Peter Byrne, the lead singer who co-founded the British synth-pop duo Naked Eyes, has died at 74. The band announced his death on its website on September 24, saying Byrne died on September 14 in Los Angeles after a brief illness. The announcement did not disclose a cause of death. UPI reported the news on September 24.
Byrne formed Naked Eyes in 1982 with keyboardist Rob Fisher, and the pair became part of the wave of British acts that broke through in the United States during the early years of MTV. The group’s best known record was a synth-driven cover of “Always Something There to Remind Me,” the Burt Bacharach and Hal David composition, which reached the top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100 in 1983 and became the sound most listeners associate with the duo.
The duo followed that success with additional singles, including “Promises, Promises” and “(What) In the Name of Love.” Byrne handled lead vocals while Fisher built the keyboard arrangements, a pairing that placed Naked Eyes among the synth-pop groups defining British pop radio at the time. Their catalog also included “When the Lights Go Out in the City.” Fisher died in 1999, ending any prospect of a full reunion of the original lineup.
Naked Eyes belonged to what was later called the Second British Invasion, a run of UK groups that won heavy rotation on MTV and American radio in the early 1980s. The act had a relatively short initial run, but its songs endured on oldies and new wave playlists, and “Always Something There to Remind Me” in particular remained a staple of 1980s compilations. The song had been a hit for other artists in the 1960s before the duo’s version reintroduced it to a younger audience. Byrne kept the Naked Eyes name active as a touring act in later years.
The band said Byrne is survived by his former wife, Elena, and by his children and siblings. Funeral arrangements were to be held privately, according to the announcement. His death leaves Naked Eyes without either of its two founding members and closes the story of a partnership that produced one of the more enduring singles of the early MTV era.
