'80s Cop Show Memories

One of the most celebrated, and remembered cop shows from the '80s was Hill Street Blues, a show noted for quirky characters, but with an undercurrent of grittyness. I remember fondly the theme song, by a veteran writer of many police themes, Mike Post.

Daniel J. Travanti starred as the chief, Captain Frank Furillo, but perhaps the most most memorable line of the entire series came from the daily briefings conducted by Sgt. Phil Esterhaus (Played by Michael Conrad), who always ended each briefing with "Let's Be Careful Out There."  That was a line often repeated during the '80s.

On the opposite extreme of '80s cops shows was highly stylized Miami Vice, a show oriented to the age of MTV, with colorful sets, slick background music, and fast-paced editing. The intro showed scenes of the Miami area, then popular due to the effect of Miami Vice, the popularity of South Beach style pastel colors (a fave in the '80s), and Gloria Estefan's Miami Sound Machine. 

Miami Vice's hugely popular theme was from Jan Hammer.

Sax in the '80s

Just wanted to draw your attention to a great '80s related post over at fellow retro-blogger Go Retro! about the prominence of sax in '80s music. Very fun post full of music videos. Takes you back..

Saxy Songs of the '80s

Reminds me of that line from the Rob Lowe character in St. Elmos Fire ("Billy") who is a sax player in a very '80s-ish band in that very 80s movie: "Do You believe in premarital sax?" Admittedly bad line.

Here's a saxy clip from that movie:

UPDATE:  

It seems like this is a popular topic. Another of my fave retro blogs
Kickin It Old School has had a post on the same topic.

Check it Out.



Bangles (and Leonard Nimoy)

 

Continuing my recent focus on fun '80s songs and videos, heres another quirky '80s song from a band that would become one of the major bands of the era.

The Bangles were originally part of the Paisly Underground, part of a music scene inspired by the music and culture of the 1960s, particularly the British and psychedelic scenes. The song "Going Down To Liverpool" came off of The Bangles heavily British "mersey beat" (i.e. First British Invasion) influenced first album, All Over The Place.  This was during the groups early days, in the halcyon days of the Paisly Underground, before the Bangles hit it big with the Prince-written "Manic Monday," and the follow-up "Walk Like and Egyptian."

You can clearly hear the early Beatles-esque style here. And the video features a guest appearance from Star Trek's Spock, Leonard Nimoy.


By the way, a Happy Easter to everyone.
 

St. Elmo's Fire

Continuing my weeks focus on distinctly '80s songs, here's one that's very '80s: the main theme to St. Elmo's Fire by John Parr.

As with the movie of the same name, the theme to St. Elmo's fire is one of those '80s things that you either love or hate. To some people, the song may be schlocky and slick, but to so many of us from that decade, it was soaring and inspirational. Count me in on the positive side of that. How can you not smile and feel excited by lyrics like:

I can see a new horizon,

underneath the blazin' sky,

I'll be where the eagle's flyin'

higher and higher

And yes, I am being serious. I'll take these positive lyrics any day to some of the negativity that came out in later years.

Round and Round

Speaking of mixing old with new, here's a memorable video from the heavy metal side of the '80s musical spectrum.  The song is Ratt's 1984 rocker "Round And Round." The video exemplifies '80s heavy metal attitude, with its rebellion against boring and staid formality.   

In a surprising touch, the video features the classic performer and comedian, Milton Berle, in a unique pairing of comedy and rock n' roll. 

Pet Shop Boys and Dusty

I've been on hiatus from the blog due to a busy job schedule, but now I'm back to my labor of love to my fave decade, the '80s.

As a re-launch of the blog, I'm starting a week devoted to cool '80s music. First up, a great song from 1987, a collaboration between '80s New Wave synthpop group the Pet Shop Boys, and classy '60s diva Dusty Springfield called "What Have I Dont To Deserve This."

This song has all the traits that made '80s music so wonderful. To begin with, the ability to seamlessly blend together the vibrant new styles of the '80s, with the classic pop of a previous great era. '80s were never ones to tear down the greatness of venerable older acts just to make way for the new, but instead seemed to find a way to bring both old and new together to created a wonderful new musical product.

There's also that terrific '80s melodic catchy-ness, brimming with '80s exuberance. And the colorful and dapper, yet fun, '80s style, as shown by the video.  

Update: Happy St. Pattie's Day!!

Just noticing that Rediscover the 80s blog has a piece about that legendary '80s Irish band, U2.   Check it out!!

'80s Bowie

David Bowie burst forth in 1983 with a new, more mainstream image. Whereas a great deal of his '70s work conveyed an alienated and searching demeanor, his '80s material had a more positive, yet still individualistic and arty, vibe.

In 1983, Bowie rode the wave of New Wave/New Romantic mus
ic which then dominated MTV, and which served as one of the main contributors to the new media of music video. His music, as intelligent and quirky as ever, had a new energy. For example, here is his video for "China Girl" from his 1983 Let's Dance album.

Bowie joined the great Second British Invasion which was at that time crashing onto American airwaves. And his fellow British musicians of that period were often Bowies own admirers, who has grown up on, and were inspired by Bowie in his earlier '70s incarnations. Bowie was the topic of the cover story of the July 18, 1983 issue of Time  magazine ("David Bowie Rockets Onward."), which had the following observations:

"At 36,  the oldest fresh force in rock, this new Bowie seems to share few 

qualities with the old Ziggy, the polymorphous camp extravaganza, the most gilded

lily of rock's gaudiest age. What binds these identities together is a gift that is

cerebral and carnal, frequently danceable and always entertaining. His former

crony Lou Reed has sung about it. Deep down inside, Bowie has

a rock-'n'-roll heart. . .

. . . Musically however, Bowie always seems to know what time it is; no need

for verification. His new material is unabashedly commercial, melodically

aliterative and lyrically smart at the same time. Bowie made some

of the most adventurous rock of the past decade.  When it did not work,

it sounded trendy and tuned out. But when it did hit, which was most of the time, it

laid down rules and set new marks for others to follow. Bowie kept the cutting edge

keen. There are few punks or New Wavers or art rockers or New Dancers

dancing to New Music who do not owe him an abiding debt. Every one from

Gary Numan to Talking Heads and Culture Club ought to make a

deep bow in his direction.

Bowie, ever quirky and multifaceted, dabbled in various art forms... music, video, film, theatre. Early in the decade, he performed as the title character in a production of The Elephant Man.  And above, his 1984 hit song "Blue Jean," featured on his 1984 album  Tonight, also was featured in a short film called Jazzin For Blue Jean. The video for the song features a clip from the film.

In 1985 Bowie performed a duet with Mick Jagger, of the '60s sould classic "Dancing in the Streets."

And  in 1986, Bowie perfomed in the fantasy film Labyrinth, produced by Star Wars'  own George Lucas, and featuring creatures created by The Muppets' inventor Jim Henson.

At the conclusion of the decade, Bowie found himself at his most mainstream, a situation which would lead to the criticism by many that he was not as creative as he had been in the seminal years of the 1970s. Nevertheless, the flip side of that is that Bowie was probably never as influential or as respected as he was in the 1980s, as the wave of new musicians cited him as a major influence, and the increasingly theatrical and multi-media nature of '80s music followed in his footsteps.