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.

Friday 80s Flashback for February 18, 2011

[An Awkward KISS] -- With yet another Valentine's Day safely in the collective rear view mirror, we can reflect on other Valentine's Days gone by -- specifically, Valentines of the 80s. I spent the first half of the 80s in junior and senior high school, so most of those "celebrations" can be filed under the category of awkward. That's just the nature of the pre-teen and teenaged experience. Now, the members of KISS, who had been the object of many teenagers' hero worship through the 70s, probably were not awkward (or even necessarily honorable) in their dealings with members of the opposite sex , but the start of the 80s did find them at an awkward point in their career. They entered the decade strong: To their credit, they had a string of eight Platinum-selling albums, the last five of which included the interesting gimmick of their four "solo" albums -- all released on the same day in 1978 -- and the disco-influenced Dynasty of 1979. But they also greeted the new decade with internal tensions, Peter Kriss and Ace Frehley being particularly dissatisfied, and musical identity issues. Kriss and Frehley were therefore less-involved with the recordings of this period and they eventually left the band in 1980 and 1982 respectively. KISS eventually experienced something of a rebound in the late 80s, probably due to the convergence of glam/hair metal rising in popularity and an increase in KISS nostalgia. But 1980 - 1983 were pretty much a low point for the band. So, what could I possibly choose as showcase songs for today's Flashback set?

Read and hear more after the jump.

Friday 80s Flashback for February 11, 2011

[Covered] -- I decided to go in a slightly different direction with the Flashback today. Please be advised that this post might not be for the 80s purists in our midst. You see, I love cover songs. Sure, I feel there is something to be said for purity of an artist's vision for their own music. However, I also feel that one of art's most wonderful qualities is its capacity for reinterpretation. When an artist covers material from the previous generation, they show a love and respect for that material (there are exceptions for satire and spoofs, neither of which are the focus of today's Flashback). And a successful cover can prove a song's staying power and legacy. So, while a song may have been born in a specific decade and brought to life with certain music technology, it can enjoy new life and, sometimes, bring new attention to the original artist. Even if the original artist is forgotten in the release of a successful cover, the original song's innate glory is preserved. And somewhere, within some percentage of the listening public, there will be folks who do remember, and who can sit back satisfied smile and say, "Yes, so-and-so really was a skilled songwriter."

Are you ready to find out what artists have I chosen for their covers of great 80s songs? Read and hear more after the jump.

Friday 80s Flashback for February 4, 2011

[Theme: Super Bowl XLV Weekend!] -- In case you haven't noticed, Super Bowl XLV is this weekend. And my favorite team, the Pittsburgh Steelers, are playing for their 3rd title in six seasons (or their 7th in franchise history). Now, this isn't a football blog by any stretch of the imagination. And aside from winning Super Bowl XIV in January 1980 (to cap off the 1979 season), it's not like the Steelers had a great deal of success in the 80s. Also, "Renegade" by Styx, which has become something of an anthem for the Steelers since 2002, comes from 1979.

So how do I select 80s songs to go with this week's theme?

First, I thought I would try to select a song from the 80s-equivalent of each year the Steelers have reached the Super Bowl -- basically 20 years prior to the recent year. But whether I went with the year of the season (2005, 2008, and 2010) or the actual Super Bowl year (2006, 2009, 2011), I ended up with only two out of the three years actually falling in the 80s: The first option yielded 1985, 1988, and 1990; the second option gave 1986, 1989, and 1991.  

Aside: Yes, if we want to get technical, 1990 is 20 years prior to 2010 and it can be considered part of the 80s if you run the decade as 1981 - 1990. I just chose to not go that route.

Fortunately, while riffling through songs from 1985 and 1988, I came across this one tune and the path to fulfilling this week's theme was clear. I will simply select three songs from the 80s that make me think of this Steelers team playing in this Super Bowl.

Are you at all curious about what I selected? Need some great 80s tunes, either to get fired up for the game or just have a great weekend? Read and hear more after the jump.

Friday 80s Flashback for January 28, 2011

Image Credit: Computer Costume from the 80s [Make]

[Theme: Hi-Tech Living and Loving] -- Last week's theme was so much fun that I decided to expand on it for this week. We now move from the concept of Better Living through Science to how exactly are people living with the latest tech? Although you probably cannot turn around without tripping over one today, computers only started to enter everyday life in the 80s. And for every person who was excited for the new possibilities that these devices represented, there was someone equally anxious about the rise and proliferation of computers and computer control. In today's digital age of Google, Facebook, and internet advertising, privacy and security top the lists of people's big concerns. But at the onset of the computer age, folks were worried about being replaced by a machine -- or even losing their very souls. Think about Tron (1982), WarGames (1983) and Electric Dreams (1984), all of which had plots featuring computers that seemingly, or actually, came to life and challenged their human creators for control. Issues of alienation, loneliness, and loss of control, however, are as relevant today as they were in the 80s. Now, I could have gone quite dark with this theme, but I am in a good mood this week so I kept the choices fairly light. I hope you appreciate this week's collection of toe-tappers about the human spirit interfacing with cold, logical machines. 

Read and hear more after the jump.

25 Years Ago Today: The Challenger Shuttle Disaster

Tuesday, January 28, 1986: The space shuttle Challenger explodes 73 seconds after launch, killing all seven astronauts aboard, including Christa McAuliffe, intended to be the first teacher in space. Other astronauts killed were Francis "Dick" Scobee, Michael J. Smith, Ellison S. Onizuka, Judith A. Resnik, Ronald E. McNair and Gregory B. Jarvis.

Challenger Explosion (from Wikipedia)

I remember it today as though I were looking through the wrong end of a telescope -- it's far away and tiny, but the emotional punch is still there. It was my senior year of high school. I was with other students waiting in the hallway outside the gym for the class bell. Before that bell went off, the principal spoke over the PA system, saying he had to make a special announcement. I remember thinking how odd it was for him to break in at that time of day. And then he said some words I was sure I had not heard correctly: "The Challenger exploded just after takeoff. There are no survivors."

I was stunned. I stood there blinking. And then someone next to me -- no, I don't recall who it was -- asked the question that was on my mind, "Did he just say what I think he said?"

The rest of the day passed in a sorrowful haze.

Exploration, particularly space exploration, is a dangerous and risky business. But it is necessary because it satisfies the human impulse to push boundaries, and because of the technological rewards we reap when those boundaries are pushed. Never take for granted the pioneers who make the life we live possible.

Friday 80s Flashback for January 21, 2011

Image from How Do You Know You're Doing Science Wrong? [scienceblogs.com]

[Theme: Better Living Through Science] -- This week's theme was inspired by a fan video that I just happened to see in my Facebook newsfeed yesterday. I'm using that very same video today, so you'll have to wait until later for specific details about it [Update 1/22/2021: that fan video is no longer available, so I replaced it; womp womp]. For now, all I want to say about it is that this particular video took footage from the current incarnation of an older TV series and set it to a great song from a crazy-fun 80s movie (a movie that inspired a slightly entertaining 90s TV series, but that's a bit tangential for today). 

"Science," I said to myself, "is a perfect theme for me to use in an 80s flashback!" Why is it so perfect? Well, I spent 1982-1986 in what was called the Scientific curriculum at my high school. I then spent the remainder of the 80s pursuing a Physics degree at Penn State. Yes, I was a good little nerd during that seminal decade. So, of course, I love music that is infused with technology -- or music that at least has lyrics influenced by science and technology. It may not be the best stuff for studying how to use bracket notation or matrix computations, but it is the absolute best music for celebrating after surviving another difficult exam.

Or celebrating a long work week. Like, perhaps, this week.  

If you want to know what songs your mad scientist has in the mix today, read and hear more after the jump.

"I Ran Out Of Tiles!"

Interesting and fun, but this article does not address the most important question regarding the longest word: How the heck do you use a word with 1,913 letters in Scrabble? I mean, wouldn't you have lost the game by the time you amassed enough tiles for it? What's The Longest Word In The English Language? : Krulwich Wonders… : NPR

Friday 80s Flashback for January 14, 2011

[MLK] -- Let me begin with an apology: I'm sorry this week's flashback is only getting posted during Friday's last few minutes. Unfortunately, my day job required more of my time than usual. I can't promise it won't happen again, but I will do my best to keep such occurrences to a minimum.

So, where were we? Oh, yes! This week's flashback.

Many folks are enjoying a three-day weekend because they are employed at a business that observes Martin Luther King Day, a celebration of the life and work of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. So, I figured that it would be great to kick off the weekend with 80s songs about, inspired by, or in some way reminiscent of MLK. Now, I do not want to assume that everyone visiting Prophet or Madman for the Friday 80s Flashback knows why MLK is honored with a federal holiday. However, I don't want to spend too much time explaining it either. Fortunately, with sites such as The King Center and MLK Online providing easy access to archival footage, audio clips, service information, etc., I can simply point you in their direction. So, surf on over before festivities begin on Monday. You can even look at them before you delve any further into this week's flashback. 

Go on, I'll wait. 

Oh, you can't wait to find out what songs I have selected to go with this theme? Well, then, read and hear more after the jump.