80s Halloween Costumes

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

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

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

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

Through the Barricades Album - Great 80s Music

Spandau Ballet's album Through the Barricades was their fifth studio album and the first one for the record company CBS. It featured the heartfelt Through the Barricades single along with the two singles Fight for Ourselves and How Many Lies.

After the release of this album the band toured the UK to promote it little realizing that this would be their last tour for thirty years. I was lucky enough to be able to be at one of these shows and Spandau Ballet really seemed to be at the top of their game - it was a fantastic performance.
Through the BarricadesCheck Price
Track listing:-

• Barricades -- Introduction


• Cross the Line


• Man in Chains


• How Many Lies?


• Virgin


• Fight for Ourselves


• Swept


• Snakes and Lovers


• Through the Barricades

Fight For Ourselves

1st Single from Through the Barricades

The first single released from the album was Fight For Ourselves which reached number 15 in the UK charts.

Let’s look at some of the background to this album - Gary Kemp wrote the whole Through the Barricades album while the band were living in Ireland for a year. At the time Spandau Ballet were in dispute with their original record company Chrysalis over the way the company had failed to promote them in the US market. When you listen to the lyrics it could be that Gary Kemp is writing about Spandau Ballet's legal woes......

Then again Gary Kemp was getting quite political around this time and had also teamed up with Billy Bragg (a well known left wing singer) and was supportive of the UK's Miners Strike so he could have just been telling everyone to stand up for what they believed was right.

Everybody, we've got to fight for ourselves

Whatever you believe the lyrics to be about one thing is for certain the song was catchy and easy to sing along to.

Through the Barricades - The Single

Through the Barricades was the second single to be released off of the album of the same name. It was written while the band were in Ireland and as Gary Kemp (the songwriter and guitar player of Spandau Ballet) said at the time "....(whilst)...we don't think to ourselves as a political band, but we can't ignore what is happening just around the corner.

Through the Barricades is essentially a Romeo and Juliet story set in Northern Ireland between a boy and a girl, one Protestant and one Catholic. It was a top ten hit in the UK and was also big in Europe (staying at number one for eight weeks in Italy) and the haunting melody has made it a favorite for the band and a large number of fans.

Through the Barricades showed Gary Kemp's songwriting abilities at their best. It also played to Tony Hadley's vocals beautifully with him giving his best performance to date on the single. The use of the drum and pipe marching music is so reminiscent of Ireland's Parades that it tugs even more at the heartstrings. Through the Barricades was also one of my favorites (can you tell?).

The line in the song Through the Barricades that goes - "as our hearts go to their graves" has been debated in some areas as to whether it means a suicide pact or an end of a doomed affair. What do you think?

Personally I think they made a suicide pact if you listen to the line 'the stars reach out and tell us there's only one escape' I can't think that it would be anything other than death.

How Many Lies

The Third Single from Through the Barricades Album

How Many Lies was their third and last single off of the album Through the Barricades. Although the band didn't realise it at the time How Many Lies was to become their last Top 40 hit single.

As I mentioned earlier this song was written when the band was in dispute with their record company while Gary Kemp was also getting very political. When you initially listen to the song you assume it’s between a couple, by knowing the background and where Gary’s head was at you start to wonder if it was a swipe at Chrysalis or even a political statement.

When you initially hear the song you assume it's between a couple, but knowing where Gary's head was at could it be a swipe at Chrysalis or even a political statement? Enjoy the song and let me know what you think.

How many lies must we tell?
How many lies must we see?
How many times must we say, it's for the best?
And leave truth as the casualty?

Scarface - A Classic 80s Mafia Movie

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!

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