the likes of Visage and The Human League. It was the height of musical fashion then, and even with hindsight, the songs are enjoyable and imaginative. I don't see why the fact that Ricky Gervais fronted the band makes any difference to any of this.

[@anonym9952]

He kinda looked like the singer of Visage, wearing make-up as an 80's synth vocalist wasn't "gay" it was commonplace.

[@annother3350]

You mean Steve Strange. Yes, he was onbviously on that scene

[@petraivan6778]

I think he got a good voice

[@damian-795]

God i thought I would be laughing my head off but I am impressed ! He looked the part and could have been big :-)

[@nigefal]

The only thing was the new wave stuff has to be one of the worst trends in musical history. Pretentious goobildigook, shite, in a half stage/ not talking/singing voice. Fits in with the David Brent persona.

[@justinbrockett9567]

Devon35 I totally agree. He looked gorgeous and sounded just right. Had I seen him I would definitely have wanted a pin up.

[@annother3350]

@@nigefal I completely disagree with your musical taste

[@dogsarethebestcatsaretoo6764]

I can't believe is Ricky so handsome oh my God

[@Lorenzy89]

He was so cool, handsome and.. i don't know.. perfect!

[@tomaszignielnicki4320]

He can sing, he looks very good . What’s the problem ?!

[@theoriginalbluey]

I bought two 7"s by them, and really thought they would become stars. They were signed to a major label who were doing well with acts like Blancmanage and Bananarama. Back then it usually happened when the third single came out (Talk Talk, Tears For Fears etc), so it was shame... but then maybe we wouldn't have had all the great comedy that was to come!

[@christinem1458]

My bio mom introduced me to this band and Ricky Gervais in general. I actually liked their music, his voice was really deep, kinda like David Bowie

[@peterdockrill9653]

This isn't embarrassing , Ricky commented on desert island discs that he is more embarrassed by the way he looks now, not by the way he looked back in 83

[@FutureAbe]

He had the look and he also had that deep seductive voice, like a-Ha or David Bowie. They could've made it if they had better songs

[@Loverboy19691]

morecrows gta, exactly, that's why this wasn't a hit. The youngers of the 80's actually had good taste. Poor 90's generation got sucked into all this and his unfunny humour !!

[@SpaceCattttt]

He was clearly trying to be Bowie (the black and white stills are pure thin white duke ). But to be fair, Ricky's actually got a really good voice that's not too far off from Bowie's own baritone croon. And I suppose it's easy to forget that since he's usually using it to produce ridiculous high-pitched squeals, but it's certainly there, should he ever try to be serious for a minute.

[@mogznwaz]

Damn I miss the 80s

[@karpetcabin]

Wow! Only learned about this today from Ricky's cameo on Spaced (channel 4).

[@marlyrichards414]

Yeah he was an extra in spaced, but how did 80s Ricky bring u here?

[@karpetcabin]

@@marlyrichards414 was reading about Ricky online and saw a reference to this. Always thought he was a good singer in the office. Now I know why.

[@VooDooMaGicMan81]

The woman saying "oh he actually looked nice back then dare I say" like it would be considered acceptable to make fun of a female in that casual way. Double standards as always

[@Taggez1]

Why wouldn't it be acceptable to say the same to a woman? I'm a girl and I don't see a problem with it.

[@Bhatt_Hole]

Well, you're not a terribly bright girl then, are you?

[@VooDooMaGicMan81]

Because she's obviously implying Ricky hasn't aged well, if that was said about a middle aged woman the media/feminists would say it's unacceptable to shame an older lady. I believe in free speech but the hypocrisy can be found everywhere

[@Taggez1]

CommonSense81 Ok, I get what you mean. I'm just saying that I don't agree with it

[@noka1979]

CommonSense81 yip

[@rickg8015]

They were big in Manila back then.. Oh, he managed Suede in the early days too before he had a falling out with them.

[@louisasmiles]

Seriously?

[@wildrover9650]

70s were pretty great but the 80s were downright awesome.

[@Edward1312]

The piano melody is killer!

[@SarcasmForDummies]

Every moment we have lived got us to where we are now.

[@scallywagstv2439]

We are the sum total of our experiences and choices.

[@johnnyjabsco1999]

The title is wrong. There is no way he could be embarrassed about this. He must look at this and wish he could look like that again.

[@wendygraham6863]

wow he had a really good voice

[@ord4r857]

This song was a huge hit in the Philippines

[@Nobody_Here_Except-Us_Ghosts]

Ricky was famous before he got famous, go on then, name anyone else who can top that, the guy was a legend before he became a legend 😎

[@uacari]

I can’t imagine Ricky Gervais not being old. Just can’t.

[@nigefal]

This is like a skit from the office

[@nigelcarren]

Great tunes from a great bloke!

[@joyswatsworth9995]

Scallywags TV2 doesn't realize that in the 80's this was hot. Scallywags TV2 should be embarrassed by his total ignorance on the 80's.

[@scallywagstv2439]

More to lose bombed in the UK (no 117). So did Bitter heart. When being interviewed in around 2001 they showed him a clip and he looked like he wanted to curl up and die. He refused to answer any questions about Seona dancing. This is why it was on the show ‘Embarrassing 80’s. He was embarrassed. As for not knowing the 80’s, I have two channels dedicated to them.

[@jonnysupreme]

His hero was Bowie, My hero is Ricky

[@skintrader100]

I don't care for this song but "Bitter Heart" was a banger.

[@mybiz2167]

OMG!! He was HOT AS HELL!!!🔥🔥🔥 Had no idea about this.😅

[@laddersman]

embarrasing ? not like the shit now . the 80s where so good .

[@scallywagstv2439]

He is deeply embarrassed about it.

[@d.p.mendonca6997]

From a litle David Bowie to a great Ricky Gervais! Good, very good.

[@samguy7654]

This explains David Brentt's actual decent song writing, singing and playing.

[@SMtWalkerS]

He's really cute, with a good 80's voice. Few pop stars were that good looking in the 80s. The commentators display envy. Nothing to be embarrassed about for very successful Ricky Gervais.

[@Behwyelzebub]

These one hit wonders. Where are they now?

[@whatwhatyep]

Another misleading title. He is on record in every interview that brings it up stating that he has never been embarrassed by this.

[@ant.onio.n]

This is embarrassing? Fuck, I'll be lucky to work at McDonalds at that age.

[@angelbear_og]

Peeps -- they used the word "embarrassing" to get you to click. Worked, dinnit? That being said, Ricky was a little hottie, I'm so bummed that he wasn't known in my little corner of the world along with Duran Duran, Spandau Ballet, etc. Nice voice, too! He would def have been one of the pinups on my wall!

[@the_katman2181]

Who are any of those people? No-name "celebrities" trying to be funny and failing badly, that's who. Also, that track Seona Dancing is a great tune. Why would anyone consider it embarrassing? It really captured the angsty, androgynous synth-pop of the time. Props to Gervais. I'd be super proud of that.

[@kirind.dragon1901]

He looked so handsome. He couldve gotten more hero roles if he kept that look

[@dixgun]

Back then he has a Gary Numan vibe, visually, but they look related in general, Ricky and Gary.

[@benp5528]

Cant say its embarrassing gotta admit i like rickys 80s tunes and considering he was only doing it for a year says a lot to the fact he managed to get on tv and shit

[@scallywagstv2439]

Believe it or not, my daughter is In ZÜRICH tonight. She went to see Ricky Gervais earlier on his Armageddon tour. Absolutely true.. She loved it, but can’t believe he gets away with some stuff.

[@stingray4real]

The co-presenter of Razzmatazz is Lisa Stansfield.

[@peteskyrunner4845]

At 1:37 imagine him adjusting his tie :-)

[@22jerald]

I know of Ricky gervais the comedian. Never thought he sang more to lose by seona dancing My favorite song

[@adithyan2023]

He looks soo fuckin beautiful ❤❤💖💖

[@robax]

He looked effing great

[@allanjazzera7630]

"Embarrassing 80's". Why would he be embarrassed with this gem? Perhaps it would be the occasional viewer who would feel the self-shame?

[@andykaylor7845]

Ricky Gervais says he's embarrassed of himself now, not back then lol. See the Graham Norton show.

[@mendistudio]

Everybody has a past. He was able to reinvent himself for good.

[@timt9625]

1:37 sounds so good though. Its like a great song that Depeche Mode never did

[@johnpineapple3329]

Nothing embarrassing about this, except the people up there trying to say how embarrassing it is.

[@Arlindaofficiall]

Can you believe this beauty singing here just roasted the whole Hollywood world LMFAOOOOOOO

[@billparrish9200]

From this to Brent: Life on the road. Essentially a documentary about a failed, middle-aged musician. I think it haunted him his whole life.