Friday 80s Flashback for October 26, 2012 (on a Saturday)

"Spooky Moon" taken by me on 10/22/2004

[Halloween] -- Welcome to a very special holiday edition of the Friday 80s Flashback. Yes, it's time for another flashback of a Flashback. I'm re-running my special Halloween edition from October 29, 2010.

Now, as far as I'm concerned, Halloween songs typically fall somewhere between being (1) Oh-so-obviously Halloweenesque, and (2) Stealthily Halloweenish. That is true regardless of the decade. Right off the bat (no pun intended there), we have to agree that Michael Jackson's "Thriller" is squarely in the first camp. And you have to understand, that I'm not going to feature it in today's Flashback. Yes, "Thriller" was huge for radio and MTV, and everyone wanted to learn the Thriller dance in 1983. Hell, that dance continues to inspire popular culture. But it's not featured today because it's just too obvious a choice. Moving on the other end of the spectrum, we have stealthily Halloweenish songs like "Dr. Heckyll and Mr. Jive" (1982) by Men At Work. This song is a clever riff on Robert Louis Stevenson's "The Strange Case of Dr. Jeckyll and Mr. Hyde." It also features that wonderful stock science fiction character who has made numerous appearances in Halloween/horror flicks, particularly of the b-grade variety. You know him, you love him, he is The Mad Scientist!

Now that I have provided a longer-than-usual intro, you are probably waiting not-so-patiently for me to unveil the actual Flashback choices, right? Well, please know that I needed to provide that info so you can understand that, for your Halloween listening today, I offer one song from the obvious camp and two that hue a little closer to the stealth end of the spectrum. And maybe, just maybe if you're very good, there will be a bonus track.

Read and hear more after the break.

Friday 80s Flashback for October 19, 2012

Puddle Reflection by ~Mustardplz

[Pacific Rain] -- You may recall that I was recently in the Pacific Northwest. Specifically, my trip was to points in and around Washington's Olympic National Park bookended by stops in Seattle. Now, I know you will find this hard to believe, but it rained there. No, really. It RAINED. Sure, this is characteristic weather for that area, but the region had been facing a rather uncharacteristic dry spell until we arrived. And, coincidentally enough, the book I've been reading -- Grave Peril (The Dresden Files #3) by Jim Butcher -- has had quite a bit of rain in the narrative. Oh, and today, we're getting quite the deluge:

Radar Map from wunderground.com at 10:00am EDT

So, I figure precipitation is a timely theme for the Flashback this week. Yes, I know there was a similarly themed Flashback last year (Rain Over Me on April 8, 2011), but there are plenty of other songs about rain, even within a single decade like our beloved 80s. So, what soaked songs made the cut this week? Read and hear more after the break.

Friday 80s Flashback for October 12, 2012

[Washington Rocks Redux] -- I am in Washington State again for a little vacation of hiking and relaxing. I figure this is a good time to re-run my Flashback post that originally ran one week after my first visit to the Seattle area and Olympic National Park (October 7, 2011). As I wrote then: "I thought it might be interesting to see what the 80s music scene was like in this state. Turns out, Washington was quite the hotbed for punk and heavy metal during that time (once you discount the brief fad of Twee Pop). Now, I had intended to post this flashback from the road, but I was not able to finish it in time. So, I'm brushing off the draft, cleaning it up, and posting it this week! If you would like to know what heavy rockin' gems I found, just read and hear more after the break. (Warning: These songs are loud, and possibly disturbing!)"

So, if you dare, crank up your volume and have a flashback to a Flashback!

Friday 80s Flashback for October 5, 2012

Stock Photography cliche (photo by Noodle93 - CC-BY)

[Such a Cliché] -- Some time ago, I thought about doing a Flashback about songs built around clichéd, or at least overused, phrases. Unfortunately, I already used my main lyrical contender for a different theme, that being the "Short Takes" Flashback from February of this year. But the cliché theme was given new life after I received an email from my father. During one of his recent trips to the Cleveland Clinic, he was listening to Sirius Satellite Radio. A few songs caught his ear, and made him think about me and these blog posts I write. "I wonder," he told me, "How many songs are based on well known phrases?" The two he found are definitely built that way, and certainly qualify for this week's theme. I added one more and, voilà, we have the trio of tunes necessary for a Flashback. If you would like to know the clichés and their songs for this week, just read and hear more after the break.

Gloam

Here is "Gloam," a beautiful short film by We Are The Forest.

 

I tip my hat to The Wild Hunt for hipping me to this work of art.

Friday 80s Flashback for September 21, 2012

This shirt is rated "Aaaarrrrgggghhhh!"

[Dress Like a Pirate] -- I realize that I missed posting a flashback last week. And I apologize for not helping you get your weekly 80s fix. But I'm back, and better than ever. Well, OK, all I can really say with any amount of certainty is that I'm back. And our theme this week is inspired by International Talk Like a Pirate Day, which is celebrated every year on September 19. And 2012 marks the 10th anniversary of this worldwide craze! Now, whenever I hear or read about pirate wannabes, I immediately think of the 80s. In fact, I recall a blurb in a magazine -- maybe Circus Magazine, maybe not -- in the mid- to late 80s that paired a few photos with the caption, "Who said the pirate look was dead, duh?" The number of frilled, puffy shirts and sashes on display definitely made the argument that the bands in question felt the look was very much alive. So ... Avast, me hearties! This week we'll look at a few acts that rocked (or attempted to rock) the pirate look. What treasures have I dug up for you? Read and hear more after the break.

Friday 80s Flashback for September 7, 2012

[I love NY (Redux)] -- This was a longer than expected work week. Seriously, who knew a four-day work week could feel like seven days? And after going through this week, I find myself with precious little time to blog. So, to keep pace with you 80s-philes, I have to flashback to a previous Flashback post and reprint the Friday 80s Flashback for September 9, 2011. To see what songs put me in a New York mood a year ago, you can either click the link to the previous post, or read and hear more after the break in this post.

Friday 80s Flashback for August 31, 2012

80s Fashion Collides with 2008 in the Subway (Book of Lies published in 2008)

[Lies] -- In the wake of the recently completed Republican National Convention, and in full knowledge that the Democratic National Convention starts next week, the 2012 Presidential Campaign is in full swing. Not that we haven't already been inundated with campaign rhetoric for more than a year already, but now we're in the home stretch. And regardless of your party affiliation, or lack thereof, the one thing we can all agree upon is this old chestnut: "How can you tell when a politician is lying? You can see their lips move." But I'm not lying when I tell you this week's Flashback features songs about lying and liars. I can't promise you'll find out why politicians have to lie, but I will promise that you can read and hear more after the break.

Friday 80s Flashback for August 24, 2012

[A Few More August Birthdays] -- Last week, the Flashback celebrated Madonna's 54th birthday. Well, this week we have a few more 80s artists celebrating birthdays! And it works out perfectly for: three artists, three tunes. At first, I knew only of one birthday boy, and the whole Flashback was going to be dedicated to him. But later on Thursday, I learned of another artist's birthday occurring on the same day this week. It seemed hardly fair to divvy up three songs between two artists, so I embarked on a search to find another 80s artist born during this week. And I was successful, but it might seem like a bit of a cheat as she had only one release in the 80s. Still, it's legit. So if you want to know who blew out some candles this week, and what songs are featured for them here, just read and hear more after the break.

Friday 80s Flashback for August 17, 2012

Madonna in the 80s image from Blingee

[Happy Birthday Madge] -- I'm sure dedicated 80s-philes know that the Material Mom turned 54 yesterday (Aug 16). So, what is she doing to celebrate? She's in the midst of her MDNA World Tour, which is doing rather well, and she is doing her best to keep out of controversy. Not bad for an artist who supposedly peaked in 1986 and is regularly accused of being "washed up" (latest accusation comes from the rather irrelevant Elton John). So, in honor of Madonna's birthday, I figured the Flashback should focus on her 80s career. Since releasing her debut album in 1983, Madonna has gone on to become the top-selling female recording artist of all time (per Guinness World Records) and she boasts an enormous catalog:

• 12 studio albums (four of which were released in the 80s)
• 6 compilation albums (one in the 80s)
• 3 soundtrack albums (one in the 80s)
• 3 live albums 
• 11 EPs (six in the 80s)
• 3 remix albums (one in the 80s) 
• 21 box sets 
• 78 singles (26 in the 80s)

Now, I've never been a big fan of Madonna, so to assist me in bringing you an appropriate selection of tunes for this Flashback, I asked the biggest Madge fan I personally know: DangrDafne. She had strict rules to select three tunes released between 1983 and 1989. She gave me five. If you want to hear which songs made the cut this week, you can read and hear more after the break.