The 80s Club

While linking to Duncan’s blog for his “best of the worst” picks, I noticed his enthusiastic mention of the reforming of the band Crowded House. And, since reading that post, I haven’t been able to get away for more than a few minutes without, “Something So Strong” running through my head. At least it’s no longer the theme to Charles in Charge though, aye? That really was annoying.

Anyway, here are the sites that Duncan links to: liveDaily and tvnz. And here’s the scoop from another page at tvnz:

A reformed Crowded House is expected to perform at a major American music festival in April.

Julia Connolly, a spokeswoman for Finn’s office, told the Dominion Post newspaper that further auditions were planned in Auckland and Los Angeles. “At the moment, they’re just working at getting the band together,” she said. “Something’s formally coming out once the band is in place.”

And, for your great pleasure, the video to Something So Strong. This is really NOT going to help to get it out of my head. But, as long as it helps to combat the Charles thing, it’ll work for me. :) Enjoy!

ht: Duncan Riley

Alright, I really thought I’d posted the Kids Incorporated Theme last Thursday. Not sure where my mind is. Have you seen it lying around? Kind of a gray, mushy, slimy lump of summthin’. No? Okay.

Anyway, lucky you, you get two, yes two, themes in one! In one day, at least.

Scott Baio has been in my head for awhile (oh…’bout 20 years, I’d guess.. ;) ). He was most adorable as Chachi on Happy Days, but lost a little appeal when he married Joanie Cunningham (’cuz they were real people, you know?). Recently, he popped back in when I was reading about Kristy McNichol. Seems they may have dated in their teen years or something. So, for the last couple of days, the theme to Charles in Charge has been stuck in my head. Yep, for days. And nothing has managed to knock it out of there. Not even Busy Mom was able to trump it, though she did try to with Stevie Wonder’s Superstition. That lasted for a few hours. Then Charles was back.

So, I shall give you an opportunity to be driven crazy by this theme song, too. Enjoy. :)

I am definitely the demographic that the advertisers are trying to hit in the evening drama/sitcom time slot. In addition to the Back to the Future bit, I’m hearing more and more 80’s songs being used in commercials. Apparently, those marketing geniuses think that there are many middle-aged (am I middle aged, yet?) lazy bums sitting around basking in the glow of the boob tube, just waiting to be enticed to a bag of cookies by the sweet sounds of The Human League. Little morsels of chocolatey goodness are just calling out to me from the TV with the sweet lyrics, “Don’t you want me, baby?” Why, yes I do! Let me just run out and snarfle down a bag of cookies. :)

Yeah, I’m not that easy. Not that I don’t want to be, but my calorie counter would not like a full bag of Chips Ahoy logged into a day’s meals. I’m trying to lose that middle-age poundage, you know? ;)

Here’s the Chips Ahoy commerical via YouTube.

Follow the “more” tab (see it? right down there in blue?) to see the original video by the Human League.

(more…)

With the Chicago Bears in the home stretch to the Super Bowl, every child from the 80’s should be walking around with the sweet sounds of The Super Bowl Shuffle streaming through their brains, or is that just for those of us who were living in the Land of Lincoln at the time and couldn’t have gotten away from the song if we’d tried?

It was up at YouTube for a while, but has been pulled down. I’m guessing it has something to do with those pesky copyright laws, but it was fun to see it while it was up, though a bit bittersweet when “Sweetness” Walter Payton appears.

So, I’m rootin’ for Da Bears, how ’bout you?

There’s speculation that Morrissey (of The Smiths) may be asked to contribute to Eurovision on behalf of the UK.

What’s Eurovision, you ask? From Wikipedia:

So, there you go. It’s like an American Idol, but European, and you only get one song, and the participants are already famous. Okay, maybe not at all like Idol then, except that it’s a contest. Nevermind. Shall we move on? Okay.

I only know of Morrissey, I think I’ve said before, because my brother (hey, there) loooooved Morrissey (still does) and used to make me listen to things like, “Hairdresser on Fire” and “Piccadilly Palare.” I’m sure I’m better for it. ;)

Anyway, here is the info on the possibility of Morrissey at Eurovision from Sound Generator:

I’m sure my brother will be thrilled. Do the rest of you know Morrissey?

The 80’s brought out some weird videos, this one by The Cars most definitely among them. But I do have to watch it all the way through, anyway. It’s a fun one!

Gotta love the Ray Ban-style glasses. And, is it just me, or does the lead singer (Ric Ocasek) look a lot like Richard Belzer in this video? Him, or Dana Carvey with a dye job? Or I’m just losing it, and that’s a good guess, too. ;)

Enjoy. :)

So, what happened to all those girls who played the adorable orphans, or Annie herself, all those years ago? Well, apparently a few of them appeared in a movie on Showtime called Life After Tomorrow.

From a LiveJournal article:

“Life After Tomorrow,” a documentary by original Annie cast member Julie Stevens — about how the musical forever changed the lives of the show’s orphans — debuts on Showtime Dec. 24. Sarah Jessica Parker, Martin Charnin and Charles Strouse appear in the film.

Stevens — who closed the original Broadway run as orphan Pepper — co-directs the film with Gil Cates, Jr. The film has run a film-festival circuit (Malibu International, Newport Beach, Palm Beach International, Phoenix) and made its New York debut at the Museum of Television and Radio Oct. 21.

Check out the whole article here.

Did any of you Annie fans out there see the movie? What did you think of it?

And, just for fun, a compilation of bits from the Annie stageshow. Enjoy. :)

Thanks, Arienanna, for the tip!

We were visiting at my mom’s tonight and Annie (1982) came on the TV. I remember seeing it in the movie theater with my mom, my friend, and her mom. I loved it and sang, “Tomorrow” probably for a week straight. Man, that must’ve been annoying to everyone else in the house. Hmmm…

Anyway, my oldest is just slightly younger now than I was when I first saw it, and I think she’s seen it at grandma’s before, so I thought it would be fun to sit and watch a bit of it with her. Wow, it is so completely different what you catch in a movie with a few decades of life’s observations behind you!

We couldn’t stay long enough to finish the whole thing, but the parts that I saw were as fun as I remembered. Carol Burnett was great, and I remember her character, Miss Hannigan, being as mean as I’d recalled, but who knew she was so risque. Yowza. And I didn’t remember Annie saying the word, “crap” when singing to poor, abused Sandy.

Of all the things money can buy these days, too bad a little of our childhood innocence isn’t one of them! I’m hoping that, since I didn’t pick up on those things when I was a kid, neither will my daughter. /me keeps my fingers crossed

Although the first two Rocky movies were released in the 1970’s, a few in the middle there were released in our beloved 80’s.

Did I even know there was a Rocky V?

Well, the film whose working title was Rocky VI, Rocky Balboa, is now in theatres. It has an interesting high-tech angle on it, I think. Here’s the teaser from IMDB:

In Rocky Balboa, a computer simulation pits the legendary Italian Stallion (Sylvester Stallone) against the devastating current heavyweight champion Mason “The Line” Dixon (Antonio Tarver), with Rocky the predicted winner. The results rekindle the aging fighter’s spirit, and he steps back into the ring in local competition to regain some of his confidence and hope. But stepping out of retirement quickly brings bigger risks for Rocky when promoters seize on the notion of recreating the virtual fight for real.

I love the name of his opponent, Mason “The Line” Dixon. Mason “The Line” Dixon? The Mason Dixon Line? Get it? Alright, I’ll move on.

The film does bring in Milo Ventimiglia as Rocky, Jr. You’d know Milo as the moody and misunderstood Jess from Gilmore Girls, and he now stars in the NBC drama Heroes. The fact that he’s in the movie would give me reason enough to check it out, but the film trailer actually makes it look kinda interesting.

It is kinda fun to hear bits of Eye of the Tiger again, don’t you think?

So, what’s your call? Will you give Sylvester Stallone another shot as Rocky?

Generations of poets and composers have created some of the most beautiful songs of all time. Included among these are the traditional Christmas carols of Away in a Manger, What Child is This?, Silent Night, and God Rest Ye Merry Gentleman. And what did the great decade of the 1980’s contribute to this list of fine aural pleasures? That’s right, you guessed it (or you just looked at the picture, cheater), Grandma Got Run Over By a Reindeer.

Yep, that’s right, the song about, “the blue and silver candles that would just have matched the hair in grandma’s wig.” Classy. And yet, I still think I know all the words. Not that I have to remember them, the song, 20+ years later, still pops up in the stores while I’m shopping for those last few Christmas gifts. Must be why so many people are shopping on-line now. ;)