Monthly Archives: May 2012

Daily Trivia (Formerly Trivia Tuesday), Television

Daily Trivia – 5/31/12

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Question: What classic Hasbro toy acquired a trap door for spare parts storage in 1983?

Last Question: On a February 11, 1980 episode, what real life tragedy (which occurred 2 months earlier) did WKRP in Cincinnati deal with?

Answer: The Who concert disaster

As part of The Who’s first U.S. tour in three years, the band was playing at Riverfront Coliseum in Cincinnati. The concert was using “festival seating”, which means the seats were available on a first-come, first-served basis. A lot of fans showed up early because of this. When the crowds waiting outside in bitter cold conditions heard the band performing a late sound check, they thought that the concert was beginning and tried to rush into the doors that which were still closed. The people that were towards the front of the line were trampled as those pushing from behind didn’t know the doors were still closed. Only a few doors were in operation that night, and there are reports that management did not open more doors due to union restrictions and the concern of people sneaking past the ticket turnstiles. As a result, 11 people died, and several dozen others were injured. The band did not know about the incident until after their performance. Festival seating was banned in Cincinnati for 25 years, with minor exceptions.

As a result, the sitcom WKRP In Cincinnati (which was in its second season), aired an episode about the incident on February 11, 1980 called “In Concert”. Steven Kampmann, one of the writers, felt that as a show about rock radio in Cincinnati they couldn’t avoid dealing with the event, so he came up with this story. The first part of this episode takes place before that concert for which they helped to promote; the second act takes place the day after, and presents the characters’ reactions to the tragedy.

1989, Artists, Music, One-Hit Wonders

One Hit Wonders of the ’80s: 1989 – One 2 Many

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“Downtown” by One 2 Many

One 2 Many was a Norwegian band consisting of Dag Kolsrud (keyboards), Camilla Griehsel (vocals) and Jan Gisle Ytterdal (guitar).

They only released one album – 1988’s Mirror. The single “Downtown” was an immediate success all over Europe, reaching #1 in Norway. In the U.S., the song peaked at #37 on May 20, 1989. The success was very short-lived as the band split up as the promotion of the album was still underway.

Kolsrud went on to join the band Guys in Disguise, after which he pursued a solo career. He later became A-ha’s world tour musical director. Griehsel met UK singer Colin Vearncombe from the band Black and married him in 1990.

Here is One 2 Many’s one-and-only hit, “Downtown”:

Daily Trivia (Formerly Trivia Tuesday)

Daily Trivia – 5/30/12

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Question: On a February 11, 1980 episode, what real life tragedy (which occurred 2 months earlier) did WKRP in Cincinnati deal with?

Last Question: In honor of Goofy’s 80th birthday, can you name the person who has been the official voice of Goofy since 1987’s Disney’s Doggone Valentine?

Answer: Bill Farmer

“Gawrsh!” It’s hard to believe, but Goofy is 80 years old now. first appeared in Mickey’s Revue, first released on May 25, 1932:

Pinto Colvig provided the original voice. Goofy would become part of the trio of Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck. They starred in several cartoon shorts together.

Then in 1939, the Goofy “How To..” series began. In the cartoons Goofy would demonstrate, clumsily but always determined and never frustrated, how to do everything from snow ski, to sleeping, to football, to riding a horse. The Goofy How to… cartoons worked so well they that they became a staple format, and are still used in current Goofy shorts, the most recent being the How to Hook Up Your Home Theater, released theatrically in 2007.

A lot of us remember these cartoons, not from their original released, but from seeing them when The Disney Channel became available on cable.

Commentary alert!! Am I the only one who misses these old cartoons on the Disney Channel? I really think they need to bring these back. I am a HUGE Disney fan, but much like MTV, I can’t watch that channel anymore. Sure, it’s a kid’s channel, but I can only take so many shows about smart-ass kids and dumb-ass adults. If they aired a block of these classic cartoons, I know I would tune in. Would you rather watch Hannah Montana or this:

Now, on to Bill Farmer:
After Pinto Colvig died, Goofy was voiced with different voice actors until Bill Farmer became the official voice.

Bill Farmer had been a stand-up comedian in Dallas. A Dallas commercial agent suggested that Farmer, given his talent for voices, should move to California and try his luck there. Four months after his moving out to Hollywood, his agent asked him if he could do any Disney characters. His very first animated character audition was for Goofy. He won the job, inheriting the voice of Goofy (as well as Pluto and Horace Horsecollar). In addition to the Disney characters, among several other characters, Bill Farmer voiced Yosemite Sam, Sylvester, and Foghorn Leghorn in the 1996 Looney Tunes/Michael Jordan movie Space Jam.

In September 2009, Farmer was named a Disney Legend. Here is the one that started it all for him:

Artists, Music, Remember That Song?

Remember That Song – 5/30/12

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Can you name the artist and song and complete the lyrics:

I understand just a little
No comprende, it’s a riddle
I’m on a _______ _____

Last Song: “Cause I’m a Blonde” by Julie Brown:

I see people working and it just makes me giggle,
cause I don’t have to work, I just have to giggle
Cause I’m a blonde B-L-O-N-D

Artists, Music, Remember That Song?

Remember That Song – 5/28/12

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Can you name the artist and song and complete the lyrics:

I see people working and it just makes me giggle,
cause I don’t have to work, I just have to giggle
Cause I’m a ______ _-_-_-_-_

Last Song: “Cruel Summer” by Bananarama:

The city is crowded my friends are away and I’m on my own
It’s too hot to handle so I gotta get up and go

Commercials, Daily Trivia (Formerly Trivia Tuesday), Television

Daily Trivia – 5/25/12

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Question: In honor of Goofy’s 80th birthday, can you name the person who has been the official voice of Goofy since 1987’s Disney’s Doggone Valentine?

Last Question: Representing the “Finicky Party”, who ran for president for the first time in 1988?

Answer: Morris the Cat

Artists, Music, Remember That Song?

Remember That Song – 5/25/12

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Can you name the Artist and song:

The city is crowded my friends are away and I’m on my own
It’s too hot to handle so I gotta get up and go

Last Song: “Fight Fire with Fire” by Kansas:

There’s a hole in the wall
With a light shining in
And it’s letting me know to get up
It’s time to begin

General

One Hit Wonders of the ’80s: 1989 – Safire

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“Thinking of You” by Safire

Wilma Cosmé, a.k.a. Safire, was born in San Juan Puerto Rico and grew up in East Harlem, New York. She was a Latin freestyle artist. She had songs early in her career that her hits among freestyle-music and dance-music fans, such as “Don’t Break My Heart” (1986) and “Let Me be the One” (1987). Then she released her self-titled debut in 1988, and almost had a top-40 hit with “Boy, I’ve Been Told,” which peaked at #48.

But, it was her ballad “Thinking of You”, that became her most commercially successful hit. The song peaked at #4 on the Adult Contemporary chart and at #12 on the Billboard Hot 100 on May 6, 1989. Personally, I really connected with this song because it came out at a time when I left home for the first time. Coming from the Northeast, I was in a Navy school in San Diego, which was about as far away as you could be in the continental U.S. So this song made me think of my friends and family when I heard it. I bought the cassette single of this song on the Navy base in San Diego. This was NOT the song that was in my Walkman when my Walkman was stolen (which I then retrieved). To see what I am talking about, you can check out that adventure in this 30 Day song challenge article: https://returntothe80s.wordpress.com/2011/07/13/30-day-song-challenge-day-5-a-song-that-reminds-you-of-someone/

Safire went on a hiatus, then came back with a Spanish-language album, titled Atrevida. Then she went on another hiatus until 2001. Her most recent single, “Exotique,” was released online on May 6, 2009. In 2010, SaFire announced on urbanlatinoradio.com that she is currently working on a new Spanish-language pop album. New music set to be release sometime this year.

Well, while we wait for the album to be released, let’s Return to 1989, and Think of the good times with Safire’s “Thinking of You”:

Daily Trivia (Formerly Trivia Tuesday), Movies, Television

Daily Trivia – 5/24/12

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Question: Representing the “Finicky Party”, who ran for president for the first time in 1988?

Last Question: On Empty Nest, what ’70s child star played Officer Barbara Weston?

Answer: Kristy McNichol

Kristy McNichol was one of the biggest teen stars of the late ’70s when she was playing Leticia “Buddy” Lawrence on the Aaron Spelling drama series Family (1976-1980). She earned two Emmy Awards for Best Supporting Actress in a Dramatic Series (1977 and 1979) for the show. During this time, she and her brother Jimmy made their own foray into music, recording an album, Kristy & Jimmy McNichol. The album included the single “He’s So Fine” (a cover of The Chiffons’ 1963 hit), which peaked at #70 on the Billboard chart.

Critics say that around 1982, Kristy’s career started to decline. This was actually the time when I saw Kristy McNichol for the first time, and developed a little crush on her. As many of us recall, the summer of 1982 was when E.T. came out. We went to go see the movie. Oops! It was sold out. Instead, we saw the other movie that was playing at that theater – the multi-million-dollar-budget musical spoof, The Pirate Movie! It starred Kristy McNichol and Christopher Atkins. Here are a couple of musical numbers from the movie:

Even though I saw the movie in the theater, it flopped. I was always looking forward to seeing McNichol in more movies, but her roles were becoming more few-and-far-between.

There were rumors that Kristy’s behavior was becoming problematic, and that she was developing a drug problem. It turns out that she did not have a drug problem after all. She was suffering from bipolar disorder.

However in 1988, she landed the role of Barbara Weston on The Golden Girls’ spinoff, Empty Nest. She starred along side Soap vets Richard Mulligan and Dinah Manoff. Kristy left the series in 1992 when she was diagnosed with bipolar disorder. She would return for the show’s final episode in 1995, her last screen appearance as an actress to date.

In June 2001 she stated:

“A lot of people have wondered what I’ve been up to. I retired from my career after 24 years. My feeling was that it was time to play my biggest part – MYSELF! I must say that it has been the best thing that ever happened to me. So many fans are disappointed that I’m not currently acting, however some may not realize that the process I’m in at this time is necessary and vital for my personal happiness and well-being.”

Since retiring from the screen, she has taught acting at a private school in Los Angeles and devoted much of her time to charity work.