The Beatles in the '80s

As a fan of both '80s and '60s music, I was always interested in the music of the Beatles, not only during their time as one of the greatest rock bands of all time during the 1960s, but also as solo artists in subsequent decades.


Here is a brief view of the Fab Four during my decade, the 1980s.



Paul McCartney continued the successful solo career he started in the '70s with such hits as the poignant duet with Stevie Wonder, "Ebony and Ivory" (1982), and the catchy "No More Lonely Nights" (1984), the latter off of his 1984 film Give My Regards to Broadstreet. McCartney also teamed up with Michael Jackson on "The Girl is Mine," off of Jackson's enormously successful album Thriller (1982), and "Say Say Say," off of McCartney's own album Pipes of Peace (1983). Above, Beatlemania and Jackson-mania unite in the colorful video to  "Say Say Say," a gigantic and memorable hit for the duo during late '83. The video also features McCartney's beloved wife and companion, Linda, who passed on in 1998 of breast cancer.


In 1985, McCartney played "Let It Be" at the gigantic Live Aid concert, backed by Bob Geldolf, Pete Townshend, David Bowie, and Alison Moyet.   

George Harrison began the decade with his tribute to fellow Beatle, John Lennon, "All Those Years Ago." (1981) Afterward, Harrison next appeared with the very succesful and critically acclaimed 1987 album Cloud Nine, which included the big hits "Got My Mind Set On You," above, and "When we Was Fab," the latter a tribute to his Beatle days. 


Harrision ended the decade as a member of the quirky supergroup The Travelling Willburys, which also featured Bob Dylan, Tom Petty, Roy Orbison, and Jeff Lynne.  

Ringo Starr was the narrator of the '80s childrens programs, Thomas the Tank Engine and Shining Time Station. He also made occasional appearances on various TV shows, and as a commercial spokesman for Sun Country Wine Coolers, above. In 1985, Starr performed with his son, Zak Starkey, as part of Artists United Against Apartheid, on the song "Sun City." 

Alas, John Lennon was taken from us too soon, as his life was stolen from him by an assailant in December of 1980. Here is a song released posthumously, in 1983, as part of the album Milk and Honey, and became a worldwide hit, "Nobody Told Me." 

25 Years of U2's The Joshua Tree

A belated happy anniversary to one of the truly classic albums of the 1980s:

U2's majestic The Joshua Tree 

which was released on March 9, 1987.

I couldn't put it better than this blog:

"It was the unifying piece of music to emerge in the late 1980s, 
and even the most popular albums of subsequent years had a hard time replicating its inclusiveness."


See a more in-depth article on this blog.


And enjoy remembering the late 80's idealism of U2.

Explorers

One of my favorite '80s movies is a somewhat forgotten sci-fi flick from 1985 called Explorers. 

Explorers was part of a plethora of hopeful, positive sci-fi movies that came in the wake of the original Star Wars trilogy (1977, 1980, 1983), and the Spielberg classic E.T., the Extra Terrestrial (1982).

Explorers was about a trio of boys, all three misfits in different ways, who become friends and go on to do something fun and extraordinary. (It is a sci-fi flick, after all). The three boys were: Ben Crandall (played by a young Ethan Hawke), Wolfgang Muller (played by an equally young River Phoenix), and Darren Woods (played by Jason Presson). They were all different from one another: Ben was a dreamer who was into science fiction and fantasy, Wolfgang was a nerdy sort who was all into science and logic, and Darren was a practical sort who was into mechanics.

Yet they all found common ground in being outsiders in their school, and found a common goal when something very sci-fi-ish and remarkable happened: they started getting communications from extra terrestrials. This was the '80s, so were talking friendly aliens. Using the knowledge provided by the aliens, as well as their own various skills, they built a ramshackle spaceship.

You know what comes next: they go up in their ship, dubbed the "Thunder Road" (from a Bruce Springsteen song) and meet up with the alien ship.

It all ends with a wild a wacky meeting with the aliens themselves. Of course, you have to see the movie to know the rest.

One of the things I loved about this movie was that it was all about disparate misfits who join together, despite their differences, to overcome their problems and to do something extraordinary. It also came around at a time when some hopeful messages were very helpful, given that I was 15 at the time. And I loved sci-fi, so this movie just seemed wonderful when it came out. 

Explorers has gained a cult following over the years, even though it was not as well remembered as so many other '80s films. But it will always remain a favorite with me. 

David "Davy" Jones 1945-2012

The very first time I heard of Davy Jones was as a very young child in the 1970s, when a local station started running this quirky, funny show about a group of musicians called The Monkees. Of course it was a re-run, as the great heyday of Monkee-mania was during the late '60s. But for me, as a kid of around 6 or 7, it was completely new, and the zany antics of Davy Jones and the Monkees caught my attention.

Then during the '80s, a decade filled with love for retro-'60s culture, as well as a decade when the art form known as music videos came of age, the Monkees, arguably one of the true originators of combining music with action on film,  made a comeback. Their 1986 top 20 hit was "That was then, this is now." 

Monkeemania was back. Between 1986 to 1989, Davy Jones reunited with two of the other Monkees (Peter Tork and Micky Dolenz) to bring the fun and joy of their music to another generation. 

Mr. Belvedere

Here's an '80s sitcom that you don't hear about too much anymore: Mr. Belvedere, a very '80s sitcom which ran from 1985 to 1990. The show featured a British butler employed and living with an American family. As associated with the '80s as this show is, it may surprise people to find out that its origins dated back a few decades. According to the source of all knowledge, Wikipedia:



The character of Lynn Belvedere was originally created by 
Gwen Davenport in her 1947 novel, Belvedere. The following year, the 
title character was portrayed by Clifton Webb in the film Sitting Pretty. 
Webb's performance earned him an Academy Award nomination for 
Best Actor. Sitting Pretty told the story of an arrogant genius who 
answers an employment ad for a baby sitter for three bratty kids. He 
accepts such employment because he is secretly writing a novel 
about a community filled with gossips and busybodies. Webb reprised 
the role in two more movies, Mr. Belvedere Goes to College (1949) 
and Mr. Belvedere Rings the Bell (1951).


As early as the 1950s, attempts were made to adapt the 
character to television, with three pilots made during the 1950s 
and 1960s, including a 1965 version starring Victor Buono in the 
title role. All efforts, however, were unsuccessful until 1985, when 
ABC was finally able to get the show up and running with British 
actor Christopher Hewett playing Lynn Belvedere.

The memorable theme song to Mr. Belvedere was sung by quirky ragtime musician Leon Redbone and was originally written for another sitcom that never got off the ground. It was written by Judy-Hart Angelino and Gary Portnoy. Portnoy was also responsible for writing such other classic '80s sitcom themes as Cheers ("Where Everybody Knows Your Name") and Punky Brewster.

Whitney Houston (1963-2012)

We will always love you . . .

Limahl's Neverending Story (& New Single)

Heres a wonderful blast from the '80s past....

Limahl originally invaded the American pop charts as the lead singer of the British new wave group Kajagoogoo, who were part of the enormous Second British Invasion of music groups in 1983. Their big hit was "Too Shy." Limahl later had a solo hit with the enchanting theme to the movie, The Neverending Story.  

Turn around
Look at what you see...
In her face
The mirror of your dreams...


Make believe I'm everywhere
Given in the light
Written on the pages 
Is the answer to a never ending story...
Ah...


Reach the stars
Fly a fantasy...
Dream a dream
And what you see will be...

Thanks to my fellow '80s retro blogger Rediscover the '80s I've discovered that Limahl is putting out a great new '80s style single celebrating the year of the Second British music invasion, 1983. The song is also called "1983", and starts by declaring that the singer want 'to go back in time." Back in time to the '80s. 


Rediscover the '80s has a good deal of material on it, including an audio clip of an excellent interview with the artist himself with a full clip of the song. In the interview, Limahl does a great job of expressing how much he loves the era of the '80s, and how exciting it was to be a part of the music scene back then.


Here's Kajagoogoo... back in their heyday of the '80s!

Update:


I have had the pleasure of receiving a post from Kai Lofthus, a professional and guru in the area of media, music and marketing, one of whose recent projects is the new Limahl single "1983" reported above. I checked out his site, which includes the much material on the new Limahl single and its inspiration.


He also left me a link to the great interview with Limahl, originally on XM Sirius radios "the Morning Jolt" with Larry Flick. Here's the link:


http://soundcloud.com/digmusic/limahl-on-sirius-xms-the

Another Update:


WOW!! Limahl himself has mentioned this blog on Twitter. 


http://twitter.com/limahl1


Thank you, Limahl !!  And we're with you 100% on bringing back that great era, the '80s!!