With Halloween coming this weekend, here is a youtube mashup that I found with D.J. Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince’s “Nightmare On My Street” combined with actual Nightmare on Elm Street footage.
Happy Halloween!
Monthly Archives: October 2010
19 Somethin’ – Big Hair and Parachute Pants
We have now reached the conclusion of the 19 Somethin’ series. If you missed the previous articles, you can get caught up here.
Here are the next lines in the song:
big hair and Parachute pants
and lookin’ back now I can see me
oh man did I look cheesy
I wouldn’t trade those days for nothin’
ah, it was 1980 somethin’
There is nothing else new in the song related to the ’70s or ’80s. Did you enjoy this series? Let me know your thoughts.
In the meantime, we will talk about Big hair and Parachute Pants:
There used to be the Beehive, and then the Beatles haircut. Then in the late ’60s early ’70s, there were Afros and men started growing their hair long. But nobody’s hair gets mentioned more than the ’80s. Both men and women had hair that could reach to the stars. And it can be argued that the hairspray, required to hold all that hair in place, burned a huge hole in the ozone layer. In general the hair could be feathered. This was probably started by Farah Fawcett in the late-’70s. The hair could be long or short in the back, but the top and sides would still be feathered. There were other hairdos that could (and should) only be seen in the ’80s. The Feathered hair could lead to the Mullet! Oh yeah, business in the front and party in the back! And don’t forget the Jheri Curl! This was started by Michael Jackson. 
But Eric LaSalle probably had the best Jheri curls of the ’80s in the movie Coming to America.
And finally, there was the New Wave style. The hair very short at the sides and back and extra long in the front so the hair is worn over one eye.
So, long or short, the ’80s probably had the most memorable hair of any decade!
And finally, we’ll wrap up with the Parachute Pants. I mean, what else are you suppose to break dance in?!? The parachute pants were made of nylon, and usually had a bunch of zippers. They could also be called Zipper pants. The nylon made it easy to move and slide around while break dancing. I don’t know what exactly the zippers were for though. It’s not like you could fit anything in the pockets. The ’70s can keep their ugly bell-bottoms. We’ll take the parachute pants any day!
19 Somethin’ – Trans Am
The 19 Somethin’ series continues. If you missed the previous articles, you can get caught up here.
We will continue on the line in the song, focusing on the Trans Am:
Skatin’ rinks and black Trans Ams
The ’80s had some great cars. One of the most popular was the Pontiac Firebird Trans Am.
Here is a commercial:
Here are some other cool cars from the ’80s:
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This is the Ferrari 308 GTB. This was the car from Magnum P.I.:
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This is the Lamborghini Countach. The doors opened by tilting up:
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The Camaro Iroc-Z:
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The Delorean. Everybody knows this as the car from Back to the Future:
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The Corvette:
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Music Video of the Week – 10/27/10
In honor of Simon LeBon’s 52nd birthday, here is an alternate video version of Duran Duran’s “Hungry Like the Wolf”:
You can click here to see the original version.
“Hungry Like the Wolf” came off of Duran Duran’s second album – 1982’s Rio. This is Duran Duran’s signature song, and made them internationally. The original video constantly played on MTV. It was pretty cool though, since it had a Raiders of the Lost Ark feel to it.
Trivia Tuesday – 10/26/10
Question: What 2 things does “Basket Case” Allison (Ally Sheedy) add to her sandwich?
Last Week’s Question: In the video for ‘Time After Time’, where do Cyndi Lauper and her boyfriend live?
Answer: In a camper
“Time After Time” was the second single released off of Cyndi’s debut album, She’s So Unusual. The song reached number one on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart on June 9, 1984. Lauper’s mother, brother, and then-boyfriend David Wolff appear in the video, and Lou Albano, who played her father in the “Girls Just Want to Have Fun” video, can be seen as a cook. The song has been covered by dozens and dozens of artists, ranging from Jazz legend Miles Davis to Willie Nelson to Ashley Tisdale. I like the song a lot now. But, when it came out I got sick of it quickly as it was on MTV Time After Time After Time After Time After Time After Time….
19 Somethin’ – Skating rinks
The 19 Somethin’ series continues. If you missed the previous articles, you can get caught up here.
Here is the next line in the song:
It was 1980 somethin’
in the world that I grew up in
Skatin’ rinks and black Trans Ams
Today, we will talk about skating rinks.
Remember when skates had 2 wheels under the front toe, and 2 wheels under the heel instead of the inline skates where the “roller skate” resembles an ice skate? In the late ’70s throughout the ’80s, going to a roller skating rink was a popular recreation. You would go in and get your rental skates. It could be a pain trying to put them on. You would sit down, grab the skate, and try to slide your foot in. But the back heel of the skate would keep rolling out and away from you. Maybe that was just me. Anyway, you would then go out on to the wooden oval rink and join the rest of the skaters, and try to not to get in anybody’s way. And you would hope that somebody else wouldn’t lose control and crash into you. At least in the latter case, you wouldn’t feel as much as a fool since it would be the other person’s fault!
So, you would be skating around to music and socializing. I remember that there were a lot of disco songs playing, such as “Y.M.C.A”, “I Will Survive”, and anything from Saturday Night Fever. There would also be Hall & Oates, “Another One Bites the Dust” by Queen, and Michael Jackson songs. And then uh-oh, Ladies Choice! A slow song would come on, such as “Cherish” by Kool and the Gang, “How Deep is Your Love” by the Bee Gees, or “Babe” or “The Best of Times” by Styx. Then the D.J. would announce that it was Ladies Choice, and the girls would try to find a boy to hold hands and skate with.
There were some good times. You would go with a group of people on the weekend. Some kids may have had birthday parties there too.
Does anybody have any good or funny memories of roller skating in the 80s? Are there any favorite songs that you remember playing there? Let us know!
Follow @returntothe80sRonald Reagan Quote of the Week – 10/25/10
We don’t have a trillion-dollar debt because we haven’t taxed enough; we have a trillion-dollar debt because we spend too much.
– Address to National Association of Realtors, March 28, 1982
19 Somethin’ – Daisy Duke
The 19 Somethin’ series continues after a hiatus. If you missed the previous articles, you can get caught up here.
Here is the next line in the song:
My first love was Daisy Duke
in them cut-off jeans
It was appointment TV on Friday nights in the late ’70s and early ’80s. Ah, The Dukes of Hazzard. It had comedy (Rosco P. Coltrane comes to mind) and tons of action with fights and car chases. It had the greatest car at the time – The General Lee, had the coolest theme song performed by the legendary Waylon Jennings, who also narrated the show. And of course, it had the woman – Catherine Bach as Daisy Duke.
Daisy worked as a waitress at the Boar’s Nest, the local bar owned by Boss Hogg, as part of an agreement with Boss Hogg so that he would give Uncle Jesse and Bo and Luke a loan for a lower interest rate so the boys could purchase the entry fee for a race that they wished to race General Lee in. The arrangement was supposed to be for an indefinite time, but there were several times throughout the series that Hogg fired her. However, he always ended up rehiring her at the end of each episode because of various circumstances.
Daisy was known for her high-cut jean shorts, which became known as Daisy Dukes. At one time Catherine Bach’s legs were insured for $1,000,000.
Jessica Simpson went on to play Daisy Duke in the most recent Dukes of Hazzard movie, but nobody can beat the original!
Follow @returntothe80s
R.I.P. Tom Bosley – (October 1, 1927 – October 19, 2010)
This has been a tough week for television parents! We lost June Cleaver, Mrs. Brady was kicked of Dancing With the Stars, and Tom Bosley, one of our favorite television dads, died yesterday of heart failure Tuesday after a battle with lung cancer. He was 83. His wife, Patricia Carr, said that he had just completed chemotherapy treatment for lung cancer, which was diagnosed five months ago.
Of course, Bosley was best known for playing Mr. C – Howard Cunningham – on Happy Days from 1974-1984. Bosley’s professional acting career began on stage in the 1950s, including a Tony for his role as New York City Mayor LaGuardia in the 1959 musical “Fiorello!”
In addition to Happy Days, Bosley made several appearances on The Love Boat, and played a recurring character – Sheriff Amos Tupper – on Murder She Wrote. After Happy Days, he starred on Father Dowling Mysteries from 1987-1991 as Father Dowling.
And many of us remember his Glad Bags commercials:
Music Video of the Week – 10/20/10
This week’s selection is in honor of Tom Petty’s 60th birthday – “Don’t Come Around Here No More”:
“Don’t Come Around Here No More” was released off of Tom Petty and the Heartbreaker’s 1985 album, Southern Accents. The video was pretty cool with the Alice in Wonderland theme. That is Dave Stewart of The Eurythmics sitting on the mushroom at the beginning of the video. Stewart and Petty collaborated on the song.
Return to the 80s 