Do you remember 80s television - when it didn't run programs from 24 hours instead at a certain time the test pattern was shown like this -
More importantly, of course, were the programs. There were so many great programs during the 80s it's hard to know where to start with a favorite - ALF, Different Strokes, LA Law, the A Team, the list goes on.
One man who was responsible for quite a volume of 80s television was Aaron Spelling and because of him we watched a myriad of programs such as Hart to Hart, Charlies Angels, Hotel and TJ Hooker. Check out all of his contributions to our television set during the glorious decade that was the 80s - Aaron Spelling's 80s TV.
Of course he couldn't get all of the good programs and there's one with a catch phrase that will continue until all of the children of the 80s are gone - get the shirt and tell me the name of the program in the comments -
Showing posts with label 80s. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 80s. Show all posts
Tuesday, April 23, 2013
Friday, April 29, 2011
Youngblood, Yuppies & You
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
Saturday, April 9, 2011
H is for Human & Heaven
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?
Friday, April 8, 2011
G is for Gordon
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.
Monday, April 4, 2011
C is for Culture Club
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.
Boy George and Bassist Mickey Craig set out to form a group, next they joined forces with former Ant (from Adam and the Ants) Jon Moss. The final member of the group to join was their guitarist Roy Hay.
The name of the band was originally to be Sex Gang Children, however at Jon Moss' suggestion they changed it to Culture Club. The name would give them some flak as people thought it was extremely pretentious, but it was actually an inside joke on the different cultures inside the club.
The band signed with Virgin records in the UK and released their first album in 1982 - Kissing to be Clever. Their second album was Colour By Numbers and was released in 1983. The Band released a third album in 1984 titled Waking Up With the House on Fire which was not as successful. Their final album was 1986's From Luxury to Heartache.
During 1985 George started a battle with drug dependance, he was arrested in 1986 for possession of heroin and Culture Club's break up was officially confirmed in 1987.
Culture Club were part of the New Romantic era of music where groups were kicking back against the punk movement and presenting themselves as the whole package. Musically and visually they wanted to ooze glamour and for people to notice them and even emulate them.
Culture Club's music seems to be a fusion of pop, reggae and even a little disco. Their songs contain a hook that gets the audience singing along and wanting more.
Editorial Reviews from Amazon.com
Against the cynical, post-punk backdrop of the early Thatcher and Reagan era, Culture Club's debut release Kissing to Be Clever was as refreshing as a scoop of gelato in a heatwave. These were the innocent days when Boy George could still declare he'd rather "have a cup of tea than sex," well before he hurtled to the brink of near self-destruction. Several of the cuts are still amazingly fresh and easily convey the winning charisma that transformed Boy George and his band into a pop icon. Songs like "I'll tumble 4 ya" and "Boy-Boy-I'm the Boy" seem tailor-made for the frontman's smooth-sliding tenor, while Mikey Craig's bass grooves pump with dance-til-you-drop Hi NRG. Although relatively brief (the original LP had one more cut than the CD release), the album stylistically hops like a Mexican jumping bean from disco funk to rhumba to reggae and contains obvious filler material. But the gender-bender flair perfected by Boy George announced a unique style that helped define the decade. --Thomas May
Kissing to Be Clever
Track Listings
1. White Boy [Dance Mix]
2. You Know I'm Not Crazy
3. I'll Tumble 4 Ya
4. Take Control
5. Love Twist - Captain Crucial, Culture Club
6. Boy Boy (I'm the Boy)
7. I'm Afraid of Me [Remix]
8. White Boys Can't Control It
9. Do You Really Want to Hurt Me
10. Love Is Cold [*]
11. Murder Rap Trap [*] - Captain Crucial, Culture Club
12. Time (Clock of the Heart) [*]
13. Romance Beyond the Alphabet [*]
[*] Bonus tracks not included on the original album
The first two singles off of Culture Club’s Kissing to be Clever album didn’t even dent the UK’s top 100. They were White Boy and I’m Afraid of Me. Their next three singles, however were a different story.
Do You Really Want to Hurt Me? (top ten hit around the world, reaching number 1 in 7 countries including the UK, Australia and Canada.
Time (Clock of the Heart) their second top ten single.
I’ll Tumble 4 Ya – this single was only released in the US and Canada and reached number 9 in both countries.
Colour By Numbers
Culture Club continued their onslaught on the charts with their best album Colour by Numbers. The first single off of this album was Church of the Poison Mind which made the top ten on both sides of the Atlantic.
It was the second single off of Colour by Numbers which was to become the band's biggest hit - Karma Chameleon became a number 1 single on both sides of the Atlantic and around the world.
Victims was released in the UK and made it to number 3.
Miss me Blind was released in the US and made it to number 5.
The single It's a Miracle didn't quite break into the US top 10 settling for number 13, it was however, able to reach number 4 in the UK.
Track Listing
1. "Karma Chameleon" – 4:12
2. "It's a Miracle" – 3:25
3. "Black Money" – 5:19
4. "Changing Every Day" – 3:17
5. "That's the Way (I'm Only Trying to Help You)" – 2:45
6. "Church of the Poison Mind" – 3:30
7. "Miss Me Blind" – 4:30
8. "Mister Man" – 3:36
9. "Stormkeeper" – 2:46
10. "Victims" – 4:55
11. "Man-Shake" – 2:34 (2003 remastered CD bonus track)
12. "Mystery Boy" (Suntori Hot Whiskey Song) – 3:33 (2003 remastered CD bonus track)
13. "Melting Pot" – 4:31 (2003 remastered CD bonus track)
14. "Colour by Numbers" – 3:57 (2003 remastered CD bonus track)
15. "Romance Revisited" – 5:00 (2003 remastered CD bonus track)
Culture Club’s third album was unable to reach the commercial success of Kissing to be Clever and Colour by Numbers.
The first single War Song made it to number 2 in the UK, but Culture Club were not able to break into the US top 10 again. War Song was only able to reach number 17 on Billboard.
The Medal Song was released in the UK and managed to scrape into the top 40.
Mistake No 3 was released in the US and only just managed to scrape into the Billboard’s Top 40.
Waking Up with the House on Fire
Track Listings
1. Dangerous Man
2. War Song
3. Unfortunate Thing
4. Crime Time
5. Mistake No. 3
6. Dive
7. Medal Song
8. Don't Talk About It
9. Mannequin
10. Hello, Goodbye
Culture Clubs last album in the 80s was not a commercial success. Because of Boy George’s fight against drug addiction and his failing relationship with Jon Moss the album took a lot longer to produce than it was planned. Even Boy George’s notorious drug arrest in 1986 couldn’t help to sell the album and only two singles were ever released from it (only one in the US).
Move Away managed to get into the UK top ten and even peaked at number 12 in the Billboard Chart. God Thank You Woman only made it to number 31 in the UK.
From Luxury to Heartache heralded the end of Culture Club and this was officially confirmed the following year.
From Luxury To Heartache
Track Listings
1. "Move Away" – 4:21
2. "I Pray" – 4:00
3. "Work On Me Baby" – 4:06
4. "Gusto Blusto" – 4:40
5. "Heaven's Children" – 4:44
6. "God Thank You Woman" – 4:14
7. "Reasons" – 4:35
8. "Too Bad" – 4:36
9. "Come Clean" – 3:20
10. "Sexuality" – 5:28
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.
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.
Culture Club - A Short Bio
Boy George and Bassist Mickey Craig set out to form a group, next they joined forces with former Ant (from Adam and the Ants) Jon Moss. The final member of the group to join was their guitarist Roy Hay.
The name of the band was originally to be Sex Gang Children, however at Jon Moss' suggestion they changed it to Culture Club. The name would give them some flak as people thought it was extremely pretentious, but it was actually an inside joke on the different cultures inside the club.
- Boy George - transvestite Irish
- Mickey Craig - Jamaican-Briton
- Jon Moss - Jewish
- Roy Hay - Anglo-Saxon
The band signed with Virgin records in the UK and released their first album in 1982 - Kissing to be Clever. Their second album was Colour By Numbers and was released in 1983. The Band released a third album in 1984 titled Waking Up With the House on Fire which was not as successful. Their final album was 1986's From Luxury to Heartache.
During 1985 George started a battle with drug dependance, he was arrested in 1986 for possession of heroin and Culture Club's break up was officially confirmed in 1987.
Culture Club's Music
Culture Club were part of the New Romantic era of music where groups were kicking back against the punk movement and presenting themselves as the whole package. Musically and visually they wanted to ooze glamour and for people to notice them and even emulate them.
Culture Club's music seems to be a fusion of pop, reggae and even a little disco. Their songs contain a hook that gets the audience singing along and wanting more.
Kissing to be Clever - Culture Club
Editorial Reviews from Amazon.com
Against the cynical, post-punk backdrop of the early Thatcher and Reagan era, Culture Club's debut release Kissing to Be Clever was as refreshing as a scoop of gelato in a heatwave. These were the innocent days when Boy George could still declare he'd rather "have a cup of tea than sex," well before he hurtled to the brink of near self-destruction. Several of the cuts are still amazingly fresh and easily convey the winning charisma that transformed Boy George and his band into a pop icon. Songs like "I'll tumble 4 ya" and "Boy-Boy-I'm the Boy" seem tailor-made for the frontman's smooth-sliding tenor, while Mikey Craig's bass grooves pump with dance-til-you-drop Hi NRG. Although relatively brief (the original LP had one more cut than the CD release), the album stylistically hops like a Mexican jumping bean from disco funk to rhumba to reggae and contains obvious filler material. But the gender-bender flair perfected by Boy George announced a unique style that helped define the decade. --Thomas May
Kissing to Be Clever
Track Listings
1. White Boy [Dance Mix]
2. You Know I'm Not Crazy
3. I'll Tumble 4 Ya
4. Take Control
5. Love Twist - Captain Crucial, Culture Club
6. Boy Boy (I'm the Boy)
7. I'm Afraid of Me [Remix]
8. White Boys Can't Control It
9. Do You Really Want to Hurt Me
10. Love Is Cold [*]
11. Murder Rap Trap [*] - Captain Crucial, Culture Club
12. Time (Clock of the Heart) [*]
13. Romance Beyond the Alphabet [*]
[*] Bonus tracks not included on the original album
The first two singles off of Culture Club’s Kissing to be Clever album didn’t even dent the UK’s top 100. They were White Boy and I’m Afraid of Me. Their next three singles, however were a different story.
Do You Really Want to Hurt Me? (top ten hit around the world, reaching number 1 in 7 countries including the UK, Australia and Canada.
Time (Clock of the Heart) their second top ten single.
I’ll Tumble 4 Ya – this single was only released in the US and Canada and reached number 9 in both countries.
Colour by Numbers
Culture Club
Colour By Numbers
Culture Club continued their onslaught on the charts with their best album Colour by Numbers. The first single off of this album was Church of the Poison Mind which made the top ten on both sides of the Atlantic.
It was the second single off of Colour by Numbers which was to become the band's biggest hit - Karma Chameleon became a number 1 single on both sides of the Atlantic and around the world.
Victims was released in the UK and made it to number 3.
Miss me Blind was released in the US and made it to number 5.
The single It's a Miracle didn't quite break into the US top 10 settling for number 13, it was however, able to reach number 4 in the UK.
Track Listing
1. "Karma Chameleon" – 4:12
2. "It's a Miracle" – 3:25
3. "Black Money" – 5:19
4. "Changing Every Day" – 3:17
5. "That's the Way (I'm Only Trying to Help You)" – 2:45
6. "Church of the Poison Mind" – 3:30
7. "Miss Me Blind" – 4:30
8. "Mister Man" – 3:36
9. "Stormkeeper" – 2:46
10. "Victims" – 4:55
11. "Man-Shake" – 2:34 (2003 remastered CD bonus track)
12. "Mystery Boy" (Suntori Hot Whiskey Song) – 3:33 (2003 remastered CD bonus track)
13. "Melting Pot" – 4:31 (2003 remastered CD bonus track)
14. "Colour by Numbers" – 3:57 (2003 remastered CD bonus track)
15. "Romance Revisited" – 5:00 (2003 remastered CD bonus track)
Waking Up With the House on Fire - Culture Club
Culture Club’s third album was unable to reach the commercial success of Kissing to be Clever and Colour by Numbers.
The first single War Song made it to number 2 in the UK, but Culture Club were not able to break into the US top 10 again. War Song was only able to reach number 17 on Billboard.
The Medal Song was released in the UK and managed to scrape into the top 40.
Mistake No 3 was released in the US and only just managed to scrape into the Billboard’s Top 40.
Waking Up with the House on Fire
Track Listings
1. Dangerous Man
2. War Song
3. Unfortunate Thing
4. Crime Time
5. Mistake No. 3
6. Dive
7. Medal Song
8. Don't Talk About It
9. Mannequin
10. Hello, Goodbye
From Luxury to Heartache - Culture Club
Culture Clubs last album in the 80s was not a commercial success. Because of Boy George’s fight against drug addiction and his failing relationship with Jon Moss the album took a lot longer to produce than it was planned. Even Boy George’s notorious drug arrest in 1986 couldn’t help to sell the album and only two singles were ever released from it (only one in the US).
Move Away managed to get into the UK top ten and even peaked at number 12 in the Billboard Chart. God Thank You Woman only made it to number 31 in the UK.
From Luxury to Heartache heralded the end of Culture Club and this was officially confirmed the following year.
From Luxury To Heartache
Track Listings
1. "Move Away" – 4:21
2. "I Pray" – 4:00
3. "Work On Me Baby" – 4:06
4. "Gusto Blusto" – 4:40
5. "Heaven's Children" – 4:44
6. "God Thank You Woman" – 4:14
7. "Reasons" – 4:35
8. "Too Bad" – 4:36
9. "Come Clean" – 3:20
10. "Sexuality" – 5:28
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.
Thursday, March 24, 2011
A-Z of 80s - A Blogging Challenge
I recently came across this blog post -
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.
Monday, January 10, 2011
The Electronic Trike - 1985
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!
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.
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!
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.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)