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