80's Commercials - Where's Herb? (1985-86)

by Dave (Twitter: @80sReboot)

Welcome dear reader to your next installment of an 80's League cross over event. This month we got in our collective mind to talk about 1980's commercials. We discussed on the podcast, how in our modern lives we take full advantage of the technology afforded us with DVRs and will purposely record and start watching shows later than they originally aired for the sole purpose of fast forwarding through commercial interruptions. Back in our beloved 1980s, that technology wasn't available so we had to sit through and watch every painful commercial that was programmed in for us by the corporate giants that ruled the airways. But what do you say? Some of those commercials were really kinda cool and a staple of our childhood? Get back! Truth be told, there are some of those that have graduated to "beloved" status to this 80's child. This won't be a very long blog entry as I geeked out on 80's Commercials on the podcast with Rose and Scott and even gave a stirring rendition of the "Toys R' Us" jingle, so your job is listen to our podcast and check back with a comment below to let me know how I did. (Feel free to tell me to withdraw my application for The Voice.) 

There is one advertising campaign that I did casually mention on the podcast and want to go on the record to say even though it was an epic failure for Burger King and I had read somewhere that the "Where's Herb" campaign is taught as a cautionary "don't do this" to future advertising executives, I was a fan of BK and Herb in the mid to late 80's. Here is why. Growing up as most kids, I had a very (somewhat annoying to my parents) limited acceptable menu that I would approve eating. The world has gotten even with me, as my youngest daughter is much like her old man at that age (going on the record now to say I am humbly very sorry Mom and Dad). A plain hamburger with fries from Burger King was one of the very few meals that I would choose to digest when the family would opt to dine out. The family would choose to go to the local pizzeria and along the way Mom forced Dad to run through the drive thru at Burger King for that plain hamburger and fries so that I could eat that while they enjoyed pizza, that's right I didn't even eat pizza back then (story for another time my friends). 

So my burger tastes were definitely preferring the King over the Clown and everyone coveted the McDonald's offerings and we had an overload of campaign blitz from the wrong side of the tracks. Happy meals, McDLTs, and Big Macs ... how could my beloved Burger King compete against that? Enter a common man named Herb to stand up front and take on the power of the clown's empire. He had to succeed right? This was David against Goliath? Or better stated, Herb against Ronald and Clara Peller (Wendy's - Wheres the Beef campaign). I wanted Herb to be "epicly" triumph and stand up for those of us that have been Burger King devotees through the Hamburger Wars raging in the 1980s. But alas, Herb faded away into obscurity and while Burger King still exists there was not any thanks to my champion. As we have learned in this modern age, any "clown" can rise to power and once at the top it can be really hard to find a champion to dethrone him. 

Let's take a look at few of those Herb advertisements and I dare someone to walk into a Burger King now and say "I am not Herb" and see if the kid at the counter has any clue what you are talking about, feel free to experiment with that and post the reaction you get in the comments below. 

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Favorite 80's Music Videos

by Dave (Twitter: @80sReboot)

Your 80’s League team is at it again. We are collaborating on the same theme across our blogs and podcasts and this month we are talking about 1980’s Music Videos. I loved me some MTV and watching those iconic videos in their infancy of the art form. This blog entry has so many different avenues that I can take it. Do I concentrate on favorites or most hated or my favorite band that had multiple videos out there in that decade? In the end, I am self-serving (I hope you will indulge me) but this article will be an 80’s Reboot Overdrive podcast history lesson. I have managed this podcast since October 2014, I try to contact people that have contributed their talents to that awesome decade, and to my amazement and utter gratitude, some actually say yes and participate in the podcast. The journey I will take you on in this entry will be something related to behind the scenes of the podcast as it relates to our guests that contributed their musical talents in the greatest decade.

Nu Shooz “Point of No Return”

http://traffic.libsyn.com/80srebootoverdrive/Nu_Shooz_Interview.mp3?dest-id=228624

I am well aware that “I Can’t Wait” was Nu Shooz’s bigger hit but I enjoyed the backstory on this video that we talked about with John and Valerie Day a bit more. We enjoyed having a little fun at John’s expense around his hairstyle choice as depicted in this video but as most bands in the 80s lots of hair primped to perfection was the order of the day. The fun backstory on this video was Valerie’s account of the “shoe wranglers”, there were three to four people that would be off camera that would adjust the shoes for the next shot, as she had to stand or lay still for hours. I can’t think of a better video depiction for their band name than what you get here. You can get the scoop on both videos by listening to this fun interview.

Buckner & Garcia “Pac-Man Fever”

http://traffic.libsyn.com/80srebootoverdrive/80s_Reboot_Overdrive_Jerry_Buckner_Interview.mp3?dest-id=228624

You probably are putting a flag on the play on this one. The video I linked is actually the 35th Birthday of Pac-Man video I created, much later than the 80s. I found the band’s appearance on Dick Clark’s from Goggle searches for this, but no original video that was produced back in the day so I am sorry if this is a disqualification for 80’s Music Videos, but bear with me on this. Leading up to Pac-Man’s 35th Birthday, I was able to line up key interviews for some significant influencers in the 80’sarcade phenomena.  Amongst the pack was Mr. Jerry Bucker to talk about the iconic song Pac-Man Fever. The moment that I wanted to share was that I was afforded the opportunity to go to Level 257 in Schaumburg, IL and watch Jerry with new band members perform this music hit for them. Among the guests at the occasion was Toru Iwatani who is the video game designer that was responsible for giving us Pac-Man many years ago. A highlight of the evening was watching Professor Iwatani take to the dance floor during Pac-Man Fever to the joy of a very festive crowd celebrating one of favorite arcade icons. Jerry Buckner was fantastic with his approval to allow me to use his song for the video that I created to commemorate the birthday this arcade icon.

Billy Vera and The Beaters “At This Moment”

http://traffic.libsyn.com/80srebootoverdrive/80s_Reboot_Overdrive_Billy_Vera_Interview.mp3?dest-id=228624

I want to say nice things here, I really do. Billy did participate in the podcast and did give up some of his valuable time and I appreciate that. However, this could be partial to the fact that I was early in to the podcast game and expected that “stars” would want to share interview links with their followers. While I appreciate Billy’s time and stories he shared which I still believe was very entertaining to listen to, the post interaction with this really tainted my feelings towards the song and interview. Putting back my 80s love perspective it was an impactful song. There was major love and attention to the show Family Ties and this song played a significant role in what set it apart from a typical sitcom of the time. The video link I shared was not the official video, it is what put this song on the 80s map for many people so it is fitting to include it here with our 80’s Reboot Overdrive stroll down podcast memory lane. 

Timbuk 3 “The Future’s So Bright (I Gotta Wear Shades)”

http://traffic.libsyn.com/80srebootoverdrive/80s_Reboot_Overdrive_pAt_mAcdonald_interview.mp3?dest-id=228624

I have to say that pat mAcdonald was one of my most interesting interviews on the podcast. With some easy to find research you can find that pat has had many offers to receive major funds for the rights to use this song on commercials and other media. He has refused on all occasions, as he believes that it is better to keep the integrity of his musical process versus be a “sell out”. Interesting enough the notion that this is a song about being hopeful for the future is widely misunderstood and it is actually an 80’s viewpoint of a nuclear apocalyptic future. He has also authored a book called “Space Kitty Blues” that provides his insight from a fictional standpoint on what may have been had he take offers to use the song for commercials.

Be sure to check out the rest of our 80's League podcasts and blogs on this wonderful topic.

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80's Blogathon Entry - Jack Nicholson in Batman (1989)

When 80’s League member Gil over at the awesome Real Weegie Midget Reviews asked for volunteers for Jack Nicholson Blogathon, I knew that if I could not write about his iconic role as Jack Napier a.k.a. Joker in the epic 1989 Tim Burton Batman film, then I could not or should not participate. I snuck in deftly in the dark of night from a nearby blog with my cowl and DC comics Snuggie on after dispatching a couple of tweets and said to her (insert dramatic tone), “I am Batman”.  Either she knew by the cowl and Snuggie I meant serious business or I was the first one to pick Joker, she responded quickly with an enthusiastic, “You are in!” As I am proned to do, I plug our old stuff at every opportunity, we talked about the mighty Jack Nicholson on our podcast and you can check that out here after you read all the epic posts from Real Weegie Midget’s Jack Nicholson Blogathon.  For those fluent with 80’s Reboot Overdrive podcast may have heard an account of some version to the story below but maybe I’ll get lucky and you don’t remember it or maybe you are new to the awesomeness that is our podcast and blog. Buckle in dear reader as I attempt to answer questions asked by the man, the myth, the legend, that is Jack Nicholson, such as “Where did he get such wonderful toys?” and “Did you ever dance with the devil in the pale moon light?”

Summer of 1989, my early career choices landed me in beautiful San Diego, California with a weekend that was free at the very time that the San Diego Comic Con was happening. Back in then it was big but it was years before it would become the media mega event and eventual tough ticket to get in the door that it is today. Back then, I was able to with minimal effort grab the train to the convention center and purchase a pass at the door to get into the convention and be in the center of it all its glory. This moment was my personal catalyst for a lifetime appreciation for the Dark Knight. I will go on the record to say I am slightly above a casual fan of Batman, I do not have every story line memorized but I try my best to know as much as I can about his Rogue’s Gallery. I don’t just know the common names but try to keep their real names memorized as well. So long before Gotham would come to TV, I knew the characters like Edward Nygma (Riddler), Oswald Cobblepot (Penquin), Selina Kyle (Catwoman), Victor Fries (Mr. Freeze), Harvey Dent (Two Face), and even lesser know characters like Julian Gregory Day (Calendar Man), Roman Sionis (Black Mask), or Arnold Wesker (Ventriloquist).  At this pivotal moment in my meager comic book education before learning about our beloved Rogues Gallery, I stumbled on to a graphic novel by Frank Miller entitled The Dark Knight Returns. It hooked me in a major way into what Batman was supposed to be. This was not Adam West TV Batman or Super Friends cartoon Batman. This was so much a deliciously darker than any former incarnation of the character I had been introduced to in the past. What further fueled this new mini obsession was you couldn’t go anywhere in public that summer without being accosted by the bat emblem.  Some marketing genius at Warner Brothers had green lit the emblem to be emblazoned on just about every product that was being produced at the time. We even got a Diet Coke Batman commercial when the VHS was released. This movie could have went very bad for me, if the movie version would have been like the cartoon or the television show. Now, that I got to read a much darker version of Batman and a wonderfully psychotic version of the Joker courtesy of Mr. Miller’s wonderful graphic novel. Was that a well that was primed for awesomeness or would we get campy Joker (ala Cesar Romero) in this movie version?

Later that summer, armed with my appreciation for a much darker version of Batman, I sat in the theater and was delighted that is what I was being given in this major kick ass movie. I’ll admit that Jack played a decent gangster with dreams of taking over as the gang boss and very believable as a guy that would have an affair with the boss’s wife as he would plot against him. You also would believe him as a narcissistic person and we realize that is a perfect catalyst to drive an already borderline psychotic over the edge by having his looks permanently altered into a clown face with bright green hair. The pivotal defining moment that you realized Jack had flipped the script and showcased a wonderfully sadistic crazy man was his first reveal of his altered face, “Wait’ll they get a load of me.” He mutters as he makes a chirp sound to himself. Mr. Nicholson got me, hook, line, and sinker. The rest of the movie would be an amazing roller coaster and I often wonder how much of his antics were ad libbed or were tightly controlled by the deft directing talent of Tim Burton. It is apparent that Jack brought his “A” game to this role and appeared to have a wonderful time playing a very dark yet often times funny depiction of the Clown Prince of Crime.

Almost 30 years later and I wonder if different choices were made, who could have taken on the mantel of The Joker as well as Jack? Bill Murray? Chevy Chase? Rodney Dangerfield? Sam Kinison? It is tough to see any of those men, awesome actors in their rights, pull off crazy and fun psychopath as effortlessly as Jack did it. What does that say about Jack? Should we applaud him for selling us on that role in a major way or maybe be afraid that he is an actor on the edge? I’ll take door number one please. Thank you Jack for the awesomeness and elevating the standard in the way the Joker is depicted on screen for future generations.

Final question to ponder as I close this blog entry … “Did you ever dance with the devil in the pale moon light?”

Villains We Loved to Hate in the 80's

Once upon a time in a land far far away, there lived a super nice guy.  This guy, we shall refer to him as "The Good Guy" Now this good guy was loved by all, women adored him, men wanted to be like him, children had respect for him.

Everything was all fine and dandy in this far away land, well except there was another guy that lived there.  We will call him "The Bad Guy"  No one loved him.  Women and men feared him, children ran from him, he was absolutely a bad egg...

Roger Ebert once said, a movie is only as good as its villain.  Perhaps he said that, I'm paraphrasing actually but there is a line of truth there.  Good cannot exist without Evil.

No story would be complete without a villain.  Some of the best villains have completely stolen our hearts and have us secretly appreciating them for their evil ways.  One that I can think of right off the top of my head is Darth Vader.  He's been a fan favorite for decades.  He makes being bad, look soooo good, and very hard to resist going to the dark side, with or without cookies. (but the cookies help)

Today we are here to regale some other villains from our favorite timeline, the 1980's  This week when Scott Compton and I did our podcast, we both had some of the best of the worst villains that we have grown to appreciate.  But you will have to wait for the podcast to come out to hear those.  

80's movies had some of the most memorable villains, I have to admit.  And many television shows had them as well.  Here is a list of  some Honorable Mentions of villains that I have appreciated for their sheer bad bad ways.

In 1985 there was a horror film called Silver Bullet based on the novella, Cycle of the Werewolf written by Stephen King.  The villain in this film?  A preacher of all people.  The epitome of irony.  I'm sure it wasn't his choice, he might have actually been bitten trying to help someone. Be that as it may, he definitely wasn't what you would call an "Atypical" heavy.  Big props to Everett McGill for his amazing portrayal of good priest gone bad.

Werewolves not your thing? I completely understand, but seeing as how these are not always available, how about an object that we interact with on a daily basis?  Ever heard of a movie called House? Starring William Katt? who would ever suspect their own home to be the source of their ultimate destruction, but yet there you have it.  Yes yes, I know, Amityville Horror was based on the same premise, but House has humor! And you know what they say about those who can laugh in the face of danger.  They die just as quick, but with a smile on their face.

John Wood had a most auspicious and regal role as a Bishop in a 1985 movie entitled Ladyhawke, starring Matthew Broderick, Rutger Hauer and the lovely Michele Pfeiffer.  My personal favorite of many early 80's movies that I would watch over and over.  Another person in a position of power, misusing it for all the wrong reasons.  He was ruthless and despicable, and unfortunately, he had the church's blessing behind him.  Great movie, excellent villain.

Last but not least, a movie that featured a villain at the beginning of the movie and then the villain became disposed of.  Our heroes Richard and Larry, come to their boss's house for the long weekend only to discover that he is dead and THEN find out that their boss is actually a villain.  I'm talking about Weekend at Bernie's.  What a wonderful portrayal of a bad guy unwittingly become a dead guy so quickly in a movie, only to be drug around through the entire movie trying to make him look like he's not dead.  You do know there is something horrendously wrong with that scenario right?  Whatever! Great movie all the same.  Terry Kiser plays an excellent villain, albeit very short "live" performance of Bernie Lomax (live, get it?) In this movie we get a twofer, the second villain was played by none other than the late Don Calfa as Paulie, the hit man hired to kill off Bernie and Bernie's two bumbling employees Richard and Larry.

Well everyone, that's it for this month's collaboration blog, I hope you enjoyed the read and I do sincerely hope you enjoy the podcast.  A proper thanks to all in the collab who contributed to Villains of the 80's.  (A special thanks to my husband Richard who helped me a couple of lines. ;) )

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80's Crushes

Do you remember your first crush?  I do.  I was 6 years old and there was a boy in our neighborhood that would pass by our window everyday.  He was very handsome, but for some reason, always got in trouble.  I found out later that he was a member of a gang and had authority issues.  That and he was 12.  My brother told me I was too young to get mixed up with someone like that.  Of course being 6 probably had a lot to do with it.

When I turned 7 I decided to cast my affections elsewhere, to someone a bit safer and more entertaining.  It was when I had started to watch The Monkees on television and I saw the most beautiful and well mannered albeit older young man.  Davy Jones.  I was completely and utterly in love, every week.  He was lively and talented and he had the most awesome British accent.  Sigh.

As we fast forward to adulthood, I had several different crushes, on people in real life and those that I was introduced to via media.  Music, movies and television to me had the safest of crushes.  You liked them, they didn't know you and you could quietly confess your undying love for them in the privacy of your home.  Unless you went to a concert and shouted at the top of your lungs "I Love You!" along with 10,000 other screaming women.  Good Times!

We recently did a podcast, Dave, Cheryl and Myself, and spoke about our top 3 crushes.  It was quite enlightening to not only learn about other people's preferences, but how you remember your own past and those who occupied it via your subconscious.

I mentioned several gentlemen and gave a few others honorable mentions, but there was one that I forgot, and I can't imagine why I forgot him, as he was such an integral part of my movie watching.  I blame my age, forgetting things.  That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

John Cusack.  I don't exactly remember the first movie I saw him in.  It might have been A Sure Thing, or One Crazy Summer, or Better Off Dead.  Regardless of which one it was, I fell, hook line and sinker.  

I think it's the black hair.  I love black hair.  He has black eyes as well.  Fabulous combination. He has a very snarky way about him.  I love a smart aleck.  Truth be told, that was the reason I married my husband, he's an excellent smart aleck.  Oh and if you are wondering if my husband tolerates my fondness for Mr. Cusack, I don't think he does.  To give you an example of his tolerance, he told me the only reason that he likes the movie 2012 is because John's character dies at the end. (spoiler alert)

But having said that, I'm not deterred in any way.  Even now, with every movie I watch that he does, even as he has aged, I still smile and appreciate him for his talent and activism and his general amazing knowledge of the world around him.  Did anyone see him in Love and Mercy where he played the more recent version of Brian Wilson? Paul Dano played the younger version and the transition between that two ages were seamless.  That takes awesome skill.

So there you have it (a letter opener)  80's Crush confessed, 80's Crush remembered, 80's Crush still appreciated now.  I would love to hear your comments and perhaps even some of your crushes.  I have the pleasure of working with a great group of folks that have provided their own 80's crushes via podcast and blogs, please see their links below.  

Thank you all again, and have an amazing whatever. 

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Brickless in the 80's

When you think of the 80's what springs to mind? Fashion? Music? Technology? When I think of the 80's of course music springs to mind, but another thing that made the 80's popular, to me, was hair.

Not the musical, just hair. Big hair. Big, Giant, Hair.

I love big hair (and I cannot lie) There is something completely demonstrative about big hair. It is saying, “Hey! Look at me! I spent 2 hours in the bathroom doing my hair and I don't care who knows it”

Did I have big hair in the 80's? Yes, but only the latter part of the 80's. It was more a combination of big bangs with a big perm, kind of like this ;)

Now I have  no idea who this lovely young lady is, but she definitely fits the bill for big hair :)  

So that was an example of MY big hair in the 80's.  I loved it.  Yes it was time consuming, yes I spent tons of cash on hair-styling products, yes I'm sure the reason why most of my hair has fallen out now is due to the over use of Aqua Net, but hey! It was the 80's! I was not going to be out done.  If you look closely, you can see her enormous shoulder pads ;) but that's another blog entirely.  

One of the 80's style innovations that I did not care for were hair crimpers.  You cannot make me believe that those things were not dangerous.  Don't know what a hair crimper is? I'll show you.

I know, looks harmless enough, but we are talking metal and heat on hair.  The horror stories alone made me shy away from this sophisticated apparatus.  It was originally invented in 1972 by a hair stylist working with Barbara Streisand.  Brave Woman!  Now if done properly, the hair is supposed to look something like this.

Or a reasonable facsimile.  Let's move on with 80's Innovation number 2.

My second choice for innovations of the 80's is something I saw in a movie.  The CD player. Mind you when I saw it in the film, it was night and dark and I couldn't actually get a proper view.  So I had to go to a trusted electronics store to make a better evaluation.  Radio Shack!

Look at the size of this thing! You know it had to weigh at least ten pounds, if not more :)  This one is a 1982 version.  Somehow I was trapped in a time bubble and didn't see one until 1987. How bizarre?  I wasn't sure that I liked it however and told myself that I didn't need anything that cumbersome and bulky sitting around my house.  Says the woman who still owns a VHS player.  It was pretty amazing though and listening to music on it was fantastic!  I'm sure there are a lot of people who still have some of the original versions.  Lord Bless Em!

My final innovation of the 80's is a bit more near and dear to my heart.  Mainly because it is about my children.  Who are near and dear to my heart :)

One fine Tax Return Day in the 80's, my children pleaded with me to purchase a Nintendo.  I should say my eldest son did the pleading, the younger ones were back up pleaders.  They figured it must be something they need to have if their elder brother is willing to go through such great lengths to get my attention.

So, I gave in and bought one.  It truthfully didn't look like anything I had ever seen before.  We never owned an Atari, so I couldn't compare it to that.  I felt as though I had to oversee any game playing just in case there was any unnecessary tomfoolery involved.  Needless to say there was going to be plenty of that.  After all we are dealing with children!

The picture above, is what we purchased originally.  Every so often, we would have to get a new game as well, there's only so many ducks one can hunt.  Mario Bros proved to be interesting enough, if you were willing to help him jump everywhere to rescue the Princess from Bowser?  Its all a blur, you are more than welcome to correct me in the comments below. 

Legend of Zelda was another good one.  Mind you I was never good at ANY of these games. I have no idea what the problem was.  I know practice makes perfect, but practice also makes one lose their minds after awhile because they are just not getting it!

Until.....Tetris.

Now, I have found something that I can play.  Tetris was and still is amazing, I think there are still various versions of it going around.  But I can say I played the original.  Not sure if the picture represents the original, but it will do for now.

As everyone knows, this game is HIGHLY addictive.  I never realized how addictive it was until I started to gain ground on my levels.  I was becoming a master builder, lol! I remember being on level 11 thinking..okay, today is the day I get to level 12.  Now mind you some of you are snickering under your breath, (I'm a Mom, I can hear you) but 11 was a big deal.  Level 1 on Mario Bros, forever, I might have made it to level 2 accidentally.  Legend of Zelda, forever at Level 3.  I think I'm still there.

Tetris was different.  It was my friend, it wanted me to win.  All I had to do was dedicate every waking moment to perfect my skills.  One day, I had played from the time my kids left at 8 in the morning until they got home at 3:30 in the afternoon.  I had done nothing all day but play Tetris.  And through all that, I didn't even make it to level 12.  

Needless to say my kids thought that was weird and a bit funny.  I thought I needed serious help.  It was time to leave the video games to the kids after that. At least until my Breath of Fire conquests in the Super Nintendo Game System, but that as they say, is another story :)

I hope you all enjoyed my trips down innovation memory lane today.  Please be sure to check out our collaborations with these fine folks below.  Thank you all again for listening to our podcasts and leaving such kind reviews and remarks.  Your support is greatly appreciated.

That's it for me, Ciao for Now!

PS., The title Brickless in the 80's is referencing the fact that I did not choose to blog about the first mobile phone, nicknamed The Brick.  I am hoping someone in the group did.  Anyone? Anyone? Bueller?, Bueller....?  

Welcome to our 3rd wonderfully awesome and epic 

80's Cross Over event! 

80s Innovations

Please check our fellow bloggers and podcasters take on our 1980's Innovations topic and leave a comment on their articles to show them some love.

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Favorite Christmas Gifts of the 80's

Welcome to our next epic 80's Blog/Podcast cross over event! We hope you enjoy reading this blog entry and clicking through to our 80's friends and reading more retro awesomeness.

Hello everyone and welcome once again to another blog post by yours truly.  This month's post is a joy filled holiday wonder, where Dave, Scott and I recall our favorite Christmas Gifts that we received during our favorite decade :)  I hope you enjoy our memories that we share as much as we enjoy recalling them for you.  So just sit back, put your tootsies up on that ottoman with your mug of hot cocoa and read our story: Favorite Christmas Gifts of the 80's

Seeing as how I am the eldest of our group and don't quite remember as much a they do.  I will go first.  My Christmas gift was more of a memory than a gift, but we all know how quickly times like that these can bring joy to our hearts.  

It was 1989 and I had been a single mom for 3 years.  My 3 children and I had experienced quite a bit of life together, and this year, we were getting ready for Christmas in our new house. It was a nice old house that creaked and groaned when the wind blew outside.  One of the things I was determined to do that year was to get the biggest live Christmas tree I could find. And sure enough, down the street at the local food bank, they were giving away live Christmas trees! 

My children and I were absolutely thrilled as we pointed to the one that we wanted and watched as the gentlemen hoisted our tree on top of our car and tied it down securely. Sending us on our way, I'm sure they they had the biggest smiles on their faces, knowing that this would make our Christmas grand!.

When we got home, our neighbor came out and asked if he could help us take the tree inside and of course we said yes.  Once inside, he asked "where is the tray that the tree is going to sit in"  I looked at him quite blankly and shook my head.  "I have no idea it needed a tray."  Which was very true.  I had no idea about quite a few things about a live tree.  Apparently it also needed to be trimmed on the bottom so it could fit in the tray.  And then you had to add water to it everyday so it wouldn't drop dead pine needles on your carpet.  

But, I was determined that damn tree was going up, regardless.  So we propped it up in the corner of the living room, hung the star at the top of the tree so it could face forward because it couldn't fit on top of the tree, that was all bent over :)  And that night, my children and I decorated our very first live Christmas tree.  Okay so the decorations were all on one level and on one side as well as the lights, but its the thought that counts. :)

No I didn't take a picture of it.  You will just have to imagine how that looked in your head. Now go get more cocoa so you can read Scott's entry.

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Scott Compton, our second co-host for 80's Reboot Overdrive, had quite the fortuitous childhood when it came to receiving gifts.  Scott, being a huge Star Wars fan describes his first two gifts as if he received them only yesterday.  I'm sure these amazing items would have been coveted by his friends and peers alike.  Here are two of his first two favorites  The remote controlled Jawa Sand-Crawler and the other was the Death Star Play set.

Scott's next two  gifts that he recalls is when he was a bit older, in high school, I'm thinking and he was able to ask for things that were a bit more mature in nature I would say.  A Personal Cassette Player Holder.  You would put your personal cassette player inside of this device and then everyone would be able listen to the music that was playing through the device's speakers.  It was possibly the precursor to the boom box?  Here is a picture of it below.  While Scott's model was a Sanyo, this Toshiba seems just a relevant to the style and the adaptations that the original device had.  That and the Sanyo picture wouldn't open :)

Scott's last gift that he recalls was the creme de la creme of all apparel in the 1980's that young men found themselves needing to have in their wardrobe.  The Members Only jacket! and not just any one, the leather made Members Only.  What an amazing article of clothing this was.  It was definitely something that no guy should be without, see for yourself!

I want to thank Scott, for providing these mementos of his favorite 80's Christmas gifts and sharing his memories with us also.

Last but not least is our host, Dave The Overlord White.  Dave decided that he would provide his own blog entry, which is great, cause all I have to do is copy and paste, Whoo Hoo!  So without further adieu,  Here is Dave, regaling us with tales from Christmases past.  

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I grew up in a small southern town in Florida. My childhood consisted in essence year around heat and mugginess as a general rule of thumb for an ongoing annual weather report outside of the regular daily rain. I believe one Christmas I was guilt tripped into mowing the grass or it was a gift to my Mom, doing a chore without being told, anyway the point was I MOWED the grass on Christmas. Fast forward to 1989, I graduated high school and 12 days later was whisked away to start serving my country in the United States Navy. When I graduated technical A school I was 3rd highest score in my class and was surprised when one of the choices left for my first duty assignment was at the Bureau of Naval Personnel in Washington DC. Then in the winter of 1989, nature delivered a very wonderful gift to a small southern town boy. This was my first live experience with snow. Of course, over the years my relationship with snow would become love/hate but for a young man all of 18 and experiencing snow for the first time. This was quite the wonderful experience and gave me a newfound respect for mother nature and her gifts to us.

For those that appreciate an actual material 80's theme type thing for a gift item this same season I was at the base store, also known as a PX. In my barracks room, we had these very boring white painted brick walls, so I opted to add some wall flair to the wall as a gift to myself. There in the poster rack, would be the vision of one of my Hollywood crushes and she would be mine, oh yes, she would be mine. That Christmas season she would be hanging in my barracks room in FT Myers, Virginia. A vision in tight blue jeans, leather aviator style jacket and possibly one of the best bare midriffs ever to come out of the 80s. She would remind me daily to "Keep on my toes", signed by the fabulous Janet Jones of American Anthem, Flamingo Kid, and Police Academy 5 movie fame. Watching that poster was better than the last movie on the list above. :-)

I want to thank each and every fan of the 80's that reads or listens to our stuff. You are a fabulous gift to our 80's Reboot Overdrive team and we so very much appreciate you reliving the greatest decade with us. Happy Holidays from Dave, your podcast Overlord.

Thank you again everyone for allowing us to bring to you some of our favorite memories of our 80's Christmas Gifts.  If you would like to leave a comment below of some of your favorites, please do, we would love to hear about them.

Take care all, and from all of us here at 80's Reboot Overdrive,  Have a Very Merry Christmas!

This is where you get linked to the other blog and podcast entries that are all talking about our #80sChristmas topic. Our 80's friends have great blogs and podcasts that you are highly encouraged to check out and comment, favorite, and share some holiday 80's love. 

80's Reboot Overdrive Podcast

Weegie Midget Blog

Killer Kitsch Blog

Rediscover the 80s Blog and Podcast

Return to the 80s Blog

Favorite Cars of the 80's

We here in America, love our cars.  We love them so much we even make allowances for them in every aspect of our lives.  You want to eat? Head for the nearest fast food drive thru.  Want to have coffee? There's a drive thru for that also.  Banking? Who has time for that? Drive-Thru teller, here we come.

The 80's were no different.  Well maybe except for the coffee shops, but for the most part the 80's was a time for new and improved and better than ever.  

Cars were no exception.  We were just coming out of a time in the 70's when oil was scarce and gas prices were high and gas was in short supply.  We didn't like that at all.  In order to keep up with the times and the rest of world, we had to reinvent our cars and make them smaller and more fuel economic, and yay, perhaps even a bit more stylish.

And we wanted the latest trends too, no old standards for this generation, we wanted what was hot, fast and easy on the eyes.  Something the girls would like to look at and what guys would love to drive.  

And what better way to find out what was the hottest cars out there? Why movies of course! Movies were an excellent venue to see what the best, hottest, fastest and unique cars were to hit the market, if they hadn't already.  Unfortunately with some of these babies, we would need to be a stock broker on Wall Street to afford one.  Take our first car for instance:

This lovely man is standing in front of an even lovelier vehicle.  The man, Timothy Dalton as James Bond in the Living Daylights.  The vehicle? Why it's an Aston Martin V8 Vantage Volante, 1986 I believe.   Where would James Bond be without a gorgeous Aston Martin to ultimately destroy?  Probably pretty bored I would think.

James Bond's Aston Martin.

We had quite a few James Bond films in the 80's.  Living Daylights just happens to be one of my favorites, as well, my favorite band sings the title song.  A-ha Living Daylights.  Excellent tune.

Another one of my favorite movies was Pretty in Pink.  I'm not going to explain the synopsis of the film everyone one knows it. But is everyone familiar with the cars from that movie?  Well of course we know Andie's car, the 1959 Volkswagen Karmann Ghia.  But there were a couple of other cars in that movie also.  Take the 1984 BMW E30 that Blaine drove.  We all remember that iconic scene where they are kissing in front of the car with it's headlights on? That's what it was.  I know we saw it earlier in the film as well, but I like this picture better :) 

Now there was another car in that film that was just as memorable.  You only see it once but you immediately know who owns it.  That's right, it's your favorite bad boy and mine James Spader as Steph in his awesome cherry red Porsche 911.  The perfect car for the perfect jerk.  I think it suits him well.

Another one of my favorite movies is the cult classic The Wraith.  This movie was all kinds of weirdness and the car that the Wraith drove was no different.  It was a 1984 Dodge M4S.  A prototype that never became a vehicle that you could own.  I'm thinking that was probably a good idea as it's design and uniqueness would probably fetch a pretty wicked penny.

Now I know your saying..."Rose? is that all you got is fancy expensive sports cars and one of a kind prototypes?"  Heck no!  Another one of my favorite movies is Planes, Trains and Automobiles.  Steve Martin and the late John Candy set out on an adventure of a life time, trying to get home to their families over the Thanksgiving holiday.  At some point when the planes and trains give out, it's time for the automobiles to take over and John Candy's character selects none other than a good old American 80's classic, the 1986 Chrysler Le Baron Town and Country. Why the wood paneling alone is worth every penny he didn't spend to rent it.

I must interject at this point, this particular car did not make the trip in its entirety.  If you are familiar with the story, you will know that there was a bit of a roadside mishap and well, Steve and John ended driving or trying to drive something completely different until they get pulled over by the State Patrol.

Yeah...I don't think they are going to get very far.  Oddly enough, the radio still works...

Last but not least, another holiday favorite of mine, Christmas Vacation.  Now Clark Griswold was definitely not a person who could be considered fancy or pretentious or even stylish actually.  But his car just screamed aerodynamically enhanced, it was none other than the 1989 Ford Taurus.  Raise your hand if you had one.  No! I'm not raising my hand *rolls eyes*  You know, for its size, it actually maneuvered pretty well, especially at high speeds when you needed to out run a huge logging truck :)  

I personally think it should be illegal to drive and sing Christmas Carols, but that's just me. What is it with the faux wood paneling?  Yikes!

Well kids, that's our blog for today.  I hope that you enjoyed it.  I made some pretty tough decisions trying to not only be true to my 80's self, but also add a bit of fun and flair to entertain the readers.  You should make sure and check out some of these other great bloggers who wrote their own take on their favorite 80's cars in movies and television.  Here is a list below with direct links to their articles:

Killer Kitsch - What’s Your #Fave80sCar?

Realweegiemidget - 5 Fave 1980s Film and Telly Cars

Return to the 80's - FAVORITE ’80S CARS   (Bonus Article) 

80's Reboot Overdrive Podcast - Top 3 Favorite 80's Cars

Before I leave, I do have to leave you all with a few of the most iconic cars of some of my favorite 80's movies.  While they may not be cars of the 80's they will definitely be remembered.  Thank you all again, this is 80's Music Girl, Ciao for Now!

Lane Meyer's "Tasty"  1967 Chevy Camero SS from Better Off Dead

Griswold Family Ford Ltd 1979 in Vacation

1979 Mercury Marquis Brougham Coupe from Uncle Buck *cough cough*

Grandpa's gorgeous 1972 Cadillac Coupe DeVille from License to Drive.

Oh dear, i seem to have forgotten something:

1959 Volkswagen Karmann Ghia Coupe

There, that's better.

#ThankfulForThe80s presents Kristy McNichol

by Dave (Twitter: @80sReboot)

My #ThankfulForThe80s journey continues with a brief discussion of my first memorable Hollywood star crush. I was born in 1970 and the late 70's and early 80's afforded me the opportunity to appreciate what we would describe as the "girl next door" type on the podcast. I think this is a misnomer in my latter life as the "girl next door" type has become the girl you wish lived next to you type, you know the type the wink-wink-nudge-nudge type, but Kristy McNichol was someone different to me. She was very cute and I indeed wished she lived next door as she seemed to be just someone very cool to hang out with. I would think more Winnie Cooper-ish girl next door type beauty and coolness, if that makes sense. If she came into my room and said let's play with your Empire Strikes Back action figures and you can be Han Solo and then later we can watch Thundercats, I wouldn't have to kiss her at that point as I would have been instantly in love forever. She just seems like a Hollywood star most likely to be cool with just hanging out with and wasting a day either geeking out or doing anything with.

I was all in with most of the movies that starred Kristy in the 1980's, kicked off the decade with Little Darlings as the tough yet sensitive Angel, Only When I Laugh as Polly Hines, The Pirate Movie as Mabel Stanley, Just the Way You Are as Susan Berlanger. I know those entries went chronological except my absolute favorite The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia as the absolutely perfect Amanda Child. Yes, I was jealous of Mark Hammill at the end of this movie, was it absolutely necessary to remove your uniform before driving off with my girl?

My favorite song from The Night The Lights Went Out In Georgia? I am sure you would think "I Need You Strong For Me" or "Baby, Bye-Bye" but actually it was "Hangin' Up the Gun" a duet with Dennis Quaid. Even to this day, I still enjoy listening to this song and watching this movie scene. 

Bonus Video - Let's not forget this gem from The Pirate Movie

What is your favorite 80's moment with Kristy McNichol? Let us know in the comments below or email to 80sReboot@gmail.com

Maiden Voyage-My 80's Halloween Playlist

Hello Everyone, I'm 80's Music Girl and this is my very first blog under the 80's Reboot Overdrive/Southgate Media Group blanket.  (its so cozy in here) Just to start this thing off, I'm going to publish a blog that is more conducive to the time of year.  When I had a radio show back in the day I was lucky enough to be able to create a Halloween Playlist.  Now as unexciting as that may sound, it actually was pretty popular and people who were streaming the show really enjoyed it.  So with out further adieu,  Here is one of my first blogs called My Halloween Playlist:

People love holidays. Let's face it, we make a big to do about everything during the preparation, we spend more money, we eat more, drink more and party til our socks fall off. And why shouldn't we? we deserve it right? we work hard for our money! (cue Donna Summer)

Halloween has been no exception.  It has been one of the best "candy driven" holidays for years.  I wonder who decided that kids loved candy so much, that they would dress up in the most outlandish outfits and parade from door to door to get free candy! Don't get me wrong, I did it.  Hell, I would still do it if it was frowned upon by society.  After a certain age, wandering the streets for candy when your an adult just looks kind of sad, and yes even a bit twisted.

I have a tendency to go to the dark side during the holidays, and Halloween is my jumping off point.  I like my candy corn, my days somber and my music a bit on the Alternative/Gothic side.  Here are some of my favorite 80s tunes to listen to during this most auspicious occasion.

Halloween by Kirsty MacColl

Dead Man's Party by Oingo Boingo

The Ghost in You by Psychedelic Furs

Bela Lugosi's Dead by Bauhaus

Cities in Dust by Siousxie and the Banshees

Monster Mash by Bobby "Boris" Pickett (remix done in the 80s)

Pictures of You by The Cure

Zombie-Fied by Alien Sex Fiend

Desire by Gene Loves Jezebel

Seven Hail Marys-Flesh for Lulu

Just a small list for now, running purely on memory, but that's what I will be and have been listening to for the last 24 days. 

What about you? How do you musically celebrate Halloween?

Time Capsule - The Year 1985

by Dave (Twitter - @80sReboot)

Here are our podcast offerings to cover a plethora of 1985 topics. 

The Movies of 1985 Dave, Matt, and Tim talk about the movies of 1985. Back to the Future, The Breakfast Club, Commando, Real Genius, and even Pee-Wee's Big Adventure are discussed.

Oscar Movies of 1985 Matt and Jesse talk about the Oscar nominated movies of 1985 and their picks on what movie should have won.

Top 3 Hard Rock Albums of 1985 Scott and Tim talk about the metal albums of '85!! Another amazing year in hard rock. They also briefly talk about Live Aid, a huge festival that took place on 2 continents on the same day, July 13, 1985! With hard rock bands like Judas Priest, Black Sabbath and a reunion of Led Zeppelin along with many other bands like U2, Phil Collins, Queen and David Bowie.

Grammys of the Year 1985 It's time to recognize that we may not be the world, but Jesse and RoseMarie are ready to use the Power of Love to talk the 1985 Grammy winners.  You won't have to pay money for nothing because no jackets are required and thanks to our Brothers in Arm Rob and Dave this podcast is free! 

1985 News Headlines

1985 Television Shows

1985 Cartoons

1985 was a magical year for this young man. I was in my fourteenth year of my life and TV and movies were just absolutely rock solid. Way too many to name but there is a special place in my heart for Thundercats, so much so that when we launched the podcast I knew the first show topic was to be about this great cartoon. If you listened to our PopJoust podcast you know that I believe the Sword of Omens is better than the He-Man sword and I still feel that way despite everyone else on the internet disagreeing with me. Give me "sight beyond sight" any day of the week! Last blog entry I also alluded to a movie, did you catch the reference? "Naked eating a bowl of jell-o" was a line from the movie Real Genius. I was a nerdy, geeky young man but not someone that regularly excelled in educational endeavors and this was due to lack of my willingness to put in the extra work. However, my social circles were filled with those that emulated the mega brain power of Real Genius, Revenge of the Nerds, or WarGames so I had an affection for those type of archetypes in movies and TV because they were like my crew I hung with in my formidable years.

In 1985 I was in a very small town in southern Florida. We had a theater that played a single movie and it rotated on a weekly basis. I enjoyed walking past the theater to look at the two posters out front, one proudly stating Playing Now and the other Coming Soon (essentially next weeks feature). That made life abundantly simple, there wasn't the many choices as there are at modern movie theaters. You liked what they played or you didn't, if you didn't, you simply moved on to something else. Assuming there was a week that the movie wasn't desirable, around the corner was refuge from the reality of small town life. It was essentially a shack that, thinking back to it, was probably not the kind of place I would allow my kids to visit without parental supervision in these modern scary times. But being the 1980s and knowing my Mom worked at the police department, I probably had a stronger sense of "nothing bad will happen to me" than I should have. Inside that big ugly shack looking building was a place that had low overhead lights but housed a collection of very cool light emitting and beeping cabinets called video games. That's right kids, I loved my dumpy looking fantastically awesome home town arcade.

Time Capsule - The Year 1984

by Dave (Twitter - @80sReboot)

Here we are at 1984 on our Time Capsule blog entries. I was wondering where I left my Laserbeak Decepticon Mini-Cassette for my Soundwave Transformer toy and this would have been the year it was last seen, keep your eyes peeled for it. As I have done for the past blog entries it starts with the self serving podcast links. Our team over at 80's Mixtape Auto Reverse starting getting really long winded (in a great way) as this was a great music year in the heavy metal and hard rock genre and it is tough for them to stop talking about it so for this year they start getting in some two part episodes. If you like what they are doing, check out their Facebook page and give them a LIKE, after you finish reading this blog entry and listening to these show links :-) 

1984 Movies - Dave, Tim, Matt, and Nick talk about the movies of 1984. Footloose, Terminator, Ghostbusters, Gremlins, The NeverEnding Story, and Buckaroo Banzai all get discussed and more.

Oscar Movies of 1984 - Matt and Jesse talk about the Oscar nominated movies of 1984 and their picks on what movie should have one.

Top 3 Hard Rock Albums of 1984 (Part 1) (Part 2) - Chris, Tim and Scott turn it up to "11" as they talk about 1984 and how many incredible metal albums were released and.......they discover that there are way too many to cover in one episode!!

1984 News Headlines

1984 Television Shows

1984 Cartoons

I have the desire to jump right into the topic that I hinted at with our last time capsule. Wow ... look at me linking these blog entries together. Impressed? You should be ... I rock the blog! Ok, maybe that is a bit much but hey, this is my blog, so for the sake of moving on ... I will rock the blog and you tell me otherwise in comments blow. Where was I? Oh ... Kidd Video. Confession ..."Hi I am Dave and at the age of thirteen had a fascination with cheesy television programs that infused music videos in bizarro cartoon worlds." In my defense the Kidd Video team had a hot drummer, actress Gabrielle Bennett, and a fairy named Glitter that dressed like Olivia Newton John in her "Physical" music video. Now ask yourself, teenage geeky boy watching MTV and cartoons ... you blend those worlds with that drummer and a little flying Olivia, of course, why wouldn't I be hooked? Don't judge! That is what we call guilty pleasures people and this blog and podcast is a safe zone to embarrass myself for the benefit of our followers, just like that time I caught you naked eating a bowl of jell-o. Wow! Crossed the streams on that one and another setup for the next Time Capsule blog entry.

I wish I can remember the exact year this happened for me, but the Apple commercial above reminded me of this. A school friend of mine named Robbie, had gotten an Apple IIe computer. When hanging out at his house, he showed off this wonderful technically amazing machine. Remember this was the time period shortly after seeing Matthew Broderick play Global Thermonuclear War on the WOPR from his home computer and I wanted to be able to do that. Robbie showed me his computer and of course, I became obsessed with it. I convinced my Mom to go to the local computer store (yes, they had those back then) and the salesman did the rest. At first this was explained to me that it was a "family" computer but it became pretty apparent I was the only person spending quality time on it so it ended up leaving the living room and becoming a permanent fixture in my bedroom. My world now expanded and would include Zork 2, Ultima 2, Flight Simulator 2, Lode Runner, and I would later spend a lot of time trying to figure out Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego? 

We would love to hear your memories of 1984 or this blog entry in the comments below. 

Time Capsule - The Year 1983

by Dave (Twitter - @80sReboot)

We advance moving another year forward in the 80s, this time we tackle 1983. As I spotlighted in the previous blog entries we jump right into our unabashed self serving advertisement of the podcasts we put out there for you covering this great year. In the movies of 1983 podcast we started an ongoing thread for a few shows where I got picked on for liking the movie "Valley Girl", it really gags me with a spoon why they did that, you know, like fer sure.

The Movies of 1983
Dave, Tim, Matt, and Nick talk about the movies of 1983. Wargames, National Lampoon's Vacation, Return of the Jedi, The Outsiders, Strange Brew and Valley Girl, they are all covered here and more. 

Top 3 Hard Rock Albums of 1983
Scott, Tim and Chris add another year to the series! It's 1983 and they discuss the direction and branches of "heavy metal" that are starting to form along with their 3 most notable albums from that year.

Oscar Movies of 1983
Matt and Jesse talk about the Oscar nominated movies of 1983 and their picks on what movie should have one.
 

1983 News Headlines

1983 Television Shows

1983 Cartoons

In 1983, I was as I enjoyed calling myself a preteen this was a fact that I kept announcing to my family at our reunion in Washington state. I remember for some reason this gave me the confidence to announce that my cousin Louis and I would go hang out together and meet "chicks". Of course, that never happened but still didn't stop me from being annoying in some preteen confident for no reason kinda way. I remember having an obsession with the song "Our House" by Madness. I still love the song and never tire of hearing it but I had to listen to it relentlessly when I was at that age, I am sure at the chagrin of my family.

In our TV world in 1983 was the final episode of M.A.S.H., this was a notable event because my Mom introduced this show to me and it hooked me. I enjoyed the Colonel Blake years way more than Colonel Potter but didn't stop me from continuing to watch it. As most people in the world at the time we watched the final episode and it was like saying goodbye to a long time family friend. The cast did change over the years but it was still a must watch for me, put on the theme music now and it takes me back in a small way to those simple days of laying on the carpet in front of the TV. 

Cartoons absolutely blew my 12 year old brain out of the water. G.I. Joe not only gave me action and adventure but also taught me important lessons and as we have been told, "Knowing is half the battle." Not sure what that battle was for a 12 year old preteen boy living in a small town in Florida but at least I was half way there ... to something. Another bit of awesomeness was Dungeons and Dragons cartoon, I wouldn't get involved in playing RPGs until a little later in life but the cartoon was just way cool. Wondering why the kids adapted so quick to their new surroundings and didn't actively find a way to get home. Shouldn't those kids have learned something from the Kidd Video team, wait, that's 1984, right? A cartoon topic for next blog post ... Nice!  

Tell me how I am doing with these time capsule blog entries, what are your thoughts on 1983. Leave us some comments below. 

Time Capsule - The Year 1982

by Dave (Twitter - @80sReboot)

Another year forward in our time capsule journey through the 80s. This time spotlight on 1982. As we have done previously we cater to our self serving advertisements on the podcast offerings that focused on that year. Being a big summer movie year this was our first movie review year that we covered. Our initial format was looking at most popular movies through IMDB and talking about them, in later shows we had co-hosts bring to the show three movies in that year that they wanted to talk about. I hope you agree that the 3 favorite format is better as it makes the stories shared more personal. Which maybe it stands to reason we should take another stab at our earlier shows and see how different they would be? Let us know in the comments if you would like us to do that.

Oscar Movies of 1982 Matt and Jesse talk about the Oscar nominated movies of 1982 and their picks on what movie should have won.

1982 Movies   Dave, Rhia, Matt, Nick, and Tim talk about the movies of 1982.

Top 3 Hard Rock Albums of 1982  Scott, Tim and Chris add another year to the series! It's 1982 and they discuss the direction and branches of "heavy metal" that are starting to form along with their 3 most notable albums from that year. 

1982 News Headlines

1982 Television Shows

1982 Cartoons

This year was both a phenomenal 80s year but not my favorite from a personal perspective. I alluded to on other blog entries that I am a certain age for most of the year. Being a December baby, that means I was 11 years old during most of the months of 1982. The summer movies were absolutely setting the stage for the term summer blockbuster and I believe this was the year the decade really found its voice. TV had wonderful sitcoms that filled our nights from Silver Spoons (what 80s kid didn't love that house with the train running through it), Family Ties, and Cheers. TV also gave us action and science fiction that was awesomely wonderful in the form of Knight Rider, The Powers of Matthew Star, and Voyagers! Movie theaters would be giving us E.T., Tron, Blade Runner, and Fast Times at Ridgemont High (we talk about the "fabulous" Phoebe Cates on multiple occasions on our show). 

Saturday morning cartoons were an interesting bunch we had a lot of pop culture people getting themselves animated for better or worst. You be the judge on these: The Mork & Mindy / Laverne & Shirley / Fonz Hour, Gilligan's Planet, and The Gary Coleman Show. Some of the better stuff that came out of that mix had to be Shirt Tales, Bugs Bunny / Road Runner Show, Speed Buggy, and The Incredible Hulk. I am still on the fence on Pac-Man being in a cartoon and would love to hear your comments on that below.

The year isn't one of my favorites on a personal perspective, despite some wonderful offerings to appeal to an 11 year old. I had loss my father to cancer and you can hear more on that here if you are interested.

Let us know your thoughts on 1982 in the comments below.

Time Capsule - The Year 1981

by Dave (Twitter - @80sReboot)

This time we move the time capsule target year up to 1981. As I spotlighted on 1980 Time Capsule we have a few podcasts that we have devoted to this year that we would like to share with you. Below our self serving advertisements for our podcast links we have some iconic videos that will give you a small glimpse of some news headlines, TV shows, and cartoon for this specific year. As I write this time capsule blog entry I notice that we posted the Movies of 1981 show 5 months ago, it is amazing to have started the podcast and witness the evolution of topics as when we started I couldn't imagine that we would have completed a Movies of series, let alone have Oscar Movies and Hard Rock / Heavy Metal albums through the years. Our ideas keep coming as we continue to find new topics and guests to talk about the greatest decade. We appreciate you reliving the 80s with us. 

Oscar Movies of 1981 
Matt and Jesse talk about the Oscar nominated movies of 1981 and their picks on what movie should have won.

The Movies of 1981
Dave, Scott, and Jesse talk about the awesome movies of 1981.

Top 3 Hard Rock Albums of 1981
Tim, Scott and Chris discuss their 3 most notable hard rock albums of 1981.

1981 News Headlines

1981 Television Shows

1981 Cartoons

I was ten years old for most of the year and I remember that on a somewhat frequent basis the family went to the local pizza shop in town. Being the picky eater that I was at the time, my Mom would have to stop by Burger King on way to the pizza restaurant to get yours truly a plain hamburger without ketchup with fries. I had some sort of aversion to red food, I wish I remembered what the deal was because I love pizza now but that is life of being a kid, finding new ways to ensure your parental units have to be short order cooks. At the pizza restaurant we would normally occupy a booth and I would routinely beg for quarters from my parents, then having to navigate under the table because my big sister's favorite phrase was "crawl under". Freeing myself from the confines of the booth while they waited for their pizza to arrive I would make my way out to the lobby to once again attempt to beat the sole arcade game there ... Defender by Williams Electronics. Defender would always win but I was mesmerized by the look and sound of this awesome game and even after losing I would watch the demo mode as if it would provide further insight on how I could finally conquer it. Job well done Mr. Eugene Jarvis on your design of this iconic game.

This year also blew my ten year old socks off in the realm of television. To this day "Believe It or Not" by Joey Scarbury ranks number one on my list of best 80s TV songs and hearing that music would stop me in my tracks to see the further misadventures of high-school teacher Ralph Hinkley, FBI Agent Bill Maxwell, and the lovely Pam Davidson. The fine folks over at Marvel also hooked me with their new cartoon Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends, as I currently watch the intro I wonder why this version of Peter Parker had such an awesome techno setup when all other versions I am used to have him barely affording to eat? However, I don't need dig deep into this one but I am curious if anyone remembers off the top of their head? Was Firestar or Iceman well off to afford such a big New York apartment that would transform into an advanced techno computer room if they moved the trophy? 

Let us know your thoughts on 1981 in the comments below.

Time Capsule - The Year 1980

by Dave (Twitter - @80sReboot)

Managing the podcast for over a year I noticed we have amassed quite a bit of content that can be grouped together in such a way that can serve as a mini time capsule for specific years of the 80's decade. I'll attempt using this blog to group some of our shows together that can spotlight either a year or some pop culture item or event to ease our listeners to find past shows that might be of interest. In the case of looking at a specific year I will also share some iconic videos that would spotlight news, TV shows, and cartoons that were on for that specific year. First up is the year 1980. Oddly enough this was the last year we covered for our movie review podcast series, as the summer of 1982 was such an iconic movie year that was our jump in point and we worked our way up from their before covering 1981 and then wrapping with 1980. Some of our co-hosts are also revisiting each year in either music or Oscar nominated movies and these 3 podcasts will be the beginning of this time capsule blog entry.

1980 Movie Review - Dave, Nick, Scott, and Jesse talk about the wonderful movies of 1980. Tweet to @80sReboot or email 80sReboot@gmail.com to join in the conversation. 

Heavy Metal and Hard Rock Albums of 1980 - Scott and Tim start a new series on heavy metal and hard rock albums of the 80’s. This episode they start with the general definition of “heavy metal/hard rock” and then they talk about their favorite "heavy metal/hard rock" albums from the year 1980.

Oscar Movies of 1980 - Jesse and Matt discuss the Oscar nominated movies of the year 1980. They discuss on whether the selected Best Movie of the year for that year should have won.

1980 News Headlines

 1980 Television Shows

1980 Cartoons

Personally speaking as this was the first year of the decade and I was 9 years old for the majority of it, I don't remember a lot of the significance of the news items or the TV shows or cartoons being memorable. A 9 year old boy may not have had a huge stake in the game on the election of Ronald Reagan, having geeky/nerdy interests the Olympic boycott didn't even hit my kid radar, and John Lennon being shot was definitely notable at the tail end of the year but took me years later to really understand the impact John had on music to appreciate the significance of that loss in December of 1980.

This being the first year of the decade and it still needed to identify itself to the world, for me it was a lot of the same old thing from the latter years of the 70's. Evidence of that can clearly be seen looking at these clips of That's Incredible or Thundarr the Barbarian, not bad in their own right but not significantly different than content that had already been out there. Nothing that really would blow the socks off a 9 year old boy with geek tendencies. That feeling would definitely change as the decade moved forward. Also note, I was hesitant to include Scrappy-Doo in this entry ... not a fan ... Scooby rocked ... but Scrappy ... really? What were they thinking with that one?

Let us know how you like this time capsule entry and our podcast contributions that highlighted the beginning what would become a wonderful decade in the comments below.

Gamma Cast Pilot Episode (S1E1) Extra Content

by Dave (Twitter - @80sReboot)

Greetings Gamma Cast fans! As mentioned on the podcast episodes here are some extra goodies for you to peruse as mentioned on our podcast. We hope you are enjoying listening to our show as much as we enjoy re-watching and talking about this TV classic. 

First I am providing a jump to our Tumblr page (click the below image to see more) with some images of the 1979 collector cards. 

First up on our first episode we discussed a visit by Mister Rogers and Mr. McFeely to the set of The Incredible Hulk. Bill Bixby and Lou Ferrigno spent considerable time to ensure Mister Rogers viewers understood that both of them did not really turn into the monster and it is all make believe. Here is a 2 part video for your enjoyment.

On our second episode we had discussion this video of show creator Kenneth Johnson was discussed around the debate on the Hulk being green for the show, the problems with grease paint, and problems with the Hulk wig.

80's Movie Soundtracks Twitter Shout Outs Continued

by co-host Dave (Twitter - @80sReboot)

This is a companion blog entry for our Top 3 80's Movie Soundtracks episode, click the picture below to listen to the podcast.

We recorded this episode on Saturday (Jan 2), this was a bit of an impromptu show as we really didn't have it scheduled beforehand. Scott and I contacted each other and realized we didn't have any obligations that night so we did our version of "Do you want a build a snowman?" but substitute the last word with podcast. We decided we would take care of some podcast administrative stuff and then record a show after that, we contacted Rose and same question and a very quick affirmative answer based on the topic at hand. I decide to send a few tweets so we can get some twitter shout outs for the show. 

First, for co-host Rose (@80sMusicGirl) and one of our awesome twitter followers @Homer_Torelli started this tweet exchange and I am posting this video for both of you to enjoy! You're welcome Rose. :-)

The great thing about this topic based on the tweets received it warrants a part two as there are a lot of great answers and memories from our Twitter followers. Tweet responses came in long after we stopped talking, so we didn't get a chance to give a twitter shout out on the show to all of them so here are the tweets we didn't get to.  

@Sutorippu
3. Footloose 2. Night of the Comet 1. The Terminator

@DalekNfra1
Don't forget FLASH GORDON!!!!

@mattduck21
Ferris Bueller's Day Off, Sixteen Candles, Goonies, Back To The Future, Stand By Me, Valley Girl, Fletch, Purple Rain
@80sReboot
Which songs from Fletch?
@mattduck21
Bit By Bit, Fletch Theme and Diggin' In are my favorites off that soundtrack.

@balser77
youtube.com/watch?v=tbcQlI… <---Tops my list

@andysutqs
Beverley hills cop, the goonies, platoon

@jumbotrousers
It's "The Lost Boys". This is not even a question that needs asking!

@PaulCresswell72
The lost boys, flash gordon

@BellarsRichard
2 words. KENNY LOGGINS

@BellarsRichard
2 more words STAN BUSH

@80sNostalgia
Years ago my mate made me a tape, (yes, a cassette!) of his fave film soundtracks. They were all ace. It had on it...
theme from Capt. Corellis Mandolin, hotel theme from Ghostbusters, a mental Exorcist track, and other I can't recall where from.
I know it isn't a soundtrack in the same way as the others, but Little Shop of Horrors is brilliant too.
Do like a bit of Kenny Loggins!

@the80smovieclub
Best s/t? The Thing!
@80sReboot
What song from The Thing?
@the80smovieclub
the one where it’s a bass line with one note that sounds like a heart beat!

@Mitchkrebsbach
Rocky IV. Best workout soundtrack ever

@DazzyJef
animated transformers #stanbush #yougotthetouch

@MikeSchmidt09
there ain't no easy way out!

@hectorhdz
Rocky IV, The Karate Kid, Top Gun

@TheGeekForce
Running Scared, Fletch, Goonies, Ghostbusters

@sexyginge13
True Stories / Talking Heads

@jimmystagger
To Live And Die In LA, Club Paradise, Out Of Bounds #80sMovie

@SoUTHPaRKoLoGY
#Fame & #Flashdance are up there!

@tlsmith1963
Any fans of the To Live & Die in LA soundtrack? That was the best music Wang Chung ever did.

This is final song from the movie Electric Dreams, typical 80s montage goodness if you haven't viewed it before. My favorite moment in this clip is the DJ that doesn't understand where the music is coming from holding multiple records in his hand as if the answer was in those. 

Also want to make sure you can find the t-shirt mentioned on the show. Very cool representation from an iconic 80s movie with a wonderful soundtrack. The Lost Boys. Click the picture below to purchase.

Feel free to add your favorite 80s Movie Soundtracks in the comments below.

David Bowie Remembered

by Matt (Twitter - @MattMcLean73)

Well, 2016 is determined to kick off on a bummer note, isn't it? Like most of you reading this I was blindsided by the soft, quiet and casual announcement post Golden Globes that David Bowie passed away today, surrounded by his family after a lengthy, but private, battle with cancer.

As a child of the eighties, my first introduction to David Bowie was “Let’s Dance” and “China Girl,” as they both had steady rotation on MTV back when they still played music videos.  Neither song lit my imagination on fire, nor was I particularity fond of them.  They were pretty much innocuous “pop” songs to me, and frankly forgettable (only if they didn’t play non-stop it seemed like).  Not to bash the songs, but I didn’t realize until later in the 80s how much music David Bowie produced in his lifetime.

Back then I was huge Jim Henson fan (still am).  I watched and loved anything and everything that came out from the Henson Company.  So when Labyrinth came out, I was introduced to David Bowie the actor as Jareth the Goblin King.  To me, that is my first real introduction to David Bowie. 

There was something about his performance in that movie that struck me, entice me, entranced me, which I guess was kind of the point (also it was a little bit creepy at the same time). But it stuck with me, who was David Bowie?  One quick trip to the record store and suddenly I was introduced to all alterations of David Bowie.  To say I was hooked is an understatement; I was enthralled with all of his music.  The first album I purchased was Hunky Dory, which included such great songs Changes, Life of Mars, and Queen Bitch.  From there I indoctrinated myself to The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and Aladdin Sane.  Then like an atom bomb, my mind was blown away by Low and Station to Station, which not only was a musical epiphany, but also a sound that I never heard before.

Bowie’s influence has been heard far and wide on all of the music in the 80s.  I personally feel if wasn’t for David Bowie, we probably wouldn’t have a lot of the pop music we all know today.  His influence is still felt.  I find it amazing he just released an album at 69, which by the way is amazing.  Blackstar is even more bittersweet now

There are very few celebrities that I felt a profound loss to.  In fact there’s only three: Freddie Mercury, Jim Hensen, and now David Bowie.  I’ll miss David Bowie greatly, but for now:

I will sit right down
Waiting for the gift of sound and vision

RIP David. Say hi to Ziggy for me.

Share your favorite Bowie memories in the comments below.

New Voltron Force Remake on Netflix

by Matt (Twitter - @MattMcLean73)

As an adult who grew up in the eighties, I’m always curious when the latest remake comes around.  This time it was quite a pleasant surprise when Netflix announced that they are working on a new Voltron Series to premiere later this year.

Now I have had a love/hate relationship with Voltron.  On the one hand, it was a new daily cartoon with action and a cool giant robot fighting giant monsters, and on the other hand, the danger on the show never quite seemed real.  The good guys always win, bad guys lose, bad guys come back again, rinse, repeat.

Growing up, I loved weekday cartoons afterschool.  I watched anything and everything. Voltron was one of the ones I watched on a regular basis.  I could go into the history of western importing of Japanese Anime, and the resulting downplay of the violence for American children, but I won’t.  Because, frankly, back in the 1980s, I didn’t know about Beast King GoLion (seriously, if you are a Voltron fan, you need to go look it up. It’s much better).

Voltron presented a lot of what I wanted as a kid, sci-fi, big robots, other far off worlds, and lots of action.  It’s a pretty easy thing to relaunch in this day and age, and I kept wondering why it hasn’t, but I don’t have to wonder anymore.

I don’t know if I will watch it all, but I will at least check it out.  Plus I think we have discussed Voltron a couple of times on the podcast.

Go Voltron Force!