What Was the Song of the Summer of 1986? A Thirty-Year Retrospective
Summer of 1986– the summer of Ferris Bueller and Max Headroom. The summer of Maverick, Goose, and Ice-Man. The summer I first read Catcher in the Rye and the summer when I finally committed to memory the words to “Hotel California.” And the summer where a dance song about a pregnant teen and her disapproving dad ruled the airwaves…well, according to Billboard, that is. In my opinion, the summer of 1986 gets...
80s Walk-Up Music: 2016 Edition
“The one constant through all the years, Ray, has been baseball.” So intoned Terrence Mann (James Earl Jones) in 1989’s Field of Dreams. And one constant in Major League Baseball in the twenty-seven years since that pronouncement? 1980s music. Go to any MLB park in North America, and you’ll most likely hear 80s tunes over the PA at some point during the game. The San Diego Padres play “Let’s Go Crazy” during the 7th inning...
Reexamining Eric Clapton’s Work In The 1980s
Recently, I went on a trip to Antigua, and within walking distance of our resort was a big house that my brother-in-law claimed belonged to Eric Clapton. I never got confirmation whether that was true (I didn’t hear “Wonderful Tonight” wafting from the windows or anything), although Clapton apparently has an estate (or two) somewhere on the island, as well as a drug rehabilitation center, which he opened in 1998. And the brilliant,...
Catching Up with Nina Blackwood
TV personality, disc jockey, reporter, journalist, classically trained musician — when it comes to entertainment, Nina Blackwood really has all the bases covered. And that’s not even mentioning the fact that she’s one of the original MTV VJ’s — something that only five people in the history of the planet can claim! On top of all that, she’s sort of LikeTotally80s’s unofficial patron saint. Truly, Nina always keeps the 80s...
You Mean These 80s Performers Have Died?
Though far from a product of the 1980s, David Bowie certainly made an indelible mark on the decade: he had a bunch of hit singles, including “China Girl,” “Modern Love,” “Blue Jean,” and “Let’s Dance” (which went to Number 1); he performed at Live Aid in 1985, and then released one of the songs he sang at the event, “Dancing in the Streets” (with Mick Jagger); heck, even Peter Schilling’s song “Major Tom (Coming Home)” is an homage to...
