Monthly Archives: December 2010

Artists, Guilty Pleasures, Music

Guilty Pleasures – Music Edition (Air Supply)

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Aren’t headphones great? You can listen to whatever you want without bothering anybody else. That’s not the only reason they are great, is it? You can listen to whatever music you like, and nobody has to know what you are listening to. So, what would happen if you are listening to your iPod, and some nosy person came up to you and said “Hey, what are you listening to?”, and then they grab your headphones and put them on. Would you be embarrased by what you were listening to? But, you can’t help it! “Dancing Queen” makes you feel good and puts a smile on your face! [Personally, I can’t stand “Dancing Queen”. But, it is a classic guilty pleasure. I won’t judge though. I’m more of a “Take a Chance on Me” and “Mamma Mia” guy myself, as far as Abba goes.] Ah, the Guilty Pleasure. They are so wrong, but they feel so right!

And so begins the new Guilty Pleasure Series – the Music Edition. Let’s take a look at some Guilty Pleasure artists/songs of the ’80s. So, after the nosy jerk took your headphones, and you hurried up and skipped to the first Beatles song you could find (everybody likes the Beatles, right?), grab your headphones back, disinfect them (greasy eared bastard!), and put on a song you really feel like listening to. It could be a song from today’s Guilty Pleasure:

Air Supply

The Australian duo ruled the early ’80s soft rock world. If their songs weren’t about falling in love, they were about falling out of love. Love, Love, Love. That’s what they were all about. And boy, did we enjoy that big time or what?! Most of the songs were sappy, but they were the best romantic game in town.

In Junior High, I went to a private school. Our class dances were not in an auditorium with a DJ. They were held in a classroom. Before the dance, we had to move the desks to the sides of the room. And our “DJ” was the mother of a classmate. She brought in a stereo that played cassettes and albums. The day of the first dance, she came in and told us that we could bring in any tapes or records for the dance. She said that she just did not want us to bring in “asinine” music. I still remember that as clear as day, because that was the first time I ever heard that word (hehe. She said “ass”. hehe) Anyway, I brought in my AC/DC Back in Black tape.
That’s not asinine! “Let Me Put My Love Into You” is a slow song! I still have the tape with my name written in pencil on the inside sleeve.

Anyway, I don’t believe we heard any AC/DC that night. But, every single slow song for the dance was Air Supply. I can’t remember who the first girl I ever danced with was. But I can tell you that it was to an Air Supply song.

They may be a guilty pleasure, but I don’t mind announcing to the world that I love Air Supply!! Well, love may be too strong, but I do really like them a lot.

With that, here is a list of my top 5 Air Supply songs:

5. The One That You Love

This was always one of my favorites. They had another song called “Here I Am“, and I would get confused with “The One That You Love”. Then I would be let down when it never got to the hook where Russell Hitchcock would sing “Here I am, the one that you love”. Am I the only one that got the 2 songs confused. I prefer this one much more:

4. All Out of Love

Powerful song. Graham Russell does an incredible job singing in this one. And then Russell Hitchcock kicks it up a notch with the chorus.

3. I Can Wait Forever

This song came out in 1984, and was in the movie Ghostbusters, and was on the Ghostbusters soundtrack. I never heard the song until a few years later, but I loved it and couldn’t get enough of it when I did hear it. The song was written by David Foster who produced songs by Chicago, Whitney Houston, Bryan Adams, and Olivia Newton John. I still love this song today:

2. Just As I Am

This song and the next are basically 1 and 1A for me. I had a hard time deciding on this one. The music is powerful, and the vocals are soaring and powerful.

1. Making Love Out of Nothing At All

Yeah, this has to be #1. Yet another powerful song. It starts slow and builds up. This song was written by musical genius Jim Steinman, who basically wrote all of Meat Loaf’s hits. Meat Loaf was actually offered this song along with “Total Eclipse of the Heart”. He turned them both down because they were not able to reach an agreement over finances. So Air supply got this song, and Bonnie Tyler got “Total Eclipse of the Heart”. Tyler actually recorded this on her 1996 album Free Spirit.

So what do you think? Should Air Supply be considered a “Guilty Pleasure”? Am I alone in liking them, or are there other fans out there? What are your favorite Air Supply songs? And do you have any guilty pleasures you would like to see featured?

Artists, Music, Music Video of the Week

Music Video of the Week – 12/22/10

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With the arrival of Duran Duran’s new album, All You Need Is Now, this week’s video is their smash hit, “The Reflex”:

“The Reflex” came off of Duran Duran’s 3rd album, 1983’s Seven and the Ragged Tiger, and became a number 1 hit. The video was shot during the Sing Blue Silver tour at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto, Ontario on March 5, 1984. Here are a couple of song facts from songfacts.com:

– At first, this song seems to have a very deep concept, but really the band just recorded it over a couple of bottles of wine. Simon Le Bon himself said he has no clue what it means.

– Duran Duran’s 1983 album Seven And The Ragged Tiger had already spawned two hit singles. Nick Rhodes had been convinced that “The Reflex” was purely an album track, though other band members thought it had potential. It wasn’t until they invited Niles Rogers re-mix it, that they decided to release the transformed version as a single. It became their first American chart-topper, and their second in the UK (“Is There Something I Should Know?” had been #1 in Britain the previous year).

– The band were asked in an interview with Q magazine (February 2008) whether they were sending themselves up when they recorded the Seven And The Ragged Tiger album, which was recorded at great expense over a period of several months in a French chateau and on the island of Montserrat. Bass player John Taylor replied: “I think so. I hated the procrastination of that album. It was approached like an old-school Dutch painting. Hours spent perfecting a cymbal sound. There was a lot of sitting around and I felt like a caged animal. I was drinking and looking for a way out really.” Singer Simon Le Bon added: “The title was supposed to be about us 7 (the 5 band members, plus their 2 managers) in this fairy tale, with the ragged tiger who was “fate” or “luck.” I don’t think anyone got it.”

Daily Trivia (Formerly Trivia Tuesday), Movies

Trivia Tuesday – 12/21/10

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Question: This week’s question is about When Harry Met Sally. Yeah, yeah, yeah, we all know that it was Rob Reiner’s mother that had the famous line “I’ll have what she’s having,” so that’s not the question. The question is, What was the name of the place where this classic scene took place?

Last Question: In A Christmas Story, what did Ralphie want for Christmas? And what was the reason he was given (several times) that he should not get it?

Answer: Ralphie wanted a “Red Rider 200 shot carbine action range model air rifle with a compass and this thing which tells time built right in the stock.” Of course, he was told many times that he should not get it because “You’ll shoot your eye out!”

Here are some other classic scenes/lines from A Christmas Story in no particular order:

Following a triple dog dare:
Stuck? Stuck. It’s Stuck. It’s STUUUUUUUUUCK!!!
-Flick

Then what made that scene even better was that the school bell rang for the end of recess, and they all left Flick there stuck to the pole. I could be wrong, but I think only boys would do this. “Aah, suck it up dumb-ass.” And then play dumb when the fire department shows up. Most girls would probably freak out and scream for help as a group.

You used up all the glue… on purpose!
-Mr. Parker

Did anybody really own one of those sexy-leg lamps? Especially back then? Now you see them in a lot of stores at this time of year. Honey, I think I know what I want for Christmas now!

After drinking gallons of Ovaltine Ralphie finally receives his long-awaited Orphan Annie Secret Society decoder pin in the mail. He decodes his first message: “Be sure to drink your Ovaltine. Ovaltine? A crummy commercial? Son of a bitch!”

Some things never change. “Be sure to drink your Ovaltine?” What the hell did they think he was doing in order to get that decoder ring?!? Oh, those greedy corporations and their self promotion! It really aggravates and annoys me!

Let me take a moment and let you know that if haven’t done so, please subscribe to my blog. It’s the best place to get your ’80s fix. Why don’t you go ahead and do that now before you continue reading? By the way, have I mentioned that Return to the ’80s is also on Facebook just waiting to be “Liked”, and you can also follow Return to the ’80s on Twitter at http://twitter.com/returntothe80s.
Now let’s continue…

Ralphie lays the smackdown on Scut Farkus.

Now that’s how it’s done, son! There’s no need to bring a gun to school. Not that I condone violence, but what better way can you take care of a bully then to lose it and give an old school beatdown to a bully? I bet Farkus layed off of Ralphie and his friends after that.

“Ho, ho, ho! You’ll shoot your eye out!” Boot to the face.

Poor Ralphie even gets dissed by Santa. Ah, it all works out for him anyway. I still remember that scene in the commercial for this movie when it first came out.

“Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuudge!” Only I didn’t say “Fudge.” I said THE word, the big one, the queen-mother of dirty words, the “F-dash-dash-dash” word!

Kind of speaks for itself. I also loved the follow-up with the soap in the mouth. OK, how many actually put soap in your own mouth after seeing that?

What are some of you favorite scenes? The deranged Easter Bunny outfit? The poor brother in the snowsuit? I actually used to have to wear that type of snowsuit, and I felt just like him! Or how about Ralphie fantasizes about being blinded for life from “soap poisoning!” I bet that would make his mother feel bad!

General

Thank You

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Wow, this was a crazy weekend on the Return to the ’80s blog! I had not had a chance to log on for a few days, and what a shock I had when I was finally able to get on! There were just about as many hits in one day as there usually are in a full month. Thanks to some comments, I finally realize what had happened. Apparently WordPress put my “And Now a Word From Our Sponsor” on their main “Freshly Pressed ” page. I don’t know how it got there, but I would like to thank whoever is responsible for putting it there. I am beyond honored!
And I would love to thank everybody who has checked out my blog, and especially for everybody who has made comments. I promise that I will try to respond to as many as humanly possible. I hope everybody continues to come back. I really enjoy writing, and it makes it even more worthwhile knowing that other people enjoy what I’m putting out there.
So please continue to come back, and keep the comments coming. Also, let me know if you have any suggestions for topics, or ideas on how to make this site better. You can look through some of the old articles and comment on them as well. There are also several articles that have some polls on them that you can vote on. Feel free to read through them, and vote and comment. And if you are on Facebook, please visit the Return to the ’80s page and click the ‘Like’ button. We can have discussions on there as well. Return to the ’80s is also on Twitter, so you can follow me there as well. And please spread the word, and tell anybody is interested about all things ’80s about this site.
So, thank you for visiting and welcome to your “Return to the ’80s”!

Reagan Quotes, Ronald Reagan

Ronald Reagan Quote of the Week – 12/20/10

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Here are two quotes the former president made about Christmas:

– “Christmas means so much because of one special child” and that many “of us believe in the divinity of the child born in Bethlehem, that he was and is the promised Prince of Peace.”

– “Christmas can be celebrated in the school room with pine trees, tinsel and reindeer, but there must be no mention of the man whose birthday is being celebrated. One wonders how a teacher would answer if a student asked why it was called Christmas.”

Blake Edwards, Movies, News, R.I.P

R.I.P. Blake Edwards (July 26, 1922 – December 15, 2010)

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Legendary director Blake Edwards has died. According to CNN, The Pink Panther and Breakfast at Tiffany’s director died of complications from pneumonia Wednesday night at age 88 at St. John’s Hospital in Santa Monica, California, his publicist said.

Edwards’ wife, Julie Andrews, and relatives were at his side, the publicist said.

In addition to directing those classic films, Edwards directed many great films in the 80s including:
S.O.B. (1981) starring his wife Julie Andrews
Victor/Victoria (1982) once again starring Julie Andrews
The Man Who Loved Women (1983) starring Burt Reynolds
Micki and Maude (1984) starring Dudley Moore
A Fine Mess (1986) starring Ted Danson and Howie Mandel
That’s Life (1986) starring Julie Andrews yet again as well as Jack Lemmon
Blind Date (1987) starring Bruce Willis and Kim Bassinger
Sunset (1988) starring Bruce Willis again as well as James Garner
Skin Deep (1989) starring John Ritter

Music, Music Video of the Week

Music Video of the Week – 12/15/10

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With the release of Michael Jackson’s new album this week, the re-release of Paul McCartney’s “Band On the Run”, as well as his concert at the Apollo this week, it is only fitting that they have the video of the week this week. Plus, it doesn’t hurt that their hit “Say, Say, Say” was number 1 this week in 1983. So, here is this week’s video, “Say, Say, Say”:

“Say Say Say” was on Paul McCartney’s fifth solo album, Pipes of Peace. McCartney had already collaborated with Jackson on “The Girl Is Mine” from the Thriller album. In return, Jackson agreed to team up with McCartney on “Say, Say, Say”. The song was Jackson’s seventh number one single within a year.

The video was directed by Bob Giraldi, who had previously directed Michael Jackson’s “Beat It”. The video had cameos by Paul’s wife Linda, and Michael’s sister, LaToya. The video continued in “Thriller”‘s footsteps in that there was dialogue and a story line incorporated in the video.
It was the last time the two music legends would collaborate. They had a falling out when Jackson purchased the rights to the Beatles catalog in 1985.

Artists, Daily Trivia (Formerly Trivia Tuesday), Music

Trivia Tuesday: 12/14/10

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Question: In A Christmas Story, what did Ralphie want for Christmas? And what was the reason he was given (several times) that he should not get it?

Last Question: Who was the original lead singer for Journey?

Answer: Gregg Rolie

What a career Gregg Rolie has had. Before he formed Journey, he was in Santana, and was best known for being the lead vocalist on the hit “Black Magic Woman”. However, he had creative differences with Carlos Santana, so he left the band in 1971. In 1973, he joined former Santana guitarist Neal Schon in a band that would become Journey. Rolie was the lead singer and keyboard player. The band then took a different direction, and brought in Steve Perry as the lead singer, with Rolie singing backup. In 1980, after the Departure album, Rolie grew tired of the endless touring. So he left the band. Rolie recommended pianist Jonathan Cain of The Babys to replace him. And the rest is history.
Gregg released several solo albums. His self titled album in 1985 featured the song, “I Want to Go Back”, which would later become a hit for Eddie Money.
In 1991, Rolie formed a new group called The Storm which featured fellow former Journey members Steve Smith and Ross Valory. The band had a very similar sound to Journey, which was great. They had a top 10 hit with “I’ve Got A Lot To Learn About Love” from their first album, The Storm. They had a very good follow up album a few years later called The Eye of the Storm, which was also very good. Then Journey reformed with Steve Smith and Ross Valory, so that was the end of the Storm.
Gregg Rolie has his own band now called the Gregg Rolie Band.

Cabbage Patch Kids, General, Toys

Cabbage Patch Kids

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Riots. Stampedes. Beatings. Death and Destruction. No, I’m not describing a Mad Max movie, or about the Running of the Bulls in Pamplona. This was the scene in malls and stores across the country around this time of year 27 years ago – at the height of the Cabbage Patch Craze.

The Cabbage Patch Kids were created by Debbie Morehead and Xavier Roberts in 1978 and originally called “Little People”. The original dolls were all cloth and sold at local craft shows. The dolls attracted the attention of toy manufacturer Coleco, who began mass-production in 1982. The dolls had large, round heads, and soft fabric bodies.

In 1983, the Cabbage Patch Kids were introduced at the International Toy Fair in New York City. By October, riots were occurring in stores around the country. The dolls made the cover of Newsweek before Christmas.

You did not just buy these dolls. You “adopted” them. Each doll had a adoption papers.

Babyland General Hospital in Cleveland, Georgia is the “birthplace” of Cabbage Patch Kids. It is an old clinic that was converted into a retail unit and mini theme park where the dolls can be sold. Creepily, the “hospital” is presented as a birthing, nursery, and adoption center for premium Cabbage Patch Kids. Even more creepily, the employees dress and act the parts of the doctors and nurses caring for the dolls as if they are real babies. When the intercom announces that a Mother Cabbage is in labor, a nurse hurries to get ready for delivery of a new Cabbage Patch baby. With the nurse are the pink and blue bunnybees that pollinate the kids with crystals, determining if the newborn is a boy- blue crystal or girl- pink crystal. The nurse comments on how much the Tree is dilated and injects with “Imagicillin,” an “experimental but highly recommended” drug.

If the need arises, a “C-section” or “Cabbage section” may be administered. After the doll is successfully birthed, the audience is asked to provide suggestions for the its first two names, the third of which is always that of the adopter. Most of the time the children’s names are chosen by the youngest kid. These names are then recorded on its certificate and on a name tag, and the doll takes a place among the hundreds that inhabit the facility’s nurseries and play environments.

Although the fad has faded, Babyland General Hospital is still a big tourist attraction!

Along with the the success of the dolls came the breakfast cereal, a line of real children’s diapers, as well as a television show.The Cabbage Patch Kids Christmas Special was number one in its time slot on ABC when it was aired in 1985.

Of course, when there is something very successful, there can be backlash. In this case, the backlash came in the form of the awesome Garbage Pail Kids! I can write a whole article on these cards (in fact, I think I will!). The Garbage Pail Kids had pictures of Cabbage Patch looking kids on them doing all kinds of gross things, may have had some weird physical abnormality, or suffer a terrible fate.

However, Topps (the makers of the Garbage Pail Kids cards) was sued for trademark infringement by Xavier Roberts. But, by then both fads were fading.

In 1988 Coleco went bankrupt. So they sold the rights to the Cabbage Patch Kids to Hasbro. Hasbro then started making the dolls with some gimicks such as dolls that played kazoos. There was also the “Birthday Kids”, the “Splash ‘n’ Tan” Kids, and the “Pretty Crimp and Curl” Dolls. Hasbro was not very successful, so they sold the rights to Mattel. Mattel started making the dolls out of vinyl, which made them more durable.

In 2003, Toys “R” Us took over the Cabbage Patch Kids brand from Mattel, producing 20-inch ‘Kids and 18-inch Babies, both with cloth bodies and vinyl heads. They were packaged in cardboard cabbage leaf seats. In 2003, the 20-inch ‘Kids debuted in the Times Square flagship store. These dolls were created to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the line, and were available both online and in stores around the US.

Does anybody have any war stories about getting their Cabbage Patch Kids? I am also curious about the Babyland General Hospital? Has anybody been there? Is it not as creepy as it sounds?