Patrick Swayze Dies

August 18, 1952 - September 14, 2009

Sad to report, Patrick Swayze has lost his battle with cancer. Swayze died today at the age of 57. He will be remembered for many iconic roles throughout the 80's and 90's.

The Tubes - She's a Beauty

She's A Beauty／The tubes
Uploaded by gaimon5656. - See the latest featured music videos.

This 1983 song and video by The Tubes is one of the best songs you'll ever want to listen to about strippers. It reached #10 on the charts.

I'll be typin' at ya later,

Bob the Blogger

Eddy Grant - Electric Avenue

Didn't always understand what he was singing, but didn't care. It just sounded good the way he was singing it. Eddy Grant reached #2 with this reggae inspired hit in 1983.

I'll be typin' at ya later,

Bob the Blogger

Movie of the Week - The War of the Roses (1989)

The trio of Michael Douglas, Kathleen Turner and Danny DeVito worked so well for Romancing the Stone and it's follow up Jewel of the Nile that they decided to join forces again and make this 1989 dark comedy.

The War of the Roses is so funny, because it is so true. There are ways this troubled couple relate to each other that almost any married couple in the world can sympathize. There are classic scenes throughout that will stick in your memory forever.

Even though the Indiana Jones-like Romancing the Stone and Jewel of the Nile get more attention for this trio of actors, it is this movie that is by far the more superior film.

Kudos to Danny DeVito for directing this film. It was an underrated job of directing. Go rent this film and thank me later.

I'll be typin' at ya later,

Bob the Blogger

The Vapors - Turning Japanese

Vapors Turning Japanese
Uploaded by Celtiemama. - Explore more music videos.

We've all heard the rumors so I don't believe there's a need to go into it here. Suffice it to say, this song is not about switching citizenship to become a Japanese citizen. Use your imagination if you don't know, and if that doesn't work, ask a friend what this song is about.

This was a big hit for The Vapors all the way back in 1980.

I'll be typin' at ya later,

Bob the Blogger

Top 10 Scandals of the 80's

These are the scandals that first hit my mind when thinking about 80's. I'm sure there are probably others out there and I welcome your feedback in the comments. That being said, out of the ten scandals off the top of my head in the 80's, I ranked them according to their importance and impact.

#10

Rob Lowe's Sex Tape

Doesn't he look like the cat who ate the canary in the photo above? Well that isn't too far off of what Rob Lowe did at the 1988 Democratic National Convention. While attending the convention Rob picked up a couple of, more than willing, girls from a local bar. He took them back to his hotel room where they engaged in a threesome that was videotaped. Unfortunately for Mr. Lowe, one of the girls was only 16yrs old.

I come down on the side of Rob on this one. I mean really, what are you supposed to do, start IDing girls you meet in bars? They're supposed to be old enough if they're in the place drinking in the first place.

Luckily, Rob had no legal problems arise from the tape, but the embarrassment from the tape being leaked, derailed his career for a period of time. Rob's career has totally rebounded and he enjoys steady work in Hollywood to this day.

An interesting fact about this scandal is that it is one of the very first Hollywood sex tape scandals. As we all know now, alot of celebrities use this as a vehicle to stardom these days. Boy, how times have changed.

#9

Oral Roberts Fundraising

In January 1987 Oral Roberts stepped in front of a camera and told all his followers God was going to "call him home" unless he raised $8 million by March. Luckily, for Mr. Roberts, a millionaire made up the lacking funds just before the deadline.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but doesn't God own everything to begin with? I have my doubts God would need Oral Roberts to raise a single penny for him if that's what he wanted. Here, in a nutshell, is what is wrong with organized religion. I highly doubt God approves.

Anyway, don't get me started. On to the next entry on the list.

#8

Milli Vanilli's Lip Synching

In 1989 Milli Vanilli was performing live on MTV when the recording began to skip, leaving the duo trying to cover by playing right along with the skip. Finally, they both ran off the stage in utter embarrassment. As questions arose from the mishap it was revealed that neither Milli or Vanilli sang on the album. They were just live puppets. Because they had won Grammy Awards the scandal was heightened and they ended up giving the awards back.

#7

Ben Johnson's Steroids Scandal

Canadian sprinter Ben Johnson was just sick and tired of losing to American sprinter Carl Lewis. So what did he do to get better? Train? No. Steroids? Yes. In doing so, Johnson became unbeatable. He shattered two world records and won Olympic Gold in 1988.

When it was found, through testing, Johnson had been taking steroids he was stripped of his world records and his Olympic Gold Medal.

#6

Pete Rose Bets On Baseball

For the life of me I have never quite understood Pete Rose's sin here. Did he bet on baseball? Yes. Did he bet on Reds games? Yes. Did he bet against the Reds? No.

Pete Rose never bet against the team he was managing and/or playing for. Therefore, he never tried to fix a game or anything even close to it. What he did do is put his money where his mouth was and say his team was gonna kick the other team's ass. I don't have a problem with this.

To keep the all-time hits leader in the history of baseball out of the Hall of Fame and to give him a lifetime ban is just unbelievably ridiculous. Baseball should be ashamed. Charlie Hustle didn't cheat!!! Reinstate the man and put him in the Hall where he belongs!!!

#5

Gary Hart's Love Of Rice

Donna Rice that is. Hart was the clear Democratic front runner to win the party's nomination to be President in 1988. Unfortunately for Hart and fortunately for the country, his extra-marital affair with Donna Rice was revealed and it derailed his career. Gotta love Rice!!!

#4

Jimmy Swaggart The Hypocrite

Jimmy Swaggart must have been thinking the ministry was just a microcosm of the great 80's movie Highlander. He must of been thinking of the movie's theme of "There can be only one", because he had been running around policing the Kingdom of God and taking the heads of such high profile preachers as Jim Bakker and Marvin Gorman for extra-marital affairs.

Here's the rub. While Jimmy was busy eliminating the competition he was doing the exact same thing himself. And what made matters worse was he was cheating with streetwalking prostitutes. Tsk tsk tsk....I don't think God approves Jimmy.

#3

Jim Bakker Cheats and Evades

When it was found out Jim Bakker had cheated on Tammy Faye with the church secretary, Jessica Hahn, that was bad enough, but when the subsequent investigation, because of the hush money, uncovered numerous financial irregularities, the government came at him with both barrels blasting.

By the time it was all over, Bakker suffered a nervous breakdown and was sentenced to 45yrs in prison. PTL.

#2

The Iran Contra Affair

This scandal touched a lot of people in Washington, but it never made it up to Ronald Reagan. And there is a simple reason why. Reagan knew nothing about it. As much as some people would like to lay the blame at his feet, he simply knew nothing.

The player that came out of this affair, looking much better than the Democrats would have liked was Oliver North. He became so popular for his coolness under oath, his hair cut became the fad of the summer of '87.

#1

Savings And Loan Scandal

The savings and loan crisis of the 1980s and 1990s (commonly referred to as the S&L crisis) was the failure of 745 savings and loan associations (S&Ls aka thrifts). An S&L association is a financial institution in the United States that accepts savings deposits and makes mortgage loans. The ultimate cost of the crisis is estimated to have totaled around $160.1 billion, about $124.6 billion of which was directly paid for by the U.S. government—that is, the U.S. taxpayer, either directly or through charges on their savings and loan accounts^[1]—which contributed to the large budget deficits of the early 1990s.

The concomitant slowdown in the finance industry and the real estate market may have been a contributing cause of the 1990–1991 economic recession. Between 1986 and 1991, the number of new homes constructed per year dropped from 1.8 million to 1 million, the lowest rate since World War II

---Wikipedia

I'll be typin' at ya later,

Bob the Blogger

Animotion - Obsession

This was an even a larger hit than it's #6 chart position would indicate. That may be due to the fact of it's status as a club song and it's content. Animotion charted this song in 1985 with lead singers Astrid Plane and Bill Wadhams on vocals. It wasn't until later, when both Plane ad Wadhams had left the group, that Cynthia Rhodes (also known as Mrs. Richard Marx) joined as lead vocalist.

I'll be typin' at ya later,

Bob the Blogger

Murray Head - One Night in Bangkok

One Night in Bangkok took an unlikely road to One Hit Wonder stardom. Murray Head was an actor starring in a musical called Chess. This song was in the musical, but found a life outside the show. The music for the song was composed by Bjorn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson of ABBA fame. The lyrics were written by Tim Rice. It reached #3 on the U.S. charts in 1984.

I'll be typin' at ya later,

Bob the Blogger

Actor of the Week - Michael Douglas

Michael Douglas

Sept. 25, 1944 -

By the time the 80's rolled around Michael Douglas, the son of movie legend Kirk Douglas, had already been very successful in Hollywood. He had already won an Oscar in the 70's for producing One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. Also, he had starred in the critically acclaimed 1979 movie The China Syndrome.

In the 80's Douglas gained super stardom with blockbuster after blockbuster, including a Best Actor Oscar for playing Wall Street tycoon Gordon Gecko in the 1987 movie Wall Street.

Douglas has had a long and successful career in Hollywood and he is still at it to this day. I have no doubt Douglas has at least one more award worthy performance in him.

I'll be typin' at ya later,

Bob the Blogger

Taco - Puttin' On The Ritz

In 1982, Dutch singer Taco took Puttin' on the Ritz to #4 on the U.S. charts. The song and the video both had a different sound and look to it and people responded well to the deviation from the norm. Taco, though, never had another sniff at the charts.

I'll be typin' at ya later,

Bob the Blogger

Top 10 Gender Benders of the 80's

The 80's was a decade of quite a bit of androgyny. Guys were wearing makeup and sporting long hair and girls were cutting their hair short, some even had buzz cuts. Lot's of guys were looking like girls and lots of girls were looking like guys. Lucky we got out of the decade not completely confused Adam was Adam and Eve was Eve and not vice versa.

So, who were the biggest Gender Bender Offenders??? Well, let's count them down.

#10

Michael Caine

Dressed To Kill (1980)

Michael Caine donned a wig, shades and a trench coat to play a psychopathic psychiatrist in the 1980 movie Dressed To Kill.

#9

Peter Scolari & Tom Hanks

Bosom Buddies (1980-1982)

These two made a couple of the most hideous looking women I have ever seen. It must be really, really hard to find an apartment in New York is all I have to say.

#8

Dee Snider

Twisted Sister

Scariest transvestite in the history of mankind. Dee Snider looked like a Rocky Horror Picture Show, acid induced nightmare in the 80's.

#7

Joyce Hyser

Just One of the Guys (1985)

This movie scared me, because I didn't know what to do with my feelings of attraction when Joyce was dressed like a guy. I'm still confused to the day.

#6

Jamie Farr

M*A*S*H* (1972-1983)

I take it back about Tom Hanks and Peter Scolari being the most hideous women I'd ever seen. Jamie Farr as Cpl. Klinger takes the grand prize for that category. What's a fella have to do to get out of the services, anyway???

#5

Pete Burns

Dead or Alive

In the 80's Pete Burns was the poor man's Boy George. The thing is George has moved on from his gender bending past, to a certain extent. Pete, however, has decided to not only continue, but even further his endeavors. He, pretty much, is unrecognizable as a man these days.

#4

Poison

I remember the first time I ever saw this album cover and I thought to myself, Who are those hot chicks. When I found out it was a bunch of dudes, I felt so dirty that I had to go take a shower.

#3

Dustin Hoffman

Tootsie (1982)

Dustin Hoffman wasn't so much ugly as a woman, he was just not pretty. Hoffman used his gender bending ability to get ahead in his career in the 1982 movie Tootsie.

#2

Annie Lennox

The Eurythmics

Was I supposed to feel disgusted? Repulsed? Scared? I don't know, but for some reason I was strangely attracted. So, when Annie did away with some of the shock value I knew why. Annie Lennox was actually beautiful in her natural state as a woman and she couldn't even hide it with short red hair and a business suit.

#1

Boy George

The Culture Club

Was there ever any doubt who should be #1 on this list? I had absolutely no idea for the first hit or two The Culture Club had that the lead singer was a guy. He looked like a girl, walked like a girl, danced like a girl and he even sang like a girl. And to top it all, he even was attractive as a girl. I'll never forgive him for that.

Well there you have it, the Top 10 Gender Benders of the 80's. How I ever made it out of the 80's with my mind not in a permanent state of confusion is some kind of miracle.

I'll be typin' at ya later,

Bob the Blogger

Men Without Hats - Safety Dance

The easiest dance in the history of mankind to learn. If you had two arm and could lift one above your head in a 45 degree angle and the other in front of your waist at the opposite 45 degree angle, then you knew the Safety Dance.

The video for this song by Men Without Hats, was just wrong on so many levels. The three main characters in the video kind of scared the bejesus out of me. The lead singer was always shifting his eyes from one side to another and it made him look posessed. The girl, who was twirling and dancing, was just downright crazy looking. She looked, as though she belonged in an insane asylum. And, well, as far as the dwarf goes, dwarves have always scared me quite a bit. If you add a jester outfit to one you have the fodder for many future nightmares.

With all that said, it was still a catchy tune, which could not be denied a high place on the charts.

I'll be typin' at ya later,

Bob the Blogger

Nena - 99 Red Balloons

Not even Hitler could do as much to advance the German language in English speaking countries as Nena did when they brought out 99 Luftballons. And even though I could sing every single word in German, I was glad it was the English version, 99 Red Balloons, that topped the charts in the United States.

This song is so good I'm gonna post the German version down below. Enjoy!!!

I'll be typin' at ya later,

Bob the Blogger

Dexy's Midnight Runners - Come On Eileen

I figured I may as well start this One Hit Wonder week out with what I consider the all-time greatest one hit wonder.

This is just a great song from beginning to end. The words are nostalgically great, the music is unbelievably catchy, and the video is a wonderful example of the 80's type of video. Add that all together and you, not only, have one of the best one hit wonders of all-time, but you have one of the best songs of all-time.

I'll be typin' at ya later,

Bob the Blogger

Artist of the Week - One Hit Wonders

There has been no other decade, in music, like the 80's, when it comes to One Hit Wonders. There was more of them in the 80's than any other decade and the quality of the One Hit Wonders were better, in addition.

Actually, some of the best songs to come out of the 80's or any other decade, for that matter, were One Hit Wonders. It's almost like these musicians put every ounce of talent and strength into one single song and it completely depleted them of any such hope of ever writing another song as good.

This same mystery also may explain why so many bands throughout the history of popular music debut with these unbelievably good albums and then are never able to duplicate that artistry or success.

Anyhow, this week I will be posting videos of artists that had only one big hit and was never really heard from again in the U.S. I hope you enjoy!!!

I'll be typin' at ya later,

Bob the Blogger

Def Leppard - Rocket

This was Def Leppard's last hit of the 80's. It reached #5 in 1989 off their hugely successful Hysteria album.

Def Leppard had several more hits in the 90's and are still going strong today. They are definitely one of the most succesful rock acts of all-time. Hope you've enjoyed the Def Leppard Week.

I'll be typin' at ya later,

Bob the Blogger

Def Leppard - Love Bites

Def Leppard slowed it down for this #1 hit in 1988 off their Hysteria album. Another one of my faves.

I'll be typin' at ya later,

Bob the Blogger

Def Leppard - Armageddon It

This song reached #3 in 1988 off Def Leppard's Hysteria album.

I'll be typin' at ya later,

Bob the Blogger

Def Leppard - Hysteria

This is one of my favorite Def Leppard songs and definitely my favorite off the Hysteria album. It reached #9 in 1987.

I'll be typin' at ya later,

Bob the Blogger

Def Leppard - Pour Some Sugar On Me

This song has proven to be one of Def Leppard's most enduring hits. It reached #2 off their Hysteria album in 1987. The video listed above was their official U.K. version.

I'll be typin' at ya later,

Bob the Blogger