The first movie to spoof slasher-horror flicks? It came out long before Scary Movie, Scream, or others that come to mind. In the early 80′s, a film by the name of Student Bodies hit theaters. Scenes from this movie would pop into my head occasionally over the years, but I always had difficulty remembering its [... read more ...]
Bartles & Jaymes will need no introduction if you watched television in the mid-1980′s. How all of this ends up on YouTube, I’ll never know… but I’m glad it does. We thank you for your support.
Another flashback to the early days of MTV. The appearance of this video coincided with my first crush on a woman with a mohawk. Chance of this song getting stuck in my head? At least 80 percent.
When I was a kid, the silliness of Monty Python would make me laugh for hours on end (and I still find most of it pretty darn funny). The “Spanish Inquisition” episode was one that really stood out for me, and resulted in a new catch phrase being forever implanted in my vocabulary. Do I [... read more ...]
Why this song suddenly popped into my head is beyond me. Released in 1990, the song is built over a collection of familiar classic-rock riffs and drum fills. I was glad I could find it on YouTube, but apparently I never saw the video before. To be honest, I find the video to be a [... read more ...]
Flashback for today? Men At Work! I haven’t seen this in ages, and yet I still found myself anticipating the different facial expressions from each band member. Funny how these things can be burned into the back of your memory. Definitely an iconic video from the early days of MTV (when video-production budgets were an [... read more ...]
It’s funny to publish this under “Nostalgia”, if only because this song still gets occasional airplay. Saxon was the first group that I ever declared as my “favorite band”. They would eventually provide a mechanism for attending my first-ever rock concert, when I answered an obscure trivia question for local radio station 94 Rock. The [... read more ...]
Almost everyone from my generation has a vast collection of Monty Python memories stuck in their brain. It’s hard to mention any single skit without immediately conjuring up several others (“Oooh, yeah, remember the one about…?”). No rhyme or reason to selecting this one, other than having it come up early in search results. Even [... read more ...]
Every time I begin driving east for a lengthy roadtrip, this song by Jerry Reed will pop into my head. It is soon followed by numerous visuals from the movie Smokey and The Bandit. I could elaborate, but if you’re reading this, it’s safe to assume you’re already recalling it vividly. Skip to the 1:20 [... read more ...]
I don’t know if Father Guido Sarducci’s character was an invention of Saturday Night Live, or if that was simply a television venue finally introducing him to the masses (GET IT?! MASSES?!!!). Absolutely hilarious! In the clip below, he lays out a vision for higher education in America… and ends up making a lot of [... read more ...]
Paul Simon is a magnificent talent and an extremely prolific singer-songwriter. His career spans several decades, leaving us with a treasure trove of unforgettable songs. The first collection of his “new music” that I purchased during the eighties was called Graceland, and this is the minimalist video of its first single. It made me smile [... read more ...]
The album Chicago 17 was released in early 1984 and spawned several singles for near-constant radio airplay. And while the band continues touring to this day, I don’t recall them playing any of these songs recently. Perhaps they have been relegated to the dusty rack of “80′s has-been chart toppers”. This definitely takes me back [... read more ...]
In the spirit of Valentine’s Day… a flashback to 1976 with Silly Love Songs by Paul McCartney and Wings. For me, this song never triggered feelings of love and romance. But it definitely brings back vivid memories of summertime, sunshine, and the community swimming pool near my old neighborhood in Omaha, Nebraska.
I seriously doubt The Gong Show ever provided a path to fame and fortune for its contestants, but nobody can deny it was the definitive 70′s talent show. And I’m willing to bet a lot of people have memories of their “regulars”, including the one and only (?) Unknown Comic! Sit back, enjoy the clip, [... read more ...]
I know these guys played Woodstock and all, but I learned about them because of their cheesy variety TV show in the early 70′s. A wonderful production that was undoubtedly loved by everyone under the age of eight. I’d be curious to know exactly how popular their show was back then (apparently popular enough to [... read more ...]
Never heard of the band Jump in the Saddle? Can’t say I know much about them, but I was introduced to The Curly Shuffle in the mid-80′s by our local radio station. It was a great tune to hear early in the day, and I seem to recall that I always needed to turn up [... read more ...]
You know the day is going to be an interesting one when Fish Heads pops into your brain upon starting the day. What possessed people to record something like this? I think Dr. Demento was the one who delivered it to the masses. This has to be one of the more effective songs to displace [... read more ...]
In the early 80′s, Bob & Doug McKenzie recruited Geddy Lee to sing on their “hit single” Take Off from the album Great White North. This was a staple on radio stations for a short while, but was soon forgotten and is now rarely heard. (Unlike their rendition of Twelve Days of Christmas which still [... read more ...]
All holidays trigger nostalgic memories for me, but this is especially true when it comes to Halloween. Couldn’t tell you why, but sitting down to watch the original Halloween slasher movie — which is still a “must” every year at this time — will essentially transport me back to an autumn-in-the-late-70′s frame of mind. I [... read more ...]
I remember seeing “Meatballs” at a drive-in theater during the late 70′s. Apparently film critics didn’t appreciate the incredible underlying complexity of this masterpiece in the same way I did. But then again, eleven-year-old boys were able to see artistic merit in anything that involved hot-dog eating contests and characters with “very active glands”. Dedicated [... read more ...]
Another staple from MTV in the early eighties, and indeed another tune that gets stuck in my head easily.
This video from 1982 popped into my head and I have no idea what triggered it. In fact, I don’t even think they play this song on the 80′s radio station anymore. Press “play” on the video below and see if you don’t have the same reaction to it that I did. I immediately recognized [... read more ...]
Some songs are timeless. And then we have “Electric Avenue” by Eddy Grant. No doubt about it, this song is wholeheartedly stuck in 1984. Of course, it does have some charm, as it has been stuck in my head ever since I first heard/saw it on MTV. A must have for any 80′s music collection.
I know it’s not a stretch to remember this one, as almost everyone over the age of 30 can sing it in its entirety. Nonetheless, it doesn’t exactly get a lot of airplay these days. I would guess that a lot of people have this recording somewhere in their collection. Not everyone will admit it, [... read more ...]
If you were a kid in the 70′s, chances are a lot of your “real” education came from the School House Rock television spots. Conjunctions, adjectives, adverbs… all of those definitions were firmly planted in our heads because of Saturday-morning TV. Do you remember how a bill becomes a law? I’ll bet you do! So [... read more ...]
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