Here's another part of the '60s flashback which occurred during the 1980s. In 1983 Tracey Ullman, a British musician and actress, put out an album You Broke My Heart in 17 Places, whose style clearly derived from the '60s.
The hit she had off of that album, "They Don't Know" is instantly recognizable as having the style of mid-'60s British female musicians such as Dusty Springfield and Petula Clark. As if to drive the point home, the video also clearly presents '60s era motifs, and features the very '60s Paul McCartney.
The 1980s was a time of great nostalgia for the 1960s. I think in some ways this was the result of aging baby boomers who were then largely in their thirties (as in the TV show Thirtysomething) and who provided a big audience for memories about their younger years. There was also something cyclical about the phenomenon, since it was preceded during the '70s by Fifties nostalgia (i.e. Happy Days, Grease, American Grafitti), and followed in the '90s by Seventies revivalism (i.e. That '70s Show, Dazed and Confused). In any case the '80s were full of flashbacks to the '60s which included television shows like The Wonder Years, movies like the self-explanatory 1969 (which came out in 1988), and plenty of musical revivals of '60s styles such as when Prince released his Sgt. Pepper-esque 1985 album Around the World in a Day.
The Moody Blues, a '60s era group that was still going strong in the '80s, had a hit with "Your Wildest Dreams," a song that dealt with longing for the era of change and protest. The video for that song is quite poignant.
As an '80s teen, I loved '80s music and culture. But I also shared a tremendous fascination for the era of the 1960s, a time which was so momentous that its effects rippled for many years afterward. And '60s music was great. So, when there occurred this sudden interest in all things '60s, I dove right in, making myself tye-dye shirts, buying paisley prints, and listening obsessively to oldies stations that focused on sixties music. There was an innocence and joy and idealism that shone forth from that era, and quite a few members of my own generation made it a point to revive that '60s culture and make it part of our own as well.
In 1986, in the midst of the revivalism, three of the four members of The Monkees decided to reunite and tour. They too had a hit with "That Was Then, This is Now."
Eventually, time turned, and '80s nostalgia eventually came our way in the form of '80s nights on the radio, and movies like The Wedding Singer (1998). I think this '80s nostalgia is quite proper, as the '80s truly were a memorable decade. In the midst of such nostalgia, its important to remember how strong a component of '80s culture was this wave of revivalism that gave a second wind and a new generation of fans to '60s culture.
A comment to one of my recent posts referenced The Greatest American Hero, so I was inspired to re-post this, which originally appeared August 11, 2013. Enjoy.
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.
David Letterman, the host who revolutionized late night talk shows back in the '80s, retired this past week. For a long time, he has been a fairly mainstream celebrity, that it is often hard to remember how truly novel his comedy was during the '80s. During that decade (more specifically between 1980 and 1993) Letterman was the host, on NBC, of Late Night with David Letterman. His show during that era was a free wheeling, loosely structured, oddball affair, full of the quirky and sometimes strange humor that seemed to pervade the decade.
I mean, speaking from personal experience, back then I often found myself laughing uproariously at the off the wall humor that came at you from odd angles and which seemed to be everywhere: in comics like Bloom County and The Far Side, in stand up comedians like Stephen Wright and Gallagher (and you should have seen the early stand up Whoopi Goldberg), and in shows like Eddie Murphy/Joe Piscopo era Saturday Night Live. There was a viewpoint that was just fresh, so quirky and so very funny, that has not been seen for quite a bit. (In the '90s, quite frankly, comedy seemed to take on a more hard edged quality, more "in your face" and less oddball, which was quite different.)
David Letterman's Late Night show was a prime example of the off the wall '80s humor, as exemplified by his experimentation with suits made out of different materials. Here's several clips over the years.
Here's a non-nostalgia related post, but I feel its important to post.
Its a report about a high school bully who reached out to his victim 20 years later, and offered a long belated apology. The former bully decided to apologize after talking with his own child about bullying, and realizing that he had to admit that he himself had been a bully. The apology, as late as it was, had a positive effect.
I'm posting this because it struck a cord with me. Bullying can leave wounds that last a long time. Its easy for those who have not experienced extreme bullying, or those who have done the bullying, to act like it was no big deal. But if you've been a victim of severe physical or psychological mistreatment, you know it stays with you for years to come.
It takes guts for a former bully to acknowledge past bad behavior, and to apologize to their victims. This is hard when the behavior is recent, and maybe even more so when the behavior is long past and could be easily forgotten and "swept under the rug." It also takes courage for the victims to forgive the mistreatment that happened to them.
If anyone reading this was a former bully, I encourage you to think back on what you did, and see if you can locate a former victim and apologize to them. And if you are a former victim (as I was), I encourage you to forgive. UPDATE: Here's an excellent video which gives accounts of bullying, and its effects. I found it on the site of one of the commenters to this post, and think it adds to the discussion about this issue.
Check out this 1985 Tom Petty video for the song "Don't Come Around Here No More," with an Alice In Wonderland theme. A bit of '80s psychedelia which I remember being commented on by radio music station DJs.
And not to be outdone, here's David Bowie's Salvador Dali-esque video for "Loving The Alien." This one actually came out a year before Petty's song, in 1984.
Since its Mother's Day, I'm going to dedicate today's post to my mom.
My mother used to be a major fan of cop and action type shows back during the '80s. So, my tribute to her comes in the form of memories from those shows she loved so much way back then.
Magnum P.I. was one of them. She used to avidly watch this show whenever it was on. The theme song and visuals bring back quite a lot of memories from the early '80s.
Here's another one of my Mom's favorites... Simon and Simon. I didn't watch this one so much, but I remember that catchy theme song.
And Hart to Hart. My mom used to get so much pleasure out of the action and the good guys vs. bad guys plots of these.
She was in her own life a much more down-to-earth woman, a schoolteacher at the local high school, devoted to her faith in God, and to her family. I am blessed to have had so many memories of my mom . . . family memories when we were out doing things together. There were also moments of misunderstanding and disagreement, as there always are among people who love one another. In the end, I focus on the positive, the good memories.
My mom passed away back in 2003, after a long struggle with cancer. I dedicate this post to her, and take hope in my belief that we will be ultimately reunited. Here's to you, mom.
