I like a bit of oddness; hence my fascination and adoration for 80s music.
The Thompson Twins: A band consisting of three artists; none of the members are twins and none of them go by Thompson.
It doesn't matter. They made some memorable music worth mentioning.
Saturday, January 14, 2012
Monday, January 2, 2012
Must... Eat... Dots...
A huge part of the whole 80s experience was arcade video games. Video arcades were often very large store-sized with standing room only due to the zillions of games and the even larger number of people waiting in lines to use them.
I am guilty of donating enough quarters to buy a small country by laser-blasting dragons in "Dig-dug," saving galaxy space in "Asteroids," dodging barrels from a gorilla in "Donkey Kong," beef-smacking fried eggs in "Burger Time," eating dots in a maze in "Pac-Man," and other ridiculous tasks that seemed like a good idea to do at the time. I was quite good at many of the games and often better than my guy friends, who tended to spend more time playing video games than the girls did.
Well, as we know, whenever there is something of interest going on, someone writes a song about it. Jerry Buckner & Gary Garcia did just that by devoting an entire album to songs about the most famous video arcade games at the time, using sounds from the actual games.
Their most famous, "Pac-Man Fever," hit the airwaves in 1982 and us video game zealots appreciated it dearly. Then, just as quickly as it came, the song, the album, Buckner and Garcia, went to the same decade dumpster as parachute pants, Wacky-Wall-Walkers, and Urkel.
Gone, but not forgotten...
I am guilty of donating enough quarters to buy a small country by laser-blasting dragons in "Dig-dug," saving galaxy space in "Asteroids," dodging barrels from a gorilla in "Donkey Kong," beef-smacking fried eggs in "Burger Time," eating dots in a maze in "Pac-Man," and other ridiculous tasks that seemed like a good idea to do at the time. I was quite good at many of the games and often better than my guy friends, who tended to spend more time playing video games than the girls did.
Well, as we know, whenever there is something of interest going on, someone writes a song about it. Jerry Buckner & Gary Garcia did just that by devoting an entire album to songs about the most famous video arcade games at the time, using sounds from the actual games.
Their most famous, "Pac-Man Fever," hit the airwaves in 1982 and us video game zealots appreciated it dearly. Then, just as quickly as it came, the song, the album, Buckner and Garcia, went to the same decade dumpster as parachute pants, Wacky-Wall-Walkers, and Urkel.
Gone, but not forgotten...
Friday, December 16, 2011
Don't Come Around Here Without A Visual
On their own, some songs just don't do it. Sometimes it takes the magic of a music video to make it, at the very least, interesting.
When I first heard Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers' song, "Don't Come Around Here No More," I was rather unmoved. Okay, I hated it, and could not for the life of me understand why someone would care to hear it more than once, yet radio stations kept playing it so MANY someones must have liked it. I just was not among those someones.
MTV eased my confusion, however, and I understood the appeal. The Heartbreakers' unusual take on "Alice in Wonderland" was creepy, captivating, amusing, and, let's face it, it complimented the song.
When I first heard Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers' song, "Don't Come Around Here No More," I was rather unmoved. Okay, I hated it, and could not for the life of me understand why someone would care to hear it more than once, yet radio stations kept playing it so MANY someones must have liked it. I just was not among those someones.
MTV eased my confusion, however, and I understood the appeal. The Heartbreakers' unusual take on "Alice in Wonderland" was creepy, captivating, amusing, and, let's face it, it complimented the song.
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