An '80s Summer Classic

Just as summer is about to fade away, here's a scene from a memorable 1983 summer comedy classic.

Warning: there is one somewhat "not safe for work" line in this scene. 

'80s Summer Memories

As we reach mid-August, it brought to mind some memories of '80s summers.

Check out this California Cooler commercial from 1986, which featured the '60s surfer classic "Louie Louie." The culture of the '80s had a great way of appropriating nostalgia of times past, and re-creating it in the '80s in a fun filled and often zany way. This commercial, for example, invokes this imagery of some far away, perhaps past, moment in time when people got together, sang wacky songs, and hung around the beach. It could well have been the surfin' '60s, but the commercial appropriates it for the '80s and leaves you with a very-80s spirit of fun and excitement.

And here's Bananarama, with their very summery hit, "Cruel Summer." The lyrics invoke the heat of the season.

Material Girl

As usual, I'm a little late with this... but August 16 was Madonna's birthday. So how better to celebrate (belatedly) the birthday of the iconic '80s material girl, but with the iconic Marilyn Monroe inspired "Material Girl" video.

I remember this video was frequently shown on many an '80s retrospective as symbolic of '80s music and culture. 

Catchy too.

Greatest American Hero

One of my well remembered TV series from the early '80s was Greatest American Hero (1981-1983), a quirky super hero series which featured an unlikely and fumbling everyday guy as its protagonist. I think what made the series so likable was the sense that the "hero" was someone who never even sought the role, a well meaning person who had hero status thrust upon him and tried to deal with it as best as he could. Neither the hero nor the show took themselves too seriously.

William Katt starred as the unlikely hero, Ralph Hinkley, a schoolteacher assigned to a special education class. Connie Selleca stars as Pam Davidson, an attorney who handled Hinkleys divorce, but soon becomes his love interest in the show. Ralph's last name was changed to "Hanley" after an assassin whose last name was Hinkley attempted to kill President Reagan in March of 1981. 

The great Robert Culp played FBI agent Bill Maxwell, who somehow linked up with Ralph and Pam, and often provided the more hard-edged strategic mindset which the others lacked.

Together, the disparate trio repeatedly found themselves batting bad guys after an unexpected encounter gave Ralph his super powers.

During an trek in the desert, Ralph and Bill had a close encounter with space aliens. (I always thought the spaceship was cool.)

The aliens beamed down a special suit which only Ralph could use, and which was the source of his powers, which included such typical super hero abilities as flight, invisibility, strength and remote viewing.

But the mild mannered Ralph proved to be an uneasy superhero, which made him all the more likable in the role. More problematic was the fact that they lost the manual provided with the suit which showed how to properly use it. So, Ralph, with the help of Bill and Pam, had to learn how to use it by trial and error, with often funny results. Ralph's haphazard effort at flying was a frequent feature of the show..

Heres the intro, courtesy of RetroJunk.com.

The theme song, written by Mike Post and Stephen Geyer and sung by Joey Scarbury, became a hit in 1981. I remember hearing it frequently on the radio back then.

 I was 11 years old that year, when the show premiered. Now, looking back, I see both the song and the TV show as reflective of that era. When the show premiered in 1981, the United States was just recovering from a rough period where hostages were held for over a year in Iran, the Soviets invaded Afghanistan, and the economy was in a bad state. Although the country was not yet out of the woods, by any means, there was the uneasy glimmer of hope and optimism. I think the portrayal of Ralph's uneasy hero status, and the song about being surprised at unexpected success, seemed to echo this mood.

Repost: Live Aid 1985

Today is the anniversary of the gigantic 1985 concert, Live Aid. I'm re-posting a piece originally appearing on this blog on July 6, 2012. 

On July 13, 1985, one of the most amazing concerts ever occurred, and became one of the defining moment of those of us who grew up in the 1980s. It was called Live Aid, and it was the culmination of an effort by the musical community in the mid '80s to bring attention to the victims of a devastating African famine. While the cause was good, it also served the purpose of bringing together an incredible collection of musicians for one incredible day of music.

On of the prime inspirations of the effort was Bob Geldof, a musician with the group the Boomtown Rats. His guidance and inspiration brought together musicians in support of the cause of African famine victims first in the British effort known as Band Aid (and their song "Do They Know Its Christmas?"), which was shortly followed by USA for Africa (and their song "We Are The World.").  Many other efforts followed, culminating in the extravaganza known as Live Aid.

Live Aid occurred at two locations simultaneously: at JFK stadium in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in the United States, and in Wembly Stadium in London, in the UK. But even more impressively, it was broadcast worldwide through various media, and the era of MTV brought forth a worldwide concert that drew an enormous audience. The concert featured many remarkable performances from a great variety of musicians.

Heres the schedule of musicians who participated in Live Aid:

In London's Wembly Stadium:

7 am: Bob Geldolf opens Live Aid; Status Quo; Style Council; Boomtown Rats with Adam Ant.

8 am: Adam Ant; Ultravox; Spandau Ballet.

9 am: Elvis Costello; Nik Kershaw with Billy Conally; Sade.

10 am: Phil Collins with Julian Lennon; Sting with Howard Jones.

11 am: Bryan Ferry; Paul Young with Alison Moyet. 

12:30 pm: U2.

1 pm: Dire Straits; Queen.

2 pm: David Bowie.

3 pm: The Who; Elton John.

4 pm: Wham! ; Paul McCartney.

In Philadelphia's JFK stadium:

9 am: Joan Baez; The Hooters; The Four Tops; Billy Ocean.

10 am: Black Sabbath with Ozzy Osbourne; Run-DMC; Rick Springfield; REO Speedwagon.

11 am: Crosby, Stills, Nash; Judas Priest.

12 pm: Bryan Adams; The Beach Boys.

1 pm: George Thorogood; Queens Performance from London.

2 pm: Music video featuring David Bowie and Mick Jagger; Simple Minds; The Pretenders.

3 pm: Santana with Pat Metheny; Ashford and Simpson with Teddy Pendergrass.

4:30 pm: Madonna; Rod Stewart. 5 pm: Tom Petty; Kenny Loggins; The Cars.

6 pm: Neil Young; Power Station. 7 pm: Thompson Twins; Eric Clapton.

8 pm: Phil Collins with Robert Plant and Jimmy Page; Duran Duran.

9 pm: Patti LaBelle; Daryll Hall and John Oats with Eddie Kendricks and David Ruffin.

10 pm: Mick Jagger; Jagger with Tina Turner; Bob Dylan.

Trivia: The Live Aid Concerts were held on July 13, 1985, in London and Philadelphia. Phil Collins was able to play both. He played London in the morning, and then took the Concorde to Philadelphia to play the evening there. 

Trivia: In London, a traffic light was set up just offstage to keep the performers within their allotted time. The traffic light would signal green when the performer had just just five minutes left to play, then yellow when two minutes were left, and red when it was time to leave. The performers kept to their time limits so well that the concert was often running as much as 15 minutes ahead of schedule. 

And here's another post with some more Live Aid  memories.

Ain't That America

Here's my belated Fourth of July post.

John Cougar Mellencamp was one of my fave rock musicians back in the '80s. I always appreciated his sense of straightforwardness and honesty in his music.  His 1984 song "Pink Houses" is a wonderful tribute to America, both majestic and hopeful, yet also with a touch of melancholy.

Happy Birthday (belatedly) America, to all my readers in the U.S..

An '80s Song With A Story

Howard Jones' "No One Is To Blame" (1985)

This song has a story. When I was in high school, I was a nonconformist and a bit of a loner. I had my friends, all fellow nonconformists, and we sometimes went out together and did our own individualistic thing. But I tended to avoid school dances and events. I just didn't fit in so well, and I felt better being away from there, and either by myself doing my own thing, or being with my oddball friends enjoying ourselves in our own oddball way.

On one rare occasion, I went to this high school dance just for the heck of it, just to see if I could actually get some enjoyment out of it. I spent my brief time there wandering around, not fitting in. I remember I met a friend I knew, a semi-outsider himself, and we chatted briefly. After wandering around a little more, I just decided to leave. I got in my car, and turned on the radio, and as I was pulling out of the school parking lot, this song came on. It just melded perfectly with the way I felt, and I remember it comforted me just to have this song that someone wrote that so perfectly expressed my mood. Music can be comforting like that, especially during your teen years.

But there's also the positive side. "Things Can Only Get Better," (1985) also by Howard Jones. I remember this song as well, and its sentiments are just as central to my teen years as the one above.

A thousand skeptic hands wont keep us from the things we planned

This was a common feeling I had growing up in the '80s: that the future could be bright, and that my response to adversity was to keep looking forward.

Howard Jones, a songwriter for all seasons.