All Eighties, All The Time

Let's Dance - David Bowie

2011-10-30T21:40:00.000-07:00

There are lots of great albums from the 80s and one that I played constantly was David Bowie's Let's Dance album. So called 'true' David Bowie fans hated this album, but I loved it so much so that when I saw part of a documentary on David Bowie I was glad he was undergoing financial difficulties during the early 80s.

David Bowie came out in this doco and said that he wrote Let's Dance in order to make money because basically he was in a financial black hole as he totally trusted the wrong person and just signed whatever this person told him to so that he could get on with using his creativity.

I don't care if it was commercialism because I loved the album and I can't have been the only person because it sold really well and the singles off of the album also did well. It was Let's Dance that got me interested in looking into David Bowie's earlier work and I have to say I became a huge fan and yet if I hadn't heard his 1983 album I probably wouldn't have looked for other albums of his to listen to.

With the singles off of the Let's Dance album David Bowie really mastered the blue eyed soul style of music and captured the feelings of the time - it was all about being able to dance to the music and singalong at the same time and you could do that with China Girl, Modern Love and Let's Dance and you could do that really well.

When any of the singles from this album are played on the radio I can't help but singalong - it's an album that, in my opinion, doesn't date and I am really glad that David Bowie gave us this album. The Laughing Gnome, Ashes to Ashes, The Jean Genie, Changes and Young American are all fantastic songs, but Let's Dance, Modern Love and China Girl just pull me straight back to the 80s when life was easy (for a teen anyway!) with just a couple of beats!

What do you think about David Bowie's 1983 album - Let's Dance?

80s Movie Night - Spotlight on Red Dawn

2011-10-21T18:01:00.000-07:00

For our 80s movie night tonight we're heading back to Colorado in 1984, yes I'm talking about Red Dawn. I loved this movie when it came out and always thought of it as a classic, a couple of years ago I had the house to myself and thought I'm going to rent Red Dawn and as I took it up to the counter the person serving me starting going on about it being a cult hit (he didn't even look like he was alive in 1984!). I enjoyed re-watching it, but a remake?

Red Dawn, like so many classic 80s movies, is being remade and is expected to be released in 2012 with Chris Hemsworth and Josh Peck taking on Patrick Swayze and Charlie Sheen's characters. I'm not sure if I'm going to even watch this version as some of the remakes of 80s movies have really not turned out very well in my opinion (Fame, anyone?)

Will modern day audiences actually 'get' the movie? I think part of the allure of Red Dawn was that the cold war was still in existence and many people believed that the scenario could actually happen. I must admit my brother and I decided to try and get to our home from the movie theater via all the back alleys we knew to avoid being seen by anyone - I managed it, my brother was spotted by a noisy old lady a couple of streets over from us! We worked on improving our stealth like abilities throughout the school holidays and it kept us out of trouble so I'm sure from that perspective our family must've liked the movie too!!

The movie starts with everyone rolling up to school, but the day gets shattered when enemy paratroopers start landing on the school playing fields. The movie provides a lot of action and it's audience was obviously primarily the youth market as it boosted our belief that we could do anything including saving the country.

I love the little bits of irony throughout the movie, I missed it the first time around, but the second time of watching it I decided that one of my favorite moments was one that caused me to have a little chuckle - a pro-gun supporter had a bumper sticker with the words "they'll get my gun when they pry it from my cold, dead hands" well I don't know if his hands were cold, but they were definitely dead when a Russian took it from him!

What did you think of the movie that started Charlie Sheen's career (I bet he never envisaged what he would do to his career back then!) - I loved it, but feel free to disagree if you like :)

Just remember if you're looking to buy an 80s movie check out my 80s Movie Store I get a small commission on any movie that you purchase while you get a great deal - that's what I call a win/win.

Rubik Cube Gift Ideas - Great 80s Style Gifts

2011-10-18T20:06:00.000-07:00

Did you love the rubiks cube? There's something about that cube that pulls me straight back to the 80s when I could never solve it, but I can tell you the name of a boy that could and he was really fast as well......I won't embarrass him by putting his name here, but his initials were AB.

Anyway the rubiks cube really did become a symbol of the 80s so if you know someone who's still 'stuck in 1984' then what about checking out some of these rubiks cube inspired gift ideas -

Salt and pepper mills based around the rubiks cube are an awesome idea and are bound to get the dinner conversation turned onto the best decade ever!

There are lots more rubiks cube inspired gifts however -

A rubiks cube mug is also cool, in fact I would swap my True mug for that one and you know what a Spandau Ballet fan I am! If you're going to have a rubiks mug then you really need the next idea as well.......a rubiks cube coaster!

What do you think of these rubiks cube inspired gifts? I think they are all awesome and I'm sure if you left this webpage open for someone else to stumble upon they are bound to realize that any of these gifts would be perfect for my 80s loving readers!

Of course my hubby would probably find this last rubiks cube gift idea the best one for me -

A rubiks cube notepad is just perfect for my house, because if I don't write jobs down they basically don't get done. My hubby's a bit sick of saying did you or have you? While I reply 'oh no I forgot', he now makes sure I always have a notepad and asks me to write down jobs that are really important!!

So there you have some of the coolest gift ideas for a rubik cube loving 80s girl or guy, let me know your favorite.

80s Movie Night - Spotlight on A NIghtmare on Elm Street

2011-10-14T17:38:00.000-07:00

With October drawing in and Halloween fast approaching I thought it was time to look at 80s horror movies and what better 80s horror movie was there than A Nightmare on Elm Street. I'm sure some would disagree, but this movie kept me awake far more than any other movie I have ever seen so I'm going to call it the 80s horror movie!

The Nightmare on Elm Street Collection consists of 7 Nightmare on Elm Street films and a bonus disc and is a great gift idea for any Freddy Krueger fan. It was the first movie in 1984 that kept me awake however, I wasn't as impressed with some of the subsequent movies and I certainly haven't seen all seven of them.

Wes Craven's idea of teenagers being killed in their dreams was, in my mind, a really cool concept. I thought it was a very original idea, but since the 80s I've learned that he actually read about a little boy who had been having nightmares and one night just died in his sleep ......... maybe Freddy is real??

Robert Englund did a fantastic job in making Freddy Krueger a character that could still scare the #@@# out of any child of the 80s if we should bump into him over Halloween.

Of course if you were planning to go to an 80s party dressing up as the 80s boogeyman himself would certainly bring any 'Girls Just Wanna Have Fun' style dancing to a halt!

Freddy Krueger and the whole collection of Nightmare on Elm Street movies have gained quite a cult following over the years which is quite amazing considering how much trouble Wes Craven went to to try and get someone to make the movie.

I was reading some Nightmare on Elm Street trivia the other day and they claimed that over 500 gallons of fake blood was used during the making of the original film. That's a lot of blood, although when you think of some of the scenes it makes sense.

An interesting piece of trivia that I only discovered in recent years is that the iconic Freddy sweater wasn't supposed to be red and green, but Wes Craven read an article that said the two most contrasting colors to the human retina were red and green and so decided that those were the colors that the sweater should be. Well I thought that was interesting anyway!

Do you think A Nightmare on Elm Street was the best horror movie of the 80s?

Welcome to 80s Movie Night

2011-10-14T17:16:00.000-07:00

I must apologize for the fact that I'm not posting very regularly with this blog - I've decided that instead of just writing about anything 80s when I feel like it I should have a blog plan so that I can bring you posts more regularly. Introducing 80s Movie Night - this is where I plan to spotlight types of movies ie John Hughes movies or 80s dance movies or even individual movies.

There's just something about 80s movies which are cool so what will be the first movie that I spotlight? Well you don't have long to wait, only minutes in fact! While I'm introducing the 80s movie night concept though please feel free to leave the names of any 80s movie that you'd like me to spotlight in the comments section.

If you can't remember them all then feel free to check out Lou's 80s Movies Store and browse through the titles, the memories should come flooding back. Stayed tuned the first 80s movie night spotlight will be coming right up.

80s Halloween Costumes

2011-09-11T20:18:00.000-07:00

Apparently I'm stuck in the 80s constantly if you listen to my daughter and all because the radio station I choose to listen to in my car plays a lot of 80s music - it's not like I don't offer to pop in a cd........even if they're also mainly 80s songs! Anyway on Halloween you can re-live the 80s in a whole new way - 80s Halloween Costumes!

The only problem is what 80s costume do you want to wear. There are a selection of different video game costumes including some cool Pac Man Halloween costumes that I've written about on another post - PacMan Halloween Costumes which feature Pac Man himself or the individual little ghosts - Inky, Blinky, Pinky and Clyde. Then you can get costumes like these ones which show the actual Pac Man game screen -

Pac Man Costume

Of course then you've got to think of what other type of 80s costumes you can wear and we get to 80s fashion! There are so many different choices here from leg warmers to shoulder pads and more, here's a couple of 80s costumes for women to choose from -

Here are a couple of 80s costumes for men to choose from -

Of course there are lots more ideas for costumes look at programs like Dynasty or Fame the TV series for inspirations as well as what the likes of Cyndi Lauper, Billy Idol, Madonna and Michael Jackson were wearing during the 80s - the costume ideas really are limitless so what do you say - will you rock the 80s this Halloween?

I think I'd like to and I've just come across a beard set a la ZZ Top so my hubby had better beware or he might be dressed like a 'sharp dressed man' and sporting dd's guitar as we party the night away!

Of course if you've left it to the last minute there is still a couple of easy last minute 80s costumes you can pull off - Bruce Springsteen - a pair of jeans with a Stars and Stripes bandana/kerchief hanging out of the back pocket and a plain t-shrit. Morrissey (as in the lead singer of the Smiths) - a pair of jeans, black shirt and a flower poking out of the back pocket.

If you've got the time, but no money what about some handmade 80s costume ideas?

The first one that springs to mind is a rubiks cube. Get a square box from one of your local shops and paint it the different colors of the rubiks cube (white, red, blue, orange, yellow,green) - one color per side (some thin lines of black to show that there are nine different squares on each side really adds to the costume). Cut a hole in the top for your head and you can have it resting on your shoulders which means you'll need arm holes or you have your arms out of the top which means you need something to hold the rubiks cube up. I used a pair of zebra braces (don't ask why I had zebra braces on hand and nobody will get hurt!!).

I cut the bottom completely out of the box so that I could walk around easily. Wear black leggings and a black turtleneck and you'll look awesome. The only drawback is that you can't sit down!!!

The other idea for a woman/girl is to wear a pair of jeans (preferably not bootleg) or leggings, a t-shirt and one of hubby's/dad's business shirts with sleeves rolled up and instead of buttoning it up just knot it in the front. The hair has to be big so put in lots of mouse and blow dry it while hanging your head upside down - remembering the 80s I used to hang over the side of my bed to do this!

If you still have a banana clip then you could wear your hair up in this instead or a side ponytail. If you really can't get any volume in your hair then use gel and go for the slicked back look.

Let me know your favorite 80s costume idea below.

Hit Songs From 1986

2011-09-04T20:06:00.000-07:00

There are so many songs that you think of when reminiscing about the 80s, but I'm often shocked when I read what songs sold the most in any given year. Let me give you an example - the highest selling single in the UK during 1986 was Don't Leave Me This Way by the Communards. Now I love this song, but I would never have guessed that it was the highest selling single, although I'm sure I would've known if you had asked me back then!

I would've expected songs such as Sledgehammer or You Give Love a Bad Name to be in the top ten for the year - but they're not! Do you want to know what the top ten selling singles of 1986 were? Find out here - The Top Ten Songs of 1986. I'm sure that non-UK readers will go who when it comes to number 2 as I doubt they will know who Nick Berry is and that shows the power of UK soaps as it was sold because he starred in Eastenders and the single was promoted on the show!

The first Comic Relief single was a re-make of an old Cliff Richard song performed by Cliff Richard and the stars of the hit UK comedy, The Young Ones. I wasn't surprised when I saw it's name on the list, although I had forgotten about the song until I saw it. You will never hear Cliff Richard's Living Doll the same after seeing this version which still brings a smile to my face.

80s Christmas Ornaments

2011-08-28T20:04:00.000-07:00

I was looking at some new Christmas ornaments online the other day and I came across this one on Amazon -

Doesn't it look good? Unfortunately I couldn't find any Space Invaders Christmas ornaments but it did get me thinking - wouldn't it be awesome to have a totally 80s themed Christmas tree? Thinking along these lines I discovered some cool 80s Christmas tree ornaments like this one -

Corey Tiger 80s Retro Leopard Print Star Ornament by COREYTIGER
Browse other Corey tiger Ornaments

There's actually a whole selection of them to be found at - Retro 80s Christmas Ornaments. So what do you think? Will you be having an awesome 80s style Christmas this year?

If we're talking Christmas and we're talking 80s then I guess we should pose another question - best Christmas song of 1984 - Band Aid with Do They Know It's Christmas? Vs Wham! with Last Christmas? I love both of these songs so it's a hard choice, but what do you think?

80s Mugs - A Great Gift Idea

2011-08-20T04:10:00.000-07:00

I love to drink either my tea or my coffee from a mug, a cup's just not big enough in my humble opinion. I actually have a True mug that I drink from, a fair dinkum Spandau Ballet licensed True mug. The lettering has faded somewhat, but being a Spandau Ballet of old I love that mug.

I was thinking I hadn't written a post for this blog in a while whilst drinking from my mug when I thought - I know 80s mugs! Buy yourself an 80s mug to use every day or get one for your best friend, co-worker, family member etc. Take it from me drinking from an 80s mug does put you in a good mood!

I Love 80s by theshockwave
See more 80s Mugs

There's this classic I Love the 80s mug which is pretty cool, but wait there's a lot more to look at.....

These three mugs are all available from Zazzle which is a POD site that has some awesome designs, not just the ones I've featured here.

You can also find mugs from 80s bands, television series etc like these -

Can you remember Bros? "When will I, will I be famous?", Talk about a flashback in time.

I must look and see what Matt Goss is doing these days as I know I occasionally see Luke Goss acting. I'm sure they had a couple of other hits as well, but When Will I Be Famous is the only one I can think of off of the top of my head.

There are lots of other bands who have mugs that you can buy online so let's have a look at a some of them, Duran Duran the biggest international New Romantic band, Joy Division, one of my hubby's favorite bands until the demise of Ian Curtis and the resulting (and one of my favorites) New Order and of course Bon Jovi (as I type his name I'm singing Shot Through The Heart in my head!) -

Now if for some strange reason 80s music isn't the thing you miss most from the 80s then maybe this mug is more your style -

I do love ALF! This 80s mug is definitely a classic, I might even be persuaded to give up my True mug in exchange for it :)

What 80s inspired mug would you like to (are are already) drink from?

Through The Barricades - Spandau Ballet

2011-08-03T21:53:00.000-07:00

As you probably know I write at various sites around the internet and lately I've been revisiting some of my articles and updating them. One such article was about the song Through The Barricades by Spandau Ballet. This song is one that I find absolutely haunting, it's not just me that feel that way as most of the band members themselves have been quoted as saying this was their favorite Spandau song.

I actually updated the page to make it on the entire album which was fantastic, if you want to check it out here's the link - Spandau Ballet: Through The Barricades. The album itself was totally overshadowed by the single when it was first released.........or that's how I remember it anyways. Now I feel that the other songs have come into their own.

Another single from the album was Fight for Ourselves which I never really appreciated during the 80s, but I've found it really catchy these days and sing along whenever I hear it.

Have you listened to the album recently if at all? Share you thoughts on Spandau Ballet's fifth studio album below.

Scarface - A Classic 80s Mafia Movie

2011-07-17T17:09:00.000-07:00

Among the hoards of Mafia movies released during the 80s was Scarface. This movie was a little different from the likes of Goodfellas and The Godfather in that is was based on the Cuban Mafia instead of the Italian one. With quotes like - 'Say hello to my little friend' it has become an absolute classic.

Scarface was first released in 1983 and with the excessive bloodshed and violence I wasn't able to watch it until a few years later! Excess and the eighties do go together though and so does Scarface. The biggest thing the movie had going for it from my hubby's point of view was Al Pacino. Let's face it Al Pacino is an amazing actor and he really brought his skills to the table as Tony Montana.

I was reminded the other day that it's only five months until Christmas so if you know a Scarface fan what about getting them a cool Scarface inspired gift? I have a few ideas for you -

Scarface Belt Buckles - these are really cool and a unique gift idea for a Tony Montana fan.
Scarface T-Shirts - who doesn't like a tee?
Scarface Posters - these are a great idea for the dorm room if you know a younger fan of Scarface or a Man Cave for someone who saw the movie when it was first released!

Then again you could always get them their own version of the movie if they don't already own it -

This two disc anniversary Scarface DVD doesn't just contain the movie but also has these extras -

The Rebirth of Scarface (10 mins)
Acting Scarface (15 mins)
Creating Scarface (30 mins)
Scarface: The TV Version - a look at the two versions (3 mins)
Deleted Scenes (22 mins)
Def Jam presents The Origins of a Gangsta (30 mins)

Wordless Wednesday - The Rubiks Tree of Knowledge!

2011-06-29T18:28:00.000-07:00

Add your caption idea for this photo below for some fun on this Wordless Wednesday.

Wordless Wednesday - Rubiks Cube

2011-06-21T19:40:00.000-07:00

If I plant it will the solution grow?

Journey's to Glory - Spandau Ballet

2011-06-05T21:30:00.000-07:00

The dawn of the New Romantics began in the UK with the aptly named Journey's to Glory album from Spandau Ballet. Journeys to Glory as a name really reflects how the New Romantic movement grew to have such a huge impact on the 80s music scene, it was also a great name for a debut album.

Spandau Ballet's Journeys to Glory album was released in the English spring of 1981 after the huge success of their debut single 'To Cut a Long Story Short' which was not only a cult dance club hit, but also made #5 in the UK pop charts during the winter of 1980.

The three singles off of Spandau's first album were To Cut a Long Story Short, The Freeze and Muscle Bound and the album itself went gold which wasn't bad for a group of working class lad's from London's east end who were spearheading a new music movement that ended up growing bigger than they were.

If all you know of Spandau Ballet are their latest offerings like True and Gold then you really do need to hear how they sounded at the beginning of their musical career. If you remember the stylized cult sounding record and enjoyed the pretentiousness of 'the art of pretending it's art' then you will love to take a trip down memory lane with this album.

Born in the USA - Bruce Springsteen

2011-05-22T21:02:00.000-07:00

Another classic 80s album has to be from the boss himself - Bruce Springsteen. I can remember getting this lp on vinyl before I had a record player of my own and so I had to play it in the dining room (or the lounge, but I would commandeer the dining room record player as mine!), I would crank it up loud and books on the table so that I could 'pretend' to be studying I would sing at the top of my voice to some of the classic tracks off of this album.

Bruce Springsteen's Born in the USA album was great because any of the tracks could have been made into a hit single............and in fact many were!

The artwork for the album was as iconic as the music itself - jeans and a hankie hanging out of the back pocket - how cool was that!

Hits from the album include the title track Born in the USA, along with Glory Days and Dancing in the Dark. If you can't remember all of the songs then check out this link - Born in the USA. One of my favorite tracks off of the album (it wasn't a single) was No Surrender and I was surprised to find out a few years ago that Springsteen was going to leave it off the album until Steven Van Zandt convinced him otherwise - the amount of time I would belt out the lyrics, 'We learned more from a 3-minute record, baby,than we ever learned in school' was huge - it was classic teenage rebellion lyrics. Of course the song's meaning was more about picking yourself up and keeping going, but I choose to use the literal words when I was feeling like a rebel!

Did you like Bruce Springsteen's Born in the USA album? Let me know your thoughts below.

Brothers in Arms - Dire Straits

2011-05-15T17:14:00.000-07:00

Well I'm back - the break from posting went on a little longer as Blogger was down when I'd penciled in my to do list and then it was the weekend for me and I managed an (almost) computer free one :)

I was going to post about something different, but I was listening to a compilation album in the car over the weekend and realized how many of the songs I'd had on vinyl. I even had a great discussion with my 9 year old about music - she loves David Bowie's Let's Dance album and my hubby's got her obsessed with Yazoo so we were discussing 80s music along with a few songs from the here and now that she enjoys and it struck me that I should do a series of posts on 'Vinyls from the Past' showcasing different albums that I have owned during the 80s and ones that I wished I'd owned.

Anyways all of this waffling is my way of saying we're talking about different 80s albums and today's album is Dire Straits - Brothers in Arms.

Now this album was actually the best selling album of the 80s in the UK and it's no surprise to me as I think it was fantastic. It was actually Dire Strait's fifth album, but it's been their best selling and actually became the first album to sell one million copies in the cd format - yes vinyl was about to start it's decline, but it hadn't happened yet.

Brothers in Arms featured classics such as Money for Nothing and Walk of Life. In fact if you take Brothers in Arms and Sultans of Swing then I don't think you need worry about a best of album for Dire Straits, but I'm sure someone will want to disagree with that statement and you're welcome to leave your comments below.

I must confess I never owned Brothers in Arms on vinyl as my dad owned it......this was nearly enough reason for me to 'go off' Dire Straits completely, but their music was good enough to bridge the generation gap and besides dad had some pretty cool albums like Bat out of Hell by Meatloaf and Eliminator by ZZ Top so it wasn't all bad!

What I find amazing is that Dire Strait's Brothers in Arms album actually outsold Michael Jackson's Thriller during the 80s in the UK - I would never have guessed that. I think the reason is what I mentioned above - Dire Straits managed to bridge the generation gap and people who had been teens in the 60s loved the sound as much as the teens of the 80s.

So, did you own Dire Straits' Brothers in Arms album? Let me know below.

Z is for ZZ Top

2011-04-30T21:43:00.000-07:00

ZZ Top are an American rock band from Texas that were formed way back in 1969, it wasn't until 1983, however, that they hit stardom with the mainstream and that was because of their album - Eliminator.

Suddenly it seemed like everyone had heard of the Texans - two with long beards and one without who was actually called Frank Beard. There was something about their sound with Eliminator that just struck a chord, plus they also made memorable videos which was really important during the 80s.

Gimme All Your Lovin, Sharp Dressed Man & Legs were fantastic songs, but the videos.......well even a total non-revhead like myself couldn't help but appreciate the Eliminator. I think my favorite video was the one for Legs where the poor sales girl gets her chance to stand up to everyone thanks to the Eliminator and the Eliminator Girls that feature on ZZ Top's videos.

When I was helping to sort out my dad's garage recently I saw that he still had Rio Grande Mud, Eliminator and Afterburner on vinyl. It was thanks to dad 'discovering' the band that I was able to sound so knowledgeable when their songs first hit the UK charts which really impressed a certain guy.........we'll say no more about that!

Which ZZ Top song was your favorite?

Youngblood, Yuppies & You

2011-04-29T05:05:00.000-07:00

We're nearly at the end of our A-Z blogging challenge so I decided to write about three things that start with Y!

First up is the 1986 movie Youngblood which starred the late Patrick Swayze and a very young looking Rob Lowe. I missed this movie during the 80s and first saw it in this millennium so it was quite a shock to see Rob Lowe who I had followed religiously on West Wing to look soooo young!

It was a fun, feel good 80s movie and well worth a watch on a wet weekend.

Now let's talk about the eighties use of acronyms including the most well known 80s acronym - Yuppies! Now that I'm older (and with the use of the internet) I know that what yuppies stood for depends on where in the world you lived! In the UK yuppies stood for Young Upwardly-mobile Professional, studying sociology upwardly mobile was a term that was often batted around in my world. In the US though it appears it wasn't as widely used.

Apparently if you were called a yuppie in the US it stood for Young Urban Professional - which begs the question what do you call a young upwardly mobile person who lives in the country in the US???

Why have I mentioned You in my title, well it's to pay homage to those emails that I'm sure we've all received at some point in our lives - You knew you grew up in the 80s if..........you know the words to shot through the heart, you used to finish your sentences with not...........and sometimes still do, you had a mullet and you looked great! If you want more click on the link as I could go on all day :D

X is for XTC

2011-04-27T17:03:00.000-07:00

Now as you know I'm competing in the A-Z Blogging Challenge this month and (like many others I'm sure) I had thought ahead for some of the letters and X was always going to be XTC simply for their single Senses Working Overtime.

What I didn't realize until I came to write this post was that XTC were active from 1976 right through until 2005 and released 14 albums. This was a total shock to me as I couldn't name any other XTC song besides the excellent 1982 single that I've mentioned before - Senses Working Overtime.

Did you know of any other XTC songs? I have always thought of them as a one hit wonder so I'll be interested to hear if you know their other music.

and I've got one, two, three, four, five,
senses working overtime.....

Check them out on TOTPs thanks to YouTube.

W is for Wham!

2011-04-26T20:59:00.000-07:00

It's funny, but when I think of Wham! I find it hard to believe that they were only together as a group for four years. During those four years however Wham! certainly made an impact on the music scene and the two boys who made up the band - George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley certainly came a long way from schoolboys in Watford.

Their first single was Wham Rap and didn't light any fires under anyone, but their second single Young Guns climbed up the UK charts to the number 3 spot which caused them to re-release Wham Rap and this time everyone loved it and you could find young people all over the UK joining in with the 'rap'-

Hey everybody, take a look at me,
I've got street credibility,
I may not have a job,
But I have a good time,
With the boys that I meet down on the line.....

Wham!'s first album was called Fantastic and it really was! My brother had this album on vinyl, but somehow it always seemed to be in my room when he was looking for it - oops! I loved the intro of Club Tropicana and the chorus of Bad Boys........basically I really enjoyed the whole album.

Three albums later and Wham! had parted company although they've all remained great friends with George a regular visitor to Andrew's home in Cornwall and also the best friend to Shirley Kemp who was one of the original back-up singers for Wham! In fact George set Shirley up on a blind date with the bass guitarist of Spandau Ballet - Martin Kemp back in the 80s and the couple are still together today and are loving parents to two children.

Although Wake Me Up Before You Go Go, Last Christmas and I'm Your Man were great songs, I personally think that Wham!'s first album was their best even if Wake Me Up Before You Go Go and Last Christmas are probably two of my more favorite Wham! songs. The Fantastic album contained all great songs in my opinion, not just some, but what do you think? Name your favorite Wham! song and favorite Wham! album.

V is for Vietnam

2011-04-26T00:50:00.000-07:00

Now I know what you're thinking - Vietnam wasn't in the 80s and you're right the Vietnam war officially finished in 1975, but the 80s saw the rise of the Vietnam war movies. From the Oscar winning Platoon to the (put on your best Robin Williams voice for this one) Good Morning Vietnam movie. Missing in Action and Full Metal Jacket were also released during the 80s, it seemed that film makers had found that the Vietnam War provided great fodder for an action film.

There were also the feelings of shame that people felt in the USA over how they had treated their Vietnam Vets, there were no ticker tape parades like there was for the WWI and WWII vets and this was reflected in movies and songs. In particular there was the Stallone classic - Rambo (and it's sequels). The biggest song that I can think of which criticized the way the vets were treated was Born in the USA.

There were other songs of course, in fact it's because of eighties music that I know the average age of the combat soldier in Vietnam was 19. I'm talking about Paul Hardcastles - 19.

What was your favorite Vietnam action movie of the 80s? "I love the smell of napalm in the morning" - if you can't pick a favorite or you were more a John Hughes movie fan than an action film fan then tell me which movie that famous quote came from.

U is for U2

2011-04-25T17:40:00.000-07:00

U2 were formed in 1976, but it took four years before they had managed to get a record deal and release their first album - Boy, by the mid 80s they had gained rock supergroup status and are still rocking stadiums worldwide today. I've never actually seen them live, but my brother saw them last year and hasn't stopped talking about them!

The eighties saw U2 release 6 albums - Boy, October, War, The Unforgettable Fire, The Joshua Tree and finally Rattle and Hum.

Although the Irish rock group broke into the Irish top 10 in 1981 it would take another 2 years before they reached number 10 on the UK charts with New Years Day a further year later saw them in 1984 and the hits were rolling and smashing the UK top 10 over and over with -

Pride (in the name of love)
The Unforgettable Fire
With or Without You
I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For
Where The Streets Have No Name

The number one spot eluded them however until 1981 when they released the single Desire, this was to be the first number one single for the band who to date have only had seven number 1 songs which seems amazing considering their influence.

U2 is another supergroup like Queen where it's hard to pick a favorite song as there are just so many. When I hear Pride or With or Without You I'm instantly transported back to the 80s singing along to the radio in my teenage bedroom. As far as a favorite U2 song goes though I think I'd have to pick one from this millennium - Stuck in a Moment You Can't Get Out Of. What's your favorite U2 single?

One of the great things about groups that have been around for as long as U2 have is the compilations that are released and the one that I have I can thoroughly recommend is this one -

It contains 15 of their great 80s songs starting off with Pride and moving right into New Years Day, With or Without You and ending with October.

Now I did also want another U2 album which I think would be fantastic and I did request it one Christmas but my hubby (in all his wisdom - not!) decided that I didn't really want it as all of the tracks were on the album I already had.......

I reminded him of Vertigo and Stuck in a Moment and he stopped me before I got any further ................and yet I still don't have it, hmmmm.

The compilation album that I refer to is U218 and if you're looking for an album to add a little U2 rock to your collection then this one looks really great - if you're just after their 80s hits then stick with the one I have that's shown above.

T is for Tears for Fears

2011-04-23T15:41:00.000-07:00

I had a number of T's in mind for this post, but as it's Easter it just had to be Tears for Fears because they are responsible for the curtailing of chocolate Easter Eggs in my household. Now there's a story to tell, let's go back to 1985.

In 1985 there was a young girl who wanted to purchase a certain album when her mum offered to get her it in lieu of an Easter egg, now the girl thought this seemed like a good idea because she knew both her Nana and her Godfather would buy her eggs so she agreed. The album was Songs from the Big Chair and it was wonderful. Fast forward to 1986 and her mum says something along the lines of 'but you don't want Easter eggs anymore, we agreed' - to be a teen is not a good thing as you don't realize the consequences of saying no to chocolate Easter eggs!

Anyway Songs from the Big Chair was Tears for Fears' second album and was really the album that saw them achieve fame on an international level containing 80s anthems like Shout and Everybody Wants to Rule the World.

I was lucky enough to see Tears for Fears live (for the first time in my life) last year when they performed on Spandau Ballet's Reformation tour and they were fantastic. They opened with Mad World and the whole audience erupted. They were (and are) a fantastic group and as with other 80s bands I find it hard to choose a favorite song.

Hubby loves Mad World and Woman in Chains, I admit I still love Everybody Wants to Rule the World as it takes me right back to the 80s everytime I hear it, I also love Sowing the Seeds of Love and when I worked on Saturdays in Woolworths on the record counter the Seeds of Love album was played a lot!

What's your favorite Tears for Fears song?

S is for Spandau Ballet

2011-04-21T23:59:00.000-07:00

As I'm sure I've eluded to in past blogs or probably just blurted out anyways - Spandau Ballet were my favorite group when I was growing up in the 80s and my wall was covered in their posters.

I would go all starry eyed over Martin Kemp and John Keeble - which one I preferred depended on what day of the week it was! As far as Spandau's music was concerned I loved all of their works from their early singles through to the True album and (of course) Through The Barricades which was without doubt one of their best ever singles - it really is haunting.

Spandau Ballet's first album was Journeys to Glory and they tapped into the club culture with this album and it was an aptly named first album. Number one status wouldn't come until album number three which was actually referred to as the Pleasure Project although when it came to releasing it they called it True. When the single of the same name was released it hit a chord with lovers around the world and became one of the top wedding songs of the decade - oh and a number one single as well!

I wasn't allowed to go to one of their concerts until their Through the Barricades tour and I'm so glad that I was able to go to that one as it was the last tour they did together before breaking up. It was sensational, the music, the atmosphere I can really say that it was one of the best concerts that I went to as a teen.

When their reunion was announced and they said they were going to tour my hubby already knew that I would be going. Luckily for him they didn't do a show at Bournemouth where I had seen them previously and they also announced a worldwide tour. He did think that I would want to travel halfway around the world to see them (the problems with emigrating down under), I waited and read many reviews of their tour before seeing them on their Australian leg.

I was so lucky that I waited until they came 'down under' as they toured with Tears for Fears - another great 80s group and one that my hubby was also a big fan of. The night was fantastic and as my daughter had a sleepover we even got to have a lie in the next morning, life doesn't get much better :D

Did you like Spandau Ballet? What was your favorite single of theirs,mine has got to be Through the Barricades, but I did like them all!

R is for Reaganisms

2011-04-20T19:54:00.000-07:00

Ronald Reagan was president of the USA for the majority of the 80s and whatever your political slant you had to hand it to him he was full of memorable quotes. My favorite was -

My fellow Americans, I've signed legislation that will outlaw Russia forever. We begin bombing in five minutes.

There were so many quotable quotes from Reagan's mouth that it spouted the term Reaganisms and here are a few more -

Before I refuse to take your questions, I have an opening statement.

Facts are stupid things - stubborn things, I should say.

Government is like a baby. An alimentary canal with a big appetite at one end and no sense of responsibility at the other.

What was your favorite Reagan quote? For me I will always remember the 'oulawing Russia' statement he made - priceless!

Q is for Queen

2011-04-20T03:28:00.000-07:00

Queen had the fourth biggest selling album of the 80s in the UK with their first compilation album named simply - Greatest Hits.

Featuring some great songs like Bohemian Rhapsody, Crazy Little Thing Called Love and We Will Rock You.

As a band Queen were formed in 1971, but the 80s still saw these rockers gathering more fans as they released classic songs such as Radio Gaga and I Want To Break Free - they also produced the soundtrack album for the movie Flash Gordon.

One of the first music videos I can remember watching on Top of the Pops was I Want To Break Free - it might not have been the first, but it was memorable enough for me to still remember it far too many years later.

Queen were also one of the great attractions at the 1985 Live Aid concert in Wembley and the following year they released the album 'A Kind of Magic' which was, like so many other Queen albums, definitely a kind of magic.

The eighties ended with rumors that Freddy Mercury had AIDS and he passed away in 1991 confirming on his deathbed that the rumors had, in fact, been true.

Queen really were a phenomenal group and their music will be popular for ever - even my nine year old daughter knows the words to a lot of their hit singles such as We Are The Champions and We Will Rock You.

What's your favorite Queen song, if you can name just one?

P is for Peace & Protests

2011-04-18T23:46:00.000-07:00

Did you know that 1986 was the designated International Year of Peace? There was certainly a lot of talk about peace during the 80s - the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament was in full flow in the UK and even in our music charts we were singing about peace.

In early 1981 Give Peace a Chance re-entered the UK Top 40 12 years after it's first foray into the charts - this was in response to John Lennon's murder in December 1980.

In 1983 John Lennon's former band mate Paul McCartney also had a 'peace' song enter the UK charts - Pipes of Peace was based on a true event that happened during the first World War.

Not to be outdone even the Eurovision Song Contest wanted a little bit of peace. In 1982 the winner of Eurovision was a German singer called Nicole and her song was called A Little Peace. An English version was released which jumped up the charts to the coveted number one position.

1982 also saw a duet between Bing Crosby and David Bowie released as a Christmas single - Peace on Earth/Little Drummer Boy.

If you're remembering the days of campaigning for peace and thinking - why have all of the politicians not figured out how to let us all live as one then you may be ready to hang up a Peace Poster!

I don't know about you, but I had some really big silver peace sign dangling earrings that I wore all the time, one of my friends wore bright pink ones which were really cool!

In a battle cry for peace we were singing along to protest songs just like our parents did during the 60s, let's look at what songs were protesting against the state of the world during the 80s -

99 Red Balloons/99 Luftballoons

Another Brick in the Wall

Beds are Burning

Born in the USA

Brothers in Arms

Do They Know It's Christmas

Everybody Wants to Rule the World

Free Nelson Mandela

Island on No Return

No More War

Peace in our Time

Tramp the Dirt Down

You're In The Army Now

You're the Voice

There are hundreds more, but I can't think of them right now - add any that you think I should have added.

O is for Oscars

2011-04-17T22:54:00.000-07:00

There are so many cult 80s movies like Ferris Bueller's Day Off, Red Dawn, Sixteen Candles and Ghostbusters, but although these are movies that come to mind when you think of the 80s not one of them won an Oscar during the 80s.

The Oscars of the 80s went to movies such as Chariots of Fire and Out of Africa. Classics such as E.T and Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark were both nominated for Best Film Oscars, but were pipped to the post by Ghandi and Chariots of Fire respectively.

What is your favorite 80s movie and did it win a Best Film Oscar? You can check out a full list of movies that won the best film Oscar during the 80s on the Oscars of the 80s webpage.

I find it very hard to choose a best movie for the whole decade as there were quite a few I loved, my hubby barely hesitates as for him it's always been Ferris Bueller's Day Off. My brother surprised me last year by saying his favorite 80s movie was Top Gun and he's even managed to get my middle niece hooked on that movie!

The clerk at my local video store claims that Red Dawn is his favorite 80s movie......I was renting it out at the time so who knows if he meant it, but for someone who was probably only born during the 80s he knew the storyline really well :D

One of my closest friends always picks one of John Hughes' movies usually Sixteen Candles or Pretty in Pink, personally Uncle Buck is my favorite of John Hughes' films and Mr Mom should really rate a bigger mention than it often gets.

You can vote for your favorite 80s movie at Top 80s Movies, but be warned once you see the list it's really hard to choose just one. I think for today I'm going to have to pick War Games, but if you ask me tomorrow I'm bound to have changed my mind yet again :D

N is for New Romantics

2011-04-16T02:27:00.000-07:00

The New Romantics were part of the New Wave music movement of the 80s which started in London in 1980. They were a group of musicians who were brought up watching television and believing Andy Warhol's words that everyone would have their fifteen minutes of fame. They wanted their 15 minutes and more, but they didn't want to be relegated to hearing their music on the radio they wanted to own the television sets and saw the 'whole look' of the band as being just as important as the sound.

The New Romantics evolved from the Blitz Kids in London and almost overnight similar groups were popping up in other parts of the country most notably a certain group of five guys in Birmingham who named themselves after an evil character from the movie Barbarella - yes I'm talking about Duran Duran!

The problem was that the New Romantics who were originally referred to as the Cult With No Name weren't easily categorized which meant that you had bands such as Spandau Ballet, Duran Duran, Human League, Adam and the Ants and Bow Wow Wow all labelled as the same.

M is for Madonna

2011-04-15T01:43:00.000-07:00

Madonna sprang onto our radio sets during the 80s and hasn't left since! Her 1983 singles Holiday and Lucky Star were pure 80s pop and exactly what our dance floors needed at the time. Her style was copied by girls around the world and her second album was just as popular with songs such as Like A Virgin & Material Girl Madonna really was on the fast track to superstardom.

In total Madonna had 4 chart topping albums filled with numerous hit singles throughout the 80s, but she wasn't content with that! Madonna also decided to try her hand at acting during the 80s as well, in 1985 she starred in the cult comedy about mistaken identity - Desperately Seeking Susan. That wasn't the only movie she was to star in during the 80s, however and you can check out the rest of Madonna's 80s movies and musical success in Madonna's 80s Collection.

L is for Leg Warmers

2011-04-14T03:22:00.000-07:00

Who lived through the 80s without a pair of leg warmers? Tell the truth you had leg warmers didn't you? I don't know whether to blame the movie Fame or the television series or whether it was really Flashdance that galvanized us all into wearing leg warmers in various different colors.

Then when it appeared as though leg warmers were gone from the fashion scene what took it's place? Slouch socks! Now I must admit I thought slouch socks, leggings and ankle boots were a pretty good look for me along with a long 'sloppy joe' style jumper :D It was certainly better than my goth/punk look that I loved at the time and shudder at the memory of now.......luckily there's no photographic evidence of that particular fashion stage of my teen years.

So tell the truth - did you wear leg warmers? Just take a breath and repeat after me -

Hello my name is insert your name and I wore leg warmers during the 80s and I was cool!

K is for KITT

2011-04-13T00:07:00.000-07:00

I can't believe I've still managed to keep up with this challenge - for new readers I'm competing in an A-Z Blogging Challenge where every day (except Sundays) we have to blog out way through the alphabet. Today we get to K which just has to be KITT as in my favorite star of Knight Rider.

Michael Knight was the character that David Hasselhoff played before he started sporting swimming trunks in the popular Bay Watch television series. Although he was supposed to be the star of the show in my eyes KITT was always the star :D KITT stands for Knight Industries Two Thousand and was a car that could drive by itself and talk as well!

I can't tell you the amount of times I would watch Knight Rider and think to myself one day I'm going to own a Kitt all of my own. A few years ago I would've thought that the time was a long way off, but with in car navigation systems and the like maybe, just maybe I will own my very own Kitt.

Which Knight Rider character was your favorite?

J is for John

2011-04-12T03:41:00.000-07:00

John Lennon killed in December 1980 - I can remember hearing the news and (for once) being completely speechless. Give Peace a Chance and Imagine both hit the UK charts again after his death and I can remember the video for Imagine (one of my all time favorite songs) and thinking to myself one day I will have a house with a large room that has french windows and a white piano in it and nothing else.........it didn't happen by the way.

John Hinkley attempted to assassinate Ronald Reagan in March 1981 in an attempt to impress actress Jodie Foster - I really don't think assassinating a president is the way to impress a list celebs, but....

John Hughes - the king of teen movies during the 80s from Ferris Bueller to Sixteen Candles and beyond - John Hughes was the man who teens could relate to and he proved it over and over again. What do you think was the best John Hughes movie?

Elton John kept bringing the hits throughout the 80s with classics such as Nikita and I'm Still Standing along with I Guess That's Why They Call It The Blues and so many more.

John Candy - talented actor and comedian John Candy made us laugh during the 80s with his roles in Planes, Trains and Automobiles and (my favorite of his movies) Uncle Buck.

John Forsythe - During the 80s John Forsythe was Blake Carrington in the 80s glam soap - Dynasty, an absolutely must watch program from 1981 - 1989.

John Cussack - In my opinion John Cussack is a much under-rated actor and his breakout role (I think) was the 1989 film - Say Anything.

John Paul II - Pope for the entire 80s, he even survived an assassination attempt during the 80s. We certainly had a number of these (some successful, some not) - Lennon, Reagan, Olaf Palme, John Paul II, JR Ewing.....have I missed anyone?

Jon Bon Jovi - Okay it's Jon not John, but how can you not mention the man who puts his hand up as the cause of the hole in our ozone layer because of the amount of hair spray he used during the 80s? I loved Bon Jovi and I can't think of them without getting at least one of their songs stuck in my head, at the moment it's You Give Love a Bad Name.

There were so many more Johns that were members of groups such as Duran Duran, Spandau Ballet, Hall and Oates. I'm sure I've missed quite a number of them so which John who was famous during the 80s do you remember best?

I is for Idol

2011-04-11T00:05:00.000-07:00

I is for Idol and I'm not talking about American Idol or any other reality show, no I'm talking about the pop prince of punk himself - Billy Idol. 80s music wouldn't be the same without White Wedding and Mony Mony, both songs are sure to get people singing and dancing when they're played at parties even in this millenium.

I loved these two songs, but even more I loved Billy Idol in the 1998 movie - The Wedding Singer. One of two movies in which Drew Barrymore has played homage to the 80s. I forget where I heard Billy refered to as the pop prince of punk but I thought it was a great way of describing him - what do you think?

But right now - it's a nice day to start again. It's a nice day for a white wedding.....

H is for Human & Heaven

2011-04-09T00:39:00.000-07:00

For those of you who are new to this blog we're part of an A-Z Blogging Challenge where each day of April (except Sundays) we write a post on a different letter of the alphabet and today we've got up to the letter H. As this is an eighties blog the H has to be related to something from the 80s and I've chosen to talk about two musical groups - Human League and Heaven 17.

There is actually a connection between these two groups, you see Martyn Ware and Ian Marsh were the founding members of both groups - did you know that? The story starts in Sheffield Martyn, Ian and a third person - Glen Gregory - were all at school together. They were all friends who dreamt of being pop stars as many of us do.

Martyn & Ian founded a group called The Future and invited Glen to join them as they needed a singer, unfortunately (or fortunately as musical history would discover) he was unavailable and so they then asked a singer by the name of Phil Oakley to join them. The Future would become the Human League.

After a difference of opinion Martyn and Ian left the Human League and this time their third friend Glen was available to join them and Heaven 17 was formed.

I'm really glad that things happened that way because one of my favorite 80s songs is Temptation which was Heaven 17's most commercial success, however I also love Human League and find it hard to pick a favorite out of their songs - Don't You Want Me, Mirror Man, Fascination....the list just keeps on going.

What is your favorite Heaven 17 and/or Human League song?

G is for Gordon

2011-04-08T11:20:00.000-07:00

I was trying to come up with an idea for the letter G and I didn't feel like writing about Go West or Ghostbusters and then it hit me - the two Gordons! My favorite Gordon of the 80s was Gordon Shumway - do you know who he was? Well if I called him Alf you'd remember him instantly as the loveable alien from the planet Melmac who ends up living with the Tanners after crash landing in their garage. I've spoken about my love of Alf in a previous post so it's hardly surprising I should grab the chance to mention him again :D

Of course another Gordon was famous in the 80s and we all know who he was - Gordon Gekko! I actually watched Wall Street on the plane to my new life in New Zealand and when I saw a rerun last year I couldn't believe the size of his mobile phone - LOL.

Gordon became a poster boy for 80s corporate villains - with his line - 'Greed, for lack of a better word, is good,' encompassed what a lot of people who did well in the heady days of the 80s. Wealth was nothing to be ashamed of and nor was the concept of having it all.

Of course we can't leave without mentioning another Gordon and it goes a little like this -

Flash A-ah

Saviour of the universe...

Yes I'm talking about Flash Gordon - to be honest I don't really remember much about the movie, but the song is one of those that is hard to get out of your head and another reason to celebrate Queen.

Happy reminiscing and hopefully I'll see you back here for the letter H.

F is for Freddy Krueger

2011-04-07T21:23:00.000-07:00

Freddy Krueger really was the bogeyman of the 80s. Imagine a person who could kill you in your dreams? It was terrifying and I blame A Nightmare on Elm Street for an addiction to coffee as I attempted to stay away for weeks after watching the 1984 horror movie. I should've known better than to watch it, but I went to the cinema with a friend and then I had my own little 'nightmare' which further consolidated my fears - read my A Nightmare on Elm Street review to find out more about that.

I'm not sure how many of the ensuing Nightmare movies I saw, certainly they didn't have the same impact as the original. I'm not alone in being terrified of Freddy Krueger as even my hubby refused to go and see the remake with me (he claims he wasn't scared, but really?), there was no way I was going into a dark cinema by myself.

Freddy Krueger has become quite a cult figure and you can get all kinds of Freddy memorabilia these days including Freddy Krueger t-shirts like the one featured, Freddy Krueger dolls and more.

I like the Freddy Krueger costume for Halloween or 80s themed fancy dress parties, but if you wore a Freddy Krueger costume and came trick or treating at my house you would not get me answering the door!!!

Did Freddy Krueger keep you awake at night after watching the movie? I'm actually thinking that I may have sneaked in to see it as I would only have been 15, so it could've been my own fault I was terrified - the price of youth :D

E is for E.T

2011-04-06T21:03:00.000-07:00

As part of the A-Z Blogging Challenge I'm trying to work my way through the 80s one letter at a time and when it came to the letter E I just had to go with E.T. Who didn't fall in love with that gorgeous little alien - 'ET call home' was a catch cry for a generation of kids. The movie also introduced movie goers to Drew Barrymore - the cute girl that would grow up to be a well respected actress, producer and director.

ET was an acronym (the 80s as a decade loved using acronyms) for extra-terrestial and was directed by Steven Spielberg who was responsible for many of the eighties hit movies such as Indiana Jones, Poltergeist, Gremlins, Back to the Future, The Color Purple and Empire of the Sun to name just a few. He was also Drew Barrymore's godfather, but whether or not that helped her land the role of Gertie we'll never know. What we do know is that she stole the show as Elliot's little (annoying) sister.

ET touched us all and I can still remember going to the movies with my best friend at the time and she was bawling her eyes out when ET got sick. I think the reason it had a powerful effect on a number of people is that we all realized deep down that if we did discover an alien then a government task force would want to take it away for testing and keep everything a secret.

You can enjoy watching ET again one DVD, or even introduce it to younger members of your family. The bond that develops between ET and Elliot is something that is special and makes ET a great family movie.

Did you enjoy watching ET when you were younger?

D is for Duran Duran

2011-04-05T20:23:00.000-07:00

Okay so I can’t really do an A-Z challenge on an 80s blog without mentioning probably the most internationally successful New Romantic band – Duran Duran, but if you lived in the UK you believed that there were two huge New Romantic bands and you had to pick sides.

The big two were Spandau Ballet and Duran Duran and I’m in the Spandau camp which was why when I emigrated ‘down under’ I had a huge shock as some of Spandau Ballet’s songs weren’t even heard of by many (gasp doesn’t really cover it).

I tried to explain to an Australian friend how Spandau and Duran Duran were just as big as each other in the UK during the 80s but he didn't get it until he watched an interview with Bob Geldof on the Live Aid DVD set. The next day he saw me and was like - you know you were right with what you said about Spandau Ballet and Duran Duran. I looked at him and thought 'I know I lived it, but why have you changed your tune'. It turned out that Bob, being the sly dog that he is, asked Simon Le Bon (remember Duran Duran's lead singer) if Duran Duran would participate in Band Aid and when he hesitated to think about it he mentioned that Spandau Ballet had already said yes - Simon immediately said that Duran Duran would as well. I don't know how true the story is, but my best friend when I was younger was a huge Duranie while I was a Spandau fan an d we tossed the pros and cons between 'our' groups constantly.

Back to Duran Duran they were huge and I can admit now that I’m in my 40s (haven’t the years flown by) that I liked their songs as well. The line up was Simon Le Bon, Nick Rhodes, John Taylor, Roger Taylor and Andy Taylor and they were from Birmingham. What I still find amazing is that they had three Taylors in the band and yet none of them were related - it must be a more common name in Birmingham than anywhere else!

In October 1980 as Spandau's first single was released they played in Birmingham and according to Gary Kemp's autobiography Duran Duran asked to play support - Spandau Ballet didn't have anyone playing support for them then so the answer was no. A few months later in early 1981 Duran Duran's first single would be released and the rest is history.

Duran Duran's first single was Planet Earth and this cracked the UK's top twenty topping out at number 12, it was their 3rd single however that made every sit up and take notice - Girls on Film. The single made number 5 in the charts, but then Duran Duran released the video. The 80s saw the introduction of music video's being seen as just as important as the song and Duran Duran's Girls on Film video was scandalous and the sort of video that would have been played on the Playboy Channel back then. The BBC quickly banned it which meant every young person saw it as censorship and wanted to know more about this band from Birmingham.

Duran Duran not only conquered the British youth, but ended up becoming the most internationally successful New Romantic band of the 80s.

I can’t think of a favourite Duran Duran song because as soon as I say Hungry Like A Wolf then I’ll suddenly get Rio playing in my head or Girls on Film, so I change my mind and what do you know I suddenly think of A View to a Kill or Is There Something I Should Know.

If you have a favourite Duran Duran song then leave it below.

C is for Culture Club

2011-04-04T19:00:00.000-07:00

This is the third post in the A-Z Blogging Challenge and when I thought of something beginning with C the only thing that sprang to mind was Culture Club. Now I've committed to writing about Culture Club, I can of course think of other things (isn't that always the way?)

Culture Club was formed in 1981 and was known mainly for it's far from shy lead singer - Boy George. With hits that are hard to get out of your head like Karma Chameleon and Do You Really Want To Hurt Me, Culture Club released four albums during the 80s.

Culture Club's most successful album was their second one - Colour By Numbers. This had one of my favorite Culture Club singles on it - Church of the Poison Mind.

What did you think of Culture Club? I had a friend who actually wore a Boy George duster coat everywhere and even had her hair styled like his (I'd love to know what she looks like these days!). Share your Culture Club memories and/or favorite song below.

B is for Bow Wow Wow

2011-04-02T02:36:00.000-07:00

We’re still participating in the A-Z Blogging Challenge which means that today’s post is about the letter B.

After remembering Adam and the Ants yesterday it seemed only appropriate to talk about Bow Wow Wow today and not just because I love the song I Want Candy, but also because it was made up of Ants!

Right at the beginning of the 80s after Adam and the Ant’s first album – Dirk Wears White Sox – didn’t manage to crack the top ten on the charts Adam Ant turned to Malcolm McLaren who he knew from his punk days when McLaren was manager to the Sex Pistols. Adam Ant got given styling advise that he used, but it came at a price – Malcolm McLaren ‘stole’ his Ants and formed Bow Wow Wow.

All that was needed now was a lead singer and that lead singer came in the form of an underage Annabella Lwin, in 1981 Bow Wow Wow released their first album and the controversy started straight away with Scotland Yard being called in when a 15 year old Annabella was posed naked on the album cover.

Three albums later and the band just fizzled out with no one really knowing why. They have left us with some great material though and are credited by the likes of the Red Hot Chilli Peppers and No Doubt as being big influences. I love their two most commercially successful singles – I Want Candy and Go Wild in the Country – what do you think?

A is for Adam Ant

2011-04-01T00:48:00.000-07:00

This post is part of the A-Z Blogging Challenge that we’re participating for the month of April where each post has to start with a letter of the alphabet……in order! I hope you’ll enjoy our alphabetical trip down memory lane to the decade that we just can’t forget – the 80s.

A is for Adam Ant as in Adam and the Ants, Ant Music and Ant Rap. Yes, we’re heading back to the early 80s today for ex-punk rocker Stuart Goddard who we welcomed into the charts as Adam and the Ants.

Now I can’t actually remember the first Adam and the Ants record I heard on the radio, but I do remember the first time I saw the band on the television. It was on Top of the Pops and if you grew up in the UK during the 80s this was compulsory viewing on Thursday nights. The song they performed was Stand and Deliver – I loved it, although I’m not sure if Dick Turpin would’ve liked the camp version of a highwayman that Adam Ant seemed to have portrayed!

I coveted (and finally got) a flouncy shirt similar to the ones that Adam Ant wore along with other New Romantic bands, but I can honestly say with my hand on my heart that I never wore a white stripe across my nose……….my brother on the other hand (sorry little bro I’ve just sold you out).

What was your favourite Adam and the Ants song – let me know below in the comments, I’m not sure which one was my favourite. Stand and Deliver and Prince Charming are always the first ones that spring to mind, but I think that Ant Rap was one of the first ‘raps’ that I learnt off by heart (apologies to all the rappers out there who are now gasping at my comparing Ant Rap to ‘real’ rap, but I liked it and it’s my blog!)

Ant Rap was how I remembered the band’s names (at that time anyway) “Marco, Merrick, Terry Lee, Garry Tibbs and Yours Truly, in the naughty north and in the sexy south, we’re all singing I have the mouth……”

Adam and the Ant’s first album was released in 1979, but their biggest album had to be their third one Prince Charming which was released at the end of 1981, then after being nominated for a Grammy in 1982 it seemed that Adam and the Ant’s star had just been extinguished with the band breaking up.

We were all still happy that we weren't losing the music though because Adam Ant released a solo song – Goody Two Shoes. I think everyone knew the words to that song –

“Goody two, goody two, goody goody two shoes,

Don’t drink, don’t smoke what do you do?

Subtle innuendos follow

There must be something inside…..”

Adam Ant was going to be around forever, but no! Almost as soon as his solo career started it stopped and the 80s rolled on without Adam Ant and his merry band of Ants!

Don’t forget to let me know your favourite Adam and the Ants song.

A-Z of 80s - A Blogging Challenge

2011-03-24T16:54:00.000-07:00

I recently came across this blog post -

Tossing It Out: A Very Special and Exciting Announcement!

It's all about a blog challenge called the A to Z Blogging Challenge and I though that it was just what this blog needed! Basically it means that I will have to blog (not once a week sporadically) every day - yes, every day. Not only will I have that challenge to look forward to it gets better.....each blog post has to start with a different letter of the alphabet starting with A and working through to Z. If you think that this sounds like fun and you want to walk through the 80s alphabet style with me then we will be starting in earnest on 1st April - and that's no April Fools Day prank.

Will I kick start the challenge with ABC? You'll have to pop back and find out won't you. If you're interested in finding out more than click on the blog post above and join in - we have over 600 bloggers participating in this challenge at the time of writing so if you're a blogger who wants a bit of fun then join in as well - the more the merrier.

Fishnet Fingerless Gloves

2011-02-13T17:53:00.000-08:00

Do you remember the fishnet fingerless gloves that were all the rage during the 80s? - I think it was Madonna that caused that fashion trend, although I could be wrong be sure to let me know if you think/know it was someone else.

I know I had a black pair - how I got this black pair is a hilarious story (well I think so anyway). For some reason I hadn't brought myself any, but my aunt and godmother gave me some as a birthday gift. This aunt was my dad's favorite sister, but very nearly gave him a heart attact.....let me tell you the story.

My aunt gave me a birthday gift and when I opened it up it was a holdall bag, on opening this I saw more gifts wrapped up inside (yes I was getting spoilt!) I opened up one gift and it was a black tube, when I pulled the white plastic stopper out of one end all you could see was black lace - my dad nearly had a fit, you see you could buy some very sexy black lace undies that came in the same containers - I pulled the black lace out to reveal elbow length black fishnet fingerless gloves! My dad's breathing returned to normal and my aunt remained his favorite sister!!

It's funny that my dd is now wanting fishnet fingerless gloves herself, in fact Santa got her a pair at Christmas, but she wants a collection of them in different colors. I decided not to tell her they were very 80s, I keep that conversation for more expensive things!

We went shopping yesterday as we need to buy some new suitcases for our holiday (our old ones got water damaged during the floods), dd came across this scarf she really wanted to buy, but it was way out of the price I was willing to pay for a scarf she'd hardly ever wear. Not wanting to be a 'mean mum' yet again and not lying to her either I quickly said - wow that's awesome, you know I used to have one just like it in the 80s. The scarf was dropped quicker than a scolding piece of coal and we could move on!

Space Invaders

2011-02-04T20:34:00.000-08:00

This morning we stopped at a car boot sale to have a look and I spotted some PS2 games for my daughter to look at and what should be right next to them - a Space Invaders game for the PC!

My hubby wanted to buy it straight away, until I told him that actually I did still play Space Invaders on the computer. You can do at this free site - Play Space Invaders for Free

I've found that playing it with the sound turned off allows me to get some amazing scores that I couldn't even dream of getting during the 80s - I'm sure the sound makes you panic as the aliens get lower, especially when there's just one of them zipping along the screen evading your bullets!

I think that having Space Invaders available for people to play would be awesome at an 80s party, in fact you could have a few of the old style games available like Pac Man and Donkey Kong. May I also mention that you could carry on the theme with the food, yes I'm talking about Space Invaders Baking - delicious and so retro!

If you do decide to have a Space Invaders themed party....or even just an 80s video game themed party drop us a line and tell us how it went.

80s Television - ALF | Sledgehammer | LA Law

2011-01-27T18:32:00.000-08:00

This morning we heard on the news that Charlie Sheen had been rushed to hospital, the first words out of my dd's mouth were - will Two and a Half Men still be on tonight? It got me thinking about the first time my hubby came over to my house, we were all gathered in the family room and I saw his eyes roaming and suddenly realized he was looking for the television. We didn't have a television set in the family room (my parents still don't), but we do have one in the formal lounge.

In 1988 I emigrated to New Zealand where my parents and brother had been living for nine months and so began a new chapter in all of our lives. Having two living spaces made me feel like we were incredibly rich! It also made our tv watching very special because we made a night of it. Dad would light the fire in the front room and we'd either have fish and chips or a 'quick to make' meal like beans on toast and then it was television night.

Thursday night was the night we used to watch our television starting off with everyone's favorite alien - ALF. As anyone who watched ALF would know his real name was Gordon, but the Tanners called him ALF because it was an acronym for Alien Life Force (do you remember all of the 80s acronyms?). I absolutely loved this little fellow, although how he managed to resist eating the cat I have no idea!

After ALF came a program that I hadn't heard about until I moved to NZ and it was called Sledgehammer. Starring David Rasche my dad used to laugh himself silly during every episode and quickly adopted the saying 'Trust me, I know what I'm doing'.

Our Thursday night was rounded out by LA Law, because let's face it you didn't live through the 80s without watching LA Law. I was quite relieved to find in on television in NZ and happy that my parents watched it because I had started to watch it while living with my grandmother and enjoyed it.

I loved Arnie and Roxanne, Leland and Stuart, Benny and Abby. Unlike other people I wasn't so keen on Grace and Victor, but I still can't wait for this television series to become available on DVD - what's taking the studio so long to release it?

What were your favorite 80s television shows?

The Electronic Trike - 1985

2011-01-10T17:42:00.000-08:00

Do you remember Clive Sinclair's Electronic Trike? I was recently watching a program on Foxtel about inventions that didn't make it and the Electronic Trike was definately a commercial failure, but it was surreal when they showed on and I said to my hubby I remember them!

Now I never actually saw one in real life, but I remember them being shown on television, it looked fantastic and best of all (as I couldn't yet get my drivers licence) you didn't need a licence to drive one!

I remember seeing these in 1985 and thinking how they looked quite futuristic like something that Buck Rogers might be comfortable in. Essentially though the safety factor wouldn't have been very high at all and I'm glad that I couldn't afford to buy one (not sure if my parents would've let me have one anyway!)

Essentially it was a milk float crossed with a trike. This picture is brought to you thanks to the BBC archives and on there it even reports that these electronic trike's have managed to acquire something of a cult status. This has meant that if you ended up buying one in 1985 and it was still in mint condition you could triple your money or more in todays market.

Now why didn't I keep more things from the 80s? Oh that's right, I was too busy enjoying the decade and having fun LOL.

The Hoff - Still Going Strong!

2011-01-05T04:17:00.000-08:00

I first heard of David Hasselhoff when I watched Knight Rider, but this week he's been visiting Australia promoting an ice cream bar.   He's been dressed straight from the wardrobe of his other famous show - Baywatch - and still seems to pull the fans.

Personally I'd have been more interested in KITT - KITT's voice was that of William Daniels - I wonder what happened to him?   I so wanted to own a car just like KITT when I grew up as did many other friends of mine at the time!

Who can remember the opening narrative?   Give up?    Okay here it is -

Knight Rider, a shadowy flight into the dangerous world of a man who does not exist. Michael Knight, a young loner on a crusade to champion the cause of the innocent, the helpless, the powerless, in a world of criminals who operate above the law.

You can now buy the complete series of Knight Rider on DVD which could turn into a fun night of 80s reminiscing.......actually with a run time of over 70 hours it would be a little more than your average movie marathon!

This DVD collection contains all four seasons and 84 action-packed episodes of Knight Rider - the action packed crime fighting duo of Michael Knight and Knight Industries Two Thousand that wowed you during the 80s, can still take you right back. Unfortunately (as with alot of the 80s classics) you do spot a lot of goofs when you watch it and some of the scenes aren't as breathtaking as they seemed back then, but then we've come along way with film since then.

I haven't been able to get this particular set yet, but it contains a small button that when pressed lights up little red led lights so that you get the effect of KITT's grill - totally awesome!

I'm the first to admit that Knight Rider probably wouldn't have been the same without David Hasselhoff, but for me it was all about the car, oh and let's not forget Devon!

80s T-Shirts

2010-12-08T20:21:00.000-08:00

Is it just me or are people who aren't old enough to remember the 80s falling in love with the decade as well??? It seems as though everywhere I look people are wearing 80s t-shirts. During my last shift (5 hours in a shop)I saw 6, six, different types of 80s tees being worn by different people!

Don't get me wrong I am not complaining, I thought they were all very cool and wished I'd owned them myself! Soooo - do you have an 80s t-shirt? If you don't there are some great ones available all over the internet - you just have to think about what type of 80s shirt you want to wear in public!

Do you go for an 80s t-shirt of a favorite movie such as Sixteen Candles or Red Dawn? There are some great 80s movie tees available and I've even compiled a list of them so if you think 80s movies are the type of t-shirt you'd like to wear you'll have to check this site out -

80s Movie Tees

This site offers 80s t-shirts from a wide collection of 80s movies from A Nightmare on Elm Street right through to War Games! I have a lot of trouble trying to think of my favorite 80s movies because there were so many great ones around - hubby always picks Ferris Bueller though so he would be happy to please!

Maybe when it comes to 80s t-shirts you'd rather celebrate your favorite 80s band?? There are soooo many of these 80s t-shirts around from the classic Frankie Say Relax to Bon Jovi, Duran Duran, Tears for Fears etc band tees.

With lots of bands reforming and doing tours they're finding more and more money is made on the merchandising side of the concert. I know this is certainly the case with me and from reading interviews I know I'm not alone. As you'll know if you've been reading my blog regularly I was lucky enough to see Spandau Ballet perform their Reformation Tour in Australia. Tears for Fears joined them for their Australian leg of the tour so I got to see two favorite 80s bands for the price of one!

I last saw Spandau Ballet during their Through the Barricades Tour and that time I was a teenage who had spent her money attending the concert, I certainly couldn't afford a lot of merchandise. This time around I was in my 40s and alot more affluent so I stocked up on t-shirts, guitar picks, mugs.......I was the ultimate consumer!!

Every time I wear my Spandau Ballet t-shirt or Tears for Fears t-shirt it gets commented on from the 'oh did you get to see them' to the 'you do realize you're showing your age' type of comments!

Maybe you'd prefer your 80s t-shirt to remind people of your favorite 80s television show? Luckily you can also find plenty of tees to remind us of what we were watching on the small box - I miss ALF he was cool!

I also really wanted to own a car just like KITT when I grew up, but that never happened!!!

Those were the days back when the Hoff was still cool, although not as cool as the Knight Industries Two Thousand he drove around in.

The Dukes of Hazzard is probably one of my hubby's favorite television shows of the 80s, although we also both loved the A-Team. As a brief aside to this discussion of 80s t-shirts, we saw the latest A Team movie the other week and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I always worry when they try and remake old favorites, but I recommend it if you're looking for an action packed movie to watch over the holiday season.

Of course there are just so many other ideas for 80s t-shirts that you can use, I saw a child who must've been about 5 wearing an awesome Space Invaders t-shirt - I so wanted that.....not that it would've fitted me mind you!

Anyway I'm going to leave you now to ponder on what 80s t-shirt you'd most like to wear and let you see a selection of 80s t-shirts from Zazzle.

I Love The 80's T-Shirt by teeboutique
See other 80's T-Shirts

Gamer t-shirt by Foozyo
Create a customized t-shirt at zazzle

The H is O by globitron

Radio 365-24-7 by globitron

Blondie and The Pretenders

2010-12-01T17:02:00.000-08:00

The countdown is on and I'm not talking about Christmas even if dd has started her advent calendar! In ten days I am going to see Blondie and the Pretenders at an open air concert otherwise billed as the Day on the Green. I went to a Day on the Green concert earlier in the year and thoroughly enjoyed it, this time the bands are even more significant to me!

Blondie's Parallel Lines was the first cassette tape I ever brought, I can still remember going into WH Smiths with my gift certificate and buying it and then absolutely thrashing it to death. I know purists are all shouting that wasn't the 80s it was the late 70s. I think it was 1979, but I don't care because Blondie continued to produce some great singles in the 80s - The Tide is High being one of the biggest that I can think of and of course we can't forget Atomic and Island of Lost Souls.

When my hubby found out about this event he didn't even bother to contact me (I was overseas) instead he confirmed it for both of us and held his breath while he asked me! He was pretty confident that I'd want to see Blondie and he knew he wanted to see The Pretenders.....our dd will just have to enjoy it! Mind you she loves any live music so that shouldn't be a problem.

My hubby always seems to forget that I like the Pretenders as well (he always thinks it's his band!!) but from the sassy Brass in Pocket to the absolutely beautiful Hymn to Her I think The Pretenders (and Chrissy Hynde's voice in particular) are fantastic as well.

I will of course report back to you about how good they are, I must admit I'm getting quite excited. The only downside is that the weather has turned to custard a little bit and the long range forcast is for rain. I might go shopping for a raincoat just in case, one thing is for certain - me, hubby, daughter and four other friends will be there with bells on....we'll all (the adults that is)also forget that we're no longer teenagers :)

Gift Ideas | 80s Technology | Reminising

2010-11-27T16:00:00.000-08:00

Are you looking for some gift ideas for someone who's 'stuck in the 80s'? I have come across some great 80s inspired iphone cases.

Old School Cell Phones by ElectricPopSpot
Browse more iphone 3 cases

The one pictured is quite ironic with 'the brick' it reminds me of Gordon Gecko. Everyone wanted a brick, the real symbol of success. I can remember the first mobile phone my hubby brought.....not quite as bad as a brick as it was the 90s, but the weight would cause one of his pairs of shorts to fall down! Not so with the light iphones! Let's face it without the brick we would never have evolved to the iphone.

The 80s really do seem to have been at the forefront of bringing cyber-technology into everyday homes. Personal Computers.....even if the early ones ran on tapes and you had to learn BBC Basic to operate them! Gaming Consoles.....the evolution from pong to pacman and now Wii system is amazing.

Cassette tapes and vinyl were on their way out as the 80s entered it's dying years and cds started to outsell vinyl? Now we can combine our favorite 80s music with our iphone ringing tone....you've gotta love progress!

As we progress it's great to look back at a great time in our life - the 80s - in all it's glory and you can do that in a number of ways from the 80s iphone collection, listening to the best 80s music or re-living the 80s through reminising. Talking of reminising I read Gary Kemp's autobiography recently andit really is like he's sat there reminiscing with you.....mind you Boy George was never making snide comments at me and Johnny Rotten never came running into the toilets at any club I was at, but you know what I mean! If you're interested in a great read or just looking for a gift for someone who loved the New Romantic movement then check out my review of Gary Kemp's Autobiography - I Know This Much: From Soho to Spandau.

What is 80s Music?

2010-09-20T05:38:00.000-07:00

My dd simply rolls her eyes at alot of my musical choices, but she was listening to a song the other day and was shocked to find it was from the 80s because it had a great guitar sound to it!!! I really need to educate that girl! Anyway she asked me what is 80s music and I realised just how hard that is to answer.

There's the rock of Bon Jovi and Poison and you can't leave out Bruce Springsteen. Then you have the pop of Madonna, Fun Boy Three and Bananarama. The New Romantics movement, house music and goth were also embraced by the 80s. Trying to explain that a lot of the 80s music scene was about diversity was really difficult.

I think most of the people I know seem to think of the pop of the 80s when they talk about 80s music, but it really was so much more than that. I think at times the 80s compilation cds that we can buy have made us forget some of the less mainstream sounds that blasted out from our ghetto blasters or sony walkmans (the cassette tape version).

I took her to see the Proclaimers and the B52s earlier this year and in December she'll be able to experience Blondie and the Pretenders so perhaps she'll start to appreciate 80s music more.

What was your favorite type of music to listen to during the 80s??

Madonna, Madonna, Madonna

2010-05-09T04:18:00.000-07:00

Well where would the 80s be without Madonna, she burst onto the big screen with Desperately Seeking Susan and into the charts with hits like Holiday, Lucky Star, Into the Groove, Like a Virgin, Papa Don’t Preach and La Isla Bonita. Glee is about to air their Madonna tribute episode here in Australia which has brought her to my mind.

Madonna really dominated the 80s and showed her versatility starting off with a very poppy sound and changing to a more mature sounding Live to Tell. I really cannot imagine the 80s music scene without her in it.

Not just music the Madonna look was embraced by so many people, I admit I had black lace fingerless gloves with lots of bangles a la Madonna.

Check out more about Madonna’s onslaught on the 80s at Madonna’s 80s Collection.

Top of the Pops

2010-05-07T04:13:00.000-07:00

If you were a teen in the UK during the 80s then Top of the Pops or TOTP was compulsory viewing on a Thursday night. Presenters such as Jimmy (Jim’ll Fix It) Saville, Mike Read and Dave Lee Travis would take us through our top selling singles of the week.....of course we’d all heard the charts on the Radio One show on a Sunday night, but we never knew who would be on TOTPs.

I first saw Wham on TOTP before they’d had a hit single……the following week they were in the charts!

The first number one chart hit of May 1981 was Stars on 45 by Starsound followed by Adam and the Ants with Stand and Deliver the next week. I can still remember the first time I saw Adam and the Ants perform Stand and Deliver on TOTP – I must admit I preferred the video – I did like that video !!

The first number one hit in May of 1982 was I Won’t Let You Down by PhD, I was trying to think who sang that a while ago and now I know! I really didn’t remember it being that early on in the 80s though.

Entering May in 1983 and we have Spandau Ballet’s only UK number one single – True, I was absolutely ecstatic when True hit number one, but not nearly as happy as those Islington boys who celebrated by partying on a boat on the Thames.

The first number one of May 1984 was by Spandau’s rivals Duran Duran and was called The Reflex. I didn’t mind Duran Duran although I would never have admitted it back in the 80s you were a Spandau fan or a Duranie and I knew which one I was and it wasn’t a Duranie!!

The first number one in May 1985 was Paul Hardcastle with his anti-Vietnam song 19.

I always recorded the top 40 off of the radio every week onto my cassette tape so that I could play it while doing my homework – highly illegal I know, but the tapes no longer exist. Do you still have any cassette tapes? I found some really cool gift ideas to remind Gen Xers of cassette tapes including these two here –

Headphone Cord Wrap

Cassette Tape iPod Speaker

Well I have to leave the hits there for now as it’s time to get back to the 21st century – it’s a little different to Buck Roger’s vision isn’t it LOL

The A Team

2010-05-05T04:13:00.000-07:00

When I was at the movies a few days ago I saw a preview of the A Team movie, it looks great, but will it be as good as I remember the A Team television series being? I pity the fool who never got to watch it, it was one of the shows that I was glued to.....and we didn’t watch much television in our house (in fact we went without tv for a few years, but that’s a whole new story).

It will be interesting to see how Liam Neeson (Hannibal), Bradley Cooper (Face), Sharlto Copley (Maddog) and Quinton Jackson (BA) do in comparison to the classic team of Peppard, Benedict, Schultz and Mr T.

You can buy the complete series in this limited edition set which has a picture of Mr T driving the A Team van which would make it a great gift idea. Personally after seeing the shorts for the new movie I really want to watch the old series again and it’s my birthday soon so I’m dropping a few hints!!

Spandau Ballet & Tears for Fears Concert Reviews

2010-04-27T23:48:00.000-07:00

If you haven't had a chance to see Spandau Ballet's Reformation tour for yourself then you can check out my review on my squidoo lens.

Living in Australia these days has it's advantages and one of them was the fact that Spandau Ballet had some very special guest performers - Tears for Fears. I have never ever seen TFF perform before and so guess what? That's right I wrote a review of their performance as well as a bit about the band on my Tears for Fears lens, complete with some photos taken last night.

Spandau Ballet Reformation Tour

2010-04-27T17:42:00.000-07:00

Well Spandau Ballet with very special guests – Tears for Fears hit Brisbane last night with a big stick of nostalgia – I loved it! First up we had a support band called Boom Crash Opera who were fantastic, I don’t know much about them, but the singers voice was really good. Then it was time for Tears for Fears….

Tears for Fears opened with ‘Mad World’ and from the opening chords the crowd just erupted to their feet and I was instantly transported back to the 80s – our trip down memory lane had begun in earnest and it only got better! The other big hits that got the crowd going was'Everybody Wants to Rule the World,' ‘Head over Heels,’ ‘Woman in Chains’ and the final song that they performed – ‘Shout.’ It was a great warm up for what was to come. I had never seen Tears for Fears in concert before, but they seem to have a really good sense of humor.

Finally the time for Spandau Ballet had arrived and all I can say was WOW! They were just as good, if not better, than when I last saw them on their last tour. Tony’s voice seems to be getting stronger and the whole band still looked like they were having fun. The stage show included pictures and video from their past as well which really helped to add to the nostalgia. They did change a couple of the songs, one successfully the other not so – in my opinion anyway.

Overall the show was sensational and I’ll post a link here when I write my full review and photos – Spandau Still Rules!!!!

Red Dawn

2010-04-18T22:39:00.000-07:00

I was in a group interview a couple of months ago (I didn’t get the job, but I did make it pass this part of the 3 day process) and we had to name as many Patrick Swayze movies as we could. When I mentioned Red Dawn one of the interviewers was very impressed, it seems we both share a love of this classic 80s cold war movie.

I saw this movie with my little brother and thoroughly enjoyed it. Obviously it’s a movie so you some of it was very contrived, but the premise behind it seemed very real to many people who were living during that political climate. I think it spoke to us as young people on a number of levels and one of these had to be the way we knew our local area.

During the 80s I feel as though kids had a lot more freedom with where they could go without their parents panicking. My brother and I decided that we would try and get home from the movies without anyone seeing us, obviously after we left the main street that housed the cinema. We also had a time restraint because we were supposed to go straight home. It really was amazing how far we managed to get before anyone saw us (we lived on a main road so we could only get to that road before we were caught), we knew so many back alleys and pieces of private property that you could easily cut through. I think we were convinced that we could ward off an army because they wouldn’t know the area as well as us......bear in mind there were no Google maps in those days and the town maps available never showed these alleyways that we knew.

Anyway I’m digressing here, but I really enjoyed the movie Red Dawn and if you did too then check out the link to watch the trailer and add your thoughts to my review.

Two Tribes – Frankie Goes To Hollywood

2010-04-17T22:38:00.000-07:00

Naming themselves after a headline about Frank Sinatra Frankie Goes To Hollywood or FGTH for short shocked everyone with their first single Relax. Their follow up single Two Tribes was about the cold war and the video featured both the Russian and US Presidents going toe to toe. These days the song still stirs people up and is often used at different sporting events.

In our household the 3 members of our family all support different teams so we have some interesting times watching the games and I find this song stuck in my head.....sometimes because it’s playing in the pre-game show, but other times because footy teams (whether Rugby League, Union, Soccer, American Football etc) do seem to be a tribe. Anyway enjoy my lens on the song – Two Tribes by Frankie Goes To Hollywood.

80s Oscars

2010-04-16T20:46:00.000-07:00

I loved going to the movies during the 80s although I must admit I didn’t pay much attention to the Oscars at that stage – I was too busy going out and having fun :) Years later I decided to see what movies won the Oscars and I ended up writing Oscars of the 80s, I was surprised by some of the now classics that weren’t included in the nominations and then I thought about recent years and the surprise disappeared!

These are the movies that historians will think reflect what were all enjoyed during the 80s and don’t get me wrong there are some great movies there, but when you’re reminiscing with friends are they the movies you talk about? My hubby’s favorite is Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, I often tell the story of when I saw A Nightmare on Elm Street at the movies with my best friend.

When you talk 80s movies you think of Top Gun, Back to the Future, Rambo and The Breakfast Club, but these will probably be ignored by historians unless we make sure to blog/write about what are our favorite movies of the 80s.

What’s yours? Do you want to save Ferris or fight with the Wolverines or pretend your dead host is still alive while you party all weekend?

Soft Cell

2010-04-15T20:45:00.000-07:00

Where would the 80s be without Soft Cell, although this duo are thought of as a one hit wonder everywhere outside of the UK they still are intrinsically tied up with 80s music. Tainted Love is instantly recognizable around the world and as soon as you hear that boom boom in the song you’re dragged straight back to the 80s and if you’re me you’re on a dance floor in one of a couple of nightclubs showing off your stuff!! My hubby professes not to like Soft Cell (silly man!), but even his toes tap when the song comes on.

There are lots of songs that take me back, but I think Tainted Love does that for a lot of people – what do you think is the most memorable 80s song?

1986

2010-04-14T20:45:00.000-07:00

I love the 80s, I think that’s evident, but what year is the best? I’m still undecided about this, but there certainly were a lot of things happening in 1986. I can still remember hearing the news about Chernobyl and I just felt really cold it was frightening. There was even discussions about it affecting parts of the UK where I was living, luckily I was in the South West and so in all likelihood would be fine.

Check out The Year was 1986 and let me know what was happening in your life during 1986 and what events you think I need to add.....I really should add more on Chernobyl and Mount St Helens, but there are so many other things to write about it’s hard to know what to dwell on :)

What year would you be interested in me writing about next???

Now That's What I Call The 80s!

2010-03-18T21:37:00.000-07:00

I often pick up 80s cds and have a look. So many of the compilations I have are pretty similar, but then I'll see one and remember a particular song and buy it just for the one track!!I spotted Now Thats What I Call The 80s cds on Amazon today and I recalled all of the vinyl records we had at home during the 80s, the Now That's What I Call range seemed to release a couple of lps every year - I wonder where all of ours went?

The volume two cd that I've featured here has the song Toy Soldiers by Martika which doesn't appear on any of my other compilations. I loved her first album - the self titled Martika and the two songs that I can remember from it - 'Toy Soldiers' and 'I Feel The Earth Move.' At the time I prefered the song 'I Feel The Earth Move' to 'Toy Soldiers,' but now I'm not sure which one I prefer - what about you?

Other tracks on the cd are also great with Lionel Ritchie Dancing on the Ceiling taking me back to High School and one particular school disco....enough said!

Whitney Houston, The Police, Robert Palmer - the album is fantastic so if you're feeling in the mood for some 80s music this weekend check out the track listings.....and if you're like me listen to them on youtube!!

Spandau Ballet

2010-02-08T18:13:00.000-08:00

Well I’m sooooo excited I just received my Spandau Ballet concert tickets in the mail today and I feel like I’m young again! I was still living in the UK the last time they toured and I saw them at their Bornemouth concert, I have to say they were f-a-n-t-a-s-t-i-c! Not long after that concert I moved down under and discovered that Spandau Ballet weren’t actually as big outside of the UK :(

Anyway I’m so glad they’re playing in my new home town here in Australia and I can’t wait until April because it is going to be Gold! Sorry, I couldn’t resist that pun.

Not only are Spandau Ballet performing, but Tears for Fears are their special guests which is how I convinced my hubby to tag along with me :D I loved their Songs from the Big Chair album so I’m getting very excited to hear them as well.

Am I worried about the guys all looking older? Well yes because that means that I’ve aged….oh hang on I see that when I look in the mirror! Let’s just hope that the music’s still good and the voices are still going strong. I’ve been reading reviews of Spandau Ballet’s other tour shows and apparently Tony Hadley’s voice is even stronger…..don’t know about Tears for Fears though – do you?

Sunglasses At Night

2010-02-05T18:07:00.001-08:00

Have you checked out what our celebs are wearing on their faces this summer, in fact the trend has been sneaking back in for a few years now – Wayfarers. Now I know that they were around a long time before the 80s, but I think we really made them look good!!!

So come on and tell me how many pairs of Wayfarers did YOU own?

Next question – how many of you are singing Boys of Summer in your head right now? You know the line I’m talking about…..”you got that hair slicked back and those wayfarers on baby…”

You can check out Wayfarers in all their glory at the appropriately named Wayfarer Sunglasses!

Pac Man

2010-02-03T00:09:00.000-08:00

If you are feeling nostalgic for 80s video games you can play Pac Man and Space Invaders for free on your computer now, or get versions for your Playstation or Wiis even for your mobile phone! If you know someone who loves the classics though, what about baking them a cake?

Ideal for 40th birthday parties and the like a Pac Man cake can be quite easy to make and produce so many compliments you’ll be blushing for days! If you don’t know where to start then check out Pac Man Baking.

What better gift to accompany the cake than an 80s gamer tee? There are so many different types to choose from.

CLASSIC GAMER by dgpaulart
Make custom t-shirts on zazzle

If you don’t like this one then check my collection out at 80s gamer tees.

80s - Simply the Best

2009-08-25T19:14:00.000-07:00

Why do I always think that the 80s were the best decade I’ve been asked by my daughter. Well hello, you keep remaking films from the 80s, you keep doing cover versions of 80s songs need I go on???

I’ve had a pretty busy year so I’m a little behind with the movie gossip (the problems with being a mum I guess), there was a time when as soon as someone even whispered any movie news I was hip to it, but not anymore.

It appears that a movie I liked from 1980 has been dragged into the noughties. This isn’t exactly a remake instead they are saying that it is ‘based’ on the original. Yes I’m talking about Fame – the movie, the song, the tv series, the legwarmers!

I loved the tv series of Fame and from there I read the book that the movie was based on. I don’t know when I actually saw the movie, but I don’t recall seeing it on the big screen, just on video. The Kids from Fame actually had a couple of hit records in the UK as well, I had a friend who owned both of them and we would go to her house at lunch times (she lived opposite the school) and make up dance routines to them!

Let’s hope that the noughties version of Fame can bring a smile to the faces of a whole new generation.

John Hughes RIP

2009-08-06T21:17:00.000-07:00

Wow, John Hughes has died. Aged only 59 he died of a heart attack, at least it was quick by all accounts.

It's hard to think of 80s movies without thinking of John Hughes with films such as The Breakfast Club, Ferris Bueller's Day Off and Sixteen Candles John Hughes owned 80s teen movies. He didn't stop there though, he was still showing what he was made of during the 90s with the hit movie Home Alone to name just one.

What was the best John Hughes movie? It's so hard to say, I love Uncle Buck I think that John Candy played the role so well. Having said that Mr Mom was also fantastic and my hubby loves Ferris Bueller. Why don't you vote for what John Hughes movie was your favorite at The Best John Hughes Movie.

80s Music

2009-08-03T03:59:00.000-07:00

I love 80s music, don't you? I can't decide what I prefer more the New Romantic sounds or the Soft Cell techno pop, the darkness of Depeche Mode's Blasphemous Rumours, the pop of Madonna, the dance sounds of both Michael and Janet Jackson, the power ballads, Bruce Springsteen.......I don't know where to start let alone where to finish!

What is 80s Music? is the start of my attempt to bring all of my 80s favorites together, it's a long way from complete, but I'd love your thoughts on it.

Watching all of the celebs bringing back the Wayfarers makes me think of Don Henley - hair slicked back and your wayfarers on (or words to that effect) and then hair slicked back is the girls from Robert Palmer's video.....who started this conversation!

Anyway - what is your favorite 80s song, genre or artist, don't leave me hanging here people!

80s Games

2009-07-05T16:41:00.000-07:00

What games do you remember from the 80s? I enjoyed it when the annual fair came into town as they had an arcade game tent and I would play Space Invaders - awesome! I found an online version of the game and it's so easy these days, but then wow it was HARD!!!!!

I score really high scores now, especially when I turn the sound off (hearing the music stresses me in to making mistakes!

What was your favorite 80s game? Vote for Space Invaders of Pac Man at my Space Invaders Rule! page. I guess I just gave away the one I prefer didn't I??!!

Of course there was always the Rubiks cube, but really when you are happy being able to get one side done and a six year old comes along to solve it really, really fast it kind of annoys you!

It's a Red Dawn

2009-07-01T03:19:00.000-07:00

When Patrick Swayze and Charlie Sheen teamed up in the movie Red Dawn they were acting out what was seen as a very possible scenario - World War Three! As a teen I loved this movie it was teens taking out the bad guys - much in the same mold as War Games - the teenager was the superhero.

Red Dawn has developed into a classic pop culture movie that highlights some of our Cold War fears from the 80s.

It had plenty of action as well - "not bad for a bunch of kids, huh" and I loved it. What did you think of Red Dawn?

Maybe you'd prefer a different movie? I have a selection available at Lou's 80s Movie Store, maybe you'd like to check them out.

Michael Jackson RIP

2009-06-25T20:34:00.000-07:00

Well today the entertainment world loses two of it's entertainers - Farrah Fawcett lost her battle with cancer. The King of Pop Michael Jackson also died of a heart attack.

The eighties would not have been the same without Michael Jackson. The songs - Beat It, Billie Jean, Thriller and lets not forget the dance moves - Moonwalk(!) Can anyone here do the moonwalk - I surely can't.

Check out Top Ten Michael Jackson Songs and vote for your own. What is your favorite Michael Jackson song?

New Romantics

2009-06-24T03:46:00.001-07:00

You can't talk about 80s music without mentioning the New Romantics. The New Romantics was a mainly UK branch of New Wave music that began in 1979/1980 and really set the stage for the advent of MTV later on in the 80s. Bands such as Duran Duran, Spandau Ballet, Culture Club, Adam and the Ants and more all made up the movement that saw bands provide a complete package as opposed to merely music. Like David Bowie before them the New Romantics worked on their looks and performances as much as they did their sound.....and it seemed to work as 80s music will always be known for the effect the New Romantics had on it.

Let me know who your favorite New Romantic band were.

A Nightmare on Elm Street

2009-06-22T20:25:00.000-07:00

I'm not a huge fan of slasher style horror movies, but Wes Craven's A Nightmare on Elm Street really appealed to me. Freddy Krueger is the ultimate boogeyman, I mean this guy can come into your dreams what the??!!

I would love to know what percentage of increase in sales the top coffee manufacturers experienced as teens everywhere tried to stay awake all night!

I really should have stuck with Sixteen Candles and the Police Academy if I'd wanted to continue to sleep during the rest of 1984!!!!!!

So if you had a choice between these 1984 movies, which would be your favorite? -

Supergirl

The Terminator

Amadeus

The Killing Fields

Sixteen Candles

Nightmare on Elm Street

Karate Kid

Police Academy

Born in the USA

2009-06-21T20:31:00.000-07:00

It's hard to believe that Bruce Springsteen's born in the USA album is 25 years old this year. I absolutely thrashed the vinyl lp. I remember a lot of criticism from people saying that the Boss had sold out, that Born in the USA was too commercial but....it's stood the test of time.

Twenty five years after it's release and Born in the USA is still a great sounding album. I don't think that any of the tracks couldn't have been made into singles, there's no 'fluff' on this album.

Feel free to tell me if you disagree. If you want more then check out Bruce Springsteen: Born in the USA.

Now wht's your favorite track? Mine has definately changed with the years, although it's still hard to pick just one. I think mine would probably be My Hometown right now (although I reserve the right to change my mind at any second!).

Got the album, been on the tour? How about buying the t-shirt?