Today EduClaytion becomes the Old Yeller of blogs.
EduClaytion
Clay is putting the old blog to rest, but don't worry - here's one last hurrah.
After reading his last guest post ever, head on over to EduClaytion to see the tribute video Clay didn't ask me to be a part of.
EduClaytion is dead. Long live EduClaytion!
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My host Ricky here says that nothing good ever came out of the 80s except his wife. While that's a really sweet husband sentiment so close to Mother's Day, it's like totally wrong to the max. I'm not saying that your good wife didn't come from the 80s Ricky, but she's got other rad company.
Let's begin.
Ricky back peddled after I started assaulting him with awesome movies, toys, and cartoons from the decade of my childhood. Then he said music, just stick to music. Okay. FINE.
You've GOT to be kidding me. NO good music? Sure, the early years are lean for me too, but after 1984 we are good to go. I supposed U2 didn't really have anything going with a little album called The Joshua Tree. It only topped the charts in 20 countries and sold 25 million copies.
And how about this guy we used to have, oh what's his name? Now I remember—it's Michael Freaking Jackson. He had a couple decent songs and could even dance a little. Ever heard of Thriller? Not only is it widely regarded as the greatest music video in history, MJ even incorporated zombies into the act! It's gnarly and radical all rolled into one. It's Gnardical. I just invented a new word for the 1980s for when I fix the flux capacitor in my time machine. That's a Back To The Future reference but you probably don't know that either cuz it's like only the 7th greatest movie of all time.
And the ladies BROUGHT it in the 80s. How about The Bangles? Like there was any resisting Susanna Hoffs. Walk Like An Egyptian is STILL super fun. Manic Monday still makes sense of our workweek and Eternal Flame might be the hardest I ever crushed on a front woman as a kid.
Oh wait, that's a lie because I had an even bigger music crush before 1990. Her name was Paula Abdul. Straight Up. She's Forever My Girl, Ricky. Forever. She said so.
TV theme songs. They count. Just go ahead and consult my friends at TV Asylum for more, but I will point out Jan Hammer's Miami Vice Theme. And movies? Child please. Weird Science, Top Gun, Footloose, and Ghostbusters are all iconic.
Man, we even had punky delights like Joan Jett, Cyndi Lauper and Billy Idol. I'm not even going to try to explain the real punk of that era since you wouldn't understand.
All this time and I haven't even mentioned Hair Metal yet. Yeah, I go there. I came in at the tail end of Gen X and lived through the genesis of Grunge that changed culture. But first we had hair bands.
The 80s was the decade of long hair. I think. My school had a strict dress code, so I was never allowed to grow the hair I wanted which would have probably been feathery and made me think I looked like Mark Slaughter. If you don't know who that is then how about Poison, Guns 'n' Roses, Motley Crue, Skid Row, Queensryche, Bon Jovi… I'm just going to get worn out here. And I think Def Leppard had the biggest rock album in the decade with Hysteria. And their drummer was MISSING AN ARM. Now I'm getting misty-eyed thinking about Steve Clarke (upon whom be peace), but I doubt you even know who that is, Ricky. Just know that Love Bites. And one more for ya? Stryper. Boom.
ALL this and I haven't even mentioned Metallica and friends. Seriously, the 80s had something for everyone.
- Let's not forget the emergence of Weird Al Yankovic!
- We Didn't Start the Fire Ricky. It was ALWAYS burning since the world's been turning. Billy also rocked Uptown Girl and some other honkytonk beats.
- Man, we've even got pre-Bobby Brown Whitney. Have you even seen the video to Dance With Somebody? Major crush for me on that one too.
- Every decade has its one hit wonders. Here's an 80s sampler.
- Survivor—Eye of the Tiger
- The Escape Club—Wild, Wild West
- Bobby McFerrin—Don't Worry, Be Happy
- Kim Wilde—You Keep Me Hangin' On
- Falco—Rock Me Amadeus
- A-Ha—Take on me
No worries, you can still jump in if you think any of those people are any good and tell Ricky that he's crazy because the 80s brought the noise. And it was good.
What am I forgetting?
Help me tell Ricky why else 80s music has its share of awesome.
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