Friday 80s Flashback for April 29, 2011

[College Rock] -- I turn 43 this week. Now, how do I work my birthday into one of my weekly 80s post? By looking at the years that, in my opinion, most defined me. I'm a believer in the saying that home is where you find out who you are. For me, that would be college ("We are! Penn State!"). And my college years coincided with the heyday of the musical genre known as College Rock, so named because this "alternative" to pop mainstream found a home on many a college radio station. Although known for many independent artists and giving the world "Alternative Rock" (right after its biggest acts went mainstream), College Radio gave rise to such (now) well-known bands as U2 and R.E.M. So, for my birthday, you 80s-philes get quite a gift with this flashback. You know, of course, I won't go the "easy" route with my selections. But can you guess what gems we'll unwrap this week? Read and hear more after the jump.

Friday 80s Flashback for April 22, 2011

[A Very Good Earth (Fri)day] -- This week our Flashback Friday falls upon a date of intersection. Today is Earth Day, a time to reflect on our use and abuse of our home planet, as well as Good Friday, the day Christians the world over solemnly observe the murder of their religion's central figure. Also of note this week, we observed the one year anniversary of the Deepwater Horizon explosion and subsequent oil spill. So, today, we have something of a combo theme: 80s songs that reflect a concern for our planet and environment, as well as 80s songs that somehow -- even if only in my mind -- reflect some aspect of Easter. That's quite a tall task, so I'll bet you're wondering what songs made the cut this week. As usual, you can read and hear more after the jump.

Friday 80s Flashback for April 15, 2011

Today's Flashback is brought to you by Montgomery Theater's 

production of Tom Dudzick's "Hail Mary!"

---

[Hail Mary!] -- First off, I'm kidding about the "brought to you by" message that introduces this post. The Friday 80s Flashback does not have a corporate sponsor ... at least not yet (c'mon, HP, Google, someone ... call me). But this morning, I heard Morgan Spurlock in a radio interview as he talked about his latest "docbuster" (i.e., documentary blockbuster), The Greatest Movie Ever Sold. Spurlock's new film explores corporate sponsorship and the future of branding. I find this interesting because corporate sponsorship started with the media boom, which helped grow commercial radio and television, but the practice pretty much exploded in the 80s and 90s (college bowl games and stadium naming rights coming into play). All of which led many of us in the 80s to ponder the question that Spurlock pointedly asks in his film: What if we lived in a world where everything was "brought to you by" some corporate sponsor? And, trust me, the irony of it all is not lost on him.

Anyway, back to the business at hand.

Regular visitors to Prophet or Madman know that I love my 80s music. What you might not know, however, is my love of live theater -- it is such a fantastic and powerful medium for storytelling. Now, I have been involved with a small professional theater in Souderton, PA, for the last several years. And this is opening weekend for our production of Tom Dudzick's "Hail Mary!" As with the previous Dudzick plays I have worked on ("Greetings!" and "Over the Tavern"), I am quite taken with the message in the script: Shine your light in this weary world, because that's just what the world needs. To be a little more specific, without giving up the full plot, "Hail Mary!" is also about sponsorship of sorts (see what I did there?). The play could just as easily be asking, "Who do you want to be sponsoring God?" or "Does God really need a sponsor at all?" or "Sure, that's what [insert institution's name] taught you, but how is it really working for you?" You see, your worldview is "brought to you by" someone or something. And, much like our downtown view has been hijacked by billboards and other signage touting various corporate messages, our opportunity for a peaceful world has been hijacked by the sponsors of competing worldviews. It might be time to cleanup the public space of our hearts and minds. For folks engaged, or even interested, in interfaith dialogue (another passion of mine), the core themes of this play will truly strike a chord that resonates long after the final bow.

For more information about the production, please visit Montgomery Theater's page, Hail Mary Opens This Weekend. To learn what selections this play has inspired for this week, read and hear more after the jump.

Friday 80s Flashback for April 8, 2011

"Playing with the Rain" from http://dryicons.com

[Rain Over Me] -- I've been terribly busy this week and my good friend, Debbie, had to remind me via a Facebook post that another Flashback was expected. Due to my work load at the dayjob and pre-production tasks at the theater, I had not even thought up a theme. Fortunately, another good friend, Cameron, was at the ready with a suggestion: Rain. 

I thought that was a good idea.

We are in the midst of a fairly cold and wet Spring, colder than we've had in a good long while. And rain has been our frequent companion here in southeast PA. Heck, a good chunk of the country was slapped silly with flood conditions over the last week. After Monday teased the Delaware and Lehigh Valleys with a high of 71 degrees, Tuesday came in and bludgeoned us with precipitation. I must have driven through three or four different weather systems on my morning commute that day! And, guess what, more rain is on the docket for this weekend. 

So, I accepted Cam's challenge, and selected a few rainy day tunes. What is in this soggy playlist? Read and hear more after the jump.

Friday 80s Flashback for April 1, 2011

[April Fools'] -- April 1. The 32nd of March. April Fools' (or All Fools) Day. Yes, we have come to that annual observance of mirth and (hopefully minimally destructive and non-lethal) mayhem. You know: The day of reckoning (or, day of pranks and hoaxes). Well, rather than prank you, dear 80s-philes, I shall take pity on you and merely deliver an appropriately "foolish" set of 80s tunes. With an entire decade of artists who often looked the part of fools in addition to acting the role, I have many options. However, rather than looking to the Pucks and jesters who ruled (or attempted to rule) the charts, I chose to narrow my focus to their songs, specifically songs with some form of "fool" in the title. 

What foolishly delightful selections do I have for you this week? Read and hear more after the jump.

Friday 80s Flashback for March 25, 2011

[Phil in the Blank] -- As I mentioned in last week's flashback (Miami Sound Machine), Phil Collins took time earlier this month to call an end to his music career of 40+ years. Collins announced his retirement during an interview with FHM magazine (reported in The Daily Telegraph and later parroted by Anglophenia) adding, "I don't think anyone's going to miss me."

What? He doesn't think he's going to be missed?

Sure, Collins doesn't fit neatly into the current music scene, which has changed much since he ruled radio playlists in the 80s. Yes, he is likely responsible for shifting Genesis from their prog-rock foundation to a more polished pop rock sound. True, he hasn't had a top 20 hit on the US Billboard Hot 100 since 1990 ("Do You Remember?"), and his last studio album to crack the US top 20 was Both Sides in 1993. And, yes, it's true that his most successful album in the last 20 years was a soundtrack ... for a Disney movie (Tarzan in 1999) ... with a single ("You'll Be In My Heart") that went on to win the Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song and the Academy Award for Best Original Song ... and for which he was lampooned on the animated series, South Park.

But I have to believe there are folks out there who will miss him.

To date, Collins has sold over 150 million records. He recorded 12 studio albums released over 30 singles with Genesis. In his solo career, he released over 40 singles, nine of which reached #1 in either the US or UK. His last solo studio album, Going Back (2010), reached the top 10 in the UK and eight other countries (but only peaked at 34 in the US). He played drums on, or produced, nearly 70 albums between 1969 and 2001.

In case you forgot, Phil Collins really knew his way
around a drum kit (image source: A Brainless Thinker)

Unfortunately, those drums are a part of why Collins is calling it quits: He can no longer play them. A dislocated vertebra and nerve damage in his hands leave him unable to even grip a pair of drumsticks.

Or is he quitting? A day or so after the FHM interview I cited above, People magazine reported that Collins has no intention of retiring. (Has he been taking career advice from Brett Favre?)

Whatever the future holds for Collins, how can I possibly select three tunes and do justice to a career that has spanned decades, especially one that could be ending on such a sour note? The short answer is, "I can't." But I'm not here to sum up the entire career of Phil Collins. I'm here to share great music from the 80s. It just happens that this week I was motivated to focus on Phil Collins in light of his potential retirement. So, what three gems have I selected? Read and hear more after the jump.

Friday 80s Flashback for March 18, 2011

[Miami Sound Machine] -- Notice how often today's artists have their releases pushed in TV shows and commercials? How about the resources available to help you track down and purchase those songs (e.g., TuneFind, Shazam, AdTunes)? Given how prevalent pop music is in television, you might think that this marriage of entertainment genres has been in place since the beginning of broadcast TV.

But if you thought that, you would be wrong.

We can actually trace this practice to the 1980s. To be more specific, we can give credit to one groundbreaking show that debuted on September 28, 1984: Miami Vice. In addition to chronicling the exploits of Detectives Sonny Crockett and Rico Tubbs, Miami Vice was a huge influence in shaping and defining style in the 80s. (Exactly how many pastel shirts and white jackets were sold because of this show?) In fact, Vice was as much a contributor to 80s style as MTV -- not surprising considering how many MTV artists contributed tunes to the police procedural. 

Miami Vice originally ran five seasons, spanning 111 episodes from 1984 to 1990. The music was such a popular part of the shows that three soundtracks were released on MCA Records: Miami Vice I (1985), Miami Vice II (1986), and Miami Vice III (1988). Jan Hammer's score music was finally collected in 2002 on the two-CD set, Miami Vice: The Complete Collection. Those four releases combine for a total of 74 tracks. That's a fair number of options for Flashback selections. So, what three are featured this week? Read and hear more after the jump.

Friday 80s Flashback for March 11, 2011

Vince Clarke (Image Credit: Bradford Shellhammer)

[The Clarke Factor] -- Unless you enjoyed scouring album liner notes due to a serious irrational interest in who made electronic music and how they made it, the name Vince Clarke will not strike a bell for you. (See what I did there? No? Don't worry, you'll catch it later.)  But Clarke's musical DNA is featured prominently in three of the most-popular synth acts from the first half of the 80s: Depeche Mode, Yazoo (known as Yaz in the States), and Erasure. His work with these three bands yielded nearly 20 hits that landed within the top 50 on several different charts -- and that's just looking at the output from 1981 through 1989! That makes for a sizable catalog to assess. So, what selections have I chosen from this man's illustrious pop and dance music career?

Read and hear more after the jump.

Friday 80s Flashback for March 4, 2011

[Bonded] -- Today's Flashback is shaken, not stirred, because we're looking at title songs for James Bond films in the 80s. In that one decade, three different actors assumed the task of portraying the British super-spy. Three! That has to be foreshadowing for a Flashback, right? In the 80s, those three actors appeared in five different films. During that time, we saw the original (and aging) Bond try to recapture the magic, the second Bond age himself out of the role, and a third Bond who never got the chance to grow into the role (he lasted only two films). So, which spy-worthy themes do I have for you in this week's Flashback?

Read and hear more after the jump.

Friday 80s Flashback for February 25, 2011

[Heirs of Avalon] -- This week's theme has nothing whatsoever to do with the court of King Arthur. No, today I am dealing with bands inspired by the look, style, and sound of the English art-rock band, Roxy Music (1971-1983; 2001-present). The theme is named in honor of their last studio album, Avalon (1982). Well, that, and I suppose you could make a case for "heir" being rather close to "hair" which was something of a trademark for these bands, but I digress.

Now, art rock is closely related to progressive rock. Both are experimental, sometimes drawing on themes from classical music, and both often incorporate avant-garde influences. And art rock is typically more keyboard than guitar-driven. However, as the 80s gave rise to New Wave music, art rock went a bit more in the synth direction and relied less on concept albums (although some bands still dabbled in large-scale story telling on occasion). Roxy Music, to my mind, lies between the extremes of progressive and art rock. So they were the perfect gateway band for their later 80s forebears.

Of course, many bands claim to have been influenced by the Rox (wait, does anyone really call them that? Oh well, I just did), but I am bound by the rule of three, so I had to whittle my options down. I had to find a trio of artists to represent the gamut from New Romantics to New Wave Rock.

Who made the cut, and what songs are featured? Read and hear more after the jump.