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Here’s a moldy old slice of cheese for your entertainment, courtesy of the 1987 sci-fi kids TV show Captain Power. Watch as the Narrator explains humanity’s predicament via reggae-styled rap, all while the heroes battle to keep humans from being turned into machines.
This video is the perfect example of why rapping should be left to the professionals, unless of course you need to quickly come up with a theme song in order to rally the troops against an android invasion.
TV sure has come a long way since the 80s, but have rappers learned from Captain Power’s mistakes?
–via Comics Alliance
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We all need a Hall & Oates fix from time to time, and Michael Selvidge feels our pain so he created the Callin’ Oates hotline, a number you can call to get a daily dose of Hall & Oates.
The hotline contains such classics as: Rich Girl, Private Eyes, Maneater and a few more classic songs which will brighten your day and make everything right in the world once again.
And the topper? Hall & Oates aren’t going to shut the line down, and they are thrilled that so many fans keep calling and enjoying their songs!
–via Gothamist
Watch some of the most memorable toys from the 1980s turn into each other, including the beloved Transformers and Nintendo cartridges. Today’s Bratz dolls have nothing on marbles. -via Colossal
His subject matter may be a bit strange, as he draws everything from ALF to Italian soccer players, but Denis Medri’s illustrative style is full of energy, and his playful use of color and construction lines add a hand rendered warmth to the drawings that really bring the characters to life. Follow the link to his DeviantArt page and you can see more illustrations from an artist with some serious range.
Link -via ComicsAlliance
Quick
– what’s your favorite love song from ’80s movie? Can’t pick just one?
Well, neither can Emily Temple. She’s crafted this Top 10 list of Best
Love Songs from ’80s Movies over at Flavorwire.
(I’ve Had) The Time of My Life by Bill Medley & Jennifer Warnes (from Dirty Dancing, of course) came
in at number 3. See if your pick is there: Link
– Thanks Russ!
If you were a gamer during the 80′s, then you know just how amazing 8 bits can look, which is why you shouldn’t be at all surprised by these great 8 bit artworks -impressed yes, but surprised, no. WebUrbanist has plenty more for your viewing pleasure.
The blog Stuck in the ’80s says it is. I had to double-check the date on the post just to make sure it wasn’t an old April Fool’s joke just now making the Internet rounds, but no – Steve Spears says Ferris Bueller 2: Another Day Off is the real deal. It seems Ferris has made a mint on motivational speaking, but wealth isn’t making him happy. What he needs is – yep, you guessed it – another day off.
Screenwriter Rick Rapier has been trying to sell his screenplay for the past few years, but says in the past few months “Big name production companies that have first-look production deals with Paramount are reading the script,” meaning Ferris Part Two could feasibly see the light of day. Some blogs seem to think Rapier is, um, exaggerating slightly about the Hollywood insider interest in the movie.
What do you think??
Flavorwire has assembled a list of the most memorable ’80s TV theme songs ever, including the one to Pee-Wee’s Playhouse, written by Devo’s Mark Mothersbaugh and crooned (screeched?) by Cyndi Lauper, who goes by “Ellen Shaw” in the credits. I warn you, though, don’t follow the link unless you’re prepared to get one of them stuck in your head for the next several days. It’s a great list, to be sure, but they missed one of my favorites:
As an 80′s kid myself I can certainly relate to Natania’s list of scary movie scenes over at Geeks Are Sexy:
During that decadent decade of Reaganomics, shoulder pads, and scrunchies, it never really occurred to movie makers just how terrifying some of the scenes in their movies were. To this day, typical horror doesn’t scare me to the level of the scenes in some in these examples. I think there’s something to be said about fear when it’s in relatively small measure compared to the rest of the film. Sure, the Halloween movies are scary. But you expect it. These are a different breed and, in my mind, far more effective.
So in light of the Halloween season, I thought I’d share my top ten scary scenes from 80s movies I encountered in my childhood. Sure, not all of them are kids movies: but they were all movies I saw as a kid. And they probably explain a heck of a lot about why am I am the way I am these days. Other 80s kids know what I mean.
The decade that spawned MTV saw a serious shift in music from the previous one. Much of what was popular were new, untested bands that either had actual talent and thrived (Prince), or catchy one hit wonders (Harold Faltermeyer). The best of both of these worlds that pinned a song on a movie during the 1980′s are rounded up, with videos, at ChicagoNow.
For its exciting, educational montage of tournament action in The Karate Kid, the movie features this song by Joe Esposito, “You’re The Best Around.” This isn’t a music video; this was an actual scene in the movie, and it was pretty much the standard practice for musical interludes.
Link to The 12 Songs That Define 80′s Cinema.
This completely hilarious montage of circa 1987 video dater men was featured on Boing Boing yesterday, and as one commenter mentioned, the guy at 3:34 was a dead ringer for Seth Green. Upon second viewing, I noticed that the guy at 2:27 looks and sounds like Seth Rogen.
That got me thinking. Is the Seth Green guy really Seth Green, filmed recently? Slipped into a montage of real 87 vid-daters? And if that is Seth Rogen, is it also current footage with makeup, because if it was really him he’d be about 5 years old in 1987. It seems odd that two Seths appear in one seemingly random new (old) funny video.
Anyway, aside from that, there’s lots of funny to be found in this new viral gem. Hard to pick a favorite, but the Goddess guy/ Bon Jovi afficionado is impressive.
Photo credit: Seth Rogen by Philkon; Seth Green by David Shankbone.
I knew my mom was dead wrong when she said leg warmers would never come back and made me throw them out. That’ll be $20 for the replacements, mom.
Here’s an article at Fashion-Victim blog about 20+ fashion from the 80s that are making a comeback. For instance, take the Slap Bracelets:
I used to have a collection of these self-harming accessories, including my very own New Kids on the Block one. They were popular among pre-teens and teens in the late 80’s but were eventually banned from schools after many students suffered wrist injuries. Now that enough time has elapsed and people have forgotten the potential dangers of arm jewelry that once splayed open a kid’s artery, slap bracelets are back!
From the Upcoming 
ueue, submitted by Peachi.
I have a feeling I’m going to get mixed responses to this movie trivia post – either you love the stupidity (genius?) of Bill and Ted or you hate it. Me… I love it. I had a massive crush on Keanu Reeves back in his Ted days (which I then revived during his Speed days). Anyway, enjoy the trivia. San Dimas High School Football Rules!
Bill and Ted were originally “Bill, Ted and Bob.” The writers of the movie, UCLA students Chris Matheson and Ed Solomon, used to do improv comedy and one of their bits was about a trio of stoners who talked about current events even though they really had no idea what was going on. The third comedian who played Bob lost interest in the whole thing, and thus Wyld Stallyns were born.
In one of the early scripts, Rufus was a 28-year-old sophomore in high school whose van traveled through time. The van idea was thought to be too similar to the DeLorean in Back to the Future, so the phone booth concept was used instead.
The phone booth was given away in a Nintendo Power magazine contest. A kid in Mississippi became the proud owner. Photo from ErrorMacro.com.
Before the actors were chosen, Bill and Ted were supposed to be kind of unpopular guys who got made fun of in school. But the director loved Alex Winter and Keanu Reeves and knew they were perfect for the parts, so the roles were adjusted a little bit to make them regular guys who were pretty likable.
At first, the idea was for Keanu Reeves to play Bill and Alex Winter to play Ted. Neither one of them had a problem with switching roles. The writers didn’t meet the actors who were going to play the title characters until the first day of filming. Right before filming started, Chris Matheson and Ed Solomon went to eat at a McDonald’s near location and saw a couple of guys eating there and remarked to each other that those guys should have played Bill and Ted. When they showed up to the set later, they discovered that “those guys” were playing Bill and Ted – it had been Winter and Reeves at McDonald’s.
Originally, the characters Bill and Ted went back and “borrowed” were a little bit different: they included Charlemagne (“Charlie Mangay) and Babe Ruth. Apparently some scenes were actually filmed of Bill and Ted going to prehistoric San Dimas and meeting some cavemen.
The director wanted ZZ Top to play The Three Most Important People in the World, but ultimately decided that rock stars were too hard to work with.
At one point, Bill reads the history assignment to Ted, explaining that the point was to figure out how historical figures would feel about San Dimas, 1988. Do a little lip-reading in this part: Alex WInter actually says “1987,” because that’s when it was filmed. But by the time the film was released (there was a bit of a delay when the film’s first distributor went bankrupt), it was 1989. The line had to be redubbed.
If you’ve ever wondered what’s on Bill’s t-shirt under that vest, here you go: it’s the cover for Van Halen’s “Why Can’t This Be Love” single.
Joan of Arc was played by Jane Wiedlin, the rhythm guitarist for the Go-Go’s.
Most of the movie was filmed in Arizona, including the exteriors of the high school, the Circle K scene and the scene were Napoleon goes down the waterslides at Waterloo. The mall scenes were filled overnight at the Metrocenter in Phoenix.
Maybe Ted isn’t as dumb as he appears to be – at the end, after Napoleon finishes up his talk about how much he supposedly loved the waterslides at Waterloo, Ted says, “I don’t think it’s gonna work.” If you check out the maps Napoleon was gesturing to, you’ll see that Napoleon was mapping the Russian invasion, which ended terrible for the little guy.
In the movie, Bill and Ted say that Eddie Van Halen would compete Wyld Stallyns. After it was released, Eddie said he would have gladly joined if asked.
A scene was cut near the end where the guys attend prom with the princesses. That’s how the film was supposed to end, but it was decided that the garage ending would keep the focus on Bill and Ted’s music and Wyld Stallyns instead of on the prom.
