Remember the Name — Irene
I was looking up Irene Cara on Wikipedia. It mentioned that she did a sitcom pilot in 1981, shortly after appearing on Fame. Irene Cara, a sitcom star? Somebody uploaded this pilot to YouTube in three parts (the first part is below). It’s a cute if dated show, with young actors Julia Duffy and Keenan Ivory Wayans in the cast. To bad the pert and pretty Ms. Cara turned to coke and flushed her career down the toilet.
The Hal Linden Follies
An interesting bit of TV ephemera was recently posted in 10 parts on YouTube — TV Guide magazine’s 1980 year-in-review. If the idea of an all-singing, all-dancing Hal Linden turns your crank, by all means check out part one below. Actually, the show is an intriguing concept when you ponder that a few newsworthy events of 1980, like the U.S. pulling out of the Olympics and the Screen Actors Guild strike, meant (horrors) less stuff to watch. The special includes behind the scenes clips from Shogun and a heart-to-heart between Tom Brokaw and Ed Asner. Not to mention thorough rehashes on Dallas and country music (this was the Urban Cowboy era, after all). And Shields & Yarnell!
The No. 1 Song in Heaven
Spent the last few days getting reacquainted with a great ’80s album, Savage by the Eurythmics. This one blew me away when it came out in 1987, then my CD copy got stolen by a family member in the Great Theft of 1993. Hearing it now, I’ve noticed the disc does contain a few mediocre tracks (“Wide Eyed Girl” is just annoying), but it’s never been topped as a vehicle for the fabulous pipes of Annie Lennox. She’s in peak form here, assured but not yet the overly-stylized diva she’d become during the solo years. Savage also about a hundred times more risky than what came before (the shrill Revenge) or after (the slick/commercial We Too Are One). I can see why Eurythmics fans treasure this particular album.
One of the most interesting aspects of Savage is the fact that Lennox and Dave Stewart teamed with director Sophie Muller (and a few others) to film videos for all dozen of the album’s tracks. The resulting video album was one of the earliest examples of its type. The clip below, “Heaven,” is one of my favorites. I could totally picture it being played on the runway at a swanky ’80s fashion show:
She’s Hot, She’s Sexy, She’s Dead
Today’s video is the opening of CBS’s tribute to their recently deceased comedy queen, Lucille Ball, broadcast April 26, 1989. I may have watched this when it originally aired. Lucy’s death was a huge deal that year, garnering the kind of media coverage usually reserved for world leaders and royalty.
On a related note, of late we’ve been watching a lot of I Love Lucy‘s third season DVD set (a gift for Christopher’s birthday). This was the first season after Little Ricky was born. Although it contains a lot of hilarious episodes, the darn baby gets dragged out all the time and it stops the comedy dead in its tracks. Lucy and Desi Arnaz must have realized what negative impact Little Ricky had, since the following season they bounced back with a baby-free trip to Hollywood. I do believe the show hit its peak during seasons four (Hollywood) and five (European trip).
More of CBS’ Lucille Ball memorial tribute: Part 2, Part 3 and Part 4.
A Pinch of Basil
Today’s video is another forgotten ’80s tune I just discovered this week — Toni Basil’s “Over My Head.” I think this song actually betters “Mickey;” too bad it barely made it onto the Billboard Hot 100. The video has a terrific concept with multi-talented Toni dancing in and out of vintage pulp book covers with various “outrageous” looks. She’s a helluva dancer, of course, and the theatricality she used on her image is very prescient. The Lady GaGa of 1983?
Huggy Bear Gone Viral
An adorable circa 1983 commercial for Lots-o’-Huggin’ Bear. What, you never heard of Lots-o’-Huggin’ Bear? That’s because the pink ‘n fuzzy toy only exists as a character in the forthcoming Toy Story 3; the commercial is actually a promotional tool from those sneaks at Pixar. Brilliant!
Remember Kids, Users Are Losers
Remember this 1987 anti-drug PSA with crazy-haired pop singer Regina and McGruff the Crime Dog? Staying on the straight and narrow never looked so totally awesome.
Related: Download Regina’s 1986 LP Curiosity featuring the wonderfully Madonnaesque hit “Baby Love.”
Ingénue Times Two
Last night I got reacquainted with a compilation from 1980s Europop princess Lío and thought I’d share a few of her vintage videos here. I’d say her music is like a French version of Madonna’s stuff from that period, very strident and “of its time” but completely irresistible. The gorgeous “Mona Lisa” comes from her 1982 album Suite Sixtine. The song’s lush and romantic production came courtesy of Ron and Russell Mael, better known as New Wave duo Sparks.
And here is Lío looking her jailbaitiest while singing 1980′s “Amoureux Solitaire” from a hammock. This synth-driven gem must have been one of her biggest hits in Europe, since there are five or six different performances of this song on YouTube. Lío’s hit streak continued all the way through 1991, after which she turned to acting. Apparently she now earns her Euros as one of the judges on the French edition of American Idol. C’est la vie, as they’d say over there.
Las Vegas in 1983 on Flickr
Just uploaded to flickr: 33 photos of Las Vegas I shot in 1983. I was thirteen and went there on a business trip with my dad. Most of these photos were shot via the family 35mm camera by myself, wandering the strip at night. It’s kind of a wonder that I wasn’t mugged or anything. The photos are of a very old time, unpretentious (and nearly empty) side of Vegas that is completely different from what you’d find in the same place 27 years on. Check it out.
1939, Via 1987
Today’s video is part one of the “making of Gone with the Wind” installment of ABC’s short-lived newsmagazine, Our World. Man, I loved this show. Anchored by Linda Ellerbee and Ray Gandolf, each episode examined the events of a single year in American history. I recall that the show was critically acclaimed, but ABC gave it a death sentence by scheduling it opposite mega-hit The Cosby Show. It limped along through the 1986-87 season before getting the axe. Stupid ABC.
Somebody on YouTube posted the entire 1939/Gone with the Wind show, so at least we have that to be thankful for.
Feels So Good
Today we have “You Make Me Feel So Good,” a vintage video from Philadelphia’s greatest boy-girl alternapop group, Book Of Love. I casually enjoyed Book Of Love during their ’80s heyday, but never really got into them until their Best-Of collection came out in 2001. They pretty much epitomize how fun and effortless intelligent ’80s pop can be, and continue to be one of the more underrated artists from that period. I also ordered a copy of their 1991 opus Candy Carol today, so you’ll have that writeup to look forward to. In the meantime, let’s bop. Holy Hooters, is that a melodica solo in the middle of this tune?
