A is for Adam Ant

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?

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

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

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

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

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

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!

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!