S is for Spandau Ballet

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 and first album - Journeys to Glory through to their hit album True and (of course) Through The Barricades, the title track of which was without doubt one of their best ever singles - it really is haunting.  I even liked their second album, Diamond, which was slammed by critics at the time.

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

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

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

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

19

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

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

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

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.

Madonna showed her versatility during the 80s earning her the title of Queen of Reinvention and her music ranged from the very poppy sound of Holiday to the more mature sounding Live to Tell.

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 my Madonna, Madonna, Madonna post.

Madonna wasn't just about the music and the acting though she also influenced fashion with millions of young girls embracing her look.   I admit I had black lace fingerless gloves with lots of bangles a la Madonna, and I wasn't even a huge Madonna fan!