Question: What burger chain was hyped in ads by the milkshake-loving Sir Shakes-A-Lot?
Last Question: What 1986 science fiction film cast Jenette Goldstein as Pvt. Vasquez, even though she thought she was auditioning for a movie about illegal immigrants?
Aliens was Jenette Goldstein’s first movie. Due to the title, she thought the role was about immigration. So she showed up to the audition, to play a tough-as-nails space marine, in a short skirt and high heels.
Goldstein would go on to appear on some other successful movies such as the vampire Diamondback in Near Dark (1987), Officer Meagan Shapiro in Lethal Weapon 2 (1989), Janelle Voight in Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991), the Enterprise-B science officer in Star Trek Generations (1994), and an Irish immigrant mother in Titanic (1997).
Here is the movie trailer for the classic, Aliens:
It was the same old song, with a melancholy sound
Ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ah
They don’t write ’em like that anymore
They just don’t write ’em like that anymore
Question: What 1986 science fiction film cast Jenette Goldstein as Pvt. Vasquez, even though she thought she was auditioning for a movie about illegal immigrants?
Last Question: What series featured Stephen Baldwin and Josh Brolin as young Buffalo Bill and Wild Bill Hickok?
Falcon Crest aired on CBS for nine seasons, from December 4, 1981 to May 17, 1990. It starred Jane Wyman as Angela Channing, the tyrannical matriarch of the Falcon Crest Winery, alongside Robert Foxworth as Chase Gioberti, Angela’s nephew who returns to Falcon Crest following the death of his father.
The show was created by Earl Hamner, who had previously created The Waltons. After The Waltons finished its final season in 1981, Hamner wanted to create a family drama involving the wine industry. However, Dallas was CBS’s biggest hit, so the network requested that Hamner make the show more along the lines of Dallas. It actually paid off, as CBS scheduled Falcon Crest at 10 p.m. on Friday nights, right after Dallas. Falcon Crest would become a top 20 show for several years.
Over the last few years, many of the core cast members had left the show. Then ratings began to drop, as did the ratings for all of the primetime soaps of the time. When the show ended Angela (Jane Wyman), Emma (Margaret Ladd) and Lance (Lorenzo Lamas) were the only remaining original characters from the original first season cast remaining on the series.
Falcon Crest ended happily with a family wedding taking place on the grounds of the mansion. Taking a walk outside, Angela delivered a speech (in her thoughts and was written by Jane Wyman herself) that brought the series to a conclusion, mentioning past characters and events but looking forward to the future. The final scene of the series shows her toasting the land, “A toast to you Falcon Crest, and long may you live.”
Here is that scene:
From 1969 to 1978, Chicago was one of the most successful bands in the world. Their fusion of rock and roll with a horn section gave the band a unique sound, and they had some incredible hits like —”Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is?”, “Beginnings”, “25 or 6 to 4”, and “Colour My World”.
In 1978, legendary lead guitarist Terry Kath, who was the heart and soul of the band, died from an accidental, self-inflicted gunshot wound. Chicago almost broke up after that, but decided to carry on. In the process, they began to change their sound from rock/jazz to pop and ballads. Their first album after Kath’s death, 1978’s Hot Streets, was pretty successful. However, the band went on a dry spell after that.
Then in 1981, Chicago brought in new producer, David Foster. They also changed record labels from Columbia to Warner Brothers. Keyboardist/guitarist/singer Bill Champlin also joined the band. So the band caught a second wind as David Foster radically changed the band’s sound for the ’80s. The first album of this era was 1982’s Chicago 16.
For this album, David Foster also brought in studio musicians, including core members of Toto. The album was a big hit, especially as “Hard to Say I’m Sorry” became the band’s second #1 US single. The album went platinum, and reach #9 on the U.S. Billboard charts.
Let’s listen to this great album.
What You’re Missing
Not a bad way to start the album. The keyboards are strong, the horn section is featured, and you can’t go wrong with Peter Cetera on vocals.
Waiting for You to Decide
Peter Cetera starts with the lead vocals. We are then introduced to Bill Champlin. They sound great together.
Bad Advice
This song has a Blues/Funk sound with the horns and heavy bass, until Cetera comes in with the chorus, and the song has the classic ’80s Chicago sound. Another great combined effort of Cetera and Champlin.
Chains
This Peter Cetera song is one that can get stuck in your head.
Hard to Say I’m Sorry/Get Away
This is the song that put Chicago back on the map. It was a #1 hit for 2 weeks. It was their first top 50 hit since “No Tell Lover” in 1978. This is a great ballad. My favorite part of the song is the “Get Away” portion. The horn section just explodes. However, when this song got played on the radio, the stations would fade out the song at the end of the ballad section, and leave out the rockin’ part of the song. I can understand that happening at a dance. It would be kind of awkward slow dancing to a beautiful ballad, and then jumping right into fast paced music. But, there’s no excuse for radio! C’Mon now!! Are you guys with me?! Um, I better get off the soapbox for now before I really go off on a tangent, and talk about how annoyed I used to get when the DJ’s would talk over the music for the whole beginning of a song until the singer started singing, and then start yapping again at the end of the song after the singer finished singing, and the instruments would still be playing. So let’s get back to the music. After all, this is still one of my all-time favorite Chicago songs. First, here is the bastardized version, without the horn section, and then the real version, which is even better live:
Follow Me
The first song on side 2 was pretty good too. I love the horns and guitar in this, and Bill Champlin is great.
Sonny Think Twice
Another Bill Champlin song. I didn’t appreciate it too much in my younger days, but it has grown on me over the years.
What Can I Say
This is another song that I didn’t care for when I was younger. But, this Peter Cetera song has also grown on me. Back in the day, though, I used to skip over “Sonny Think Twice” and this song to get to the next 2 songs.
Rescue You
This was my favorite non-ballad song of the album. It’s a really good rock song with Peter Cetera on vocals.
Love Me Tomorrow
Another great Chicago ballad. It was the second song from this album released as a single and it reached #22 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart. This is the last song on the album. It gave us much to look forward to from this legendary band throughout the ’80s and beyond.
Maximum Overdrive was a 1986 movie based on Stephen King’s short story, Trucks from his first collection of short stories, Night Shift.
King also directed the movie.
AC/DC provided the soundtrack for the movie, which was the Who Made Who album. It had the songs, Who Made Who”, “You Shook Me All Night Long”, and “For Those About to Rock (We Salute You)”.
Return to the 80s 